Winter Blockbuster 2012 (51 page)

That feeling was still with him now. He was glad to have carved out an hour to be on his own. There was a lot to think
about. He was feeling a bit shaky about what he ought to be doing and generally undecided about his own future. Bottom line—what the hell was he doing here living in a castle?

The whole prince thing just didn’t feel right. He’d never asked for it. He’d been happily flying reconnaissance missions over the Granvilli territory when he’d been called in to the commander’s office and asked to take a battery of tests. He still didn’t know who had nominated him for testing or why.

If only he’d refused and walked away right at that point, none of this would be happening. He’d be off flying in someone else’s war.

Still, what was stopping him from doing exactly what he pleased right now? He could go. He could find someone else to fly for. He would keep his promise to the queen, but once that was over, he wasn’t so sure he was going to stick around. After all, what was really keeping him here?

Right now, he would have to say it was mostly Kayla. He hadn’t expected to find her here, but now that they had reconnected, he knew he didn’t want to lose her again.

Kayla was important to him. She always would be. He remembered those days in Trialta as the best days of his life. He and Eddie had hit it off like brothers, born to be together, and Kayla had been a huge part of that bond.

Funny. When he’d heard she had a child, he’d assumed her baby would be an extension of that. That he would love the kid as a small form of Eddie. But the reality hadn’t fit in with the vision. There was something about that baby …

He was definitely a beautiful baby boy. But looking at him, something hadn’t felt right. Something about the kid bothered him, made him want to look away quickly, and he didn’t want to feel that way about Kayla’s baby. Very strange. Maybe he ought to stay away from the kid until he was a little older.

A twig snapped and he turned his head, sure someone was coming into his little clearing. He didn’t want company. He stared into the brush, ready to scowl a nonwelcome. But no one appeared. He stared harder, his gaze darting from one gap in the greenery to another, looking for movement. Nothing. Funny … he was sure he’d heard someone.

And it had happened before. He remembered getting the same feeling when he was wandering through the halls, earlier. A feeling that he wasn’t alone.

Suddenly he had a prickly feeling on the back of his neck, and he stood, turning slowly, hands balled into fists. Yes, damn it, someone was watching him. Maybe he couldn’t see it, but he sure as hell could feel it.

CHAPTER SEVEN

K
AYLA
looked up, startled, as Max came into the office. There was a thunderstorm brewing in that handsome face.

“Max,” she said, but he walked right past her desk and confronted Pellea.

“I want to know why you’ve got somebody following me,” he said curtly. “Don’t you trust me? Has it really come to this?”

Pellea looked up and gaped at him, bewildered and showing it. “What are you talking about?”

“Look, I’ve made you a promise. I may be unreliable in superficial ways, but when I make a promise, I keep it. There was no call for you to send spies to watch over me. I don’t like it.”

She was shaking her head, looking at him as though he’d lost his mind. “I don’t have anyone following you,” she protested earnestly. “Really, Max. I swear.”

His anger seemed to pulse in the small room. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He knew he was over-the-top and taking it out on Pellea wasn’t going to fix anything. This wasn’t really her fault. He’d been angry when he thought it was, but her outrage told him differently, and
he began to cool down. If he were honest with himself, he knew his own doubts and insecurities were more to blame for this outburst than anything the queen could have done. He needed to get a grip.

“I was just down in the courtyard, in among the trees, and someone was there watching me. I know it.”

She shrugged. “There may have been someone watching you, but I didn’t tell them to. Believe me, Max. I wouldn’t do that.” She made a face. “Not yet, anyway.”

He looked at the ground and shook his head. For someone trying to learn to act like a prince, he was doing a lousy job of it. He looked up with a rueful smile and made a slight bow toward her.

“Your Majesty, please forgive me. This was rude and uncalled for. I had no right to attack you like this and I’m sorry.”

Pellea’s smile lit up the room. It seemed she knew earnest regret when she saw it. “Of course I forgive you. This is not supposed to be a fight. We’re both on the same side.” She rose from her desk chair and came out to throw her arms around him and then kiss him on both cheeks.

“Listen to me,” he told her. “I will make you a pledge right now. I won’t do anything behind your back. If anything happens, I’ll tell you. If I decide I have to leave, I’ll tell you. No secrets.”

She nodded. “Good.” One last pat on his cheek and she turned. “And in the spirit of openness, sit down. I’ll give you the rundown on our latest outreach to Mercuria.”

He sank into a chair across from her, but glanced back at Kayla. She gave him a wink and a tiny approving smile. Ridiculously, he suddenly felt much better.

“All right, here’s the news. We’ve sent our ambassador to Mercuria.”

Max nodded. “And what message does he take with him?”

Pellea shuffled papers on her desk and brought up the pertinent ones. “In answer to their charges, we respond thusly—it is our understanding that the airplane was given to Prince Maximillian, formerly known as Max Arragen, in payment for his help in establishing the Mercurian Air Force and therefore not an item that can be reclaimed.”

She looked up for his approval, and he nodded.

“As for the horse, we made it clear that we feel there was a misunderstanding and a wrong done to the horse’s owner, who now has regained possession of the horse. If they like, we are prepared to pay damages for the loss of it to the Mercurian government.” She nodded toward Kayla. “I’ve had that whole episode explained to me. Kayla repeated what you told her this morning.”

He glanced back at Kayla again and nodded. “Sounds reasonable.”

“As for the historical artifact, I let them know that we have no idea what this might be or how it might have come into your possession. We shall await clarification. Barring that, we are unwilling to count that as a serious charge against you.”

“Wow. I’d say that pretty much covers all the bases.”

Pellea nodded. “Now we wait to see how they take it. We should have their response tomorrow.” She gave him a significant look. “And then, we’ll see.”

He heard the warning in her voice. She was seriously worried about this.

“You’ve said the Mercurians were a big help in the fight to regain Ambria for the DeAngelis royal family,” he said musingly. “What made them come in on your side?”

Pellea shrugged. “As you know, Mercuria is a tiny stretch of land along the coast, not even as large or as important to this area as Ambria, whose main source of wealth comes from tourists, mainly in gambling. Some wags have called it
nothing more than a casino with a nice beach. But they have been traditional allies of ours, and the fact that they have a monarchy, just as we do, cemented our ties more recently.”

He nodded. “And they are the closest country to you, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Just an hour by boat will bring you right to the foot of the Mercurian castle. You could almost consider them a neighbor.”

“Do you know King Juomo personally?”

“No, I don’t. I guess the families had personal ties back in the dark ages, but as far as I know, none of us have come face-to-face with any of them. As I understand it, they are rather reclusive.”

He nodded. “Yes. Very reclusive. And very strange.”

“So I’ve heard.” She made a face. “That doesn’t bode well. It’s hard to judge how they will take this. What do you think?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea. King Juomo liked me, until he didn’t like me anymore. And I’m not sure what made the change.”

“Oh, well.” Pellea waved a hand dismissively. “We shall see. And I need to get back to work.” She smiled at him. “Cheer up. We’ll get through this.”

He smiled back. “Of course.” Taking a deep breath, he rose, took his leave of the queen and pivoted to Kayla.

“Do you have time to go get a cup of coffee with me?” he asked, looking at her without any clear emotion.

She glanced at Pellea, who nodded her permission, and smiled. “Sure,” she said, reaching to pull her tiny clutch purse out of her larger bag. “I won’t be long,” she promised the queen.

She almost had to run to keep up with Max’s stride once they were out in the walkway. His walk was strong and aggressive,
with a hint of residual anger still hovering over his mood.

“Will you tell me why you’re so upset?” she asked.

He gave her a sideways glance and didn’t respond as they came out onto the public corridor and up to the coffee bistro. It was packed with people and the lines were long.

“There’s a vending machine a little farther out this way. We can get coffee and go out on the balcony.”

They got their coffee in paper cups from the machine and made their way outside. The balcony was small, but there was a table flanked by two chairs, and they went to it after a quick look over the railing. The blue skies were gone and a cool wind blustered in and out of the crevices and still neither of them had said a word.

Max stared down into his coffee. She watched him. Finally he looked up and met her gaze.

“You know what?” he said. “I want to go.”

Her heart jumped. His eyes looked hard and unhappy.

“Where?” she said.

He shrugged. “Away. Anywhere. Something new. Something different.” His blue eyes held hers. “This isn’t the life for me.”

“Max …” She reached for his hand and held it tightly.

“I don’t feel like I belong here. I don’t think the way these people do. My instincts don’t work here. I really feel I need to go.”

“Max …”

His wide eyes stared right into her soul. “Will you go with me?”

She stared at him. How could he ask such a thing? Didn’t he realize she had a life here? A son? She couldn’t go anywhere she felt like. She had commitments.

He could read her refusal in her eyes. The child. Of course.
What was he thinking? She had the child. He pulled his hand away and looked out at the grey skies.

A cold wind blew in and Kayla shivered.

“Here, take this,” he said, slipping out of the denim jacket and handing it to her. “Unless you still scorn it?” he tried to tease, his smile unconvincingly stiff.

“I never scorned it,” she protested, shrugging into it and huddling gratefully in the warmth his body had left inside. “I love jeans jackets.”

“Just not on princes.”

She pulled the jacket in close and looked at him. “Not true. Max, I know you want to wear the clothes you feel comfortable in. And you should be able to. But you have to know what’s expected of you in certain situations. That’s all. We’re not trying to change the fundamental you.”

He grunted, and she leaned closer. “Tomorrow we’ll go clothes shopping and I’ll show you what I mean.”

He stared at her and finally a smile began to tug at the corners of his mouth. “I guess that means you don’t think much of my plan to leave,” he said, eyes smiling sadly.

“I think it stinks. You promised Pellea two weeks. You’ll manage to stick it out that long. I know you. You won’t run.”

He wasn’t so sure she knew him as well as she thought she did. Running was what he’d done all his life—running from his problems, running from expectations, running from commitment. He knew it was time for him to grow up and stop running, but he wasn’t sure how to do that.

“You won’t run,” she repeated confidently, and he merely smiled and let her think she had him pegged.

“At least you won’t really need new clothes tonight,” she mentioned. “Pellea has a dinner planned for all you princes, but it’s beer and pizza and football on the television.”

His smile evaporated in an instant. This was the first he’d heard about it. He scowled, but she wasn’t cowed.

“You need to interact with your brothers more,” she said. “Once you get to know them better, you’ll feel more welcome here.”

“Maybe.” He didn’t look convinced, but the sun came out from behind a cloud at that very moment, and it was as though liquid gold was streaming down all around them.

She laughed and went to the railing, enjoying the warmth of the sun, and he followed. The countryside around the castle looked magical. It was late afternoon and the shadows were long and colors intensified.

“Do you ever go walking down by the stream?” he asked her, pointing it out below.

“No, I’ve never been there.”

He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go,” he said spontaneously. “You’ll love it.”

They took the elevator down and walked quickly through the corridors and onto the back patio, hoping to catch as much sunshine as they could before the cloud cover took over again. He took her hand and led her through the trees to his favorite rock. She scanned the area, enchanted with the rustling leaves and babbling brook. Then she got a thoughtful look.

“Is this where you were when you thought you were being watched?” she said accusingly.

“Yes, it is.” He looked excessively innocent. “Why do you ask?”

“You just wanted me to come down here to see if I could help you catch the culprits, didn’t you?” She pretended to take a swipe at him.

He laughed. “No,” he said, fending off her mock attack and grabbing her wrists. “Though come to think of it, two sets of eyes are better than one.”

He pulled her close until their faces were within inches of each other. She smiled into his eyes. He smiled back and something electric happened. He was going to kiss her. She could feel it. Her breath caught in her throat and she pulled back quickly, heart pounding.

“I don’t see anybody,” she said breathlessly. “I don’t hear anybody. I think you’re getting paranoid.”

“No. Someone was there.” He pulled her back against him. “But I don’t care anymore.”