Page 46 of Stolen Princess's Secret

‘I won’t fail you.’

‘I can be strong again. I will be. I won’t always feel so low.’ She closed her eyes and soaked up his warmth.

‘And I’ll never think less of you for saying you need me,’ he murmured. ‘Say it as often as you like. My insecurities will thank you.’

Good to know their insecurities were compatible.

A soft knock sounded at the door of the outer room. ‘Ma’am and Lord Tomas? It’s Caitlin. I have two mugs of weak tea with some slices of lemon and ginger on the side. I’ll leave them outside the door and if you want them, good, and if you don’t, I’ll collect them later.’

Tomas rubbed his thumb over her shoulder in a gesture she found comforting. ‘Shall I tell her to bring it in?’

Claudia nodded.

‘Come through, Caitlin.’

Moments later, the girl was kneeling beside them in the bathroom. ‘My ma used to swear by lemon and ginger tea for soothing the stomach. The tea is Mrs Lee’s mountain blend. She’s Balo’s nonna. Balo’s the man I’m going to marry, but he doesn’t know that yet, so if you could keep it to yourself for another year or two while I grow up, I’d appreciate it. Is there anything you’d like me to keep to myself? Because I can. This old place sees its fair share of secrets. Da says not spilling any is as much a part of being an innkeeper as not spilling the drinks.’

Such earnest eyes.

‘I can see why you want Caitlin for your falcons, Tomas.’ Claudia leaned forward and added lemon and ginger to both mugs and picked one up before settling back against him and bringing the mug to her lips to take the tiniest sip.

‘Speaking of...’ Tomas had a gleam in his eyes. ‘Caitlin, there’s a golden eagle in the spare bedroom and a gauntlet on the bed. If you could take her downstairs and find a chair or another perch for her by the fire, I’d be grateful. She’s well behaved and enjoys watching people moving about.’

‘Me?’

‘You.’

‘And we need another suite of rooms for our guests this afternoon,’ he continued.

‘Da said we have incoming and to give them the best room we have, but you’re in it.’

‘Make this room up fresh and we’ll move to another,’ said Claudia. ‘Let’s aim to keep my brother in a good mood, hmm?’

Caitlin’s eyes grew impossibly round. ‘I—the King? And Queen Ana? Here? As in today?’

‘For our wedding,’ Tomas supplied gravely, and never again would she suspect him of not having the most sublime sense of humour. Caitlin was already on the move. ‘I guess your Da can keep a secret. Don’t forget the eagle. Her name’s Alhena.’

Ten minutes later, Claudia was almost halfway through her tea and they’d moved from the bathroom floor to the armchairs by the fire. For a woman on the morning of her wedding day she felt delightfully unbothered by details. The only detail that mattered was to marry the right man, and he was on the phone to Ildris, inviting him to their wedding through gritted teeth because she’d asked him to. She smiled into her cup when she heard him take it upon himself to ask Ildris to bring Alya too.

His future wife obviously valued them, and they owed her, he said next.

Maybe he’d learn to be a little less heavy-handed when it came to wielding power or maybe he’d never get the hang of it. Claudia was looking forward to a lifetime of brutal honesty, absolute trust and fireworks, no matter what. A pox on emotional containment. It was overrated.

‘What?’ he asked as he ended the call and pocketed his phone. ‘They’ll be here mid-afternoon. I told them they might have to share a room if they were staying on.’

‘So I heard. But, by my reckoning, Caitlin said there are six rooms in total, and if the King and Queen are in one, with Sophia in an adjoining room, Silas and Lor in another, and you and me in one, the count is only four rooms taken. Why would Ildris and Alya have to share a room?’

He smiled wickedly. ‘Never said I could count.’

This man. This life stretching out ahead of them.

Savour the moment, Claudia. Those funny, fleeting, happiest of moments.

They’ll sustain you.

CHAPTER TEN

TOMAS MADE HIS way downstairs the moment Cas and his entourage arrived, and he might have been driven to drink as a way of settling the nerves that had crept up on him but for the steadying presence of Rudolpho and horse master Gabriel, who’d also hitched a ride in one of the two royal helicopters now sitting in a field behind the inn. He knew these men and they knew him. He was happy to see them and took great pleasure in watching Balo’s nonna—who’d been put in charge of the wedding flower arrangements—pin sprigs of flowering thyme and wild mountain heather to their shirts.

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