A Royal Kiss and Tell

It was, in some ways, quite galling to him. When Leo was a young man, he’d wanted this sort of responsibility. He’d wanted to be a prince with a cause and had begged to be useful. But his father had given all real responsibility to Bas. Leo still recalled being denied the opportunity to join the cavalry because Bas was to join. He was still bitter about begging his father for something with purpose and being proclaimed the royal patron of the town criers. The bloody town criers.

There had been other things, and somewhere along the way, Leo had ceased to care about purpose. Purpose, he’d learned, was for Bas.

“Do you not want to know who she is, then?” his father asked jovially.

The king was proud of himself for this arrangement, and it clearly didn’t matter how Leo felt about it. He shrugged.

“Lady Eulalie Gaspar.”

Leo didn’t know any Gaspars, much less any Eulalies.

His father smiled coolly at Leo’s lack of enthusiasm and put his hand on his shoulder. He squeezed as if Leo was being a precocious child. “It’s already been arranged, Leopold. We mean to make the formal announcement when you’ve returned from England with your things well before the summer ends. You will court her properly for a few weeks and a formal announcement will be made by end of summer. But for all intents and purposes, you may consider yourself affianced.”

“I’m to consider myself affianced before I’ve even met her? Before I’ve even kissed her?” Leo asked coldly.

His father sighed and dropped his hand. “You know very well how these arrangements are made. Your mother and I ask very little of you, and this is something I need you to do.”

That they asked very little of him was at the heart of his discontent. “It’s not as if you are asking me to walk your dog,” Leo said.

“Son,” his father said sternly. “You always knew this day would come. You needn’t look as if I’ve commanded your head to be lopped off. It’s just a woman, for God’s sake.”

Just a woman. Not a wife, not a companion. Just a woman.

“Now go and speak kindly to the ambassador from Wesloria.” He nodded in the direction of the ambassador. “Ask after his horse—he claims to have a gelding who has clocked a faster speed than any horse known in this part of the world.” His father winked in a manner that was completely uncharacteristic and walked on, sipping his champagne before being swallowed up by people seeking his attention.

Leo stood in the same spot where his father had left him, stung and inwardly outraged. His father was right—he had known this day would come. But he’d thought there would at least be some discussion, that his desires would be taken into consideration.

He needed a drink and looked around for a footman. Not wine, thank you. Something heartier. Gin. Whisky.

He turned to see where the Weslorian ambassador was standing and spotted him in lively conversation with Hawke’s sister. Or rather, she was holding audience, her slender hands animating whatever tale she was imparting to the circle of gentlemen around her. Always attracting a crowd, that one. She suddenly tossed back her head and laughed loudly.

The ambassador seemed taken aback by it.

That woman.

Gregarious and loud. She laughed carelessly; she told tales that apparently required the expansive use of her hands. She touched an arm here, a back there. She was in a royal palace at a royal reception, having the time of her life with not a single care for how she appeared. Meanwhile, he was an impotent prince, where the rules of society and royal protocol dictated what he said, what he ate, who he bloody well would marry. He was the one commanded to make small talk about a bloody horse with someone he hardly knew and didn’t want to know, while she breezily chattered on about God knew what.

Leo must have been standing and staring for too long—he slowly became aware of people looking in his direction. People who looked as if they might want a word. A “word” generally led to unusual requests and introductions he did not want to make.

No. Leo wanted to escape this palace and everything that went with it. But since he couldn’t do that, he determined he would escape to meet his friends as planned.

In a poor attempt at self-encouragement, he told himself that all he needed was time. Just a little bit of time to figure out how to postpone his fate a little longer.

CHAPTER THREE