He sighed. Shook his head. ‘I saw how your family held you to a different standard. That was unfair. I am immeasurably proud of the girl you were and the woman you’ve become. So I stayed for you. Lise, you might now be my Queen, but you’vealwaysbeen like the daughter I never had. I remain because I loveyouand I’m here for as long as you need me.’
‘Albert.’ More tears flooded her eyes. When would they ever stop? She walked towards him, engulfed him in a hug. He returned it in a heartfelt embrace.
When they pulled apart, he withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. She gave a tremulous laugh, patting at her eyes.
‘Oh, dear, you’re going to be with me for ever.’
‘It will be my greatest privilege. Now go and claim what you want. What you deserve.’ His smile was gentle and kind as he bowed and took his leave.
She placed the ring on her finger once more, its weight now a comfort rather than a curse. She loved Rafe. Shedeservedthat love. He’d once said she could rewrite the fairy tale and she would. Their time began now.
She would fight for Rafe to love her.
Rafe lay on the bed staring at the limewashed ceiling. He hadn’t run here. He didn’t run from anything. It was more to regroup. Coming to his mountain home, to contemplate the habits of a lifetime. Two days were all he’d allowed himself. To hike the high pastures and remind himself of who he was, because he’d lost his way, and a chance with Lise in the process.
Shame sat heavily on him, a weight almost too much to bear. Lise had been right. He’d wanted the power. But the power of a king didn’t change who he was. A farm boy. And hehadbeen ashamed of his heritage, he recognised. If he hadn’t he would never have been driven to the position he was in now. Forgetting the truth of himself. The things he’d learned from his parents in these mountains, about hard work and never shirking your duty, reminding him of the kind of man he was meant to be.
The ambitious farm boy who coveted the Crown. Yes, he was all those things, and the crown that he’d so craved was a hollow one. He wasn’t proud of how he’d got here. Lise had once thought she was the fraud. Yet she was the one who’d tried living true to herself, in the end taking up a role she’d never wanted because of her duty to her country. The only fraud was him. The crown on his head hadn’t made him better than anyone. They still saw what they wanted to see. The pretender. When this...the old house, the history of his family, was enough. It always had been.
He’d kept a secret from her, a small one perhaps, but she’d demanded complete honesty and he hadn’t given it to her, only feeding her insecurities. Leading to an argument that played into both of their fears. His regret in that regard was deep and complete...
The shrill ring of his phone had him leaping from the bed to a side table where it lay vibrating. He checked the screen, but the number wasn’t Lise’s. It was the prime minister. He gritted his teeth. The man would pay for hurting Lise. His days in his job were numbered. Rafe swiped to answer.
‘What do you want, Hasselbeck?’
‘Her Majesty.’ Hasselbeck’s voice was too quiet, strained. ‘She’s missing.’
It was as if Rafe had broken through ice on Lake Morenburg and plunged into the frozen waters beneath. There wasn’t enough air in the room. He couldn’t fight his way through it. He gripped the sideboard to steady himself. Took some slow breaths.
‘How the hell do you lose theQueen?’
Steadily the shock morphed into a trickle of fear. She’d said once before she’d walk away. If she’d left, it would serve them all right, especially him since there’d been no one there to protect her from the cruel lies she whispered to herself.
‘Have you tried her phone?’
‘It’s turned off.’
She didn’t want to be found. He strode to the window. Looked out at the winding thread of road leading down the mountain to a tiny village that lay a few miles below. A car trundled along, sunlight glinting from the windscreen. Travelling towards the church whose spire he glimpsed, nestled in the valley. The church his parents had married in, where Carl was buried, where he’d been christened. Where life was going on. How could that be when here it felt as if time had screeched to a terrifying halt?
The edges of the phone cut into his hand. He loosened his grasp. ‘I’m coming.’
Rafe checked his watch. If his helicopter hadn’t been out of commission for servicing, he could have called his pilot to collect him. Driving, he could be back at the palace in an hour, although it might take longer. The car he’d been watching slowed as a herd of cows meandered across the road, then stopped. He ran his hand through his hair. If they didn’t want to move, they could block the only road’s exit for some time, and he didn’t have a four-wheel drive to traverse cross-country.
‘There’s nothing you can do if palace security has had no success.’ Hasselbeck’s voice was terse and sharp.
If those words were meant as criticism, he deserved it. It was no worse than the self-flagellation he’d mete out to himself, until Lise was found safe. Time to end this call and go. Outside the little car had managed to get through the roadblock of cows. ‘I’ll be there in...’ It disappeared around a bend and reappeared, closer. Tourists no doubt. This was a popular time of the year in the mountains after all.
Yet the vehicle didn’t take the well-worn path, it turned into the road that led to this place. His home.
‘Here,’ he murmured to himself. Through the trees there was a flicker of movement as the car travelled closer and closer. A tiny flare of hope lit inside. It couldn’t be anyone else. Could it? The car pulled to a jerking halt at the front of the house. Its door opened.
Lise.Her golden hair gleaming in the soft light. She glanced up at him and the memory of her coming out ball came rushing back. When she’d looked at him standing at the top of the stairs, with a gentle smile that speared the heart of him sure as Cupid’s arrow. He’d wanted to possess her then. Now...
‘What?’ Sharp frustration in Hasselbeck’s voice brought Rafe to his senses.
‘Her Majesty’s arrived.’
The sigh of abject relief filled his ear. ‘I’ll send Security.’