Her mouth fell adoringly open. “Love?”
“I love you, Reanna. That’s why you’re here.”
Reanna sat on the arm of a chair behind her. “You love me?”
“I do.”
With that Reanna passed out and would have dropped to the floor if he hadn’t caught her. Xander lifted her into his arms and called to the nearest staff member to summon the royal physician. He carried her to the nearest couch and laid her down.
She was already blinking and coming around by the time her head hit the cushion. She sat up before he could stop her and swayed.
He steadied her and crouched in front of her to look into her eyes. “I have a doctor coming. How do you feel?”
She rubbed a hand across her face, half hiding behind it. “Mortified.”
“I’m not asking if you’re embarrassed. Are you in any pain? Do you still feel lightheaded?”
She lowered her hand. “No. I was too nervous to eat anything today, that’s all this probably is.”
Xander moved to sit beside her, pulling her into his embrace and tucking her head beneath his chin.
The royal family physician was there within moments. Xander sat beside Reanna as she answered questions, and the doctor took her temperature and blood pressure. He agreed that Reanna might feel better if she ate something, and small finger sandwiches were instantly brought to her along with a glass of orange juice. The doctor suggested that Reanna visit him soon for a comprehensive evaluation, but he didn’t see a hint of anything serious.
When the doctor had gone, Reanna looked up at Xander and asked, “Is it too late to join your family for dinner?”
“I told them we would return another time. You’ve had enough excitement for one evening.”
“I’m fine now. Really.”
“The dinner doesn’t matter, Reanna. You do. You will see the doctor this week.”
Reanna nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Xander cupped her chin with one of his hands and raised her face to his. He kissed her lips softly. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Reanna. I should have done this better. I am used to thinking only of myself. I didn’t look at today through your eyes.” He tapped her on the nose in playful reprimand. “You know, passing out when a man tells you he loves you can dent his ego.”
Reanna smiled for the first time since she’d fainted. He loves me. “Does one even notice a dent on something the size of Australia?”
He chuckled, but spoke seriously, “You can say whatever you’d like tonight, Reanna. I aged ten years when I saw you collapse.”
She searched his face. He really loves me. And I love him. Her emotions soared at the revelation.
He kissed her gently again. “Now tell me you love me, Reanna. We both know you do.”
She looked down at her lap, then back up at him, and there was a mischievous light in her eyes. “I believe it’s your humility I find most attractive.”
He frowned. “Are you suggesting you don’t?”
She smiled up at him again. “What do you think?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “I think life with you will not be boring.” He stood and offered her a hand.
She took it and hung on, clutching it. “I love you, Xander. I’m happy. I’m scared. Half the time I expect to wake up back in my bed in Boston and realize this was all a dream, but I do love you. This month has been the best month of my life. I don’t know how to begin to thank you for it.”
“It’s real, Reanna, and I am just as happy to have met you. Come. Let’s go home. I have a proposal to plan.”
Chapter Eleven
Reanna was a bundle of nerves the next day as she waited for Xander to finish whatever business had kept him in the library since early morning. The cook had made her enough breakfast to feed three people, and Reanna had dutifully dug into it even though she was too excited to be hungry.
The royal doctor came by early and suggested a full battery of blood work. He left promising her the results in a few days, but reassuring her he could find no sign of anything serious.
Every time Reanna thought about the day before, she cringed. Going to the royal palace had been like stepping into a fairy tale. She wished she’d been able to have dinner with Xander’s father and brothers. They had been formal and stately in their initial meeting, but Reanna was certain they would have relaxed if given more time with her. There would be other dinners, though.
A lifetime of dinners.
Alone for once, Reanna walked through long hallways she’d come to know so well. Once again, she took time to pause before each of the portraits that hung along the way. In the beginning Reanna had been intimidated by their regal presence. However, as they became more familiar to her, she enjoyed studying the genetic variations evident over time. Unlike some monarchies, the Demande family had chosen brides from other countries and even other regions of the world consistently throughout their rule. Because of that, they were biologically hardy. There was evidence of some Nordic features on several portraits. Even though Reanna had not had much time to read about the family, she felt as if she’d gotten to know Xander’s ancestors by studying their features.
This is Xander’s family.
My family when I marry him.
Reanna was standing before the portrait of Xander’s mother, wishing she could ask the woman about her strained relationship with her son, when she heard voices in a room across the hall.
“He took her to meet the king, that means she’ll probably be the next queen.”
“If she lives.”
“Don’t tell me you believe in the curse of the crown.”
“It’s not a curse, it’s a law. The prince must lure a new bride home and marry her before he’s thirty. If his choice refuses, she’s put to death.”
Reanna froze and moved behind a curio beside the open door so she could hear them better. The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up.
“If there ever was a law like that, it would have been banned long ago. King Francis would never allow it.”
“You don’t know anything. My family has worked in the Royal Guard for generations. My uncle used to be a driver for one of the royal council members when King Francis was still a prince. He told me that Queen Stephanie was not the king’s first choice. The woman King Francis originally chose didn’t love him back, and after saying so she was never seen again. Call it a curse. Call it a law. That shit is real.”
“Do you know why you’re cleaning the castle instead of defending it, Remy? Because you’re an idiot. And you just proved it. Your uncle was having fun at your expense.”
“I’m just glad Mis
s Fielding seems happy here. I don’t want to be burying bodies as well as making beds.”
“Finish this room alone. I can’t listen to this anymore. Do yourself a favor, though, and don’t tell anyone else this unless you want to be unemployed. And don’t mention it to me again. I don’t want to get fired with you.”
Reanna clung to the wall behind the curio until she was sure both maids were gone. Curse of the crown? Put to death?
Reanna wanted to dismiss it as confidently as the other maid had, but she couldn’t. She remembered what Moira, the nanny, had said to her. How she’d warned her to make sure her feelings were clear then swore her to secrecy about her visit. She remembered all the times Xander had said something that had rung odd to her, but she’d told herself she was being paranoid.
If she stopped looking back at the meeting with Xander’s father through the lens of worrying what they thought of her, she had to admit it had been strange. Xander had introduced her as his choice, not his girlfriend. His father had been more concerned with her answer regarding if she intended to marry Xander than getting to know her.
No, that’s insane.
Reanna stepped away from the wall and walked right into Xander.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” he said and nuzzled her neck. When she stood stiff in his arms, he raised his head and looked down at her with concern. “Are you feeling ill again today? What’s wrong?”
Reanna forced a smile to her lips. “No, I’m fine. Just tired from all the excitement, I guess.”
He studied her face closely. “Too tired for what I had planned for today?”
Reanna swallowed hard. “Is it what we talked about last night?”
He dug a hand gently into the back of her hair. “That and so much more. But it can wait if you’re tired.”
