Page 102 of Duty and Desire

I felt so heavy, as though the act of putting one foot in front of the other would be more than I could manage.

“Why did you come to Eisenland?”

Gio stilled. “To save you from making a huge mistake.”

“By marrying Karoline?” He nodded, and I stared at him. “And supposing I go against tradition, duty, my father’s wishes, and decide not to marry her, what then?” I raised my eyebrows. “Remember what my father said? A king must marry for duty, and not love. I can’t do that, so in being true to myself, I would end up alone.”

Gio moved closer, but I didn’t want sympathy.

“When will you be crowned?”

I tried to breathe evenly. “Possibly in July. Daniela would like it sooner, but I won’t be moved. There’s nothing in law that states it should happen within a certain time period after the death of the king.” I glanced at the throne. “And I’m in no hurry.”

I couldn’t stay in there a moment longer.

“One more stop on our tour.” I forced a smile. “And a place you might be interested in.”

His eyes locked on mine. “If you’re in it, I’m interested.”

My pulse raced, and something fluttered inside me.

Gio gave me an inquiring glance. “Well? Are you going to tell me?”

Right then I would have given everything to take him to mybedroom, lock the door, and relearn every line of him with my fingers and tongue.

Such thoughts did me no good at all.

“The Royal Library.” I wanted to indulge our shared passion—for books.

The passion we’d kindled during our weeks together hadn’t died, but it had to be ignored.

For the sake of my country.

Gio

I loved the musty smell of old books, leather bindings…

The dust? Not so much. I’d already sneezed several times.

“This feels as though no one’s been in here in years.”

Nick sighed. “I was never allowed to come here. My father said some of these books are rare, even ancient.”

I glanced at the windows. “Then those should have been upgraded to UV-resistant glass at least, to prevent further degradation.” I stilled. “Is it okay for us to be in here now?”

He chuckled. “Of course it is. I’m the king, aren’t I?”

I wandered over to peer at shelf after shelf, gazing at titles which didn’t inspire much interest if I were honest. It wasn’t a large room, but every inch of wall space was covered in bookcases. One such case caught my eye. Leaded glass doors covered it, and its shelves contained few books. What I saw inside piqued my curiosity.

It was the kind of bookcase that screamedKeep Out—Private.

I grinned. “This looks promising.”

Nick joined me and opened the door with care. Inside was a sheaf of yellowed paper, tied with a purple ribbon. He lifted it out, then untied the ribbon. He gazed at the top sheet, frowning.

His soft gasp told me we’d hit pay dirt.

“These look like letters,” he murmured. He took the sheaf to the smallround table in the center of the library, and spread out the sheets. “Wow. This one was written by King Andreas. It’s dated June 1919. He ruled after World War I.”

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