AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In spite of herself, Solace’s heart gave the oddest leap. She smiled. ‘I want it to work too. And speaking of trust, I won’t tell anyone else what you told me, Galen. I swear on Leo’s life.’
He nodded then opened his hand and bent his head, dropping a kiss into the middle of her palm. ‘I know you won’t. Now... I’d better do what I came here to do.’ Reaching into his trouser pocket, he brought out the ring box and flicked it open. Sitting in it was the largest diamond Solace had ever seen.
Galen took the ring out of the box and slid it gently onto her finger.
It fitted perfectly.
CHAPTER NINE
AWEEKLATER, Galen sat in a chair and watched Solace turn slowly in front of the mirror the designer had brought into the living area, unable to tear his gaze from her.
She wore a gown that had been made for her by one of Kalithera’s best designers—Galen was a firm believer in locally made products.
It was strapless, with a fitted silver bodice that then frothed out into a cloud of silver skirts down to the ground. The silk shimmered and the whole thing had been hand-beaded, so the gown sparkled as if it had been dusted with diamonds. It left her shoulders bare, her pale hair falling down her back, and she looked like an angel. She looked like a queen.
It was the gown she’d wear for her formal presentation as his bride, a tradition that all Kalitheran rulers followed when they got engaged.
Galen had been reluctant to give one for himself, considering the stakes, but since it was part of tradition and it would cause more comment if hedidn’tpresent her, he couldn’t afford not to do it. So, he’d ordered the ball to be arranged and quickly.
Their marriage needed to happen as soon as possible since he wanted Solace with him at the palace. But since she hadn’t been formally presented yet, her presence would have caused a lot of unwanted gossip and so she had to stay in the little house by the sea with Leo.
He hadn’t wanted to tell her the truth about his paternity, yet that day he’d tried to give her his ring, when she’d gone on her knees for him and given him so much pleasure, the words had just spilled out. He’d been carrying them for so long and he was tired of it.
In fact, there were a great many things he was tired of, and even though he’d told himself he didn’t want to share the toxic relationship he’d had with his father with her, he’d told her anyway. And once he had, he couldn’t remember whynotdoing so had felt so important.
She’d understood too, and after he’d told her he’d felt as if a weight had lifted from him. His burdens had always been heavy ones and he was used it, but it was good to share the load a little.
Afterwards, he’d wondered if she’d see him differently once she knew that his throne might not be his. That she’d view his kingship, too, in a different light, after he’d told her about his father’s belief that he was unfit to rule.
Yet she hadn’t. She’d laid her hand on his cheek and told him he was a good king, an excellent king even, and there had been conviction in her eyes. As if she believed everything she said.
He hadn’t known that was something he’d needed to hear until she’d said it. He hadn’t known it would matter to him, but it did. And so did she.
There didn’t seem to be much point in testing himself by keeping his distance from her, so he didn’t, and those few hours he could spare with her were precious and not just for the pleasure they both took from each other, but also for afterwards, lying in each other’s arms and talking. Her telling him about the shock of her pregnancy and those six months where she’d struggled. While he shared his own shock at finding out he had a son. And other things too, plans for their little family and whatever the future might hold.
She was nervous about the ball, though. It put her under pressure, and he was well aware of the fact. He’d drilled her in her backstory personally, making sure she knew it backwards and forwards in the hope it would make her feel more comfortable when the time came. And he’d promised her that he’d be at her side the whole night, especially with Kostas likely to be there. He wouldn’t leave her to manage on her own.
He understood her nervousness. She hadn’t been brought up for this. It was alien to her, as was Kalithera, its politics and its language. She could get away with not knowing any of that, since he’d kept as much of her own story as he could in the fiction they’d crafted for her, but if there was an error or inconsistency...
The palace would be exposed and potentially the throne along with it.
Solace’s grey eyes caught his in the mirror for a second, then she hurriedly looked away, a stain of pink in her cheeks.
Galen sat forward. ‘Would you excuse us?’ he said to the designer, who inclined her head and vanished through the doorway.
Once she’d gone, Galen rose from the chair and crossed to where Solace stood, coming to stand behind her. ‘Do you like the dress? You look unsure.’
She let out a breath. ‘No, I love the dress. I just...feel a bit like an imposter in it.’
He met her gaze in the mirror and held it. ‘You’re beautiful in it. You’re a queen.’
The expression on her face eased. ‘I had a foster mother once, Katherine, who was going to adopt me and she said that when I was finally her daughter, she’d get me a princess bed.’ Solace glanced back at her reflection. ‘Except she changed her mind, and I never got that bed. And now look at me.’ Her voice had gone husky. ‘I never thought...’
That this was a painful memory for her was obvious. That she’d offered it to him without him asking or pressing for more made his breath catch.
This was her trust, he understood, and it was rare and precious, and it made his heart ache.
‘You never thought that you were that princess all along, hmm?’ He settled his hands on her waist, the beads pressing against his palms. ‘And not only a princess, but a queen-in-waiting.’
