Page 24 of Stolen Princess's Secret

‘I might swing by Aergoveny on my way back.’

‘You should.’

He nodded, still with his back to her, and then gestured awkwardly towards the array of bottles on the sideboard. ‘May I pour you something stronger?’

‘I’ll have the Highland single malt Scotch, please. No ice.’

‘There’s ice?’

‘In the silver ice bucket with the lid.’

‘How anyone thought I’d make a decent aristocrat...’

‘You will.’ He had a generous and deft hand when pouring, a certain grace about him as he crossed the room and handed it to her. ‘You could join me in a drink.’

A tentative knock on the library door diverted his attention. Alarm flashed in his eyes as he looked at her. ‘What is it?’ he barked, every word forbidding.

The door stayed closed. ‘A messenger from King Casimir, Lord Aergoveny. He says to tell you the helicopter is leaving for the winter fortress at ten p.m.’

‘I’ll be on it.’

Claudia glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes from now. So much for persuading him to stay the night with her.

‘Your brother’s protecting your reputation,’ said Tomas with a frown, once the sound of footsteps had retreated.

‘Or yours,’ she pointed out. ‘Possibly his. Likely all three. You don’t need the added complication of being known as my lover while establishing your new position. Cas doesn’t need people thinking him a soft king who would bestow a barony on you at my request—not that he did.’ Basic statecraft. She knew this. Patience, Claudia. ‘He’s looking out for us.’

‘You mean he’s controlling the situation because we’ve failed to do so.’

‘Nonsense. We’ve got this.’

‘Princess...’

They were back to honorifics and her heart broke a little because she’d thought they were done with that.

‘Don’t Princess me.’

‘Today has been...a lot,’ he continued, without uttering her name. ‘And while I’m ambitious in my own way, I’ve never sought a barony. I’ve never thought about what that could mean. I’ve never imagined this, us, being something that could happen openly, and I need time to think about that too.’

‘Unbridled passion not about to sway you?’

He huffed a reluctant laugh. ‘Clearly it did.’

‘I want...’ Did it even matter what she wanted in the face of his retreat? ‘My brother warned me about being pushy. I should have listened to him.’ Patience, Claudia. Let the man catch up. ‘To your freedom, Tomas. To happiness and fulfilment, no matter where your road leads. My hearth is ever open to you and yours.’ She set her drink down and pressed her hands to her chest and then extended them towards him, one cupped hand sitting atop the other to form a heart shape. It was a formal farewell offered by the people of the high north. A pledge of unconditional support, no matter what the future might bring. ‘Safe travels, Master Falconer, Lord Sokolov of Aergoveny.’

He brought his heels together and bowed his head. ‘Thank you. I’ll...be in touch.’

She hated slippery words and empty promises. Especially from a man who’d already pleaded his need for space. ‘Break my heart now and quickly if you must. I hate false hope.’

‘Isn’t that all I’ve ever given you?’ He was back to being harsh and distant.

‘Why would you even think that?’ If he didn’t leave soon, hot tears would fall. ‘No,’ she said earnestly. ‘You gave me reason to hope. Nothing false about it. Just like there’s nothing false about what I’m offering. But if you don’t want it, go. Leave me some dignity.’ As much as could be gathered with her lopsided hair and sated body and heart he had no desire to claim.

‘I’ll be away for three weeks, maybe more. Will you be at the fortress when I return?’

Her fortress now. Also the only home he’d ever known. Awkward. But then, she’d left so many places in her lifetime, even special ones. If Aergoveny didn’t work out for him and he wanted to return to the winter fortress, she would move on. She could occupy the rooms set aside for her here at the palace. She could build something. ‘I return there on the eighteenth. And you have another helicopter to catch in...eleven minutes. Time to go, Lord Sokolov.’ See? She could do stilted formality too.

He ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his vambraces. Checked that his belt was positioned just so.

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