Page 85 of Songs and Spun Gold
“Only half?” Axel joked at the same time Katy eagerly said, “Do you really think so?”
He frowned at her, but she kept her eyes on Tobias. Michael raised an eyebrow. “I know you said it wasn’t your choice,but she truly is reluctant, isn’t she?”
“I keep hoping she’ll come around.” Axel kept watching her, silently begging her to look at him as the music began for the next dance.
“Come on, Axel, you have more dances,” Michael prodded. “You start with the young ones, and I’ll take the old first this time.”
“I’d rather not yet.”
Finally, Katy looked at him. Or toward him, anyway; she didn’t meet his eyes. “Go ahead, Axel. It’s fine. I’ll still be here when you get back.” She withdrew her hand from his arm.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t run away,” Tobias said after a sip of his drink. “I mean, keep her company.”
It didn’t feel right. He wanted to stay with Katy and convince her to stay with him, or at least to talk to him. But she had stepped up next to Tobias and Michael was tugging on his arm, so he allowed himself to be drawn away to fulfill his responsibilities.
~
Katy continued to confuse him, playful and loving one day but withdrawn and hesitant the next. Every morning before breakfast and most afternoons, she accompanied Axel to the music room in the castle and helped him learn his part. Not that he needed her help; if he wasn’t going to visit Lotti at the theater, he could have done it on his own. But it meant spending time with her and listening to her pretty voice when he taught her the part of Bonita so they could sing the duets together. When she had learned that, he taught her the role of Astrid.
She lacked Lotti’s training, but to Axel, she was magnificent.
When the weather grew warmer with the arrival of spring, he took her on walks through the gardens after supper.Sometimes Katy walked with her hand on his arm, and sometimes she refused his escort, depending on how interesting she found the scenery.
He alternated between the paths that brought only peaceful smiles and the paths that pulled her away to exclaim and examine. The light pressure of her hand, the way she would squeeze his forearm when she teased him, the ease with which he could tug her to a stop to play with one of her errant curls… Seeing her delighted was a pleasure, but he was selfish enough to want her on his arm, too.
The light breeze and waving flowers put thoughts of her lips in his head, but her cousin usually followed a few paces behind. Otto’s accusatory glare in the music room, his protective big brother aura, and his beefy physique convinced Axel that kissing her wouldn’t be wise.
Maybe if Katy displayed an inclination in that direction, but both times he’d made a move on his birthday, she’d retreated. And now she was seesawing between appearing as crazy about him as he was about her…and wanting nothing more than to abandon him for her home in Flussendorf.
An afternoon about a month after his birthday found him hurrying down the corridors of the castle. He didn’t even pause to give his customary nods and waves to the servants as he passed; instead, he maintained his forward focus, concentrating on reaching his destination as quickly as possible.
Since it was such a beautiful day, Katy had coaxed him out to the gardens in place of their usual music practice. At his joking insistence, they had still sung – agreeing on their starting note was an adventure – which was great fun. They made a half-hearted attempt to obey his father’s strictures and kept an eye out for other people, cutting off with suppressed giggles whenever one would signal to the other that someone was approaching.
Unfortunately, Axel lost track of both the distance and the time. He didn’t let Katy push him into leaving her shorter stride behind until long after his next meeting had started.
And his father was in the meeting, too. It wouldn’t even require a report or a complaint; the king already knew of his transgression.
The hope that he could sneak in for the end was dashed when Father strode out of the meeting room and looked straight at him. Beckoning for him to follow, the king spun away and headed for his study. Axel gulped, pasted on his “penitent son” face, and trailed behind him.
“I’m sorry, Father,” he said as soon as the door closed behind him. “I had every intention of—”
His father waved him off, settling into the chair behind his desk. “Calm down, son. Yes, it was an important meeting, and yes, you were missed, but the world isn’t ending. I didn’t call you in here to lecture you.”
“You didn’t?” Axel asked, surprised.
“No, I called you here to fill you in on what you missed.”
He wasn’t sure the world wasn’t ending after all. His father hadn’t been this laid-back about Axel’s failures since Helena died.
Glancing up, Father prompted, “Why are you still standing there? Come sit down so we can get started.”
Axel took a few strides forward and dropped into a chair. They proceeded to discuss the main points of the meeting, and his father was surprisingly calm throughout. By what miracle had he been offered this grace?
“So, how is your project coming along?” Father asked, folding his hands on the desktop and focusing fully on Axel.
“Project?”
“Convincing Katrin that marrying you is desirable, rather than the lesser of two evils.”
