Unbidden, he had a distinct impression of innocence from her, followed by a strangely conflicted dual surge of interest and frustration. He chose to focus on the frustration. Training a prudish virgin scholar in bed was the last thing he wanted.
The answering rush of heat to his groin, however, said otherwise.
Ignoring it, he nodded at Mina. “Certainly. Everything is spelled out in the marriage agreement.” He tapped the thickly bound stack of papers on the desk. “Copies are filed here, as well as in your own office and with the state office. I mentioned the Queen’s Ball yesterday... As your first official duty, your work on it must reflect the quality and standards of the Crown. The royal steward will inform you if you’ve achieved that. Now, if you don’t have any questions, you may take your leave.”
The phrasing was open, but his dismissal clear.
Instead of taking her leave, though, Mina opened her mouth.
“I’ve certainly got questions. Let’s say that I believe this impossible situation is irreversible, for the sake of this conversation. If that’s the case, what about my things? I have an apartment and a car in the city, as well as a storage unit filled with my research. My laptop and phone were confiscated outside Parliament. I will need those returned if I—”
Zayn held up a hand to stop her. “You will be given new encrypted devices, and your belongings are being seen to by palace staff as we speak. Your car has been donated to charity. As Queen, you will not need a vehicle—and you are, in fact, not allowed to drive.”
“That’s absurd!” Mina protested.
“Regardless, it is true.”
“I have rights as a citizen of Cyrano.”
Zayn shook his head, ruefully. “You are no longer a citizen of Cyrano. You are the Queen of Cyrano.”
“And if I refuse?”
“There is no refusing.”
“It’s not right.”
Zayn stared at her for a moment before slightly inclining his head. “I agree. But itis. And it is more important than you or I.”
Mina frowned. “Your cavalier response to an obvious injustice leaves a bit to be desired.”
“As does your reaction to the acquiring of new and unwanted responsibility. It seems we both have room for growth.” Zayn’s voice was even, but no less cutting for its collegiate tone.
Her green eyes narrowed. “Do not presume to know the first thing about me,Your Royal Majesty.”
She was right. The fact that her words were valid only added to the acid sting of them. He knew nothing about her—and yet she was his wife.
“I do not. Neither, however, should you make assumptions about me. Aren’t we lucky that it appears we will have many years together to learn?”
And how does any of this prove your point, Father?he wondered.
How in the world did marrying him to a stranger prove how urgently important it was that he find a wife to love and cherish? His father had contradicted every single one of his words to his son about love and marriage before he’d even said them in the first place, betrothing him to a stranger and never giving him the chance to come to know and love her.
Zayn had at least known the women on his list socially. Some he had known a bit more. That had to make a stronger foundation upon which to build love than no knowledge whatsoever.
And if a love match had been King Alden’s hope for his son, why had he taken the choice from him? If he had truly believed a partner must be a helpmeet, why hadn’t he prepared this woman for her future role? Or even informed her of it, for that matter?
Unfortunately, there were more questions than answers, and no time to spend on them—especially now that he had a stubborn and inept queen sitting in his office.
It didn’t matter that the issue burned in him all the more for being the one subject that he and his father had never seen eye-to-eye on. No. All that mattered was the future of Cyrano.
And Cyrano would weather this—just as it had endured the loss of its King, two years of turmoil, and a century of war and technological transformation before that.
That kind of continuity was more significant than his feelings, his father’s and his wife’s combined.
Turning back to the woman across the desk from him, he noted that while she had no retort for him, neither did she appear to be any closer to leaving.
“Is there anything else, Dr. Aldaba?” he asked.