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I giggled and shook my head. “I’m not,” I promised, stifling a yawn. The familiar exhaustion crept back in. “I’m laying out the facts.”
“Do you think that we should go somewhere else?”
I tittered again. “Yeah? Like back to Yelwon’s to live on the balcony?” I mumbled hopefully.
“No. Like Carrottrove. Or Casterberry Or anywhere where we can have a fresh start.”
I was aghast by the prospect. “How? Your legacy is here!” I demanded, sitting upright.
He shook his head. “Or I can just fire all the staff and start over. If you’re unhappy—”
I grabbed his hand and pressed it to my chest, shaking my own head with vehemence.
“I never said I was unhappy,” I said. “I told you that this marriage, this coronation, was an adjustment for everyone. I am an outsider to the staff and the kingdom. They need time to know me, to see that I deserve to be at your side.”
He offered me a tentative grin. “Your tenacity should be legendary by now,” he murmured, rising to kiss me softly.
“I’m not sure if that’s the only thing I’d like to be known for,” I replied lightly. “But there are worse things, I suppose.”
Cade opened his arms, and I snuggled against his bare chest, relishing our closeness. The staff could be damned. Cade wanted me there, and that was all that really mattered at the end of the day.
But it would be nice if everyone was on board with that,I thought wistfully. I wondered what it would take to make them respect me, like me.
Or perhaps I was destined to be the despised queen for the rest of our lives.
Chapter13
Cade
Imade a conscious effort to listen for the rumblings of the staff, putting Ryland on high alert to bring any gossip or traitorous words to my ears immediately.
“I want to know everything that’s said about the Queen,” I informed my head of my Royal Guards. “I don’t care how small.”
“Yes, Alpha,” he agreed, but I caught the wariness in his eyes, causing my own to narrow into slits of suspicion.
“You’ve already heard something!”
Ryland shifted his weight uncomfortably, averting his gaze. “Nothing worthy of repeating,” he muttered.
“I just told you that everything is to be repeated,” I barked. “I demand to know it all. I won’t be thrown off guard like I was the other night.”
“The Queen wants to handle this on her own,” Ryland hemmed, and I fumed.
In part, he was right, and I should have allowed Zephy to deal with the unruly staff. But after the attack, there was always the potential of another threat lurking, even if we had ramped up security. Or at least, that’s how I justified my over-protectiveness of the situation.
“She doesn’t need to know about my covert asking,” I insisted. “What do you know about all this?”
The head of the Royal Guards was torn between his duty to me and the duty to the Queen, but his long-time relationship with me won out in the end.
“Not much,” Ryland admitted. “But there have been a few who have had a problem with her crowning from the start—as you are already aware.”
“I would have hoped it would have diminished by now. She’s the Queen of Ironhelm and my mate. The kingdom would be smart to get on board.”
“Of course, Cade…” my old friend murmured, looking over his shoulder to ensure that no one else was in earshot before he continued with his informality. “But you know it’s not that simple. You were always with Stralia. I think many expected you to marry her and make her queen.”
I laughed despite the comment not being funny in the slightest. “What would ever make them believe such a thing? Even Stralia herself knew that would never come to fruition. That was never, ever proposed, not once, by me or anyone else.”
“I warned you before she took the crown that there were many who were unsettled by the Queen being an outsider.”
