Page 56 of The Reluctant Queen
“None of that is a lie.”
“You don’t know her motivations? Truly? You’re the king, holding a wife-finding party. I think we can guess her motivations.”
“Fine. I am notpositiveof her motivations, but I didnotkiss her.”
“A lie.”
“Not a lie.”
Her eyes flicked to him long enough to appraise his sincerity. Hevva’s fingers softened the death-grip they’d taken on his arm. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t do that,” she snapped. “I understand that what happened last night was different than it looked. But some things, like our conversation in the guest room, are exactly as they seem.”
He sighed, “I know.” What he offered was not what she wanted. Love and all its volatility would be disastrous for him and for the kingdom.
She dropped his arm though she kept pace beside him. Ehmet shivered despite the balmy sundrenched day, for the loss of her contact was too much to bear.
“You know I’m not interested in a marriage that is merely an arrangement?” Hevva’s question was so quiet he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.
“As it stands now, it’s no longer a possibility anyway.” Sadness weighed heavy on his voice.
“How do you mean?” She bumped against his side when she looked over at him. He assumed her action was an accident.
He gave her a synopsis of his Uncle Yusuf’s dealings and potential blackmail of many of the kingdom’s nobility. She’d already been aware of the issue in general, having ears and all, and was quick to catch on to the rest.
“So, you need me.”
He nodded solemnly.In so many ways . . .“I do.”
“What exactly would you like me to do?”
Everything we cannot...“I need to know I can count on your vote on my behalf, should the issue of succession go to a referendum.”
She nodded but gave no agreement. “And?” The lady was astute. Ehmet was fairly certain she knew what else he wanted to ask, but she wanted more to hear him beg.
“Your father.”
“What of my father?” She swung wide, splashing steps in the surf.
Yep, she was doing it on purpose.
“Should we be called on to vote, my continued reign will be dependent on the support of you and your father—and Yaranbur, but that’s neither here nor there. I don’t expect you to convince that man. But I was hoping you might help me to ensure I have the Duke of Stormhill’s support?”
The corner of Ehmet’s mouth pulled up into a pleading smile as he turned to face Lady Hevva. Her eyes focused ahead on nothing, and her expression was flat. It increased his anxiety ten-fold. He started rubbing his knuckle again.
Hevva sighed, and though he could not hear it, he could see the heavy rise and fall of her chest. “I have been impressed by your reign thus far, as has my father. You’ve implemented several progressive measures in less than a year, Ehmet. We believe in the direction you’re taking the kingdom. You have my support in this. It will not waver. No matter whatelsemay be...” she trailed off as she turned her head to face the waves again.
Lifted by her compliments, he was yanked back down by the reminder he’d lost the giver of them. “I meant it, when I asked you to marry me.” He wasn’t sure why he needed her to know this, but it was important to him. “I truly meant it. I know you don’t agree with my reasons for wanting the alignment, but I was genuine. Then I learned how far Yusuf had gotten.”
Her braid bobbed with her nod. She turned back to gaze upon the sand. “It is fine.”
It wasn’t fine, Ehmet could tell. But Hevva refused to drop the act, and he was too tense to push for it. He proffered his arm again, but she ignored him, and he let his hand fall listlessly to his side.
Three steps later, she started talking, “We were merely having fun, that is all. It was not evenus.Not really, just Saka and Berim. You know I take on aliases regularly. Saka’s one of many. Nothing to worry about there. Plus, you said you do not love. Or whatever it was.” She waved her hands through the air as if his comments following the botched proposal were following her, buzzing around her face, an obnoxious fly.
He followed her gaze to the cliffs ahead, studying the way the solid stone jutted out into the ocean where it sloped and crumbled away into nothing, worn by the crashing of waves and passage of time. “I am not interested in the burden of love,” he reiterated numbly.
