Page 93 of Fit for a King

“Yes?”

“His Majesty requests your presence.”

The world stopped, and I had to grab the edge of the door to stay steady. “I’ve already been released from duty.”

“His Majesty requests your presence in the throne room,” he said tonelessly.

In the throne room? Why? And why did he want to see me now? Why couldn’t he understand this was for the best? I didn’t need to see him. That would only make things harder.

But I also couldn’t deny the king, so I nodded. “Very well.”

I followed the guard back inside the palace, through the butler’s pantry and grand ballroom. When we stopped outside the large double doors that led into the throne room, I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself.

The guard knocked on the ornate doors, a voice inside called, “Enter,” and my entire body stiffened.

Oh God. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough for this. Wasn’t sure I could make myself leave if I saw Nicholas again.

The guard pulled the doors open, and my breath caught in the back of my throat. With white and cream marble floors, columns, and soaring ceilings, the room was grand on a scale greater than any other room in the palace—including the ballroom behind me. There were tall, arched windows draped in heavy navy curtains, embroidered in silver, and a crystal chandelier hung in the center of the room.

At the far end was a raised platform with three marble stairs leading up to the main dais, where a throne sat.

The throne of Valoria.

It was carved out of white oak with silver leaf detailing, and was upholstered in deep navy velvet. Two towering Valorian flags flanked it, and just above the throne was the royal coat of arms.

The guard stood to the side, and I stepped forward and spotted Nicholas. He was standing by one of the windows, his hands clasped behind his back. The guard inclined his head toward me, turned, and exited the room, closing the mammoth doors behind him.

My heart thundered as I stood there, staring at the man I’d fallen so hopelessly for, and then he finally spoke.

“You’re leaving?”

There was no greeting. No names exchanged. He didn’t even bother to look at me. And somehow that hurt more than being ignored altogether.

“I am,” I said with all the conviction I could muster under the circumstances.

“You were not dismissed,” he said in such an abrupt manner that I couldn’t help the sound that escaped me, somewhere between a snort and a cough. My disbelief suddenly roared to the surface and raged right past the bitter disappointment and abject sadness I’d been feeling up until this very second.

“My apologies, Your Majesty,” I finally said. “But dismissed is all I’ve been over the last few weeks.”

Nicholas looked over his shoulder but said nothing as he walked in my direction. It took everything I had to stand where I was as he stopped in front of me. But this man had invited me in, asked me to trust him, and then discarded me.

“And that’s the reason you’re leaving?”

I didn’t dare look at him. I knew my place—he’d made it abundantly clear. Instead, I fixed my eyes on a sculpture sitting on a marble pedestal.

“It’s the reason I’m not staying.” I refused to say can’t stay. I wouldn’t give him that. I’d given him too much already.

He said nothing to that, turning and walking up to the throne to take a seat. Never had he looked more like the king he was born to be. The man I could never have.

“And if I order you to stay?”

“Why would you do that?”

For a moment that cool façade he’d worn so well these past few weeks slipped. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Because this is killing me, I wanted to tell him. Because I can’t bear the thought of you with another.

But I didn’t say either of those things. “Because I’m no longer needed here.”