Her soft hand covered his. “Someone will. Pretty sure I’ve seen the real you the last couple of days, and I can assure you that some lucky girl will be that for you.”
Darius had wanted to ask her the same question but was scared of the answer. Even sitting on that balcony, he’d wanted to take Star by the hand and run away together.
Instead, he’d pulled her over to his chair and kissed her like he meant it. For years, Isaiah had told him and his brothers that they deserved whatever they could take from any woman outside their own family. Darius knew better. His father had never behaved like that, and he knew his mother would never have put up with it.
But, with Star, it was different. Darius knew the soft touches, the gentle kisses, the passionate embraces - they all should have been off-limits, but instead he ignored the small voice inside. It sounded too much like a very disappointed version of his father, so Darius squashed it.
Now he stood with his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he stared out the window of another palace, at the same ocean, and wondered if he and Esther would ever get to the place Dare and Star had been for those few days.
The door behind Darius opened, and he turned to see Esther smile and laugh as she waved to someone else down the hall.
But then the door closed.
Her shoulders slumped.
Her whole body crumpled against the door as she struggled to stay on her feet and off the floor.
Darius sprang into motion, hurrying to her side. Carefully, he pulled her to him, his arm around her waist. “Come on. Let’s get you to a chair.”
Instead of an actual chair, Darius sat on a sofa and helped her sit next to him. She pulled her legs up but curled into him at the same time.
“The baby’s beautiful,” she whispered. “Absolutely perfect. Astrid’s been mostly on bedrest for months. Not really, but she had to take it super easy because she’d gone into labor early. He smells like everything a baby should smell like. Sounds like a baby. Snuggles like one. Roots for his mother like every newborn since creation.”
“You’ll have that,” he promised her. “You’ll have your own newborn who snuggles, and makes those noises, and smells, and roots.” Darius kissed the side of her head.
She pulled away from him. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Before he could respond, she was out of the living area and into her bedroom.
What exactly had he said? Promised that there would be another child?
Did she detest him so much that the thought of a baby with him was repulsive? Didn’t she know there would be no one else for either one of them? Even if Benjamin never filed the paperwork, their marriage was legal and binding and forever.
His phone buzzed. A text from a girl at University, one he was working on a project with. He’d canceled their working lunch when Esther wanted to go home early. She’d called, texted, and emailed several times but he hadn’t responded yet.
This time he would. A quick text told her of a family emergency, and he was out of town for at least a couple of days. The birth of a baby didn’t qualify as an emergency, but his wife’s sanity did.
Maybe he needed a shower.
With a groan, he remembered that he had no luggage. Surely whatever he needed could be obtained, but he was pretty sure no one was supposed to know he was here.
Darius walked to her door, left cracked open. “Esther?” he called. “I need to talk to you.”
“Go away.” Her voice came over the sound of running water in a connected bathroom.
“I need to talk to you,” he reiterated. When she didn’t answer, he continued. “I’ll be waiting here, in your room, when you’re done.”
He sat on one of the chairs only to find it was hard. With a shrug, he flopped down on the bed to wait.
5
With her still sopping wet hair pulled up into a sloppy bun, Esther went back into her room, hoping Darius had taken a slow boat to Eyjania. Or China. Either would be fine.
Instead, he was flopped on his back. On her bed. Legs crossed at the ankle and one arm propped behind his head as he watched television on the screen that dropped out of her ceiling.
Which meant he’d dug through the drawers of her side table for the remotes.
The drawer where she’d stashed a few mementos from their time in Islas del Sargasso. The do not disturb sign. A note he’d left when he had something he had to do one morning before she woke up. An origami swan he’d spent an hour making after looking up the instructions online.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Some.” The tears had been cathartic, but catharsis didn’t always last. Sometimes you needed multiple rounds. “Why are you in here?”
“Because I need to go shopping.” He held up the remote and clicked the mute button. “And I want you to go with me.”
“What do you need to shop for?”
“Clothes. I didn’t bring anything with me. Just went to the airport and headed straight here as soon as I could get a plane.”
“You mean a flight?” He meant a flight, didn’t he?
“No. A plane. Like a private rental.” He shrugged. “I’ve got the money to rent one so I did.”
“That’s how you got here half an hour after I did.”
“I landed before you but getting into the palace proved a bit trickier when I wasn’t on the approved visitor list.” He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his arm.
“So you need clothes? You can borrow something from one of my brothers.” Even when she said it, she knew it wouldn’t work. Their styles were completely different and the sizes didn’t match up. Not when none of them wore anything truly off-the-rack. “Send someone to get what you need. There’s literally a whole palace of staff at your beck and call.”
Not at hers, though. Her assistant had been reassigned to Anabelle, as had her stylist. They told her they’d be happy to assist her while she was in San Majoria, but she didn’t want to split their time when Anabelle was about to make such a major announcement.
“I’d rather go myself. With you, since I don’t know my way around.”
“And neither of us actually drives, so how do you plan to get there?”
He winced. “That’s where you also come in. Surely you can get someone to drive us to a market somewhere.”
“And have someone recognize us? And take pictures of us together? And start the rumor mill?”
Darius rolled over and stood on his knees in front of her. Esther had to look up at him. “We’re already married, Esther. What’s the rumor mill going to say that isn’t true?” He ran a finger down the side of her face. “I didn’t say a thing about holding your hand or making out with you in public. All anyone will see, if they see anything, is a San Majorian princess helping an Eyjanian prince find some clothes.”
“And you don’t think everyone will read into that?”
He shrugged, his hand resting on her shoulder as his thumb brushed up and down the side of her neck. “What if they do? The most anyone will think is that we’ve been flirting a bit and speculation might pick up that there could possibly, maybe, be a relationship between the two families. No one will guess at the truth.”
That the relationship between the two nations had nearly been given its first heir in centuries. That some day it likely would.
“When was the last time someone from your family married someone from mine?”
A lopsided grin crossed his face. “In 1702. I looked it up. A San Majorian prince got an Eyjanian princess pregnant and tried to turn his back on her. The Eyjanian king and San Majorian queen were livid at both kids. The Treaty of 1702 ensured that should it ever happen again, the wronged country could force the monarch to give up the throne and be replaced by someone of the other monarch’s choosing. If your father invoked the Treaty, he could have made Benjamin give up the throne and put whoever he wanted on it, likely you given what he said.”
That was what the Treaty of 1702 was? “So you only married me because your
brother would have lost his throne, and you wouldn’t be a prince anymore?”
Darius groaned. “No. I wanted to stay with Star as much as you wanted to stay with Dare. I figured we could find a way to make it work. And it was the right thing to do, regardless of my brother and any international implications.”
She stared into his eyes, so close and yet so far at the same time. It wouldn’t take much for her to kiss him, just lean in a little bit. Instead, she took a step back. “Fine. Let’s go shopping.” Far easier than standing so close to him.
Turning to go back into her closet to change and at least pull on a hat over her hair, she stopped when Darius grabbed her arm and turned her back toward him.
His blue eyes were soft, more like Dare’s than she’d seen in months. “We need to figure this out, Esther. It’s you and me, whatever that ends up meaning. Living here or in Eyjania or splitting our time or whatever, it’s me and you together.”
He looked like he wanted to kiss her, but before he could, she pulled away, and he let her go without a fight.
What would that look like in a year when they were both finished with college. What was his dream? Be a “royal” and do charity work but not much else? Hold down an actual job of some kind? And if so what?
For that matter, what did she want to do? A degree in non-profit management could come in handy. Maybe.
Esther shook her head to clear it as she quickly changed clothes, towel-dried her hair and bobby-pinned it into a bun then grabbed a beach hat.
Maybe no one would recognize them, and she could escape back to Serenity Landing without any further notice from the press.
And maybe pigs had learned to fly.
Someone scrounged up a hat and sunglasses for Darius to wear. When they exited the vehicle, he tugged it a little more solidly down on his head but didn’t reach for Esther’s hand like he wanted to.
No. If anyone recognized them on this jaunt, it would seem like two friends out shopping. That’s all.
Good thing they didn’t wear rings.
That would definitely get noticed.
It reminded him that he probably should back in Serenity Landing. It might keep girls from flirting with him. A ring would also remind him he really shouldn’t flirt back, even if he was annoyed with Esther and trying to get her attention.
“Where first?” she asked from underneath her own floppy straw hat and behind sunglasses that probably belonged in the 80s.
“I need clothes.”
“I know that. What kind? Jeans? A suit? Shoes?”
“A couple pairs of jeans and shorts and a few shirts should be fine. We won’t be here long, will we?”
“I have class on Monday.”
“So do I. And since it’s now Friday evening, I need clothes for a couple of days. Do you attend church on Sunday?”
“Usually. I don’t know if I will this weekend or not. Since I’ve been away inexplicably for so long, my presence could be more of a distraction than it’s worth.”
She led him into a fairly generic store for young adults. In about five minutes, she had him loaded down with several styles of jeans and shorts along with a few shirts.
“Go try those on.” Esther sat in one of the chairs near the dressing rooms.
“Am I supposed to come back out and show you?” He’d never shopped like this before, though he suspected his sisters had.
“If you want or if you’re not sure if something fits right, maybe.” Her phone came out of her purse. Her sunglasses had stayed on.
A clerk let him into one of the dressing rooms. It didn’t matter much to him which jeans or shirt he tried on first. She’d asked his size in the car so they should fit. Even though he was pretty sure he looked like he was supposed to, Darius exited the small room. “How’s this?”
Esther looked up, over the top of her sunglasses. “You look fine.”
Fine? She’d barely glanced at him.
A rack nearby held what he presumed were articles of clothing someone had decided not to purchase. One of the shirts called to him. This time, he emerged wearing tan cargo shorts and a teal and yellow tropical print shirt.
“How about now?” He put his hands on his hips in a superhero pose.
This time she actually looked at him, doing a double take. “That shirt is all kinds of hideous.”
That meant he’d take it and wear it occasionally just to annoy her.
With a grin, he ignored her ignoring him again and went back to change. He didn’t bother coming out with the other clothes but grabbed a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts, then asked the associate to find him a couple more pairs in the same style and size. It would work to keep here for the time being. He picked the tropical print shirt along with a few others in various styles and checked out. Unfortunately, when he looked in his wallet, all he had was Eyjanian bills. And no plastic good outside his own country, and every one of them had his name.
“Hey, Star,” he called to Esther who still sat in the chair. “I need your help really quick.”
She sighed but came to his aid. “What’s the issue?”
He told her.
“I got it.” She pulled her own wallet out of her bag and handed over some cash.
Darius suspected she didn’t want to use a card for the same reason. “Thank you,” he told both Esther and the clerk as he took the plastic bag from her.
The clerk’s eyes seemed to narrow at them just a little bit as she told them to have a nice day.
“Are we done?” she asked as they left the store.
“I want a snack.” Actually, he hadn’t eaten since he got off the plane. “But first I need cash.” An ATM nearby would charge him a fee to get money from his bank in Eyjania, but that didn’t matter.
But instead of money, he got a slip of paper saying his card had been inactivated.
“What is it?” Esther asked as he read it again.
“My brother, or more likely my uncle, has cut me off.” He showed her the paper. “Good thing I already paid for our return flight.” He’d used that card, too. Hopefully, it wouldn’t screw things up.
Esther used a card of her own to get money out of the machine. She handed it to him. “Here. It’s from my personal account, an inheritance from my great-grandmother outside of the family’s money. It’s not much, but it’s mine.”
He sensed it was important to her to have something that wasn’t hers because of the monarchy in some form. There had been no queens in San Majoria’s recent past, so her great-grandmother had to have married into the family. Her great-grandmother’s family of origin likely came from money because that’s the way things were done in royal families, even a couple of generations ago. She could also be Queen Miriam’s grandmother, but either way, it meant something to Esther that it was separate.
And she’d given it to him.
“I’ll pay you back.” Once he talked to Benjamin and convinced him to unfreeze whatever accounts had been frozen.
Esther just gave him a single shoulder shrug. “Whatever.”
He’d planned to buy her something to eat, but it didn’t seem quite the same when the money was hers to start with. “Why don’t we just go back to your place?” He couldn’t call it the palace in case one of the nearby shoppers overheard. “There’s food there, right?”
She nodded and pulled out her phone to send a text then motioned to the guard who’d been following them around. In a few minutes, they were seated on opposite sides of the car as it drove back toward the palace. Esther had finally removed her sunglasses, but still stared at her phone.
“Here.” He handed the bills back to her. “I don’t need them after all.”
Esther stared at his offering then shook her head. “I don’t want it.”
That didn’t make any sense. Darius would hold onto it and give it back to her later. It mattered to her. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t take it back, but he did know it mattered.
With her new nephew snuggled in her arms, Esther struggle
d to keep her happy face on. After a few minutes of rocking and letting the conversation flow around her, she handed Prince David Edward Marcus to Anabelle saying she didn’t want to hog his time.
Anabelle carried him to a nearby sofa while Kensington sat next to Esther.
“I heard something,” he told her.
“What’s that?”
“Voices in your apartment.”
“Probably the television.” She didn’t look at him but stared at his wife and the new baby.
“One voice was definitely yours, and you were arguing with someone. A man.”
The concern in his voice was enough to bring tears to her eyes, if they weren’t already filled to the brim. She didn’t respond.
“Who’s in there?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Does Father know?”
Esther snorted. “Does anything go on in this building that Father doesn’t know?”
“If I ask him about the man in your quarters?”
“He’ll tell you to mind your own business.” Maybe. “How’s Gracie?”
At least she’d finally figured out one reason why the match between herself and Darius had been made. Anabelle was to have married Benjamin before her brother ran off and eloped with her. Instead someone, likely Anabelle’s grandfather, had kidnapped Anabelle’s much younger sister Gracie and kept her captive for a couple of months before she was rescued.
“She’s great. Excited about being a big sister. Loving having a mama and daddy. Wishing she could get to know her other aunt.”
The barb stung as he’d intended it to. Gracie couldn’t care less about getting to know Esther, but Kensington wanted her to know her absence had been noticed.
“There was nothing I could have done,” she told him, crossing her arms over herself. “If I’d shown up, I would have distracted from the search.” A consequence of already being gone for several months at the time. Instead she texted Kensington her support often. Sometimes he responded.
More often he didn’t.
Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1 Page 55