Winning the Queen's Heart: Contemporary Christian Romance (The Brides of Belles Montagnes Book 2) (15 page)

She gave her prepared speech, something about love and hearts for the young children who need them, and the love of Christ, but if asked later she doubted she would be able to repeat any of it. Not more than three words in, Alexander slunk away from the table. The butterflies in her stomach amped up their activity.

When she finished and turned, she saw Alexander standing there, off to the side, an enormous bouquet of blush colored roses in his arms. She took a tentative step his direction. He strode purposefully her way. Another step to meet him as he neared. Another wave of dizziness.

A tilting world.

A spinning bouquet.

Blessed darkness.

Chapter 16

Crushed flowers lay everywhere as Alexander knelt next to the queen. He’d dropped them as he reached out to break her fall. Her dark eyelashes lay against pale cheeks. He looked around, frantic.

“A doctor?” he called. “Is there a doctor...?”

Doctor Chambers raced onto the dais before Alexander could finish his sentence. “Can you carry her?”

Alexander scooped her into his arms. The president of the club led them to an ante room off to the side where he laid her on a couch.

“I was afraid of this,” Dr. Chambers muttered, as he pulled a stethoscope out of his bag.

“Afraid of what?” Alexander clutched her limp hand in both of his.

The doctor hesitated.

Alexander gave a jerk of his head telling the other people in the room to get out. The second the door closed, “I’m her husband, Dr. Chambers. You have to tell me.” No one else would know he had no clue what was going on.

“It’s not my place to say, sir.” He shook his head. “We need to get her back to the palace. I can get her some IV fluids, and I think she’ll be just fine, but I answer to the queen, not you. Unless it becomes vital, I keep her health information private from everyone.”

Alexander cursed under his breath. “Then let’s get her home.”

“An ambulance is on the way.”

“I’m riding with her.”

Dr. Chambers shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. There’s only room for one extra, and that’s me.”

Another muttered curse. “You can’t be serious?”

“I am completely.” Compassion spilled out of the other man’s eyes. “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t imagine how you must be feeling, but we have to do what’s best for the queen, and that’s for me to ride with her.”

Reluctantly, Alexander agreed as sirens blared outside. In minutes, the ambulance pulled away. Alexander watched for a moment, running a hand through his hair and cursing again, internally this time. No sense in some long distance mike picking it up. His car pulled in front of him, and he waved off the chauffeur, letting himself into the back seat. The car peeled out the second the door closed, a police escort helped them keep up with the ambulance.

He didn’t think the sirens were necessary, but they remained on as they flew through the streets. The normally fifteen minute drive took five. Nearly an hour later, he still hadn’t seen his wife except for a moment as she was wheeled inside, still unconscious.

Dr. Chambers walked into the waiting room. He looked haggard but not distraught. Alexander took that as a good sign. “You can go in, sir. She wants to see you.”

Alexander took a deep breath. “Thank you.” He went in, surprised by how frail the queen looked. “How are you feeling?” he asked, keeping his distance while wanting to move closer.

“Better.” She held up the arm with the IV running into it. “Fluids are helping as is the anti-nausea medicine in it.”

“Nausea? Is that why you haven’t been eating?” He pulled a chair next to her bed. “What is it, Christiana? Are you ill?”

She didn’t look at him but fiddled with the nubby blanket. “Do you know you rarely call me Christiana? You always use Queen Christiana, Your Majesty, ma’am. But rarely my name. Never a pet name or nickname. Except twice.”

Did he? He never felt comfortable enough to be informal with her, but had he really never used her first name?

“Once before you proposed the first time,” she went on. “And that night. When we kissed, when you asked me if I was sure and told me you wanted to be my husband, you called me Christiana. Later, I was almost asleep, but I remember you calling me sweetheart and kissing my head.”

He remembered the moment vividly. She couldn’t be too ill if she was waxing on about nicknames, could she? “What is it?”

She still didn’t look at him. “I am with child.”

It took a minute for the words to sink in. “You’re pregnant?”

The queen nodded. “Nearly ten weeks.”

He stood and paced around the room, running a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“When have I seen you in a setting where it would be appropriate for me to tell you?”

She had a point. “You couldn’t make time? Knock on my door at night? Leave me a message you wanted to talk?”

“You were gone the next morning.” The quiet accusation in her voice cut to his core.

“There was a phone call from my mother. Justin sent me a text telling me. I had to take it. My grandmother had a heart attack. She was fine, overall, but Mom needed to talk it out with someone not quite so close to the situation. By the time I got back, you were in the shower with the bathroom door
locked
. I checked.” He’d wanted to talk to her, to make sure she was okay after the emotions of the night before, but she’d, literally, locked him out.

“I see.”

“How are you? The baby?”

Christiana heaved a sigh. “My mother apparently had a number of miscarriages both before and after my birth, plus one after my brother was born. Dr. Chambers has been extra careful with my care and what he’s allowed me to do. Everything seems to be fine except for the nausea.”

“And that’s why you haven’t been eating?”

“Yes.”

“And why you passed out?”

“Yes. The flowers were beautiful. I did notice them.” For the first time, she looked around. “Could you have them brought to my room? Dr. Chambers says he will let me recuperate there.”

My room
. She still had no intention of sharing with him. His stiff formality returned. “I would, ma’am, but they were dropped when I caught you. Last I saw, they were scattered all over the dais.”

“I see.”

He bowed slightly at the waist. “If you’d be so kind as to let me know when you have doctor’s appointments, particularly ultrasounds, I would appreciate being allowed to attend. If you need anything from someone to hold your hair or to get you pickles and ice cream at midnight, please be sure to call me.”

Heart wrenching, he turned and walked out.

PHOTO: Prince Alexander watches as an unconscious Queen Christiana is loaded into an ambulance

~

Queen Christiana and her husband, Alexander, Duke of Testudines, attended the Fifteenth Annual Have a Heart Fundraiser of the Romance Readers and ‘Riters Club. After giving her speech, the queen turned to see her husband approaching with a large bouquet of blush colored roses. The queen took a step or two toward him before collapsing. The Duke dropped the flowers and caught her before she hit the ground. After being taken to a side room with the royal doctor in attendance, the unconscious queen was loaded into an ambulance for transport to the palace. Her frantic husband followed in his own car, with both vehicles surrounded by a police escort.

The palace has remained silent, except to say the queen is resting comfortably. Speculation, however, is rampant among those in attendance at the luncheon. “The royal couple seemed a bit awkward with each other,” one attendee stated. “After nearly four months of marriage, you’d expect them to be a bit more comfortable.” Another mentioned the queen had eaten very little of the meal, chosen because it is normally one of her favorites.

~

PHOTO: Prince Alexander walks toward his wife with a bouquet seconds before her collapse

~

PHOTO: The Duke holding his wife as she lay on the ground.

~

The most common speculation has the queen in a rather delicate condition. “I think we’ll have a new heir to the throne sooner rather than later,” Lady Gweneivere of Carrington, the eldest member of the club, added sagely.

The palace public affairs office responded to all further questions with a simple “no comment.”

He left. Again. Christiana suspected she would be crying if not for the dehydration that plagued her. Dr. Chambers returned, saying nothing as he checked the bag of fluids and the assorted machines she was hooked to.

As Dr. Chambers moved to leave, he stopped. “He cares a great deal for you, Your Majesty. I know you’re accustomed to being hurt by those you trust, but I would ask you to try letting him in. At least let him help take care of you and the baby. Let him be a part of this pregnancy. Don’t keep him from seeing his child even from this early stage.”

He hesitated. “I’ve seen fathers who take a great interest from the time the test comes back positive and those who don’t take an interest until much later. I’ve seen mothers who allow and encourage their husbands to be an active part of the pregnancy. I’ve seen mothers who refuse to allow their husbands to be involved at all. I’ve not pushed you either way until now, Your Majesty, because I didn’t feel it was my place, especially until he knew, but he wants to be involved. He wants this baby, and he wants to love you. The prince wants you to love him. I know how hard that is for you to believe, but at the least, don’t keep him from his child, from watching the baby grow and develop. From watching the changes in
your
body as you give that child a safe place to grow.”

Christiana could only nod. The tears still did not come, but the lump in her throat had grown as the doctor spoke.

“Someone will help you move in a few minutes. Please don’t try to get up on your own. They’ll take you to your room.” And he left.

She rolled until she could stare out the window. The only thing she could see was the rock wall on the other side of the courtyard. Clouds had settled in at some point since they arrived at the luncheon. The gray skies matched her mood.

Dr. Chambers said her hormones were completely out of the norm and that, combined with the nausea and lack of food intake, caused her to be more emotional than was her norm.

She wanted to trust Alexander, to allow him the place in her life he should have. To be his wife in more than just name. To be his friend, his confidant, his encourager, and yes, his lover. And for him to fill those same roles for her.

Her reverie was interrupted by Diana and two men she did not know entering the room with a wheel chair. In minutes, she was being pushed through the hallways toward her apartment. Her lethargy followed her into her room where Diana helped her into bed. One of the men had been pushing a metal stand from which hung a bag of fluids. Diana helped arrange the pillows so she was reclining rather than flat.

Christiana stopped her assistant before she left. “Would you ask Alexander to come in?”

Diana hesitated. “I believe he left, ma’am. Something about needing to see his family.”

Of course. “When he returns would you tell him I would like to speak with him?”

“Yes. I will let Justin know as well.”

“Thank you.”

Christiana closed her eyes. The medicine made her sleepy. She drifted off, wishing her husband was there to keep her company.

* * *

Alexander piloted the speedboat across the open channel toward his family’s property. He couldn’t begin to define, much less explain, the emotions roiling around inside.

His wife was pregnant.

And he hadn’t known until she was forced to tell him. How much longer would she have kept it a secret if she hadn’t fainted? And how could he not have noticed just how bad things had become? Part of him, the part that always turned to his brother when he needed his best friend, wanted to call Topher. The rest of him wasn’t sure his brother could help this time.

His brother had no experience with such a situation. The only time his brother had been in a real relationship had been in their teen years with the costar of
2 Cool 4 School
. The Saturday morning teen sit-com had been wildly popular in the mid-00s, giving both Christopher and Alexander a level of fame and notoriety they’d never been comfortable with. At the end of the series, both had gone back to using their given surname - rather than their mother’s maiden name used to avoid confusion with other actors and similar names - and their more natural dark hair color. The changes gave them a chance to attend college and enter the professional world without their acting background affecting others’ perceptions of them.

A result of the show had been Topher’s only real relationship. Ironically, it had been Alexander’s character that was her character’s love interest on-screen. The three-year, very public courtship with Margie McCoy had ended on the rocky hill of charges of infidelity against his brother.

Alexander had known the truth all along, but even when the girl in question admitted to setting Topher up, the tabloids hadn’t let it go. The show was coming to an end anyway. Margie used the “jilted lover” angle to propel herself into a successful movie career. Alexander suspected she may have even had a hand in the scandal, especially since they weren’t sleeping together in the first place.