by Kelly Hunter
A knock on the door preceded the entry of Moriana of Liesendaach, formerly of Arun. She took one look at Sera and her brother, still on bended knee, and said, ‘Oh, now that’s a pretty look.’
‘Do you mind?’ Augustus asked her.
‘Oh, no. Not at all. Please. Continue. Don’t mind me.’ Moriana waved away his concerns. ‘Hi, Sera.’
Sera waved and the ring on her finger glinted.
Moriana’s smile broadened. ‘Does this mean I can have my six gold bracelets and Theo’s two golden goblets back? Because Theo did, in fact, get into trouble for donating those goblets to the cause. Not only are they insanely heavy, apparently they’re two thousand years old.’
Sera leaned forward and put her lips to Augustus’s ear. ‘I think you should get up now,’ she whispered. ‘I promise to make it worth your while later.’
The smile of unfiltered joy he bestowed on her was one she wanted to see at least once every day for the rest of her life.
‘We’re getting married,’ Augustus said.
Moriana rolled her eyes but her smile almost rivalled her brother’s. ‘I never would have guessed.’
‘And I need to speak with my future wife about exactly how quickly we can make that happen,’ he continued regally and pointed towards the door.
‘I can help you there.’ Moriana was enjoying herself way too much. ‘Royal weddings take time. Months. Years! And involve processions.’
‘Out!’ He sounded so commanding.
‘In the mountains of the High Reaches there’s a ceremony called a binding,’ Sera offered quietly. ‘It involves two people pledging their hearts into the other’s safe keeping. There are four witnesses, one for each point of the compass. It’s very simple. Will you do it with me?’
‘I’ll do it today and every day for the rest of my life,’ he promised, and touched his lips to hers.
When Sera finally surfaced, Moriana was gone and the door to the room was firmly closed.
‘How soon can we break you out of here?’ she asked, and placed a gentle hand to his shoulder and then to his heart.
‘They’re being overly cautious,’ he grumbled. ‘I can be out of here tonight.’
Uh-huh. She’d like to see him try.
‘One week,’ she promised. ‘One week today and with the mountains as our witness I will bind my heart to you.’
EPILOGUE
AUGUSTUS STOOD DRAPED in the ceremonial black furs that also served to keep the bitter cold at bay. He wore his royal uniform beneath the borrowed cloak because, for all that he was standing on a mountain with a blizzard closing in, he was still the King of Arun and carried the hopes of his people with him.
He’d been in the mountains for two days and had stayed in a sprawling fortress every bit as grand as any he’d ever stayed in. Sera had shown him the horses, the falcons, the temples and the steps carved into a mountain path that wove its way ever skyward in suicidal fashion. Only for her had he risen and bathed and dressed before dawn and climbed those icy steps, grateful for the burning torches carried by others and the chain ropes beaten into the rock centuries ago and the heavy-duty gloves lent to him by Ari this morning.
A High Reaches binding was not for those who lacked courage and the journey there was part of the process.
His sister and her unborn babe were here, swathed in ceremonial garb and red-gold furs. She would take the East point on the compass, the new dawn. The Lady Lianthe stood to the North, a guiding light, the voice of experience. His father stood to the South, the foundation stone for all that would grow. Princess Claudia of Byzenmaach took the West point and, while darkness and betrayal rode with her as part of her past, she wore love like a shield and had cloaked herself in purest white.
The sky overhead was a vivid blue, a perfect complement to the snowy white and the occasional slash of rocky grey.
There were the four points of the compass, an invisible circle connecting them, and only two sets of footprints within that circle.
They met at the centre, where a goblet of melted snow sat on a stony plinth, and if Theo thought his goblets were heavy they had nothing on this one.
Sera wore a cloak of grey to match her eyes and he couldn’t wait to see what was under it. Something similar to bridal wear, she’d told him demurely. Beyond that, he’d have to wait and see.
Her hair had been coiled atop her head and dressed with diamonds.
She wore a fine platinum necklace, matching earrings and the royal ring he’d given her one week earlier in lieu of an engagement ring.
She was loving and giving and his and he’d never felt more blessed.
There would be a wedding, of course. A royal one with cavalries and balconies and a kiss in full view of the people. It was expected. It was tradition. But this...this moment here was deeply, emphatically personal. Simple words meant for no one but the one receiving them.
Four witnesses, a sacred mountain, a cup full of water and a vivid blue sky.
And then Sera spoke.
‘My heart is pure and true and yours,’ she told him. ‘I offer it from a position of knowledge, power and freedom.’
It was all he’d ever hoped for.
‘I accept this priceless gift and I will never let you down,’ he promised and drank from the goblet.
And then it was his turn to say the words. ‘My heart is steadfast and often guarded because it carries with it the weight of a nation but to you I offer it freely and without reservation. It’s yours.’
‘I accept this priceless gift,’ she said, and drained her goblet. ‘And, let all here bear witness, I will never let you down.’
* * *
If you enjoyed Untouched Queen by Royal Command you’re sure to enjoy the first two instalments in Kelly Hunter’s Claimed by a King quartet!
Shock Heir for the Crown Prince
Convenient Bride for the King
Available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Greek’s Forbidden Innocent by Annie West.
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The Greek’s Forbidden Innocent
by Annie West
CHAPTER ONE
‘TAKE A DEEP BREATH, Carissa, and tell me slowly.’ Mina held her friend’s shoulders tight. ‘And another.’ She nodded encouragingly as Carissa’s breathing grew more normal. ‘That’s better.’
While Carissa focused on her breathing, Mina’s gaze searched for the source of her friend’s distress
. But there was nothing unusual in the entry to the other woman’s apartment. No blood. No disarray. No intruder. Just a large pink suitcase.
Yet something was definitely wrong. Carissa, the most easygoing person she knew, had grabbed Mina before she could open the door to her own apartment and yanked her in next door. There was real fear in Carissa’s china-blue eyes.
‘Come and sit and tell me about it.’
‘No!’ Carissa shook her head and a cloud of golden curls spilled around her shoulders. ‘There’s no time. They’ll be here soon. But I don’t want to go. I can’t go.’ Tears filled her eyes as her voice wobbled. ‘I want Pierre! But he’s not here in Paris. He’s abroad.’
That at least made sense. Pierre was Carissa’s boyfriend.
‘Don’t fret. No one’s going to make you go anywhere you don’t want to.’ Mina kept her voice calm, ushering her friend into the small sitting room and gently pushing her into a seat. Carissa’s whole body shook and her face was stark white.
Mina had received enough bad news herself to recognise shock. Her mother had died when she was young and just five years ago, when she was seventeen, her father had died unexpectedly from a brain aneurism.
Memories stirred of that terrifying time, held hostage in a palace coup after her father’s funeral. Then her sister Ghizlan’s sacrifice, forced to wed the coup leader, Huseyn, so he could become Sheikh. It seemed a lifetime away from Mina’s life now in France.
‘Tell me what’s up so I can help.’ Mina pulled a chair close and took Carissa’s hands. Her face was, for the first time Mina could recall, bare of make-up and her shirt wasn’t buttoned right. For Carissa this was a fashion catastrophe. More like Mina’s usual look than her own.
Mina’s frown deepened. ‘Has someone hurt you?’
Her stomach clenched as she remembered the day of the coup, the drench of icy fear as a soldier manhandled her, stopping her escape with brutal efficiency. She recalled the adrenalin rush galvanising her to fight back. It was the first time anyone had laid a hand on her. The first time she’d become aware of the sheer, physical power men could exert over women. Until then, Mina’s royal status had protected her.
Carissa was trusting and gentle, always looking for the best in people. If someone had taken advantage of her—
‘No, it’s nothing like that.’
Mina’s shoulders sagged. Relief rushed through her. In the years they’d studied together at a prestigious Paris art school, and since, she’d never seen Carissa distraught like this.
‘So who is coming? Where don’t you want to go?’
Carissa’s bottom lip quivered and she blinked hard.
‘Alexei Katsaros is sending someone. They’ll take me to his private island.’ A shudder ran through her. ‘But I don’t want to go. I can’t. Even when Dad told me about it, I never thought it would actually happen! You have to help me, Mina. Please.’
Mina’s worry eased and with it her frantic heartbeat. Not a life-and-death situation, then. She knew who Alexei Katsaros was. Who didn’t? He was a megawealthy IT entrepreneur. Carissa’s father was one of his executives.
‘Is it an invitation to visit your father? I’m sure Pierre would spare you for a short vacation.’
Carissa shook her head. ‘This isn’t a vacation. It’s an arranged marriage! Dad told me he hoped to organise it but I never thought he’d bring it off. Alexei Katsaros can have his pick of women.’
Mina said nothing. Carissa was extraordinarily pretty and sweet-natured. That, plus her innate desire to please, would appeal to lots of men.
‘I can’t go through with it, Mina.’ Carissa’s fingers bit into hers. ‘I could never love a man like that, so hard and judgemental. He wants a trophy wife, who’ll do what he wants when he wants. My father’s told him I’m pretty and biddable and...’ Her shoulders shook as the tears became sobs. ‘I never thought it would come to this. It seemed impossible, laughable. But I don’t have a choice. My father’s counting on me.’
Mina frowned. Arranged marriages she knew about. If her father had lived he’d have organised one for her.
‘I’m sure no one will force you into anything.’ Unlike in Jeirut. Her sister had been forced into an unwanted marriage and Mina remembered feeling utterly helpless at being unable to prevent it. It had been a miracle when, against the odds, the pair later fell in love. The match had seemed doomed to end in misery. ‘Your father will be there. If you explain—’
‘But he’s not there,’ Carissa wailed. ‘I don’t know where he is. I can’t contact him. And I can’t say no to Mr Katsaros. Dad warned me there’d been some trouble at work. He didn’t say what, but I think his job’s on the line. He’s hoping this marriage will smooth everything over.’ Carissa clung to Mina’s hands, her fingers curling into talons. ‘But I could never marry such a hard man. He has a new woman every week. Besides, Pierre and I are in love. We’re getting married.’ A flicker of happiness transformed her teary features.
‘You’re getting married?’ Mina stared. She shouldn’t be surprised; the pair were besotted.
Carissa’s smile died. ‘We were planning to elope next weekend, when he’s back from this business trip. Pierre says it will be easier to face his family with a fait accompli.’
Pierre rose in Mina’s estimation. He was a lovely guy but he’d never stood up to his stiff-necked family who wanted him to marry someone from old French money.
‘But I can’t marry him if I’m forced to marry Alexei Katsaros!’ Carissa’s tears overflowed.
‘Did Katsaros say he wanted to marry you?’
‘As good as. He said my father had told him about me and he was anxious to meet. He believed we’d find a lot in common and that we had a future together.’ Carissa bit her lip. ‘I tried to fob him off but he didn’t hear a word I said. He cut me off and said his staff would be here in an hour to collect me. What will I do?’
Mina frowned. She didn’t like the sound of this. He might be rich but that didn’t excuse rudeness or give him the right to order Carissa around.
‘Tell me again exactly what your father told you.’
But as Carissa spoke, Mina’s hope that her friend had overreacted dissolved. There’d recently been a rift between her father and his employer. After years of faithful service it seemed Katsaros might dump him. Mina couldn’t approve of Mr Carter’s plan to use Carissa to cement his position, but such things happened. Several of Mina’s peers in Jeirut had been married to older men they barely knew to strengthen family or business links.
She gritted her teeth, watching Carissa’s hands flutter as she related the one-sided conversation with Alexei Katsaros. He hadn’t invited Carissa to his island hideaway but simply informed her of the travel arrangements. As if she were freight to be transported, not a woman with a life of her own.
Mina’s temper rose like steam from a kettle.
She prized her freedom, appreciating how different her life was in Paris, away from a world where every major decision was made by the male head of her family. Western women accepted freedom as their right, not knowing how precious that was. And here was some billionaire bully, trying to snatch that from Carissa. With the help of her own father!
It wasn’t right.
‘And there’s nothing I can do.’ Carissa sniffled.
‘Of course there is. They can’t force you onto the plane. Or into marriage.’
‘I can’t not go. What about my father’s job?’ She hiccupped. ‘But if I go, what about Pierre? His family will find a way to stop our wedding.’
Mina wanted to tell Carissa to grow a backbone and stand up for herself. But Carissa wasn’t made that way. Besides, she cared for her father, though he’d got her into this mess. Plus it sounded, from other things she’d said, as if Mr Carter hadn’t recovered from his wife’s recent death. That might explain why he’d slipped up at work. A good employer would make al
lowances for grief. Mina suspected Alexei Katsaros was a domineering tyrant, considering no one but himself.
Irresistibly, her thoughts dragged back to those fraught days after her father’s death. Her future and her sister’s had hung in the balance, their fate determined by a man with little sympathy for their hopes and wishes.
Mina remembered the horror of being utterly powerless.
She refused to let Carissa become a chattel to buy her father out of trouble, or satisfy Katsaros’s desire for a convenient, biddable wife.
‘I’ve packed a bag. I can’t reach my father, so I’ll have to go. But it means leaving Pierre.’ Carissa wrung her hands and Mina felt something snap inside.
Carissa was sweet but she had as much grit as a marshmallow. Between them, Katsaros and Carter could herd her into a marriage that would make her miserable for the rest of her life. Mina couldn’t change her friend into a woman who’d look a thug in the eye and send him packing, or tell her father he couldn’t marry her off to a stranger. But she could delay things long enough for Carissa and Pierre to marry. A few days, a week at most.
‘How long before they collect you?’
Carissa’s answer was drowned by a sharp rap on the door. She gasped and grabbed Mina’s hands.
The last shred of doubt fled Mina’s brain as she read her friend’s terror and despair. Carissa was a pushover, but Mina wasn’t.
She got to her feet.
* * *
‘Still no sign of Carter, sir. He hasn’t been home.’
Alexei’s grip tightened on the phone and he ground his teeth in frustration. But he refrained from chewing out the head of his London office. It wasn’t MacIntyre’s fault Carter had done a bunk. Alexei should have acted sooner, but initially he hadn’t wanted to believe Carter’s guilt. The man had been at his side for years, the only person Alexei really trusted.
That was why his betrayal cut so deep. Trust came hard to Alexei. He’d seen his mother betrayed and cast aside, made into a victim and her life shortened, because she trusted too easily.