Page 47 of The Scandal That Made Her His Queen

Last night had made it clear that she was all in here, in the very last place she should ever have risked herself. But there was no taking it back.

Nina acknowledged that she wouldn’t take it back if she could.

Thaddeus was still speaking, his gaze on Queen Zaria. “They tried for many years to have an heir, with no success. It is my understanding that they were finally successful, but something went wrong. Both the Queen and the unborn heir were lost.”

Nina found she had her hands on her own unborn child. “That’s a terrible story.”

“Look around,” Thaddeus invited her. “Look at all the people who hang here. More often than not, they are all terrible stories. Crowns and palaces do not protect anyone. Not from life.”

And she couldn’t tell if that was pointed or simply true.

“What of the second Queen?” Nina asked.

Beside her, Thaddeus seemed to grow more grave. “The King mourned for some time. Years passed, but he felt he had a duty to his people. Queen Stevi was from a noble, aristocratic family. She had been raised to marry a man of stature. She was innocent but not unprepared.” He blew out a breath. “The papers love to pretend otherwise.”

“The papers love to pretend,” Nina agreed.

The butler bowed his head slightly. Then continued. “The palace had become...dark. It was a place of grieving, with no place for the brightness of youth. The Queen produced an heir quickly and was soundly praised. But it is my understanding that once the task was accomplished, it was felt that she had very little to offer.”

And Nina could hear all the court gossip behind those words. All the pain and misery. It was not hard to imagine a bright, happy girl gradually reduced to one more tragedy in a place like this. All the white walls and sunlight in the world couldn’t make a toxic environment better. It only made it shine.

Is this really what you want?she asked herself.For you or your baby?

But there was a different king then, she reminded herself. A different king than the one who would ascend soon. A different king. Not hers.

“And the King?” she said now, her voice small. She almost didn’t dare ask. “Does he yet live?”

“His Royal Majesty clings to life, madam,” Thaddeus said. “But barely.”

“And Prince Zeus?”

“Has only now left his side.”

They both stood there a while longer, staring at the same four portraits, until something dawned on Nina. She turned to look at the crusty old man, standing beside her looking deeply aggrieved he was here.

“Did you come to find me?” she asked. “On the Prince’s behalf?”

“Not on his behalf, madam. No.”

But Nina understood. She smiled, so wide she made herself laugh. “That does make a change, doesn’t it? You tracking me down and then wanting to take me to the Prince. Who could have guessed, all those weeks ago in that musty little antechamber?”

Thaddeus only inclined his head. He looked as if he smelled something rotten.

But Nina felt warm inside. Because she knew, somehow, that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. She almost said so, just to see him sneer again without actually sneering.

He didn’t lead her to Zeus so much as he walked out of the palace, headed into the extensive grounds, and wound his way down to a secluded cove. Where he left her at the top of a set of stairs with a significant look.

Nina padded down the stone steps cut into the hillside and found Zeus at the bottom.

He was still dressed in the clothes he’d thrown on back in Graciela. He stood and stared out at the sea. Perhaps wishing it would turn stormy and turbulent instead of its offensive deep blue and calm turquoise.

She walked across the sand, then stood by his side, and waited.

“He sleeps,” Zeus gritted out.

“Did you speak to him at all?”

Zeus did not move, and yet Nina felt as if he was turning deeper into stone as he stood there. “It is not certain he will wake again.”

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