AllFreeNovel
Share Us
19
Etienne
We need drinks.
Pouring two glasses of wine, I join Kala on the dock, where she dangles her tanned legs over the water.
The sun has dipped below the horizon, and she stares at the faded orange skies over the sea.
“Thanks,” she says, accepting the glass and downing several quick gulps.
“Slow down, Princess. You’re a lightweight,” I say, groaning as I lower myself to the weathered wood to sit beside her.
She chuckles. “Bold words to say to a beer heiress.”
“True, but I can tell.”
“How?”
I lift one shoulder. “Because you’re kind of…uptight.”
“I am not.”
It feels wrong to appreciate Kala’s indignation so deep in my belly. The fire in her eyes is exciting. Shocking her in all ways would be endlessly enjoyable.
“You’re not?”
“You might think I’ve painted you with a wide brush, but I can say the same about you. I have many facets you don’t know about.”
The woman was raised from birth to marry a prince, and that’s about all I know. It’s an old and uncomfortable tradition in some of the upper-crust families in Gravenland that still carries on to this day.
Not being one to tread carefully, I prod her. “Really? Did finishing school teach you how to remove the stick up your butt as well as put it in?”
“Asshole,” she laughs. “My schooling didn’t end there, you know. I have two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s in international relations.”
I am only vaguely aware of Kala’s accomplishments after years of tuning out my parents on the subject of their most loyal noble families. “I didn’t know. Sorry for the stick-up-your-butt comment.”
She looks out at the sea and sighs. “It’s not the worst thing people say about me. Believe me, I can handle your barbs.”
I apologize again. “I know this marriage is temporary, but I don’t want you to be miserable. I hope we can be friends. Before and after the divorce.”
She clears her throat. “So. What are the terms?”
“The terms?”
“Of the divorce. I signed a prenup, as does everyone who marries into the Haart family. So, if I file for divorce for any reason other than infidelity, I get nothing. How are we going to play this?” Kala asks. She sips her wine thoughtfully.
“I’m not going to leave you with nothing,” I say. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“How generous of you. However, I also would like a guarantee that the palace will not drag my name through the mud.”
I would never sully her good name, but she has no reason to trust that I won’t. Even if I instruct the palace to release a thousand statements to defend her character, there’s nothing I can do to prevent the gossip rags from inventing their own narrative. Anyone walking away from the royal family will get raked over the coals by the major news outlets and the trashier ones alike.
Being responsible for someone else’s well-being and reputation feels…strange. The thought of anyone printing anything negative about Kala makes my blood boil.
And this right here might be the most adult decision I’ve ever had to make on my own. I’m generally not a man who takes on this much responsibility—not even as part of my royal duties. I’m a famous half-asser.
But now, I feel different. I feel the pull to be whole-ass about something. Even if that something is performing my part in a fake public marriage.
