Winning the Queen's Heart: Contemporary Christian Romance (The Brides of Belles Montagnes Book 2) (20 page)

Fifteen minutes later, they were looking at the heart fluttering on the screen. Dr. McCall smiled as she moved the wand around. “Everything looks wonderful, Your Majesty. I see no evidence of the subchorionic hemorrhage. Have you been spotting at all?”

She shook her head. “Not in a couple of days.”

The doctor wiped the goo off her stomach. “If it was anyone else, I’d give you the green light to get off bed rest and return to light activity. Still resting and reclining as much as possible, but allowing you to meet with groups who come to visit as long as you remain seated most of the time, things like that, for the next couple of weeks. If there was still no bleeding or spotting, I’d let you resume normal activities but with restrictions on lifting and so on as is normal for pregnancy.”

Christiana held her breath.

“However, given who you are, I’d like to act with an abundance of caution and keep you to that restricted level of activity for a few more days. I’ll come back on...” She looked at her calendar. “...Friday afternoon, and we’ll reevaluate then.”

They both thanked her, and she left.

“Are you okay with a few more days?” Alexander asked her.

She was not, not really. If truly necessary for the baby, she would be, no question, but being treated differently because of who she was and being told to severely curtail her activities longer than truly needed? That did not sit well with her.

“Do I have a choice?” Christiana answered honestly. “I will do what it takes to keep the baby healthy.”

He squeezed her hand again. “I have another meeting, but I’ll be back to talk to you later. We’ll have dinner in bed.”

She would have dinner in bed. He would lounge on top of the covers or sit in the chair next to her. The doctor’s words came back to her. She would do what was necessary, but not recommended “out of an abundance of caution.” A plan began to form. Necessary? Those recommendations she would take with a grain of salt.

And make her own plans.

Chapter 21

Alexander sat in one of the board rooms across from a screen. On the screen were two faces - the CEO of the largest wine distributor in Mevendia and their Crown Prince William. Alexander had met the young royal several times, but didn’t know him well and only remembered that he was quite tall.

“Gentlemen,” he said as he leaned forward. “Subject to approval of the queen and Parliament, we have a deal.” Though he was authorized to negotiate on Christiana’s behalf, she still needed to approve the details. “I would imagine the approval will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. Mevendian wine will fill up the shelves here in Ravenzario again before Thanksgiving.”

The two men exchanged a glance. “Thanksgiving?” William asked. “That is an American holiday, is it not?”

Alexander chuckled. “I suppose it is.” He looked up as Justin walked in the side door. The near frantic look on his face told Alexander all he needed to know. “Gentlemen, I’m being called away on a matter of some urgency. We’ll contact you if we need anything else and, please, be sure to do the same.”

“Of course,” William replied. “Please give our best to the queen.”

With a nod, Alexander had the connection terminated. “What is it?” he asked Justin.

“The queen is missing.” No preamble, just straight to the heart of the matter.

Alexander’s stomach clenched then dropped to the floor. “How long?”

“Ten, maybe fifteen, minutes.”

“So she can’t have left the palace.”

“Possible, but unlikely.”

Alexander trotted through the halls of the palace to the apartment. Diana paced in front of the windows, wringing her hands. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know where she went. She asked if I would get her something to drink, and when I got back she was gone.”

“She can’t have gone far.” He ran a hand through his hair and wished he knew her better.

“Why...?” Tears snuck down her cheeks. “She’s on bed rest.”

That’s when it hit him. “Dr. McCall said she was being extra careful and with anyone else she would have lifted the restrictions already. The queen wouldn’t do anything to hurt the baby, but if she thought Dr. McCall was being unreasonable, she might have been willing to go do something. Nothing big but...”

An idea came to him. He had to check. “Keep looking.” Alexander ran as fast as he dared with staff members darting out of his way as he pounded through the palace. He burst through the door into the garden and skipped as many stairs as he safely could before bolting through the maze.

Alexander skidded to a stop as he rounded the hedge into the center. There she sat, on the bench where he’d proposed to her.

“Tia!” He dropped to a knee beside her. “What are you doing?”

She looked up at him, her face pale. “I needed some air. Dr. McCall said with anyone else she would give clearance to stop bed rest.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Justin. He didn’t take time for pleasantries. “I found her. She’s fine. I’ll bring her back in a few minutes. You can stay put.” He slid his phone back into his pocket. “You scared us, Tia.”

Moving to sit next to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Pulling her close, Alexander let relief wash over him. “Are you all right?”

“I am. I just got tired more quickly than I expected.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I thought I would sit for a few minutes and then go back. I did not intend to worry anyone.”

His heart had nearly resumed its normal rhythm. “I know.”

“How did the meeting with Mevendia go?”

For the time being, he let the subject be changed, and he told her about the meeting.

“Thank you for taking care of that. It is likely a better deal than I would have negotiated.”

They sat there for several minutes, soaking in the sun and watching the waves in the distance. “Are you ready to go in?” he finally asked.

“Yes.”

Alexander stood before she had the chance to and helped to her feet. Not giving her a choice in the matter, he swept her into his arms.

“Xander!” Christiana squealed and grabbed his shoulders. “I can walk.”

“No, Queen Christiana. You are not going to walk.” Walking much more slowly than before, he retraced his steps to the apartment, setting her back on the bed. “Promise me you’ll stay here?”

Her eyes fluttered shut as she nodded. “I think I will take a nap. I promise.”

Alexander covered her with a blanket and left the room. Once out of her line of sight, he sagged against the wall and let out a huge breath. Stress bled off of him in waves as he whispered prayers thanking God for her safety.

* * *

The curtains were tightly closed when Christiana awoke. A glance at the clock told her she had slept for nearly two hours. Who knew a walk to the garden could take so much out of a girl?

Reaching for the remote control, she lowered the screen and turned on the projector. Before she could change the input to the
2 Cool 4 School
shows, a face appeared. One that haunted her dreams from time to time, though she had been told his transfer to Pirate’s Island took place while she was at sea with Alexander.

Curious, she turned up the sound.

“...a prominent businessman in Vashta was to make an appearance at the local orphanage today. For the last week, organizers have been trying to get a hold of him only to be told he would be unable to attend. Given his appearance at the fundraiser for the last several years, one of the organizers took it upon himself to find out why.”

Another man appeared on the screen with a microphone held in front of him. “I can’t explain why I felt something was off, but I did. I contacted his family, even his wife clammed up when I asked about him. I went to the police. No one was interested in talking to me. But a couple days ago, I talked with a guy who said he’d been arrested by the palace security team. There’s no record in the public database, but he’s not anywhere to be found.”

The picture returned to the reporter. “We reached out to the palace earlier today, but there seemed to be some sort of incident taking place and none of our calls were answered or messages returned. We hope that the palace security team will tell us what they know or that anyone with information on...”

Christiana clicked off the sound before the reporter spoke his name.

And then it sank in.

Even his wife clammed up when I asked about him.

She bolted for the bathroom but knew she would never make it. Grabbing the rubbish bin next to her desk, what little she had eaten for lunch came out.

Over and over, she heaved. Even after her stomach emptied, it continued. Muscles in her abdomen began to cramp as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Where was Alexander when she needed him?

Behind her the door opened, slowly at first then faster.

“Christiana?” He knelt beside her, his hand on her back as she finally managed to get the heaves under control. “What is it, sweetheart?”

She pushed the trash can away from her, and sank against him, sobs shaking her body. He held her, cradled her, and rocked her until the storm subsided.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he repeated.

“He was married,” she whispered. “The whole time he courted me, insisted we keep everything a secret, proposed to me, he was already married.”

Alexander’s voice echoed her own disbelief. “It’s not possible. We’ve checked out everything about him. Nothing points to him having a wife, or even a girlfriend or sister someone might mistake for a wife.”

Christiana told him about the news story. He shifted slightly, and she knew he wanted to go check it out for himself. “Help me back to bed?” she asked. “I am all right, and I would appreciate it if you would look into it for me.”

He helped her stand, then held her close. She loved the feeling of his arms around her, supporting her, comforting her. Loving her. After a minute, he brushed his lips against the top of her head and lifted her into those arms. She loved his strength. There would have been no way
he
could have made her feel the same, though she once thought he did. What she felt then was a mere shadow of what she felt for this man.

“I’ll send Diana in to sit with you,” he told her as he helped her get comfortable. “I don’t want you to be alone. When I know something, I’ll tell you, okay?”

She nodded. Her stomach muscles were sore from the “work out,” and she was worn out again already. “I think I will try to sleep.” The television had moved onto other stories. “Would you turn that to a different input then turn it off?”

He changed it to a black screen with her favorite classical music playing softly in the background.

“Thank you.” Alexander took such good care of her. Why had she not fallen in love with him first?

The thought startled her, though she could not muster up the energy to even open her eyes.

When had she fallen in love with him?

And did he feel the same about her?

PHOTO: Mystery man enters side gate onto palace grounds

~

Speculation is running rampant about the connection of this man to the palace. Several pictures have surfaced of him entering the palace grounds over a year ago so he must have been known to them. What remains to be seen is what exactly his relationship with the palace was.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source tells us he was arrested a few weeks before the wedding and put in the dungeon. No longer a dungeon in the medieval sense, the prison housed in the basement of the palace is seldom used for anything more than the occasional tour or on the rare occasion a guest needs to be detained for some reason.

The source did not know why the arrest was made, only that now-prince consort Alexander was a part of the process. The prisoner was later moved to Pirate’s Island.

Some of the speculation includes an attempt on the life of either the queen or the, at the time, soon-to-be Prince Consort. Other rumors suggest espionage or spying on behalf of a corporation.

The palace has responded to every request for information with a “no comment at this time” reply.

Chapter 22

“What do we do?” Alexander forced himself to remain seated. He wanted to walk. To pace. To find the dude and deck him.

“For now we continue with the ‘no comment at this time’ responses to the stories.” PR Director Charlyn Turani looked as tired and stressed as he felt. At least he’d known what happened. She’d had no clue about most of it.

“That’s not going to last. The press won’t let up until they find out what the truth is.”

“I know. We don’t have much time, either. The story is going to come out one way or another, and it’s up to us to spin it the best way we can.”

“There is no need for spin.”

Everyone turned to see Queen Christiana standing at the door to the conference room. Alexander jumped to his feet and helped her to a seat.