Page 5 of Pregnant In The King's Palace

‘Your father wasn’t exactly thinking ahead when he banished Angelique from his stables all those years ago.’

Wrong. Valentine smiled tightly. His father had most definitely been thinking ahead.

‘What was it for again? Riding your father’s prize stallion without permission?’

‘Racing my father’s stallion against the fastest thoroughbred mare in the stables.’ He should know. He’d been the one riding the mare.

‘Your father also labelled her promiscuous, did he not?’

‘Yes.’ Another accusation Valentine had been partly, if not wholly, responsible for. ‘My late father was not always right.’ Nor was he missed by many, but that was not a thought Valentine cared to share aloud.

‘And yet the accusation stuck,’ Theo mused. ‘A reputation Angelique decided to own rather than fight, because she knew from the beginning it was a fight she couldn’t win. I respect her for that. So does my wife.’ Theo turned on him. ‘Do you ever wonder what she might have become without that black mark?’

‘No.’ He wanted to believe that Angelique was exactly who she wanted to be. ‘Angelique Cordova is feted by polo players and royalty alike, owned by none, and beholden only unto herself. What’s so bad about that?’

At times, he downright envied her.

They were leaning against a rail, sun on their faces and a field full of polo ponies and riders in full view. They’d started out watching the play, although Valentine had abandoned that some time ago in favour of people-watching. If Angelique happened to be one of those people he studied more intently than others, so be it. With her ivory jodhpurs, knee-high black riding boots, fitted black shirt and her raven-black hair swept into a thick plait that started high on her head and finished at the swell of her magnificent rear, Angelique Cordova could command a dead man’s attention. ‘I’m thinking of renouncing my throne.’

Theo barely spared him a glance. ‘Ha-ha.’

‘I’m serious.’ Theo’s royal fields were a robust green, with woodland to one side and the white stone palace of Liesendaach behind them. It was a picture-perfect venue for the charity matches being played and later there would be a glittering ball to round out the day. Fat coffers would open, and at the end of the evening another hospital unit or education programme would be funded. Valentine had weathered a thousand days just like this one. He couldn’t stomach the thought of a thousand more. ‘I’m serious,’ he repeated quietly.

Theo had turned to face him more fully, his expression sharply concerned. ‘You can’t be.’

And yet he was. ‘You speak of that moment when Angelique was dismissed as if it were a turning point in her life. Something that shaped her world from that moment onwards. You speak as if she recognised it as such and embraced it, right or wrong. Angelique Cordova: passionate, headstrong and fallen.’ He wondered if Theo had any idea just how much Valentine had wanted to turn his back on everything he’d been raised to do and run away with her. ‘I too find myself at a turning point not entirely of my making. And, much like Angelique, I can either fight against these new circumstances and lose, or embrace them and see where it takes me. I’m tired, Theo.’ And infertile now too, and therein lay the crux of the matter.

What use an infertile king?

‘I know you’ve been ill, but my people tell me you’re fully recovered.’

‘You mean, that’s what your spies tell you.’

‘Were they wrong?’

Valentine huffed a laugh at the underlying thread of astonishment in Theo’s voice. ‘Surely it must happen from time to time, no?’

‘No.’ Theo glared at him. ‘Are you dying?’

‘No.’

‘Losing your mind?’

‘I gather you think it a possibility.’

‘I do think it a possibility. And don’t try and tell me you’re mourning the loss of your perfectly serene fiancée because I won’t believe you. She bored you stupid.’

‘She enhanced my image.’ It really had been as cold-blooded as that. ‘She was perfectly pleasant.’

‘And. Bored. You. Senseless. And setting aside the possible reasons for your abdication, who would rule Thallasia if not you? Your sister? How can you possibly think that’s a viable option?’

‘Why not?’

Theo was silent for long seconds as if contemplating just such a future, and then, ‘Your sister has many fine qualities but a leader she is not.’

‘She can learn. I’ll help her.’

‘It’s not a matter of learning, it’s a matter of character.’ Frustration lent weight to Theo’s voice. ‘Your sister is secure only in her beauty, which—while considerable—is already beginning to fade. Indecisiveness plagues her and always has. She’s easily swayed by flattery. And for all that her husband loves her, he’s not been built to provide the support a ruling queen needs. You want my opinion or you’d never have broached the subject with me in the first place. Listen as I give it. Your sister is not you. All the progress you’ve made—we’ve made—in the region these past few years since your father’s death will be at risk. Is that what you want?’

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