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The party proceeded with all the usual nonsense that so often accompanied a royal occasion and Xerxes tried to force his recalcitrant thoughts back to the present and not keep focusing on the past or on a woman he shouldn’t be thinking of when the woman who should be occupying his thought was standing right beside him.
He was in the middle of introducing Eleni to a couple of the staider Axian aristocrats, when one of his aides whispered discreetly in his ear, apologising for disturbing him at so important an occasion, but someone needed to speak with him urgently and could he spare a couple of minutes?
He couldn’t, not when he was expected to lead a formal dance with his new fiancée in approximately fifteen minutes, but he was getting tired of pretending to be ecstatically happy with the proceedings and wanted a distraction, so he excused himself and followed the aide out of the ballroom and onto the terrace.
Small groups of people clustered here and there, the lights above the guests sparkling off jewels and sequins, glittering just as brightly as the lights of the city below the palace. The night air was warm, carrying with it the promise of another long, hot Axian summer.
Xerxes frowned as he followed his aide to a darker corner of the terrace, out of sight of the main doors and the guests. He wasn’t concerned about his own safety, not here in the palace, but his curiosity was piqued. Who could be wanting to speak with him under cover of the shadows?
The aide stopped and bowed, withdrawing as a figure moved in the darkness near the parapet. ‘Thank you for meeting me, Your Highness,’ a familiar clear, sweet voice said.
And he felt it rush through him like a hot current, a burst of intense desire.
Calista.
She stepped out of the shadows and his heart seized in his chest. She wasn’t in uniform tonight, wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans, with a black jacket thrown over the top. Her hair was caught in a ponytail and there were dark circles under her eyes.
She was pale and looked as if she hadn’t slept in days.
He stared at her, unable to stop himself from examining her from head to foot, because for at least the past couple of months he hadn’t let himself look. He’d had to make sure his gaze coasted over her as if she were just another guard in his detail.
But she would never be that, not any more, and looking at her now made him feel like a thirsty man finally allowed to drink water after months in the desert. Except, though they might be in an apparently unobserved part of the terrace, there were always eyes around, especially tonight, for his engagement.
So he merely arched a brow. ‘Calista, isn’t it? Aren’t you supposed to be on duty tonight?’
Her amber gaze wavered, an expression he couldn’t identify flickering across her face and then vanishing. ‘Yes.’ Her voice had an edge to it. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, Your Highness, but I...needed to speak with you urgently.’
A whisper of foreboding brushed over him. There weren’t many reasons for her to come directly to him. In fact, he couldn’t think of a single one, especially not one that would involve interrupting him during an important official occasion, not wearing her uniform or going through official channels.
He studied the pale cast to her cheeks and the circles under her eyes. He might have only spent one night with her, but he knew she wouldn’t interrupt him if it wasn’t important, not when she was such a stickler for protocol and authority.
No, whatever it was, this was serious. Serious enough that she’d come to him in secret, too. She didn’t want anyone to know...
‘What is this about?’
She glanced apprehensively over his shoulder to where the guests stood, the party going on just a few feet away. Music drifted out of the ballroom. Soon it would be time for him to dance with Eleni.
‘Can we go...elsewhere?’ Her hands were clenched at her sides and she radiated nervous tension.
Foreboding gripped him more tightly. Normally she was emotionless. Expressionless.
‘Where else do you suggest? This is the middle of my engagement party, after all. Not really the time for heart-to-heart chats.’
It was unfair of him to say that, because he knew she wasn’t here for anything as insignificant as a declaration of love or desire. Not when she’d ignored his existence as completely as he’d ignored hers. He’d wondered if he might run into difficulties with her, but he hadn’t needed to worry, as it turned out. She’d acted as though it had never happened. Looking through him as though he wasn’t there.
And you didn’t like that.
Ridiculous. It had made things significantly easier and he’d been glad of it.
‘I...’ She stopped and took another breath, her hands opening and then closing again. ‘I didn’t really want to tell you like this. But I thought you should know immediately.’
‘Know what?’
Calista’s eyes were very dark in the shadows, her face even paler. ‘I’m sorry, Your Highness, but... I’m p-pregnant.’
The prince had gone very still, like a figure carved from rock, his expression utterly unreadable.
Nausea twisted in Calista’s stomach, though that could have been nerves rather than related to the pregnancy. She hadn’t been feeling sick at all in the weeks leading up to this point, and there was no reason to now, not at this relatively ‘late stage’.
