Page 10 of Vows to a King
A kingdom and a bride—that both should have been his brother’s. And yet, Adonis didn’t feel the bitterness he’d have thought he would. And he knew it was because of the woman staring at him with her eyes going impossibly wide in her face.
She stilled, like a deer caught in the sights of a predator. “You’re not joking?”
He shot to his feet and stared down at her. “No, I’m not. Whether I can actually rule Thalassos as my brother would have is a different matter. But I’m not a man who can’t admit to needing help. Especially when it’s offered in such a delightful package.”
CHAPTER THREE
JEMIMA CAUGHT HERpassing reflection in an immensely large framed portrait of Adamos in full regalia as she followed the Queen and bit her lip self-consciously.
She’d dressed in a hurry this morning and was now regretting the choice of the dark navy, nearly black sheath dress she’d chosen for the meeting Prince Adonis had summoned with the crown council present.
Bad enough that she’d barely slept last night reliving the confusing encounter with him.
This morning, she’d alternately worried that the whole thing had been a bizarre dream or that she didn’t look good enough to marry the most beautiful man on the planet.
She scoffed at herself just as they arrived at the large doors to the summit room. Vanity had never been one of her flaws and she couldn’t begin now. If anything, she needed to toughen herself up even more in this marriage.
With Adamos, there had been no attraction, no zings, no awareness of any kind. But something about Prince Adonis—other than his blond god looks, had always piqued her interest. Had urged her to cross the lines that had always been drawn around her.
After all these years, it was the same again last night. The man both fascinated her and attracted her, all smoke and shadows, roiling emotions and sudden fairness. Every inch of her had been drawn to him like a magnet to true north.
Giving in to the ridiculous fantasies that had plagued her last night about him, about them…only heartbreak and humiliation lay that way.
She couldn’t, wouldn’t, become one of the multitude of women over the world who lost their hearts over him, who thought they could tame and leash the Devil Prince. Even if he was legally bound to her.
That brought her back to how she should approach the upcoming partnership with him and the terms she needed to lay out for their convenient marriage. Her belly twisted into more knots as they stopped in front of the doors to the summit room.
Prince Adonis and crown council in one room was not a peaceful combination in any way.
“Be yourself with him, Jemima,” the Queen whispered at her ear.
Jemima drew back to study the older woman, glad to be out of earshot of anyone. Shock made her words stutter. “What…do you mean, Your Highness?”
Grief clung to the Queen’s drawn features, but there was a new brightness to her eyes. “Adonis apprised me of your…talk last night. I’m glad you made him see sense in a partnership with you.”
Jemima flushed, both with pleasure and embarrassment. She clutched the Queen’s bony hands in hers, desperate to explain. “Please believe me that I’m not doing this for power or ambition. I do grieve for Adamos.”
“Hush, child,” the Queen said, patting her hand. “You’ll be a great queen, Jemima, precisely because you’ve never sought this for your selfish needs. I know I have no right to ask this of you but be patient with my younger son,ne? Adonis has a heart of gold if only you can excavate it. And I believe with my whole heart that you’re the woman for the job.”
The Queen smiled at her own joke but it was strange how the conviction lit her up from inside out. Curiosity about the man flooded Jemima but she couldn’t betray herself, not even to his mother. Couldn’t make a habit of indulging either that curiosity or her fascination with him.
“All I aspire for are respect and the means to live my own life, Your Highness.”
“Do not sell yourself short. Believe me when I say that Adonis is unlike any man you’ve known.” The Queen’s brows drew into a fierce scowl. “Demand what you want of him and more. Remind him of what he owes Thalassos like you did last night, of what he owes you as his queen and wife. That’s the only way Adonis will respect you or give you anything.”
“I thought you would be angry with me,” Jemima said, relief making her tongue loose. “Or see it as an insult to Adamos’s memory.” Her heart ached at losing this gentle but fierce woman’s regard.
Jemima’s mother had loved her but she’d lived in her father’s shadow, never questioning his autocratic orders, never stating her opinion. In the end, her obedience had made her resentful enough to drive her into another man’s arms.
Queen Isadora, though, had taken Jemima under her wing in the last few years and Jemima had come to adore the woman for both the easy kindness she had shown her and the valuable lessons she had taught her. That her mind was a weapon she should wield with full awareness, especially since she was always going to be underestimated, and that she could be both soft and strong. Not one or the other, as her father had made her believe all these years.
“Only you could have convinced Adonis to walk toward the altar,” the Queen said with a mischievous smile. “As for Adamos, nothing would have made him happier than to see his brother find his place in Thalassos. I’m happy to gain one son back while I must grieve the loss of the other.”
Jemima squeezed the Queen’s hand back just as the doors opened.
Shivers of apprehension gripped her as she caught sight of the full contingent of the crown council—including her father—in formal regalia, their old, withered faces already radiating grave disapproval.
Prince Adonis’s absence, on the other hand, was highly conspicuous.
