A bedroom.
Probably his.
Darius finally let go of her but turned to glare. “You want to fight with me? Fine, but not in front of anyone else.”
Esther glared back. “Turns out I like Dare a whole lot more than Prince Darius. But we took the vows, and now I’m stuck with you. Don’t be a jerk, and we’ll be fine.”
“I’m not the jerk. You knew who I was and never said anything.” With his arms crossed over his chest and that glare, he wasn’t nearly as cute as he had been in Sargasso.
“Not until you left me in the middle of the night,” she argued back. “I found your card on the floor the next morning.”
“You weren’t trying to snag yourself a prince?”
Esther threw back her head and laughed. “Oh please. I’m a princess. I have two brothers who are princes. Someday, my husband would have been granted that title, too. I certainly didn’t need a man who already had it. If I did, I wouldn’t have picked you.”
“That’s not what you said a few weeks ago.” He took a step closer to her. “In fact, if I remember right, you wished we could stay there forever.”
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. If I thought I could get away with never seeing you again, I’d be good with that.”
He took another step closer, and her heart thumped in her chest. Despite her frustration with him, the attraction remained very real.
His fingers threaded through her hair, his lips came down hard on hers, then gentled. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer.
The intensity increased until Esther felt his thumb brush against the skin at the small of her back.
She froze.
Darius didn’t seem to notice, his kisses moving across her cheek to her ear and down the line of her neck.
“Darius.”
“Star,” he murmured.
She moved her hands to his chest and pushed hard until he took a step back.
Her heart broke at the lack of emotion on his face. “Don’t touch me again. We’ll put on a happy face in public, but alone? The baby is all the confirmation they’ll get.”
“Then I’ll tell Benjamin, and he can nullify this farce of a thing.”
“And my father will bring the Treaty of 1702 into play.” Whatever that was. Her father had just told her it would force their hand if necessary. “Our flight leaves in an hour.” Or it would after she made a phone call. “Will you be joining me?”
2
Five Months Later
Esther shoved her notebook into her backpack. No matter how often Darius made fun of her for taking notes longhand, she didn’t plan on doing it any other way.
He didn’t show any indication of taking his courses seriously, though. He just didn’t want to get a job. She wondered if her father put any stipulations on grades.
With her backpack slung over one shoulder, she left the classroom and headed for the atrium where she’d wait until Darius’s class ended then they’d both be driven home by one of their security team members.
Neither one of them had ever learned to drive.
Esther wished she had, but she’d never had a compelling reason to. They wouldn’t be allowed to attend classes without security anyway.
For the most part, she found her classes interesting, but she’d only told her father she wanted to attend Serenity Landing University as a way to get out of both San Majoria and Eyjania for an indefinite period of time. To be pregnant away from the prying eyes of royal media.
That hadn’t quite turned out as planned.
“Are you all right?” The female voice didn’t surprise her, though maybe it should have.
Esther looked up from where her hand rested on her flat stomach. “I’m okay. It’s been a long day.”
A long week.
A long summer.
A long year.
A long life.
“Want to grab a bite to eat before you and your brother head home? He’s got another class, right?”
Esther met Abi Harders her first day of class the fall semester. Despite the fifteen or so year age difference, they’d hit it off. Esther never told Abi that Darius was her brother, but the assumption had been made nonetheless.
“I’m not hungry, but thanks. Darius and I will probably grab a bite on the way home.” More likely they’d eat something separately at the house and never say a word to each other.
“He has a lunch date.”
Abi’s words hurt but no more than any of the other times she’d heard something similar. “He does?”
“I heard him talking to a girl in our psychology class. They arranged to have lunch today to work on a project.”
She wasn’t sure if that was the truth, but it still made Esther feel a little better. “I guess I can.”
They grabbed sandwiches, chips, and drinks from the little café on one end of the atrium and took them to a table just a bit down one of the hallways. All the ones in the atrium itself were full.
“So where are you from?” Abi asked. “You’ve never said, but I can’t place your accent.”
“A small country in the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Bermuda and Puerto Rico.” That could be either San Majoria or Islas del Sargasso. If Abi looked it up.
“But Darius has a different accent, doesn’t he?”
Esther nodded. “He grew up in a different country.”
“But he’s your brother. How did that work?”
With her sandwich at the ready, Esther answered. “I never actually said he was my brother.” She took a big bite to prevent herself from immediately answering any other questions.
“Oh.” Abi took a minute to absorb that. “I guess I assumed, but you never corrected me.”
“Didn’t seem that important,” Esther muttered around her mouthful.
“You’re not dating, are you?”
She shook her head. Married, but not dating. “Our fathers were best friends before his died over a decade ago. We’re attending school together because my father and his older brother, who is kind of their family patriarch now, decided it was the best plan.”
“So roommates.”
“That’s probably the best description.” Her father bought a house, and they lived in it. They didn’t share a bedroom or affection or anything beyond the minimal discussion necessary. Darius seemed to be gone often, though she had no idea where he went.
Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. “That’s my father. Excuse me.” She swiped across the phone and held it to her ear as she walked down the hall to a quieter spot. “Hello?”
“Esther?”
“Hi, Papa.” He didn’t know about the baby. No one did. Those who lived with her should, but no one said anything if they were curious. She hadn’t even talked to Darius about it. He hadn’t even said anything when she went from crocheting 24/7 to never being seen with yarn again. The baby blanket she’d been making would go unfinished forever.
“I wanted to let you know that Astrid is in labor. The baby should be here in a few hours. They’re getting ready to head to the hospital, so it will likely hit social media soon, and I didn’t want you to find out that way.”
She leaned against the wall as a knife stabbed at her heart. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll be home from school soon and won’t have to be anywhere until Monday if I don’t want to. When can I come home to meet the baby?” Maybe he’d say she could leave this evening.
She’d collapse into her mother’s arms and never leave the palace again.
Darius could do whatever he wanted.
She didn’t care what he did.
Except she did care.
About Dare.
Because she knew Dare was in there somewhere. He couldn’t have faked that.
“We’ll see.” Her father remained noncommittal about it, just like he was every other time she mentioned a visit. “There’s one more piece of news that will be announced this week. Kensington and Anabelle are also expecting a child.�
�
The knife twisted round and round. “Thank you for letting me know.” She knew her voice sounded dull, wooden.
“I know you wish your own announcement could be met with the same excitement these will be.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll figure it out after the baby’s here, my little star.” A noise in the background told her he needed to go. “I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Papa.” But he was already gone.
It took a minute to regain her composure, but she pushed off and started back for the table. Could she just go sit in the car for the next hour - or longer - until Darius was ready to leave? Or have someone take her home and come back for him?
“Everything all right?” Abi asked again.
“Just news from home. Everyone’s fine.” Everyone but her.
Abi stood and grabbed her bag. “I’m sorry to run after asking you to stay, but I just got called into work. I’ll see you next week, okay?”
Esther nodded, grateful she’d be left alone. Slowly, she gathered her own things and went to sit outside.
“Anything I can help you with?” Ian, the security guard who stayed with them most of the time, sat down next to her.
“I know Darius is going to be a while, but is there a way I can get home as soon as possible? I’d rather not wait.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.” She held out her hand. “I won’t drive, but can I go sit in the car?” She’d done it before.
“Of course.”
Keys in hand, she found the vehicle and slid into the front passenger seat. Darius with his much longer legs usually commandeered it, but today she didn’t care.
It surprised her when a few minutes later, both Darius and Ian showed up. Neither said a word as they drove away.
Darius wondered what could have upset Esther enough for security to text him that they had to leave early. He’d left his class with an apologetic whisper to the instructor and hadn’t said a thing when he had to fold himself into the back seat. His knees would ache, but clearly Esther was upset, and he didn’t want to fight.
The last real conversation they’d had was the disagreement after their wedding, before she pushed him away, told him not to touch her, and walked off. He’d done his best to respect her wishes. She’d taken the nicer of the bedrooms, complete with its own bathroom when they arrived in Serenity Landing.
Then locked him out.
He took a different room and tried to stay out of her way, often leaving the house to spend time at the library, where it was quiet.
An alert sounded on his phone.
Princess Astrid, heir apparent to the throne of San Majoria, has been taken to the hospital where she will give birth to her second child and first with second husband, Prince Jordan, previously of Canada.
Could that be it? Security said she’d gotten a phone call. Maybe it was her father giving her the good news.
Maybe she would finally tell him what happened to his baby.
He wasn’t stupid, though not always the most observant. Based on their days in Sargasso, he’d done the math, or let an online calculator do it for him. She should be showing by now. Having doctor’s appointments regularly. Though he was trying to stay out of her way, he knew those weren’t happening.
The question was why.
The drive home passed in silence. Esther went straight to her room and closed the door. He heard the lock on the knob click into place.
“Esther?” he called giving a quick knock.
She didn’t answer.
He reached for the key above the door. “I’m coming in.”
“Go away.” The muffled words hinted at heartbreak.
“I’m coming in,” he told her again. “Do you want to unlock the door, or should I use the key?”
He could hear her frustrated growl and her footsteps as she walked toward the door. It flung open to reveal a woman much more disheveled than she had been moments earlier.
“What?”
“I want to talk to you.”
“Go away.” She turned and walked back toward the bed, though she didn’t close the door behind her.
He followed but stopped to close the door. Whatever this was, security didn’t need to be a part of it. “Want to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“Whatever’s bothering you. I saw the alert that Astrid’s having her baby. Do you want to be there? Is that what this is?”
“Part of it,” she admitted, sitting in the large armchair and pulling her legs to her chest. She definitely shouldn’t be able to do that if she was due in November.
“What else?” he asked softly, sitting on the table in front of her chair. “What’s got you so torn up?”
She pulled a blanket over her body and huddled underneath it. “Kensington and Anabelle are making an announcement of their own this week, too.”
“They’re having a baby.” At least Darius didn’t have to worry about any of his siblings making the same splash.
Esther nodded, tears streaking down her face.
Darius reached out and rested a hand on her knee. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. Go away.”
The chair was big enough that he could squeeze in next to her. With his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Sobs began to shake her shoulders. Two sets of happy news, neither of which made her happy.
He wanted to ask, to demand to know what happened to their baby, but he couldn’t bring himself to inflict more pain.
Eventually, the shaking slowed, and her breathing evened out. When she finally went limp, he knew she’d gone to sleep. Probably the best thing for her. Could he get her over to the bed, though?
Carefully, gently, he maneuvered until he could stand up and lift her into his arms. The bed remained unmade from the night before so he was able to lay her directly on it. All he needed to do was get her shoes off and cover her up.
“Don’t leave me, Dare.” Her murmur stopped him short.
She’d said it once before. The night he left. Her suggestion that they stay in that little hut together forever scared him because he’d found himself wanting the same thing. He’d known he couldn’t have it with a random girl he met at a resort in Sargasso, so he had to leave. As he watched her sleep for a final moment, she’d said the same thing.
This time would be different. He toed off his shoes and went around until he could climb into the bed next to her. After tugging the covers up over them both, he wrapped an arm around her and held her as he dozed off.
The room was noticeably darker when he woke up, but that was the second thing he noticed.
The first was Esther. Kissing him.
He kissed her back, the way he’d longed to do since he left her the last time. Neither of them said anything as they finally fulfilled the last requirement to make their marriage truly legal.
Esther fell back asleep first. If, as he suspected, she’d been sleeping as well as he had, both of them could use an extra long night.
So again, he held her as she slept. Prayed for her as tears came in her sleep. Prayed for both of them as he started to doze.
And when he woke up, he was alone.
3
Three layovers.
That’s what it took to get home.
Esther took the first flight she could get out of the Springfield-Branson National Airport. It went to Minnesota. From there, she caught a flight to Chicago and then Atlanta. Atlanta had a direct flight to Cabo Juan-Eduardo.
It would have been much faster if she’d just gotten permission from her father and chartered a plane.
By the time she landed, she knew the baby had been born, but that was the only announcement that had been made. Unless she missed her guess, they were holding off on releasing more details until they were able to reach her.
She’d only told Harrison she was on her way about half an hour before her flight
landed. He said he’d arrange to pick her up at the airport and wouldn’t let anyone else know.
He must have used some of his leverage as a member of the family because when she exited onto the jetway, she was pulled aside and taken down a separate set of stairs outside then through a secure area that wasn’t the terminal.
Harrison waited in an office. She gave him a big hug but didn’t explain her absence or why she chose to reappear. Her picture had surely been taken by others on the plane and would begin to make the rounds on social media, but her hair was much longer than it had been in March when she left San Majoria the last time, so she could hold out a little bit of hope that no one recognized her.
“Everyone is going to be ecstatic to see you,” he told her as they followed airport security to where the car was parked. “Do you have a bag we need to get?”
She shook her head. “I figured I had enough clothes here already. The trip was spur of the moment when I woke up this morning.”
With Darius in her bed. And a very clear memory of what had transpired the night before. She wouldn’t be the one left behind this time.
The car drove straight to the palace. As they pulled up to the portico, she noticed an alert on her phone from one of the local news services.
Princess Esther has been spotted on a flight into San Majoria as Crown Princess Astrid has just given birth. This is the first official sighting of the princess since early March.
“Word’s getting out.” Which meant Darius would know soon, too.
“You had to know it would.”
“Are Astrid and the baby here or at the hospital?” She probably should have asked sooner.
“The hospital. Should I have had the car take you there?”
Esther shook her head. “No, but now that I’m here, they can make whatever announcements they need to and come home.”
Her parents walked into the reception room as Esther and Harrison made their way across it. Mother opened her arms for Esther to walk into.
“I’ve missed you, darling,” her mother whispered as her father wrapped his arms around both of them. “We need to talk.”
Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1 Page 53