Page 37 of His Runaway Princess

Amalia searched her memory. “I’m not certain. It doesn’t surprise me, but at the same time, I don’t specifically remember him telling me that or hearing him mention it to others. I do remember the guide for our tour saying something more than once about us. I didn’t think correcting him would be beneficial regardless of what Ry... Mr. Drasil had told him.”

“You are not disputing any of the things Mr. Drasil has said, but you are not absolutely certain on those two counts?” the lawyer clarified.

“That is correct.” She blinked as it coalesced in her head. “Wait. Does that mean Ryker and I have to get married?” Amalia looked at her grandfather. “After everything with Mum, you’d force me to get married? Mr. Drasil was nothing but a gentleman and I enjoyed his company, but marriage? Grandfather?”

“Yes and no, Granddaughter.” Her grandfather’s gentle voice. “It means that in Ravenzario and Eyjania, you are already married and, here in Øyanord, you should be required to. If either of the other two conditions weren’t met, we could likely make an argument that they should be invalid since you are a member of the Øyanordian royal family. With all three of them...” He sighed. “I’m afraid it’s a bit more difficult.”

“If the laws are being rewritten anyway, why does it matter? There’s no actual paperwork that says we’re married.”

“That’s not how it works, Amalia.” Her grandfather looked like he wanted to tell her they’d work something out, but he didn’t.

“Gentlemen, could you please excuse us for a moment?” Ryker stood, something rarely done before the monarch stood. “I believe the two of us most affected by all of this should have a chance to discuss it.”

“Of course.”

Everyone else at the table stood as Amalia did. But where would they have the discussion? Amalia moved away as Ryker followed her. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a good place, close by, where they could have a few moments to themselves.

Her eyes landed on the door to the balcony, and she started for it with Ryker joining her. He reached the door a step before she did and opened the door for her to walk through.

Ryker closed the door behind them as Amalia stood at the railing looking over the sea beyond.

“You have my sincerest apologies, Your Royal Highness.”

The formality in his voice made her tear up. She shook her head as she tried to make certain her voice wouldn’t tremble. “You did what was necessary.” It trembled anyway.

“I’m not sure how hard I tried to find a way around it.” He still didn’t stand next to her. “It was the first thing that occurred to me. I should have tried harder to find a different way or even just not told him we were married.”

Amalia shook her head. “No. You did what you believed to be necessary at the time. You didn’t have much time to think or consider options, and I understand why you didn’t tell me you knew who I was. I appreciate you and everything you did to keep me safe more than you know.”

“It was a privilege, Your Highness.” He finally came to her side. “There’s one real question we have to answer.”

The use of her title made Amalia sad. “What’s that?”

“Whether you want to be married to me?”

* * *

Waitingfor the princess’s response, Ryker found it hard to breathe.

He’d been living in a fog since he’d been told the same things the princess just learned and had no idea what would happen next.

“Since it seems you’ve known about this longer than I have, do you know what the other options are?” Her voice sounded guarded.

“Not much longer, only as long as it took for us to discuss it all in King Benjamin’s office then fly here. All in all, it’s been less than five hours.” The sea beyond the exterior gardens glistened in the distance.

“I see.”

From his view of her profile, he could see tears streaking down her cheeks.

With a sigh, Ryker leaned against the balustrade surrounding the balcony, using his forearms to hold his weight. “Do you have any thoughts?” he asked, still uncertain as to what his answer to the same question would be.

“I had a lovely time with you, Ryker. At least, outside of the being chased by an unknown villain and having to get on that yacht.” She reached up to swipe at her tears. “We shared a lovely kiss, but I have serious doubts that it’s enough to base a marriage on.”

“I agree.”

“So what do we do? What options were you given?”

He still hadn’t looked her in the eye since his arrival. Either he’d been avoiding her or she’d been avoiding him the whole time.

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