She nodded, looking forward. He said, ‘Open the doors.’
The doors swung back and the ballroom was revealed. Impressively majestic with rococo decoration. A parquet floor. Glittering chandeliers. And hundreds of pairs of eyes.
The music from a string quartet struck up as they walked in. A slow waltz. Everyone clapped. The crowd parted and they walked into the empty space in the middle of the room. Caius stood in front of Poppy and lifted her hand and put his arm around her back.
They moved smoothly together, both trained for this from almost as soon as they could walk.
‘I have to apologise,’ Caius heard himself saying.
Poppy looked up. ‘You do?’
He nodded. ‘Today went so smoothly. I know that takes a lot of hard work and organisation.’
She flushed a little and that had a direct effect on Caius’s body. He fought to control himself.
She said, ‘I have a good team and your staff were helpful.’
Caius had also let it be known that if they’d needed any funds they could name their price but Poppy had favoured an economical wedding.
‘It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be here to help—’
Poppy made an audibly disbelieving sound and Caius pulled her closer. The flush in her cheeks deepened and her eyes widened. Something surged inside him. Maybe she wasn’t so immune after all.
He said, ‘This marriage is a consequence of both our actions. I might be reluctant but you’d already vetoed me as a contender so I think we can call quits on where we both stand on that issue.’
Now Poppy looked uncomfortable. ‘That’s fair.’
‘And the reason I wasn’t here was because I had a financial situation to deal with.’
‘A financial situation.’ Poppy sounded unimpressed.
‘Something I’d invested in lost funding.’
Now she looked unimpressed. ‘I hope that when your son or daughter is born you’ll recognise what is more important.’
She was assuming he’d prioritised making money over being present for the wedding preparations. Caius found himself in the familiar position of being judged—he’d be the first to admit that generally people had good reason to judge him, but not in this instance.
He could defend himself but something was cautioning him against it. As if he wasn’t quite ready yet to beg for her approval. Because this whole situation and the currents flowing between them were something he’d never navigated before. So it was easier to let her believe the worst.
Instead he asked, ‘So, Poppy…why that name? It’s not exactly…regal, is it?’
She smiled sweetly and it almost distracted Caius from noticing that it didn’t reach her eyes. ‘Don’t you mean it’s more suited to an art student?’
Caius’s conscience pricked hard again to think of her overhearing that conversation. He had been less than kind. ‘You didn’t deserve that.’
She looked a little surprised and then she shrugged minutely and said, ‘My father was so sure that he would have a son to inherit the crown that he told my mother to call me whatever she wanted, so she did. She called me Poppy because it was her favourite flower and to annoy him, but it backfired when he had no objection to it.’
Caius stopped dancing and looked down at her. There was such a multitude of information in that breezily delivered answer that he wasn’t sure what to unpick first. It made her solo walk down the aisle at the wedding even more poignant now.
She looked around and back at him, saying behind a fixed smile, ‘Why have you stopped dancing?’
Because for some reason he’d felt a rush of anger at her father. Caius started dancing again. ‘He married a few times, didn’t he?’
Poppy nodded. ‘Four times. Always in search of the elusive male heir.’
‘That’s why you had to marry to be crowned queen.’
She went a little pale. Caius cursed silently. ‘Poppy, I can already see that you’ve made a positive impact on Valdere, even before you got married. He was obviously too blinkered to see what an asset you were.’ Caius might have said something a lot more blunt and rude but he didn’t want to offend her.
