Page 21 of Royally Arranged

It was dark outside, the only light coming from the street beyond the metal fence and the two small sconces on the wall of the side door. It was enough for me to descend the steps to the cemetery grass ... and enough for me to see what was waiting for me among the graves.

Nova was leaning up against a tree, staring at one of the huge marble squares carved with names and dates of people long forgotten. The wind was tossing her hair, looping it around her ears and her delicate throat.

My mind ran back over everything that had happened today. How she’d seen me fight her brothers ... how she’d chased me down, desperate to talk to me, and I’d just shrugged her off. I’d been so on edge I was acting like more of an ass than usual.

Steeling myself, I approached her across the soft grass. “You planning to rob some graves?”

She jolted upright. The moon reflected in her open eyes; they were dark as molasses at that hour. “Hawthorne?”

“Listen,” I started to say, lifting my foot, closing the gap between us. “About earlier ...”

“Stop!” she cried.

Stunned, I held up my hands with my fingers spread. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She pointed down as her whole face went red. “Sorry, I know. It’s just that you were about to step over a king’s grave. It’s bad luck.”

Running my fingers through my hair, I laughed without any humor. “Do you know what can give me good luck? I’m topped off on bad.” Carefully I walked around the grave. Doing so brought me close to her, closer than I’d intended. The trees around us were shedding flower petals like red confetti.

Nova inhaled as she noted our proximity. But with the big monument on one side and a tree on the other, there wasn’t any way to create more distance. When her gentle cinnamon scent invaded my nose, I was happy for our predicament.

She ended the silence first. “He’s over there.”

I followed her slim finger. On the opposite side of the cemetery was a large block of granite. Marigolds and roses had been arranged around it.Hester’s grave.

“I can give you some privacy,” she said gently.

My attention flew back to her. “What?”

“That’s why you’re here, right? For your uncle?”

“No. I ... no.” Palming my neck, I felt my pulse pounding. “I just wanted to see where he was buried. I wasn’t planning to talk to a bunch of dirt.”

A hairline of a wrinkle wrapped over her brow. Then it was smoothed away. “How’s your jaw?”

Rubbing my chin, I shrugged. “Fine. It’s my hand that hurts, your brother is all mouth. It was like punching a wall.”

“I’m sorry he and Richard went after you. They aren’t happy about you being appointed the new king.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly happy, either.”

She pulled her light blue jacket closer. It flared like an hourglass, drawing attention to her gorgeous curves in a way I didn’t think she intended. “Having them all decide this without you must have felt like sabotage.”

“It’s an awful joke. I’m surehe’sgot to hate that I’m his only option.”

Her thin fingers clutched tighter. “Your father, you mean?”

“Who else?” I asked, drawing in a huge breath. Everything in me felt too tight, my lungs unable to get me enough air. Having Nova here to listen to me was working me up all over again. “He never trusted me with any responsibilities before. He’s always thought I was goofing off. And that’s fine—it suited me well to not have to be under his damn scrutiny the way everyone else was. He was probably relieved to shove me into that dark hole of a strip club and forget about me.”

Nova rocked from side to side uneasily. “Oh.”

“You shouldn’t be shocked,” I said, “your family has been spying on mine forever. You probably have a notebook full of notes about me and all the messed-up stuff I’ve done, at that club and elsewhere.” I looked up at the sky. “I wonder if that miserable queen knows what she’s getting into.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I let my eyes drift back to her. “I’m marrying Austere. Youknowall of this, there’s no reason to play dumb.”

Nova squinted at me, and for a long while she didn’t blink. “I can’t believe no one explained this to you. You’re not marrying my aunt. My parents expect you to marry me or my sister.”

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