Page 23 of Promoted To His Princess

But she was cold and she needed a quiet moment to pull herself together, to find her usual control, so she moved over to the fire, holding out her hands to the flames, trying not to feel as if her world was slowly crumbling into dust around her.

For weeks she’d ignored the strange fatigue that had crept through her bones and the odd bouts of nausea that had come and gone seemingly at random. She’d thought she had a virus, that she’d been working too hard, training too much. Pregnancy had never entered her head, because it hadn’t seemed a possibility. She was on the pill and she didn’t get periods because she made sure she didn’t. And besides, she and Xerxes had used condoms as well for the rest of that night; the chances of a pill failure were very slim.

But apparently not impossible. The doctor had been very clear.

Calista began to pace before the fire, her thoughts going around and around in circles. She had no idea what to do or where to go from here. All her dreams of being appointed to the king’s guard were now ashes. And what was she going to tell her father? Oh, God, her father...

She stopped and gritted her teeth hard, fighting the despair sitting like ice in her stomach.

‘You did the right thing, Calista,’ he’d said, the night he’d told her mother to leave, that he never wanted to see her again. ‘And I’m glad you told me. You’re loyal. You’d never disappoint me the way your mother did.’

She’d been so full of rage after her mother had brushed past her without even saying goodbye, so angry at her mother’s betrayal, that right then and there she made the decision that she would never disappoint him. Shewouldbe loyal. And, most importantly of all, she’d never be her mother.

Her father had always wanted a son and so she’d become that son for him, the way she’d tried to be her mother’s beautiful daughter. With total commitment and determination, she’d worked her way up the ranks to palace guard, and she knew she’d done her father proud. That she was everything he’d wanted her to be.

Except now she’d failed him. She’d fallen into the same trap as her mother, letting her own wants and desires rule her, putting at risk everything she’d worked so hard to achieve.

Tears pricked her eyelids. She never cried, not since that day she’d lost her temper and burst into tears of rage in front of her comrades. What on earth was happening to her?

‘Come, now, soldier,’ a dark, rich male voice said. ‘It’s not that bad, is it?’

Calista looked up.

Xerxes had come into the room, shutting the door behind him, a tall, imposing presence, every inch of him royal.

She forced down her despair. ‘I’m sorry, I—’

‘Sit,’ he ordered, nodding in the direction of one of the armchairs.

Her body was moving before she was even aware of it, going over to the chair he’d indicated and sitting down. Her legs just about gave out as she sat—another shock. She shouldn’t be going to pieces like this, surely?

Xerxes said nothing and she was about to speak when there was a discreet knock on the door. The prince opened it without a word and a palace staff member came in bearing a tray. The man put it down on the coffee table near her chair and then left as silently as he’d entered.

Calista blinked at the tray. A tall glass of iced water sat on it, along with another glass of orange juice, and a small plate full of artfully arranged fresh fruit.

‘Eat.’ Another order issued quietly as he came over to the armchair opposite hers and sat down.

‘I’m not hungry,’ she muttered.

‘Did you have any dinner tonight?’

No, she hadn’t had dinner. She’d lost any appetite she’d had after she’d seen the doctor.

‘Eat,’ Xerxes repeated and he must have correctly interpreted her mutinous expression because this time the edge of command was in it. ‘And while you eat, you’ll tell me exactly what our situation is.’

Our situation. Not hers.Ours.

Something kicked hard in her chest. ‘You’re assuming the baby is yours,’ she said flatly.

He let out a laugh that held no amusement. ‘I never considered otherwise.’

‘I could be lying to you.’

‘You’re not lying.’ He sounded so smug and certain her temper flared, making her want to kick him. ‘Do you even know how?’

Calista curled her fingers into her palms. ‘Don’t you want proof? You must get this all the time, women claiming they’re carrying your child.’

‘In the past there were a few.’ His tone was dry. ‘But they were easily disproved. Contrary to what you might expect, I don’t have hundreds of bastard sons and daughters running around Europe.’

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