The Lost Princes of Ambria 06 - Taming the Lost Prince (7 page)

The fact that there
was
a hall of portraits was a miracle. During the original rebellion, when the Granvillis had burned most of the castle and killed the king and queen—the parents of the current crop of princes, as well as of King Monte, Pellea’s husband—they had destroyed everything they could get their hands on that might remind anyone of the deposed monarchy. A lot of paintings burned that night, but many of the most important ones were spirited out by various servants who hid them with relatives for the twenty-five years of the Granvilli regime.

After the restoration of the DeAngelis monarchy, when the castle archivist began to collect them and bring them home, there was a wave of emotion in the populace that touched them all. It was so very important to have these beautiful pictures to tell the story of what their history had been.

Kayla found Max gazing up at a huge stately portrait of his great grandfather. The fine-looking royal was wearing an ermine-lined cape and looking quite imperial and majestic.

“Quite a handsome bunch, your ancestors,” she noted, sliding in beside him and looking up as well. She felt proud for him, proud for Ambria. She only hoped he understood what it meant to be a part of this.

“They certainly seem well-turned out,” he agreed. “But then, you’ve always got artistic flattery on your side when you’re royalty.” He gave her a mock jab in the ribs with his elbow. “The artist makes them beautiful or he doesn’t get paid, I would think.”

“Maybe.” She gave him a sideways look. “But from the evidence presented by your brothers, I’d chock it all up to good genes.”

He shrugged and she frowned, not sure he was sufficiently impressed.

“After all, the blood of these very people flows in your veins,” she pointed out.

He grunted. “Let’s hope none of them were bleeders or vampires,” he said lightly. “Don’t those two things tend to run in this kind of family?”

For some reason him saying that made her absolutely furious. Did he really not understand how important his own family was? Or was he just trying to drive her crazy?

“There is no such thing as vampires,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Maybe not,” he said, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “But I’m going to start being more careful with the morning shave. You never know.”

“No one in the DeAngelis family has ever shown any signs of hemophilia,” she protested, trying hard not to let him see how annoyed she was. “Just forget it.”

He gave her a look that infuriated her even further, then shrugged again and turned away as though it hardly affected him anyway. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She knew she was being overly sensitive, and that he was playing on her emotions like a skilled musician. She had to hold it back. She couldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing her feelings like this.

Slowly, she followed as he examined one portrait after another. She’d been here often in the last few months and she didn’t have to look at the labels to know who each one was. She was ready to answer any of his questions, but he didn’t say another word and she wondered what he was thinking.

No matter what, he had to be fascinated by the imposing DeAngelis family. Who could help it? And to think that he’d suddenly found out he was one of them.

They’d walked the length of the hall and then they both went out onto the terrace that overlooked the royal fields. Leaning against the massive stone guardrail, he smiled at her and her annoyance with his attitude began to melt away. She really couldn’t resist that smile.

“Did you talk to Pellea?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. We had a little chat.”

“And?”

He eyed her questioningly. “What? You think I’m going to tell you everything I told her?”

She pulled back quickly. “No. Of course not.”

He laughed and reached out to push her hair behind her ear and then pull her closer again. “But you know I would. If there was anything to tell.”

“You didn’t come up with anything?” Her skin tingled where his fingers had touched and she frowned, trying to ignore it.

He hesitated. “Not anything sure. Or substantive.” He shrugged and changed the subject. “I can’t get over you being here like this,” he said. “What are the odds that we would both end up in the Ambrian castle? That was certainly a stroke of luck.”

“Yes, wasn’t it?”

She looked at his beautiful eyes and the hard, tanned planes of his handsome face and she knew he belonged with the men and women in those huge, gorgeously painted portraits in the hall. Someday his image would hang there with them. That was his destiny. Surely he knew that. Didn’t he?

“So how did Pellea find you, anyway?” he was asking her. “You said your sister had something to do with it?”

“I told you we’d known each other before. When my sister and her husband moved here, Caroline went to Pellea and told her about me and my situation and let her know I was looking for a job. It just so happened that she was looking for an assistant. So everything fell into place.”

“Good timing. Life can happen that way sometimes.”

She nodded ruefully. “Not often.”

“No.” A shadow flickered through his gaze. “Not often.”

They stood silently for a moment, each thinking private thoughts. Kayla was remembering Eddie and she was pretty sure he was, too. But she didn’t want to get started on that again. They had work to do.

“I guess you’re wondering why I asked you to meet me here,” she said at last.

He grinned at her using such a well-known cliché. “The question had crossed my mind a time or two,” he admitted. “And then I decided you just wanted me to learn to connect with my roots.”

“A simple goal, I would think.”

He grimaced. “So okay, I looked each ancient ancestor in the eye and took his measure. And the women, too. And I was impressed.” But he seemed a little impatient. “What else do you want from me?”

She drew a deep breath in slowly, wondering how to put this. She had no idea how he was going to take it. For all she knew, he might storm off and never speak to her again. Finally, she just blurted it out.

“Okay, Max. Here’s the deal.” She steeled herself. “Pellea wants me to teach you how to act like a prince.”

CHAPTER FIVE

MAX stared at her and for a moment, Kayla thought he hadn’t understood. But a faint smile quirked at the corners of his mouth and he repeated slowly, “Pellea wants you to teach me how to act like a prince?”

She nodded, waiting.

He gave her a look as though this was about as kooky as he’d thought things could get. “Really?” he said with a twist to his smile. “Who taught you?”

That was a good question and keyed right in to her deepest fears about this assignment. But she wasn’t going to let him know that. She hadn’t asked for this. In fact, she wished it hadn’t occurred to Pellea at all. But it had, and here they were, stuck with a project to do.

“I’m very observant,” she said cheekily. “Don’t worry. I won’t steer you wrong.”

He grinned, watching her with a slightly lascivious expression. “I’m not worried at all. I have every intention of becoming teacher’s pet in a major way.”

She pretended to frown. “Don’t count on that, mister. I’m a tough grader. You’re going to have to earn your graduation papers.”

“It’s a deal.” He pretended to look at his watch. “You’ve got two weeks to make me into royalty. Better get moving.”

She wasn’t crazy about the way he set it up like an adversarial position, but she’d known from the start that she would have to work fast. He didn’t have to remind her. His attention span wouldn’t last long. And he proved it by jumping to a new topic in seconds.

A man had walked by holding a baby, and they both looked up as the baby made a cooing sound. She met Max’s wide eyes and they both smiled.

“Hey, when do I get to meet little … Teddy, did you say his name was?” he asked.

She felt a surge of unpleasant adrenaline.

“Yes, uh … Teddy.”

He looked at her curiously. “Is he here at the castle with you?”

“He stays with my sister during the day. I’ll … uh … make sure you get to meet him soon.”

“Good.” He frowned and she knew he was wondering why she was so hesitant. “I’ll bet he looks just like Eddie.”

Color filled her cheeks. She tried to force it back but it just kept coming. Had he noticed? Did he see how uncomfortable she was with this?

“He’s a little young to look like anyone right now,” she said breathlessly.

But he didn’t seem to notice her reaction. He was looking into the past, his brows pulled together, and thinking of how it had once been. “Thank God you had his baby,” he said softly, reaching out to touch her cheek. “Thank God there’s a piece of him left in the world.”

Her mind was racing. She had to think of something. Hopefully, he would forget about Teddy once he was thoroughly invested in taking on the royal mantle. That had to be her goal: to convince him that becoming a prince was something he wanted to do, that it would engage his mind and spirit like nothing else he’d ever done. Once he opened himself to it fully, he would be so busy, so connected with what was going on here in the castle, that he would forget about her and her son. They would just fade into a pleasant memory for him, and then her life could go on as it had before he ever got here.

But he was still frowning at her, searching her eyes. She pulled away from his hand and turned to look at the distant sea. They were miles away, but she thought she could hear the waves pounding on the rocks.

“Listen, what about this Mercuria situation? I know you don’t know exactly what their beef is, but you must have some idea of what set them off.” She turned back to look at him. “Any clue at all as to what their problem was?”

He stared at her for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh. “You mean why they want to lock me away in their particularly nasty tower and torture me with bad food? No. I’m still not sure what that is all about.”

She frowned. “Come on, Max. You must have a secret opinion. Or two.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve got some thoughts on the matter.” He frowned and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, as though suddenly uncomfortable with those very thoughts. “But you wouldn’t like them.”

That gave her a momentary pang, but she was game. “Try me.”

He made a face. “I’d rather not.”

She looked into his eyes. He was serious.

“Max, this isn’t a game. We have to find out the truth. This has to be dealt with.”

He nodded slowly. “Of course.”

She waited. He stood very still and watched her. She sighed with quick exasperation and tugged on his sleeve. “Max! Tell me! Delve down into your deepest intuitions and tell me what you think it just might be.”

He grimaced, then looked back at her and shrugged. “Okay. If you really want me to do this, here you go. This is just a guess, but …” He took a deep breath, then looked out at the distant mountains. “I think they want me to marry their princess.”

She stared at him in shock. He glanced at her and sighed.

“And here you thought this was the only royal gig I had lined up,” he said grimly. “But no. I’ve got my choice. Lucky me.”

Kayla swallowed hard. She hadn’t expected something like this. Staring at Max, she tried to get her mind around these new developments. Everything inside her was aching for a denial. He couldn’t … could he? He hadn’t … had he?

“Is there …uh …a reason they would be demanding this? I mean, their charges were pretty hard-line, even if they weren’t explicit.”

His blue gaze skimmed her features. “You mean, did I compromise the girl’s reputation in some way?” he said with a trace of sarcasm and a touch of resentment. “No, Kayla. I did not.”

“Oh.” Relief flooded her, leaving her breathless. And then she realized she still didn’t know any of the details. “Then …?”

“The Princess Nadine is fifteen years old,” he told her, looking almost angry. “She decided to get a teenage crush on me. I didn’t do a thing to encourage it. Believe me, I do have certain scruples. But girls that age …” He shrugged and looked toward the heavens for help.

It was ridiculous. Maddening. And ultimately, he had a feeling it would be quite embarrassing. There had to be a way to handle this without everyone knowing what the Mercurians really wanted.

Princess Nadine was a lovely girl, but she was much too young to be handed off to an old guy like him. He’d only seen her a few times and he’d managed to keep those visits short. He couldn’t go back there. There was no telling what would be demanded of him. The family running the country was a few bricks short of a load at times. One might even say, crazy as loons.

“It’s not a good situation.”

“Oh.”

“She decided she wanted me. And her daddy, the King of Mercuria, gives her whatever she wants.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Yes. ‘Oh, dear’.” He finally looked her in the eye. “So how am I supposed to explain this to Pellea? Especially when I don’t even know if it’s true?”

She thought for a moment. It was a problem. The queen was not going to be happy, and this put her in an awkward position in regard to an international relations situation that would just tangle things into knots. She could see why he hesitated to tell her about it.

But he would have to.

“You haven’t said anything to her about this?”

“No.”

She nodded. “Explain it to her just like you did to me.”

He looked skeptical. “I don’t think she’ll buy it.”

“If it’s the truth, what else can you do?”

He gave her a baleful look and shook his head. “Run away?” he suggested, only half joking.

“Never,” she said firmly.

He looked weary. “You know, this is just a guess. I don’t have any evidence. I’m not sure this is the exact thing pulling their chain. For all I know …”

“You’ve got to tell her. Right now.”

“Right now? But …”

She dug for her mobile and held up a hand to stop him. “I’ll see if she’s in,” she said, punching in Pellea’s office number. “She’s not there,” she said after a moment. “But her message says she’ll be right back.”

Leaning on the stone guard wall, he was watching her from under dark, lowered lashes. “You’re bound and determined to make sure I do the right thing, aren’t you? And by that, I mean the ‘royal’ right thing.” His eyes narrowed further. “You remind me of a prison warden I once knew.”