Kitabı oku: «Propositioned By The Prince», sayfa 7

“Only seven months until our baby arrives.” He spoke softly, stroking Lani’s cheek.

She started slightly. “It seems so soon.”

“Tell me about it.” He was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of being a father. He’d decided that the baby would be his in every way. Well, every way that mattered, and that’s how he intended to approach the situation. “Do you have a nickname for him or her already? One of my producers used to call hers Jellybean while she was pregnant.”

Lani laughed. “I don’t. I guess I should come up with something.” She gazed skyward for a minute, her golden eyes thoughtful. “Puaiti.”

“Little flower. But what if it’s a boy?”

“Why can’t a boy be a flower, too?” She raised a slim brow.

“Good point. Why should girls get all the nice-smelling pretty stuff? How’s little Puaiti feeling? “

Lani closed her eyes for a minute and rested her fingers on her stomach, as if listening. “I’m not hearing any complaints.”

“Do you feel any kicking yet?”

“No. I don’t think that happens for a few more weeks. I don’t really feel different at all. Well, except when I feel ill.” She paused and looked right at him. “You know something? Ever since I told you about the baby, I haven’t felt ill at all.”

“Maybe Puaiti realized she’d have to make you sick or you wouldn’t realize she was there.”

“Quite possible. And she’d have been right.” She frowned. “But why are you calling Puaiti a she? She could be a he.”

He shrugged. “We’ll just have to use both.”

“Would you like to find out the gender before the birth?”

AJ stroked Lani’s cheek. “I don’t know that I would. I’m getting used to being surprised, and I find I like it. Do you have a preference for a girl or boy?”

Lani shook her head. A sweet smile played about her lips. “Either will be wonderful. I’ve wanted a child for so long, and your mom is going to love having a grandchild to spoil.”

A crashing sound in the undergrowth nearby made them sit up. “What was that?” AJ peered through the leaves. He’d been gone a long time, but he didn’t remember any forest animals big enough to make that much sound.

“I don’t know.” Lani grabbed her dress. “We’d better get dressed.”

AJ tugged his shirt and pants on, then helped rewind Lani’s rather wrinkled sash around her still-slim waist. He continued to hear a rustling sound in the distance.

“Was that a voice?” whispered Lani, eyes wide with alarm.

AJ strained his ears. It was hard to distinguish sounds above the low hum of the jungle, all the insects and birds and the rustling leaves. Then again, he did hear a voice. “It’s a man. Speaking English.” Why would someone be way out here? “Maybe the journalists have started wandering about looking for scandal.”

“If they find us they might well have it.” Lani smoothed her dress with anxious fingers. “We’re not married yet.”

“We’d better head back to the passageway.” He took Lani’s hand and led her back up toward the waterfall. He didn’t want her being harassed by some bozo out for a picture and quick buck.

They set off up a steep hill. At the top, he heard the voice again, and turned to peer through the trees. It was impossible to see anyone through the dense leaf canopy, but then he heard quite clearly: “They say he went out late at night on a boat.”

AJ froze. The were talking about Vanu. Could they be looking for the body?

Lani didn’t seem to have heard. She was distracted, adjusting her sandal.

“But what if he didn’t get on a boat? What if he came out here and got lost? “

An icy finger of dread slid down AJ’s back. He didn’t want Lani to get wind of their idle speculation. “Are you okay?”

“Great.” She smiled brightly. He led her farther up the hill until the roar of water cloaked out all other sounds. Still, an odd sense of unease nagged at him. Suddenly all these curious strangers were trudging through their jungles and making footprints on the beaches. What if they did find something?

And what if it was something none of them expected at all?

Seven

“Thank heavens you’re back!” Priia stood up from the plush armchair surrounded by her embroidery tools. Servants had whisked AJ and Lani to her study as soon as they’d been spotted back in the palace hallways. The servants slipped out, closing the door behind them.

AJ’s heart thumped. Something was wrong but no one would tell him what. “What’s going on?”

“We just got a phone call that a reporter found Vanu’s boat.”

Lani froze. “Where is it?”

Priia dabbed at her eyes with an already moist handkerchief. “On the tiny atoll to the northwest. The one they call Egg Island.”

AJ shoved a hand through his hair. “Did they find Vanu?”

His mom shook her head. “So far there’s been no sign of him.”

AJ shot a glance at Lani. Her hands were trembling and one of them flew to her mouth.

“So he could be alive.” AJ managed to force out the words.

“Yes. It’s possible.” Priia sniffed. “The atoll is small but very densely wooded. There’s plenty of food there for someone to survive.”

Dread crawled over AJ like a poisonous spider. Could Vanu be hidden somewhere in the forest?

Lani had begun to weep. Probably with joy that her once-dead husband might still be alive. AJ sucked in a ragged breath as a bitter taste filled his mouth. “We need to send out a search party.”

“They’re getting ready to leave. The fire department and the lifeboat service are all involved. And of course the journalists.” She pressed her handkerchief to her face. “It seems too much to hope for, but maybe he’s about to come back to us.”

Lani approached Priia and put her arms around her. AJ’s heart swelled at her generous gesture. Caring and thoughtful as well as lovely, Lani was far too good to be wasted on Vanu. Anger roiled in his chest along with savage jealously. Could Vanu return from the grave and snatch Lani from his arms?

Yes. That was exactly the kind of party trick Vanu would take great pleasure in.

“Didn’t they search Egg Island when he disappeared?” He couldn’t understand how Vanu’s boat could appear like a horrible vision after all this time.

Priia looked up. “It’s a dense forest, with many natural caves. The boat had drifted into a cavern that’s hidden at high tide.” She let out a sob. “It will be hard to find him if he’s still alive, but we must keep positive.”

A knock on the door startled them all. “Come in,” said Priia, shakily.

The head footman entered, head slightly bowed. “The reporters, they’re anxious for a statement.”

“Oh, goodness.” Priia waved her handkerchief. “AJ, could you go tell them something?”

“Like what? We don’t know any more than they do. Less, probably.”

The head footman seemed to shrink a bit, and stared at the floor. “They want to know how this affects the wedding plans.”

Lani let out a little gasp, then hid her face.

The dark reality of the situation settled over AJ like an executioner’s hood. “It’s off. Lani can’t consider remarrying while her husband might be alive.” His words came out cold and hard.

And what about the baby he’d grown to think of as his? Vanu would claim the child as well. It was his, after all, just like Lani.

AJ suppressed a curse. Only a brief while ago he and Lani had lain, wrapped in each other, surrounded by the warm embrace of the jungle, looking forward to a joyous future together with their new family.

Now he saw that future evaporating like a jungle mist.

“Did they find any signs that he survived?” AJ questioned the footman.

“They found footprints leading up out of the cave. So it seems he did walk away from it.”

Lani whimpered and tears rolled down her cheeks. AJ tried to suppress the ugly surge of anger that rose in him at the sight. She was obviously distressed and hopeful that Vanu was still alive.

Yes, it hurt. Especially since he’d felt a deep connection with her during their lovemaking. Of course that was probably his body talking rather than his brain. “I’ll go join the search party. Just stay away from the press until we know more.” He turned and marched from the room, unable to even look at Lani.

AJ cursed himself for being drawn into this nightmare. How had he gone from wanting to leave at the earliest opportunity to hating the fact that he’d have to leave?

He returned late at night, sticky and tired from combing through the jungle. It probably hadn’t done his soul much good that he was hoping against hope that they’d find a body, not a live Vanu with an ugly smirk on his face. As it turned out, they’d found nothing at all and the search was scheduled to resume the following morning.

No one spoke much at dinner, and Priia retired early, begging a headache.

Lani seemed very tense, avoiding his gaze. No doubt she felt guilty that she’d made love to another man while her husband might still be alive.

“It’s not your fault,” he murmured. “You had no idea he might still be out there.”

“I know.” She didn’t meet his gaze. “No one could have known.”

“The fire chief thinks he’s alive.” He studied her face. A muscle spasmed in her cheek. “They found traces of a fire in another natural cave. Looks like someone stayed there.”

“That’s wonderful.” Lani’s voice sounded oddly hollow. “It would be such a miracle for him to survive for so long by himself.”

“He never was the rugged, outdoors type.” AJ frowned.

It was hard to imagine Vanu picking a berry to feed himself, let alone lighting a fire. He’d required a large staff just to get dressed in the morning. “But I suppose anything is possible. People can act differently in a life-or-death situation.”

“Yes.” Lani sat ramrod straight. Unapproachable. Not that he’d even think of trying to touch her now. How odd, when he’d enjoyed touching almost every inch of her luscious body only hours earlier.

His life seemed to be spinning like a weather vane in the wind lately. He’d had calls from L.A. this afternoon asking if—due to the shift in circumstance—he’d be back to oversee the edits for Hellcat. He’d replied honestly: that he had no idea.

The dim light in the dining room picked out the gold threaded through Lani’s lustrous hair. Soon, perhaps Vanu would be running his bony fingers through it again. AJ fought a wave of revulsion. “How are you feeling? I’m sure the stress must be hard on you when you’re pregnant.”

“I’m okay.” She shot him a wary glance with those wide, honey-colored eyes.

He cursed the surge of lust that jolted through him. “Must be a little odd to be dangling between two men like this.” His words sounded cruel, and maybe that’s what he intended. Pain tightened his muscles and hardened his heart.

Lani shuddered and a small sob escaped her mouth. “It’s terrible.”

AJ’s hands itched to reach out and touch hers. But that would only deepen his torment. “No one will ever know what happened between us today. It’ll be yet another secret we’ll keep forever.”

Lani nodded. Tears glittered in her eyes. “Yes. I won’t tell anyone. Especially Vanu.”

AJ’s flesh crawled at the thought of her talking to Vanu again, sharing intimacies. In such a short time he’d developed powerful feelings for Lani. He’d never felt anything like them before in all his years of adventures with the fairer sex.

And the child. His initial revulsion at the deception had quickly transformed into a firm conviction that he could raise this child and love it as his own. He’d been prepared to lie and pretend and carry out a charade to everyone else’s fantasy of the perfect royal family come true.

He glanced up and saw Lani’s delicate profile turned to look out the window. Just yesterday his bold and tender new feelings had been convenient rather than crazy. Now they were disastrous. He had to comfort and support the woman he craved as she hoped and prayed for the safe return of her husband.

Pain crashed over him in an untidy wave. He staggered to his feet and sucked in a breath of moist night air.

He’d spent his childhood in his brother’s shadow, and now it stretched out from the grave to cast him into darkness once again.

Lani didn’t love him. Didn’t have any feelings for him other than a sense of duty and some rather unexpected lust. He’d been fool enough to mistake that for far more.

He’d never let himself make that mistake again.

Lani paced back and forth in her room all morning. The crews were out for the second day, combing through the jungle on the uninhabited atoll.

She hated the way they described it as “searching for Vanu,” as if they’d find him there, perhaps lazing on a sandy beach, waiting for them to take him home. No one said anything as grim as “hoping to recover a body.” Priia wouldn’t hear any of that. As far as she was concerned, he was alive and well and on his way home.

And Lani knew she was probably cursed to eternal damnation for hoping otherwise.

How could she wish someone dead? Only a truly evil person would have a thought like that. Obviously she wasn’t the “nice” girl AJ had originally mistaken her for. She’d certainly jumped on him with reckless abandon, and she couldn’t even blame it on “duty” anymore. She’d made no effort to hide her lusty enjoyment of AJ’s body.

She blew out hard. Everything had been so perfect for those few brief hours. Now she was back, snared in the web of pretense and pain that had been her marriage to Vanu. Pretending to be happy—or at least content—while inside she was longing for freedom.

A knock on the door startled her.

“Dinner is ready.” The shy girl servant darted in and out like a lizard. No one would look her in the eye since Vanu’s boat was found. They’d all been so thrilled about the plans for the wedding and AJ’s return to Rahiri, and now they were supposed to be overjoyed about Vanu’s possible survival.

No one knew what to think or how to behave. Least of all Lani. AJ was giving her the cold shoulder, too. She understood that he was in an awkward situation, but it was upsetting to suddenly feel as if she couldn’t talk to him.

She wandered along the hallway slowly, not looking forward to the meal. Terrified of any further news of Vanu’s miraculous survival.

When she arrived in the dining room, she saw Priia sitting in her usual chair, sobbing, while AJ wrapped his arms around her.

All the servants hung their heads and ducked their gazes as she passed.

“They found his body.” AJ looked up and mouthed the words softly, then tugged his gaze away immediately.

Relief welled inside her like a flood. “Oh, no,” she managed, trying to sound upset. Her hands started shaking and her heart pounded. She wanted to jump up and down or shout because she’d been so afraid of being Vanu’s plaything again. Happy tears sprang to her eyes and she let them roll down her cheeks.

She resisted a sharp urge to ask for details to make his death real, but managed to restrain herself. What did it matter how he died, as long as he was really gone for good.

AJ looked up at her tears, then glanced away. Priia’s sobbing was merciless, inconsolable, as it had been in those first days and nights after Vanu disappeared.

“I’m so sorry, Mama,” whispered Lani. She stroked Priia’s hand. “It was too much of a miracle to hope for.” Her own tears splashed into her mother-in-law’s lap and mingled with Priia’s, despite their very different motivations.

“At least we’ll have his child,” rasped Priia. Lani’s eyes widened. Apparently in her grief she was forgetting that no one knew about the pregnancy. She glanced around. The servants had tactfully left the room. Still…

AJ’s brow was lowered and his expression dark. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“The child will give us something to live for,” continued Priia, through her sobs. “It does seem cruel that we have to go through mourning him again. I was finally coming to terms with his loss, and now…” Her shoulders shook.

Lani squeezed her hand. “We’ll just have to go on as best we can.”

“I’ve got some phone calls to make.” AJ’s voice was gruff. Lani looked up, startled, as he strode from the room. She wanted to run after him, to ask him for details about Vanu’s death—perhaps to reassure herself that this time he really was dead.

She also wanted reassurance that everything was still okay between them.

Her stomach contracted and a wave of nausea rose through her. Her first in several days. She had a grim feeling that everything had changed between her and AJ. That Vanu’s unexpected reappearance, even in death, had somehow ruined everything.

AJ stormed along the palace corridor, blood pounding in his brain. How had he ever thought this could work? Had he really believed he could step into Vanu’s shoes—precious Vanu, the beloved eldest son who could do no wrong—and take over?

Ridiculous. He must have been totally addled by lust. It was hard to blame himself because, after all, Lani was undeniably one of the most beautiful women on earth. He’d let desire interfere with his common sense and even convinced himself that she had feelings for him.

But of course she hadn’t fallen madly in love with him right after her husband’s death. She was still in shock, especially with the pregnancy messing up her hormones. He’d come on way too strong and she’d reacted as she felt she was supposed to. Just trying to be a “nice Rahiian maiden,” when all along she was carrying a torch for Vanu.

He shoved into his room. The room he’d spent his childhood in and been glad to leave. Which seemed ungrateful, since not many people would complain about spacious chambers in a royal palace. But they’d felt like a prison to him once, and now the decorative carvings started to look like bars again. He’d almost—almost—been trapped into living someone else’s life.

He picked up the phone and pushed the third button on his speed dial. His producer, Jerry. When Jerry answered he didn’t mince words. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Sooner if I can get a flight.”

“But I thought your brother turned up dead.”

“He did.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that so crudely. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I know. It’s okay.” Being honest that you were glad someone was dead was one of the last taboos left.

“Doesn’t that mean that you need to take over?”

“You can’t take over from a living god, and I’m not going to walk in his shadow the rest of my life. I’ve got a good life in L.A. and I’m coming back to it.”

“Isn’t there some tradition that you have to marry your brother’s wife?” Jerry’s tone didn’t hide his curiosity—the same kind of prurient interest that had sent the media chasing down to Rahiri to ogle them.

“There was, but I’m breaking with it. Why should she be forced into marrying someone she doesn’t care about?” Not to mention giving her late husband’s baby to him to raise. His chest tightened.

“That is a bit heavy. Still, you two looked good together on Entertainment Tonight.”

“Jerry, you and I know better than anyone how easy it is to create an illusion with a camera.”

“Too true. Well, if you’re ready, we’ll soon be right back at it. Give me a call when you hit town and we’ll hash through some details.”

“Perfect.”

AJ put down the phone, a mixture of conviction and regret mingling in his heart. What a vivid fantasy it had been, for a few brief days. King AJ and his lovely family, ruling the island paradise he’d finally come home to.

Way too sappy to put in a movie, so why would he think it could happen in real life?

He jerked open the closet door and grabbed an armful of clothes off the rack. Shoved them right into his suitcase. He didn’t need servants to fold and fluff everything for him. He’d gotten along just fine without them for over a decade and he was damned if he’d turn into a spoiled fop like Vanu.

He went into the bathroom and swiped his toiletries off the marble shelf and into a plastic bag. A scan of the room confirmed that he’d removed all traces of his brief presence.

Now to confront Lani.

His chest ached. He’d so much rather have slipped away without seeing her again. Experience had proved he didn’t have much self-control around her. Getting to know her hadn’t helped, either. Did he really have to find out that she was warm and thoughtful as well as gorgeous? It would have been better if he’d left right after the funeral.

He would have preferred as well not to know how responsive and exciting she was during sex. If that’s how she performed with a man she was being forced to marry while still mourning her husband, imagine what she’d be like if she was really in love?

Don’t. There was no point in thinking about what-ifs. He was not going to participate in this arranged marriage charade any longer.

He zipped up his suitcase and pulled out the handle. Soon he’d be marching along the corridors at LAX, a free man again.

Finding Lani wasn’t easy. He walked all over the palace, asking everyone he met for almost an hour, tension building in his muscles, before he finally tracked her down on a stone bench by a reflecting pool in the garden.

She glanced up, startled, as he approached.

“Don’t worry. I’m not staying.” He almost growled the words, then regretted his hostile tone. This whole mess wasn’t really her fault. She’d been bullied into it, the same way he had.

He glanced at the round pool, where reflected leaves danced across its shimmering surface, hiding its depths from view. “You’ll be a good queen until the baby comes of age. The elders are wise and thoughtful and really don’t need any help to run the country, though I’m sure they’ll welcome new ideas about education and—”

“You’re not really leaving.” Her eyes widened.

“I really am. Booked on tonight’s flight. Back on the course I should have stuck with from day one.” Before he’d become intrigued, then utterly seduced, by her.

Her face totally still, she stared at him, apparently lost for words. And why should she have to come up with words? They were all tired of saying things they didn’t mean. She that she was thrilled to be marrying a total stranger, he that he was so sad his rotten older brother was dead. Enough with the pretense.

“It’ll be hard on Mom. That’s the one part I really regret.”

Lani blinked. He saw her shoulders stiffen. “Yes. But why are you leaving? Is it because of me?” Her lips tightened.

“It’s not because of you.” He shoved a hand through his hair. He owed her his honesty after all they’d been through over the last few days. “If anything, you’re the reason I almost made the wrong decision to stay. You’re a good person, Lani, as well as a very beautiful one. But you’re my brother’s wife, not mine. I can’t step into his life and walk in his footsteps. I have my own life that I made for myself, and that’s where I need to be.”

“Everyone wants you to stay.” Her voice was oddly hollow.

AJ straightened his back. “Everyone? I doubt it. I don’t think people pay much more attention to who’s in the palace than to who’s on Instant Millionaire every Wednesday. I’m going to make an announcement to the media so there won’t be any guessing and suspense.”

“Have you told Priia yet?” Lani twisted her hands into her skirt.

AJ’s stomach clenched. “I’m going to tell her now, and I know it won’t be easy.”

“She’ll be devastated.”

“I know, but it can’t be helped.” Better than entering into a marriage with a woman who hadn’t chosen him, and who’d never stop being his brother’s wife.

Lani looked down at her lap, avoiding his glance. Maybe she resented the fact that he’d decided to put emotion before duty. After all, she’d demonstrated her readiness to sacrifice everything for the good of Rahiri.

He wasn’t made of such stern stuff.

And he really did want her to be happy. “I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly.” His voice softened. “And that the birth is uneventful. You’ll be able to tell everyone that it’s Vanu’s baby now. No more living a lie.”

Lani swallowed. “Yes. I suppose that’s good.” Her voice sounded flat. “Things did get awfully complicated.”

“Which should have been the first clue we were heading in the wrong direction.” His fingers itched to touch her, just one last time. To feel her soft skin beneath his palm and inhale her delicate floral scent.

But he resisted. “Goodbye, Lani.”

“Goodbye, AJ.” She looked up at last, wide eyes brimming with tears. “Good luck to you. I hope everything works out the way you want it to.”

He frowned. “Thanks. And for you and the baby, too. I’m sure I’ll be in touch after things settle down a bit.”

She nodded, lips pressed together. She hadn’t risen from the bench. Just sat there like a lovely statue, fingers twisted into the silk of her dress.

He spun on his heel and marched away before he could do anything stupid.

Lani slumped on the bench as he walked away. She didn’t even have the urge to run after him. It seemed normal, natural, that she should be left here alone and loveless while he went back to his life in L.A. Isn’t that just what she’d expected, after all?

He’d been swept along on the tide of excitement that they’d mistaken for destiny—all the pomp of the funeral and Priia’s festive gathering—and he’d gotten temporarily sidetracked into thinking he’d like to return to Rahiri.

Vanu’s unwitting intervention had woken him up.

Trust Vanu to ruin everything.

The reappearance of his boat and the resulting hitch in their plans had given AJ time to realize he didn’t want the life Priia had plotted out for him—or her.

It hurt—really hurt.

She pressed her fingers gently into her belly and tried to ignore the hollow space that seemed to be opening up inside her. At least she had the baby to look forward to, and AJ was right, the elders could rule the country without any help from the palace. They’d certainly been doing it while Vanu was king, as he’d taken zero interest in the country’s affairs. Rahiri would be fine.

But would she?

It didn’t seem fair to taste happiness like that, then have it rudely snatched away.

At first she’d been wary of AJ, and hoped he’d leave. But now that she’d gotten to know him, she wanted desperately for him to stay. He’d looked genuinely excited about raising the baby with her. She’d been so sure that—at last—everything was going to work out for the best. That she’d finally get to be happy.

But that had been too much to hope for.

A few weeks ago she’d have been pleased to be left quietly alone. She hadn’t known about the baby then, but she’d at least been relieved to be rid of Vanu. Now she craved the family she’d always wanted as a child. A mother and father together, as hers had been when she was little, before their marriage broke up and she and her mother came back to Rahiri.

She let out a deep sigh, picked up a small stone and tossed it into the pool. A splash radiated out into huge ripples that filled the round surface and lapped against the walls. AJ’s arrival had changed everything, even her dreams.

She no longer wanted to be left quietly alone, merely to live out her days without having to endure cruel treatment from a man she despised. Now she wanted so much more: affection, conversation, humor and, of course, the dangerous and delicious passion that AJ had awakened in her.

But AJ didn’t want to share it with her. He’d chosen to return to his life in L.A. and the freedom that came with it. He wouldn’t be tied down by responsibilities to a nation, or a woman.

Sadness soaked through her. Probably right now AJ was telling the reporters who never left the palace of his plans to abandon Rahiri—and her. In a short while she’d be paraded in front of them to embrace her new, solitary role as queen, and to announce the pregnancy.

And she’d do it all alone. Not physically alone, with her doting mother-in-law and the palace staff all around her, but in the ways that were important, the empty, hungry places in her heart, she’d be alone.

“We must stop him!” Priia’s voice rang out into the garden from the nearby sitting room. “I told him he can’t go. It’s impossible!”

“We can’t stop him,” Lani mouthed back in barely a whisper.

Her mother-in-law ran out into the garden and grabbed her arms. “AJ’s heading for the airport.” Her long nails cut into Lani’s skin. “He can’t leave us. We need him.”

“I know we want him here.” Lani rose and spoke softly. “But he needs to leave and we have to let him.”

Priia’s eyes were still wide with shock. “I could call the airport and tell them to ground the plane.”

Lani shook her head. “You can’t keep him here by force. It has to be his choice.”

“But he chose to stay. He announced to all of us at the banquet that he…” The first tear rolled from Priia’s dark eyes.

You pressured him into it, Lani wanted to say. But she held her tongue. No need to pour salt on Priia’s already sore wounds. But this was exactly why it was a bad idea to go after him now. Trying to force the issue hadn’t helped at all. He was still leaving, and they were right back where they started.

Which wasn’t such a bad place after all.

She drew in a steadying breath. “We’ll be fine. The baby will be our next king or queen.”

Priia looked up. “The baby, yes! Oh, sweetheart.” She drew in a steadying breath. “And now I suppose we can tell people it’s Vanu’s child.”

Lani looked down. “Yes, there’s no reason not to.”

Her mother-in-law dabbed at her eyes with one of her embroidered handkerchiefs. “It is a blessing having his baby to remember him by. And you can rule in the meantime. It’s been a long time since Rahiri had a queen, because usually our people have so many boys ready to…”

Her voice trailed off, then she cleared her throat. “You’re right, of course, my dear. We must meet every challenge life throws at us with our heads held high.