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‘I was only ever an afterthought, an insurance policy if something happened to Niels. I’m not telling you this because I want sympathy,’ he growled. ‘I am my father’s son, and for me marriage is an unavoidable duty. I cannot promise the woman I will marry love and romance. All I can offer is a crown.’
‘You still haven’t explained the urgency for you to get married.’
‘My mother nursed my father when he had cancer, and after thirty-six years of marriage Prince Otto fell in love with his wife. Finally, my mother has what she has always wanted—her husband’s full attention. But my father will not retire from royal duties until I marry.’
The weight of his guilt and his mother’s expectations were a burden that Eirik would always carry. ‘I can’t deny my mother her chance of happiness with my father in retirement. Niels would have become the Reigning Sovereign a year ago. It’s my fault that my brother died.’
Arielle halted and turned to face him. ‘I remember a news report that Prince Niels had lost his life in a skiing accident. How can it have been your fault?’
‘The skiing trip was my idea. It was meant to be an opportunity for us to spend a few days chilling out together before Niels took on the responsibilities of a husband and the ruler of Fjernland.’
‘You didn’t make the avalanche happen,’ Arielle said gently. She put her hand on his arm. ‘Eirik, you can’t blame yourself.’
He did not deserve her compassion. ‘My mother blames me and rightly so. When we were growing up, my brother was the serious one and I was the clown. I felt it was my role to make sure he had some fun before he devoted the rest of his life to duty. My parents believed I was a bad influence, and so it proved. If I hadn’t suggested the skiing holiday Niels would still be here. I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I am the replacement heir to the throne, and I will choose as my bride a woman who is best suited to be the future Princess Consort.’
Arielle opened the car window and took a deep breath of sea air. Eirik had driven through the busy centre of Fjernland’s capital city, Ved Floden. Now they had left the city behind and were on a road that ran parallel to the coast. The sky and sea were forget-me-not blue, but the snow-topped mountains across the bay were a reminder that, despite the spring sunshine, the temperature was in single digits.
She darted a glance at Eirik. Before they had left Princess Catalina’s house by the lake, he had changed out of his wet clothes into jeans and a raincloud-grey cashmere sweater, and he looked divine. Conversation between them during the hour and a half journey to the city had been limited to Eirik pointing out places of interest and her mumbling a response.
Arielle shuddered with embarrassment when she remembered how she had practically begged him to make love to her. She did not understand what had come over her. Eirik had revealed a sensual side to her nature that she’d been unaware of, and she had been eager to explore the feelings he aroused in her. To cap it all she had blurted out that her only sexual relationship had been a disaster.
It was not surprising that he had rejected her clumsy advances. And he had made it very clear that she was nothing like the kind of woman he would choose for a wife. But she’d already known that. She did not have a drop of blue blood in her body. Giving a deep sigh, Arielle stared out of the window, glad of the distraction of the stunning scenery.
‘The mountains remind me of white meringues,’ she murmured. ‘Do they always have snow on them?’
‘The ice on the summits never melts, unless there is an eruption of course.’ Eirik laughed when he glanced at Arielle’s startled expression. ‘There are several glacier-covered volcanos in Fjernland and two that are currently active. The last time one erupted was twenty years ago.’
His smile made her heart thump madly, and she quickly turned her head to look out of the window again. The buildings next to the coast were mostly single-storey wooden houses. Whereas the city skyline had been dominated by tall office blocks. Eirik had explained that much of Fjernland’s wealth came from banking and technology, and tourism was a thriving industry.
‘The volcanos are a draw for tourists,’ he said now. ‘Visitors come hoping to see the aurora borealis, and there are many health spas, which advertise treatments in the natural hot springs. It’s a fine balance between the income generated by tourism, and the importance of protecting Fjernland’s unique and beautiful landscape.’
Arielle’s gaze was drawn to his handsome profile. ‘You obviously love your country, but you don’t want to rule it.’
‘I never said I do not want to be the Sovereign,’ he muttered. ‘I did not expect that the role would be mine—and I’m not sure I will be any good.’ The hint of vulnerability in this strong man tugged on Arielle’s heart. ‘My brother was taught practically from birth the protocols and duties of being the monarch,’ Eirik continued. ‘Niels was better suited to royal life than me. He accepted that things have been done the same way for centuries, but I find many of the old ways stuffy and archaic in the twenty-first century.’
‘Why don’t you change the old ways? I mean, you will be the Reigning Sovereign and you can make the rules. Maybe instead of trying to emulate your brother, you should do things your way.’
He snorted. ‘You make it sound simple, but the traditions of the monarchy have stayed the same for hundreds of years.’
‘Making changes isn’t easy,’ Arielle agreed. Her lack of self-confidence stemmed from growing up with her controlling father. Even when she’d become an adult, she had studied for her degree at a university in Cornwall because she’d lacked the courage to move to a different part of the country to escape her father’s influence.
Since Gerran Rowse had been sent to prison, she had been a virtual recluse at her studio, fearful of pushing herself out into the wider world where she might be judged by people who had heard of her father’s appalling crimes. But thanks to Eirik, she had the chance of working in marine conservation again, and she hoped that her father’s notoriety had not reached remote Fjernland. Without Eirik’s help, she might never have found the courage to leave Penash.
Arielle surfaced from her thoughts when Eirik drove through a gateway with a sign above it that read Fjernland Marine Research Institute. He parked the car in front of a large building that was a striking mix of old and new architecture.
‘The site used to be owned by Fjernland’s biggest brewery,’ he explained. ‘After a century of beer production here, the company moved to new premises. I saw the potential of the building when I decided to establish the marine research institute. The close proximity to the sea makes it an ideal location, and the laboratories and testing facilities are among the best in the world.’
‘Well, I guess this is it,’ Arielle said huskily. She pushed a stray curl that had escaped from her chignon, behind her ear, and smoothed an imagined crease from her blue dress.
‘There is no need to feel nervous,’ Eirik told her. ‘Valdemar is impressed with your CV.’
She let him think she was uptight about her interview, but the truth was it had occurred to her that she would probably never meet Eirik again. Soon his father would abdicate and Eirik would become the Reigning Sovereign, and he would be assisted by the woman he chose to be his Princess Consort.
He got out of the car and came round to open her door. His chivalry made her feel like a queen. Arielle forced a bright smile and held out her hand to him. ‘Happy birthday in a couple of weeks. And good luck with wife hunting.’
Her heart gave an annoying flutter when Eirik clasped her hand in his strong grasp and lifted her fingers up to his lips to press a light kiss against her knuckles. Arielle knew the gesture was common etiquette in many European countries, including Fjernland apparently, but that did not stop a sizzle of electricity shooting through her. She unconsciously flicked her tongue over her lower lip to moisten it and froze when Eirik’s blue eyes blazed.
They were two shooting stars on different trajectories, she reminded herself. But right now, they seemed to be on a collision course as he moved closer to her. She breathed in the sandalwood scent of his cologne and then forgot to breathe at all when he lowered his face towards hers.
