“Almost as though he knew Amal wouldn’t want the job?” She pondered.
He nodded slowly. “Perhaps. Or perhaps just planning for the contingency that one of us might not make it.”
Julia’s jaw dropped, and fear clambered at her heart. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”
His smile was grim. “The lineage of the royal family cannot be left to chance. We are one of the longest running monarchies in the world. It is a point of pride for my family that the bloodline continues.”
Julia stopped walking instantly. As though her feet were stuck in cement. She lifted her eyes to his. “A baby.” She shut her eyes, trying to focus. “There’s something about a baby.”
Zayn waited, barely breathing. Slowly, it was coming back to her. He knew he didn’t have long before their battle lines would be redrawn. “Do you remember something?” He said in as bland a tone as he could muster.
Julia opened her eyes and pierced his soul with the intensity of her stare. “I don’t know. It’s right there. I just can’t grip it.”
“Stop forcing it,” he said honestly. “It’s a good sign that you feel so close to remembering details. They’ll come back soon.”
Zayn led her down another valley of trees, this one had the sweet fragrance of honey and Julia breathed it in with wonderment.
“It must have been a beautiful place to grow up,” she observed as a flock of brightly colored birds flew overhead.
“For the most part.” He plucked a blossom from one of the trees and held it out to her. Julia inhaled its intoxicating scent and smiled. It was like summer in a tiny pale bud. “And your childhood?” He prompted.
“My childhood was idyllic.” She slid him a sidelong glance. “But I’m sure you already know that. Your memory isn’t the one that’s got big spongy holes in the dark matter.”
He nodded. “But I like to hear your stories. I’ll never tire of it. Talk to me, and your thoughts might come back.”
“Well, most of my childhood was spent scampering down country lanes with Georgie. I was fortunate. Most people like me end up in public boarding schools, but dad was adamant that I stay at home. He sent me to the local comprehensive and made sure he picked me up every single day.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “He was a very attentive father. I think losing mum so suddenly made him realize that the life is capable of sudden change and deprivation in the blink of an eye. He’s never taken anything for granted. I truly felt adored and appreciated every day of my life.”
“He did a good job, then,” Zayn said admiringly, and not for the first time, a sharp stab of something like guilt tried to make itself known. But Zayn didn’t want to feel it,, and he resolutely prompted Julia to continue. “And high school?”
“As you know,” she drawled quietly, “I went to boarding school for high school.”
“Why the change?” Zayn asked.
The faintest blush stole into her cheeks. “My headmistress insisted to dad that I was academically gifted. She said it would be neglectful of him not to pursue the best education available to me.”
“And what did you think?”
Julia threw him a casual smile over her shoulder, once again bringing the flower bud to her nose. “I was almost a teenager by then. The unstinting paternal affection was wearing thin, in the face of such temptations as nail polish and boys and fashion magazines and scary movies.”
He raised his eyebrows knowingly. “You wanted to spread your wings.”
“Yes. And it was at boarding school that I met Georgie. She was in my dorm, and we were as thick as thieves from the first day.” Julia frowned. “You know Georgie?”
“Yes. I’ve met her twice,” he said, unable to keep the disapproval from his voice.
Julia was becoming an expert at reading Zayn’s responses, and now, she was puzzled. “Do you and she not get on?” Her frown deepened. She found it hard to believe she could have married someone who didn’t like Georgie.
“I don’t know her well enough to say. I know she values you a great deal, which makes me think
well of her.”
Julia tried to quell the strange sense of butterflies flapping in her stomach. “She is like a sister to me. And through her, I met Andrew, who is like a brother.”
With great effort, Zayn kept his stride equal. “Nothing more than a friend, ever?”
If she was ever going to be honest with him, surely it would be now, when her mind couldn’t easily keep track of the lies she’d told him in the past.
“Andrew?” She poked out her tongue. “No. Never.”