Page 33 of Pregnant In The King's Palace

Vala snorted inelegantly. ‘You don’t fool me, you know. Never have, never will.’ She eyed the horse some more. ‘He’s well trained, I’ll give you that. Is Angelique staying on for dinner? And if so, are you both dining with us or would you like me to tell the staff to provide a table for two in your quarters this evening?’

‘Not sure yet.’ Angelique hadn’t exactly jumped at the idea of food. ‘But I’ll let you know.’

‘She’s welcome at my table. Just so you know.’

It was quite the acknowledgement. His sister’s acceptance of Angelique into their inner circle. ‘Thank you.’

She shrugged. ‘How long will the lesson go on for? Because if you’re waiting for my daughter to get sick of riding her new pony, you’ll be waiting the rest of the day. More to the point, I need my daughter back. Her tutor’s waiting.’

Ah. His habit of collecting Juliana whenever he had a spare moment to spend on her was beginning to rub his sister the wrong way. Easily fixed. ‘Okay, ladies. Time’s up. Juliana, you’ve other lessons to see to.’

Getting the child off the horse wasn’t hard once she spotted her mother. He watched them return towards the castle, his solemn little niece talking nineteen to the dozen, and he didn’t regret spoiling her one little bit. Not in this way, given all the extra tutoring in place now that the child was in line to inherit the throne. Angelique handed the horse off to Alessandro and he walked up to join them. ‘Very instructive,’ he offered.

‘I hope so.’ She seemed calmer now. Less agitated.

‘Vala has invited us to dine with her and her family this evening, should you decide to stay on.’

‘Oh.’ She looked trapped, hunted. ‘That’s very kind of her.’

‘Or we could dine in my quarters. It’s not a big deal.’

She allowed him a tight smile. ‘Let’s talk first.’

But she didn’t seem to have anything at all to say as they strode beneath the deep blue sky towards the palace. He took her through the back entrance to his quarters, up three flights of steps carved into stone and circling round and round until they reached a door that led directly into his bedroom via a hidden passageway and wall panel.

She stepped through and looked around, then looked back towards the tunnel that led to the stairs. ‘Handy,’ she murmured.

‘Shall I send for refreshments?’

‘I’m probably not staying.’

‘Any particular reason why?’

She nodded, took a deep breath. ‘I’m pregnant.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Pregnant.’

He had no words.

‘To you,’ she added and lifted her chin.

‘That’s impossible.’

‘Well, clearly it’s not!’

But he couldn’t comprehend a word she was saying. He turned away, a hand to his hair, and began to pace.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ she murmured.

‘You have no damn idea what I’m thinking.’ He wasn’t thinking. His brain had stopped, hung up on that one little word. He couldn’t... It wasn’t... His.

‘Who is he?’ He saw her wince out of the side of his eye and he didn’t care. How could she possibly think to fool him?

‘You.’ With only the barest tremble to testify to the lie. ‘I don’t know how far along I am—I haven’t seen a doctor yet, but there’s no other man in my life. It has to be yours, and I’ll take any kind of DNA test you like in order to prove it. Whether you want to claim it as yours is the bigger question.’

But he was nowhere near accepting her words at face value. ‘I’m not fertile.’

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