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He dressed silently, then strode out of the bedroom and to the door that would lead him into the hall. He jerked the door open, something like panic trying to find some purchase inside of him. But he would not let it. He was in charge. He was Lysias Balaskas.
The guard stood there and Lysias scowled at him. “I wish to see the king.”
The guard nodded, pointed down the hall. “He is waiting for you.”
Of course he is.Lysias was led through the maze of the palace to Diamandis’s office once more, though he knew the way himself. It was early, so the palace was even quieter than it had been yesterday. But there were guards stationed here and there in a way there had not been when the king and queen had been alive.
Lysias hoped it was because of him. He strode into the king’s office and forced a smile. “Good morning, Your Majesty.” Lysias greeted him with as much put-on cheer as he could muster—if only because it would serve to irritate the king. “My fiancée and I have much to accomplish today. I wish to show her the island, her birthright. Can I expect an armed guard tail as we do?”
Diamandis reacted to none of this. He simply sat at his desk and glowered. “I will see her alone.”
Lysias had expected this, and still it was hard to keep his easy smile in place. “She will not want to see you without me. You may be surprised to find your welcoming demeanor yesterday did not win her over, and she is quite concerned about being here at all.”
Diamandis looked at him with a raised brow. “Then leave.”
Lysias tutted. “Now, no need to get all aflutter. Whatever you have to say to her, surely you can say in front of me. Her one true love.”
“I don’t know what you have done to this poor girl to make her believe there is an ounce of goodness in you, Lysias, or that she could possibly be aprincess, but if you wish to remain, I will see her alone.”
Lysias already knew he’d give in to Diamandis’s wish. It was the only way, and he trusted Al to handle it beautifully. But he had to put up a fight for the show. “It is a blow, I know, to have your sister sullied by aservantsuch as me.” He wasn’t sure whythatsentence felt so true when he was only playing a part. Only poking at Diamandis’s weaknesses.
“Atraitorsuch as you as long as you wear the last name Balaskas.”
“You enjoy that word too much. Perhaps you need a lesson on its definition.”
“You forget, Lysias, we had all the same lessons.” Then Diamandis turned away, a cold dismissal. He began to walk out of the office, but he spoke as he did. “If she is not alone, I will not speak with her. And that will be that. I’ll wait in the dining room.”
Lysias said nothing, but he smiled at the king’s retreating back. Because, yes, this was the plan.
When he returned to his rooms, Alexandra was still in bed, though she was pushing herself into a sitting position as he entered the bedroom. Blinking at the light, holding the sheet lightly to her chest.
He wanted her with a powerful bolt of need, so much so he took a step forward. Ready to take and take and take until it was sated.
Then he remembered himself. He could enjoy her when the matters of the day were done, and they’d only just begun. “Ah, good morning, Alexandra. Best to be up and dressed.” He strode through the room, keeping his gaze on anything but the tantalizing view of her beautiful frame.
He stopped at the window, looked out at the pretty, sunny beach below. He spoke to her without looking at her. “The king wishes to see you alone. I have, of course, put up a grand tantrum about the whole thing but eventually pretended to agree. You know your role, and while the king is busy with you, I will be able to ensure all the other puzzle pieces are in place.”
“Lysias.”
She said nothing else, and the silence stretched out until he forced himself to look at her with a self-satisfied expression. With the knowledge that revenge was within his grasp and nothing—nothing—else mattered.
There was some question in her dark gaze, some uncertainty in her expression. He did not know what she questioned, what worried her.
I do not want to know.Cannot know.
“Do you object to this plan?” he asked genially.
When she spoke, it was carefully, as if considering the question very seriously. “No, but—”
“Then dress, Alexandra. You have much to prove.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ALEXANDRAGOTDRESSED. She supposed if she was breakfasting with a king, she should choose something elegant—not that any of the wardrobe Lysias, or rather histeam, had supplied for her was anything other than elegant—but she didn’t want to wear a gown or heels. She knew sheshoulddress the part of the princess, but she just felt...exhausted. Oddly wrung out.
And yes, some of that was the way she felt in this place, but most of it was Lysias. The feelings he was pulling out of her. She didn’t understand them—so new, so foreign, but she knew they were dangerous, and if anyone suffered from them, it would be herself.
She sighed and found some trousers, though they were flowy and silk and not like the kind she’d worn when she’d pretended to be a boy. She paired these with a matching shirt and then studied herself in the mirror. Even without doing her hair or makeup, she looked like a woman. It was quite a marvel what the right cut of clothes could accomplish.
