His eldest brother, Xander, had refused to tell Bryan why it had been necessary for him to marry months ago, when he’d been so desperate to find his bride. Bryan hadn’t understood back then why it had been so damn critical to Xander to have his chosen bride, Reanna, love him and swear her loyalty to Rubare Collina. Xander had banished the royal council, and a lot of changes had been made in the Rubarian government since his coronation. Today, one year exactly before his own thirtieth birthday, Bryan had just been informed of the truth. He’d never questioned anything Xander did, trusting that his elder brother knew what he was doing and why. Everything that had been happening earlier with his sibling and his new bride now fell into place, Xander’s actions making complete sense.
Now I wish to be ignorant again.
“Xander and Reanna are happy. He’s now king, and he and his wife have already birthed the next heir to the throne. The council has been banished, and Xander is tracking down the rogue Arcano.” Xander and Reanna had a love marriage, and she had just given birth to Bryan’s nephew — the future king. After a rather rocky start, the couple had wed with all the pomp and circumstance that accompanied a Rubarian royal wedding. Xander’s coronation had taken place, making him King of Rubare Collina. Reanna and Xander’s son had been born just a few weeks ago, and his brother was happier than Bryan had ever seen him.
That doesn’t mean that marriage would work for me. I’m not Xander — born to rule a country and a natural leader. And I’m not Chris — a genius who’s added additional wealth to our kingdom with his gift of high intellect. I’m a middle child of no great value. I don’t need to get married. And I don’t need to produce royal babies.
He’d always been aware that all of the royal princes were expected to marry a kidnapped bride before the age of thirty, a Rubarian custom he’d always found barbaric. For God’s sake, they were in the twenty-first century, and theirs was a progressive, prosperous country. Still, there were some traditions that were apparently hard to let go of because of the Arcano. What he hadn’t known was that Xander and Reanna had nearly lost their lives trying to ban the darker laws that Bryan hadn’t been aware of, laws so twisted that he couldn’t imagine them being enforced — even centuries ago. But apparently, they had. Twice. First with his Uncle Ivan and then with his own father.
It had been a shock for Bryan to find out that his father’s chosen bride had been executed because of the Arcano marriage law. Their late mother hadn’t been his father’s first choice. He’d only married her long after his first choice had been killed to pacify the council and the Arcano. Maybe that had been the reason that their mother had been so unhappy, melancholy enough to toss herself off a cliff at the summer castle.
Father never loved Mother. His first choice died, was executed by the hands of the Arcano.
Bryan shuddered, trying to block his memory of the particularly horrific day when Queen Stephanie had taken her own life. He shoved away the visions of the mother who had cared nothing about any of her sons. It wasn’t that he and his brothers hadn’t sought her love and approval, but that she hadn’t been willing to give it. Nothing he, Xander or Christopher did ever pleased her, and she had always wanted them all out of her sight while they resided in the same palace.
That’s why I never wanted to marry. Now that I know the truth, I’m certain I will never take a wife. My mother married Father simply because he was a wealthy king, but she was obviously miserable because his heart belonged to a woman who had been executed. Xander may have found it necessary to follow custom to secure the succession, and he’s done that. Thank God he’s happy with his fate. Christopher and I have no reason to be forced into marriage. Well…except for the fact that the remaining Arcano will try to kill us if we don’t.
He scowled as he contemplated his dilemma. Bryan was a mining engineer and mineralogist. He’d rather be out getting dirty and sweaty working with his hands, designing mines, and discovering new mineral deposits while trying to work at preserving the natural environment on Rubare Collina. That was what he was good at. That was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He had a place and purpose at Dyholm, the company that had made him, Xander and Christopher three of only a handful of trillionaires in the world. The few other trillionaires in existence were related to them, Demande cousins on sister islands. Rubare Collina had some of the rarest natural mineral deposits in the world, which made the island nation one of the wealthiest countries on the planet.
“With all due respect, Your Highness, I won’t sit by and watch you get assassinated, nor will your father. The death threats are coming daily now. The Arcano have been wounded by King Xander’s persistence, but they aren’t neutralized,” Simon argued calmly. “The ones who remain are from an ancient lineage, conditioned from birth to follow the rules of the Arcano. We need you safely married as soon as possible.”
Bryan snorted. He didn’t think any man could be safely married. “I thought I had until my thirtieth birthday.”
I can help Xander catch all of the rogue Arcano by then!
“The Arcano aren’t waiting,” Simon replied unhappily. “Since they’re under attack, they’re volatile. The death threats are unusual this early. It’s only your twenty-ninth birthday, but they know their days are probably numbered. They aren’t predictable.”
Bryan smirked at the royal advisor, a man he had known as long as he could remember. “Then I had best watch my back,” he answered harshly, his voice firm.
“You’ll be safer if you’d just wed,” Simon answered, as though his request for Bryan to commit the rest of his life to one chosen woman was perfectly reasonable.
“I can watch out for myself, Simon. I’m not a child anymore.” Simon had been the royal advisor for as long as Bryan could remember, and he’d been instructing him since he was in diapers. Sometimes he treated them all like they were still in the nursery.
“I don’t think you understand the Arcano. They’ve become radicals; their only purpose is to protect the succession of the royal family and adhere to tradition.”
Unfortunately, Bryan now understood the situation perfectly after hearing the entire history of the Arcano from his father and Simon. His father had decided that Bryan needed to be informed that he had to marry immediately because the threats from the Arcano, should he fail to comply very soon, were going to continue to escalate daily. His father had delivered the news and left Bryan with Simon to figure out and discuss the details.
Obviously his father had expected Bryan’s complete cooperation, but he wasn’t going to get it. Bryan needed to talk to Xander…soon.
Members of the secret society of the Arcano, which had existed among the people and former council of Rubare Collina for centuries, were being hunted down by Xander and exterminated one by one, but the identities of the remaining members were deeply hidden. It was making his older brother’s success limited. The duties of the Arcano had been passed from parent to child over the centuries; the family names of the remaining members were unknown even to his father, the previous king. His father had stressed that Bryan was to trust no one, not even the royal guard. Although the majority of the guard was behind the royal family, Arcano very well could be planted among them.
As the Americans would say…the Arcano are all bat-shit crazy. How do I combat men that live for only one purpose, a cause that’s no longer even necessary?
“Why in the hell haven’t they been extinguished before now? We’re in the twenty-first century for fuck’s sake,” Bryan answered testily, reverting to the profanity he’d picked up during his six years in the United States while he’d attended college there. He was grateful that the royal nanny, Moira, wasn’t present or she’d probably box his ears for using what she considered vulgar language. Fortunately, Moira was happily busy these days with the newborn Prince Alexander II. Bryan’s hazel eyes turned momentarily warm as he thought about the very first offspring from either of his siblings. He was an uncle now — Uncle Bryan to little Alex, and he adored the boy already.
&n
bsp; “You know why the Arcano was originally formed,” Simon reminded him ominously. “When the first Demandes came to Rubare Collina, the harsh laws were necessary to continue having strong leaders, many men in line to lead. Males didn’t live long, and between the pirates and the harsh conditions here, there weren’t many from the royal family left to rule.”
“It’s not the Middle Ages anymore, Simon.” Bryan stopped pacing, halting at the gold and marble bar to pour himself a drink. He no longer noticed the enormous precious gems that accented almost everything in the royal residence. He’d grown up with massive supplies of priceless gems, and they were nothing more than a decoration. He didn’t even think about the shot of decades-old, rare Scotch he poured into a fine crystal glass as he downed the expensive liquor worth thousands of dollars in one hefty gulp.
“With all due respect, Your Highness, it doesn’t matter. Your life is in danger.”
