Page 67 of Talon (Road Rebels MC 2)
“What?” He answered hastily.
It was one of his couriers telling him that the Parliament had reached a decision and he was summoned to their chambers at once.
Cort took a deep breath and followed the courier.
“We’ve evaluated the matter that you have presented to us,” Maricle began when Cort arrived. He made sure to enter the room with the type of intense bravado expected of a soon to be king, but inside he was shaking like a leaf.
“I’m pleased to hear that,” Cort said. He tried to keep the positive attitude flowing. He really needed to hear some good news right about now.
“After careful consideration, the council has reached the decision that the law will be upheld. You are to find a bride by your thirtieth birthday if you expect to assume the throne.”
“What? I thought I made my points very clear on this!” Cort yelled.
“You will conduct yourself properly in this court. Do I make myself clear Prince?” Maricle asked.
“Yes,” Cort said calmly.
“This decision is final. You will not change the ruling. If you do not secure a bride by said time then your uncle Charles will assume the throne.”
Cort knew it was futile to argue. The decision had been made, and there was not a damn thing he was going to be able to do about it. He shuddered at the thought of his dimwit uncle, his father’s younger brother, assuming the crown. The country would fall apart if this happened. His uncle had been married for some years but he hardly even spoke to his wife and routinely had women sent to his room. He spent at least half of every day in bed with food, wine, and women. It was appalling and unbefitting of someone who was about to assume the title of King. Didn’t the council see that?
No. They wanted to uphold the laws that had been in place for so long, no matter what the better alternative would be.
“Do you have anything else to say?” Maricle asked.
To Cort, it seemed almost like a bait or a dare of some sort. He almost believed that the Maricle was enjoying this.
He probably was.
“No. I have nothing further.”
“Very well then. Meeting adjourned,” Maricle said.
Cort started to walk away but stopped himself.
“Actually,” he began.
Maricle looked annoyed. “Yes?”
“If I were to get married before my thirtieth birthday then I will assume the throne.”
“Of course.”
“Ok,” Cort said.
He was not going to play their game. It was quite possible that these old fogies had just played themselves right into his hands.
Cort left the chambers and headed for the gym. He needed to do some boxing and blow off some steam while he calculated his next move.
“Wow, I think you knocked him out,” Brody said.
Markus was lying on the canvas after taking a vicious roundhouse punch from Cort. It was a clean knockout punch, and it had decked him hard to the mat. It was a good thing that he was wearing head gear.
After a few moments, he got to his feet. “Oh, that sucked in so many ways…” Markus said.
“You’ll live,” Cort replied. It had been a while since he and the boys had done some kickboxing. It was always a fun way to relieve stress, and right now Cort wanted to do just that.
“So, want to go grab a few beers?” Brody asked.
“Nah,” Cort said. “I need to meet with the team.”
The team was his own team of personal advisors. He met with them to discuss personal life choices, and they advised him on legalities relating to the job of being Prince.
“Do you think there is anything they can do?” Brody asked.
“I’m not sure, but it’s the only play I have right now. If there is a way to find a loophole around this, then they are the guys to do it.”
Cort said goodbye to his boys and headed off to meet with the team.
He just prayed there was something that could be done.
CHAPTER 11
Teagan
Teagan sat down on the bus clutching at her bag. It felt good to be sitting in a vehicle again, knowing that she was on her way back to real civilization. The past three days had been challenging, but so rewarding. She would never forget the experience, and it was something that she’d always remember fondly. Having the privilege of working with Siri one on one and getting to know and commune with the others was a once in a lifetime experience. She was still a bit in shock that she’d been chosen and she felt that by the third day she was really starting to impress Siri and the others, although some of the others were obviously a bit jealous. There were some good, dedicated practitioners there, but Teagan was impressed with how well she held her own, and she actually felt that she might have taught a few of them something.
It felt a bit odd to be thinking so highly of herself when she was usually a bit reserved and tended to suffer from self-doubt in herself from time to time, but Siri had given her a lot of praise, but it was hard earned. He’d really pushed her and then she started to push herself. And she would be able to take a lot of these teachings back to her own students and get their feedback as well. Hopefully, she still had students to go back to. She needed to talk to Ellie and find out how everything was getting along without her there.
As the bus drove away heading back towards the hotel, Teagan unzipped her bag and grabbed her cell phone. She clutched it in her hand for several minutes just feeling it, glad to have this little beacon to the real world back in her possession. It was funny how much she missed having the phone, but by the second day, she forgot about it. And now it was here she was almost frantic with the thought of how she’d gotten along without it.
She opened up the cheap little flip phone and was excited to see she had a few missed phone calls. That was when she thought of Cort. He’d been in her thoughts incessantly since she’d left him three days ago. During her activities, she’d been able to distract herself just enough to focus on the task at hand and push thoughts of him out of her mind, but at night when everyone was relaxing around the fire she couldn’t think of anything else.
She opened up the missed calls and saw that she had two voicemails. The phone suddenly felt slippery in her hand as her palms started to sweat. Her breath began
to come in short rapid gasps, and she felt a bit dizzy. Closing her eyes, she tried to get a grip on herself, a small giggle escaping her dry throat. Mira, a girl, sitting across from her gave her a strange glance. Teagan smiled warmly and then went back to her phone, blocking out the rest of the world.
She saw the missed calls were both from a number she did not recognize, but they were both the same number. It had to be Cort. She wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead and watched the screen so long it began to grow dim until she pushed the home button to bring it back.
What was she waiting for? She wanted to listen to these messages, she had to… It would be so good to hear his voice again. Had it really only been three days? Why did it feel more like three months?
And why was she still waiting?
Teagan selected the first voice mail and held the phone to her ear. It was Cort! The sound of his husky voice sent ripples of goosebumps up and down the back of her neck. Soon her whole body was tingling. How did this man have so much control over her and the way she felt when they barely knew each other? What started off as just a chance encounter with a sexy, fun stranger passionate sex in an alleyway had somehow become what felt like the biggest defining moment in her life. She was falling for Cort; she knew that. She felt somehow closer to him than men she’d had serious relationships with. That’s what was so scary. It wasn’t normal, was it? To feel so close, so desperately needy for the touch of someone she barely knew.
She didn’t care though. Teagan felt the way she felt, and she’d made a decision long ago to give in to her desires and her feelings. There was no sense in hiding who she was or what she actually wanted, what would make her happy in this life just to worry about what was considered normal or not. This was her life. And she was damn sure going to live it.
As she listened to both of Cort’s messages, she began to get a bit worried. His second message, did she detect a bit of desperation in his voice? He didn’t sound as confident and relaxed as he normally did. Was it because of her?
