Under the Mistletoe, page 9
part #1 of Home to Heritage || Book Five Series
“Quiet, little brother.” Orin glared up at him. “It isn’t official until the announcement. And this is how they wanted it. This alliance is as vital to secure Anathia’s borders as it is for Cambria. It isn’t about love. It’s about duty.”
Rand crossed his arms over his chest. “Why do you think they’re hiding her? Maybe she looks like the candle lady who lives in the square. Missing teeth, warts—”
“Can you pretend to act like your station, at least for one night?” Orin sent him a stern look but tugged at his collar.
“I am glad it’s not me. I don’t think I could put the crown above all in my life, and I could never marry out of obligation.” Rand snagged two goblets from a passing server and handed one to his brother.
Orin downed a gulp. “I guess we are both glad it is me and not you, then. You get the luxuries this life brings, but none of the responsibility.”
“Hear, hear!” Rand raised the frothy ale. “That is why I, dear brother, am most wonderfully blessed.”
A blast of trumpets interrupted them and filled the room. The crowd stilled as a woman stepped forward and paused at the top of the curved staircase.
He stopped breathing.
Her.
He’d found her.
She had been beautiful in her day dress, but this…She wore a pale-blue gown that hugged all the right places and matched the color of her eyes.
He took a half step forward, then Orin’s goblet appeared in his path. “Imagine, I will have to wake up to that every morning. But I suppose I’ll do what I must for the crown.”
Rand blinked at the goblet, then took it from his brother as reality coursed through him like lead filling his soul. The woman from the river…the one he’d been searching for was Princess Astryn, his brother’s future bride. His future sister-in-law.
The room narrowed to only her as she floated down the steps. Her long blonde hair flowing behind her picked up the light of the candles and almost gave her the appearance of a wood nymph.
Her eyes scanned the room before landing on first him and then his brother. The pause in his direction had been for but a moment, but her blue eyes had drilled right through him. Was that longing? Curiosity? Hope? Whatever it was, it disappeared as a wall seemed to slam down in her expression. Gone was the Astryn he’d met in the glade. This was Princess Astryn, his future queen. Rand swallowed against the weight in his chest, then blinked away.
It didn’t matter. No woman had ever had a hold on him, and that wouldn’t change today.
He patted Orin on the shoulder. “It isn’t the face you have to watch out for. It is all that is behind that smile. She is probably a pampered shrew who is used to always getting her way.”
If only Princess Astryn were the shallow, entitled woman he was conjuring in his head right now, he might be able to keep himself from wanting her. But he already knew she wasn’t like that, which meant one thing. He already did want her. She had latched herself into his heart, and he had no idea how to shake her loose.
Orin stepped forward to claim her for the first dance, and Rand turned away. He dropped the goblets on a nearby table and kept walking. He forced one foot in front of the other rather than going back and asking to steal the dance. Rather than promising her again to build her that cottage. Rather than demanding to know if this was what she really wanted or if she was simply being loyal to her own crown.
He needed air.
No matter what it cost him, he couldn’t jeopardize this alliance. Anathia needed it. Orin needed it.
He blew out a deep breath as he pushed through heavy oak doors into the night air, but even that wasn’t enough to clear his head. A long ride on Calavar might do it. He headed toward the stable and picked up his pace.
Look at that. It turned out he could put the crown above his own desires. And it was just as wretched as he’d feared it would be.
Devin closed her eyes and set the phone aside, letting the scene tumble through her. She had latched herself into his heart, and he had no idea how to shake her loose. She’d never felt a statement more. Logan’s eyes questioning her about her childhood flashed before her.
She had to be honest. As much as she tried to keep Logan at a distance, all it had taken was one question—one caring look—and she’d already started to fall for him. They might be done with the visits, but he said he’d be at the skating.
Maybe she’d call him and say he didn’t need to come. Her heart twisted. She couldn’t do that to the Wallis kids.
No matter what it cost him…Anathia needed it. Orin needed it. The Wallis kids needed it.
The kids had to come first for her. So Devin just had to figure out how to survive until Christmas. Unfortunately, a long ride on a horse wasn’t an option for her, but maybe a bowl of ice cream would do the trick.
What Logan needed to be doing was working on his next chapter, not shopping in a mall in Muskegon on a Saturday. Correction. He wasn’t shopping. He was waiting for his sister and sister-in-law while they shopped and navigated the holiday crowds. Logan tucked his feet under the bench as a young family with a stroller navigated their three kids to the line for Santa that had grown twice as long since he’d claimed a spot on the bench next to Luke and Austin thirty minutes ago.
The boy at the front of the line burst into tears as they led him toward the jolly old man, but it wasn’t quite loud enough to drown out “All I Want for Christmas Is You” that poured over the speaker for the second time.
Logan glanced at Luke and Austin sitting on the bench next to him with their eyes glued to their phones. He held his breath, waiting for their reaction to his fourth chapter. It wouldn’t be published until tomorrow, but Luke and Austin had begged for an early glimpse while they waited for the ladies, so he’d sent them the file. Why was watching people read his work so intimidating?
Christina wanted chapter five tonight, but his mom had been so excited for the annual ornament shopping trip that he couldn’t say no. He just hadn’t counted on the added stores and waiting for his parents to treat all the grandkids to Cookies with Santa.
“I’ll give you this. When you decide to put your heart on the page, you don’t hold anything back.” Luke blew out a long breath.
“What?” Hadn’t Luke been reading the chapter?
“I mean, you’re Rand, right?” Luke motioned to his screen.
What in the world was Luke talking about?
“I thought he was Orin”—Austin lowered his phone—“so does Libby. She said you have always undervalued yourself.”
Logan let his gaze bounce from one to the other, then back. “I have no idea what you two are talking about.”
“Two brothers, one girl. Like the party you told me about.” Luke exchanged a look with Austin, then shrugged. “We all assumed—”
“It’s fiction.” Logan stood and pulled out his phone and searched for the file. “This has nothing to do with me or Devin or even Liam, for that matter. I thought I’d made it clear I wasn’t interested in Devin anymore.”
“See, you say that—” Austin stood as Libby and Hannah walked out of the store with bags in their hands. He took the bags from his pregnant wife. “But then you were pretty quick to jump in to drive her around earlier this week.”
“I was just helping out.” Logan gave up his search for the file and slid his phone back in his pocket.
“Helping out, or not liking the idea of Greyson helping her out?” Libby pinned him with a stare like only a big sister could. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the timing of that.”
“And you are on the list of volunteers for skating.” Hannah pinched her lips together as if trying to look innocent, but the corners of her eyes crinkled, giving her away. “How did that happen?”
Honestly, he didn’t know. But that hadn’t been about Devin, not completely. “Easton, the oldest boy the Barlows are adopting, is having a hard time. We connected at the race, and I hoped if I went skating—”
Hannah’s mouth dropped slightly open as Libby’s hand flew to her chest.
“What now?”
The women exchanged a look before Libby stepped closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Here I thought my baby brother just had a crush, but this is so much more.”
“More?” What were they talking about?
Luke shrugged and rubbed at the back of his neck. “You’ve locked yourself away in that cabin for almost a year and don’t make time for anyone besides family and fictional characters. They have been a little worried about you. I haven’t, but I used the same playbook for a while.”
“Until Jimmy.” Hannah pointed at Logan as if that made it all come together. It didn’t.
“Yes.” Evidently it came together for Libby. “Jimmy, who awoke that desire to grow up and be about something bigger than yourself.”
“Whoa.” Logan held up his hands. “I am not adopting Easton and his siblings. I just said I would go skating.”
“We aren’t suggesting that.” Hannah shook her head. “We are suggesting that you are finally…thawing.”
“Because I was frozen?” He crossed his arms in front of himself. This was going from bad to worse. “Maybe we should go back to talking about how I’m putting my repressed emotions on the page.”
“Right.” Hannah leaned toward her husband and lowered her voice to a loud whisper. “Do we know if he sees himself as Rand or Orin yet?”
“Neither.” Logan closed his eyes, drew a calming breath, and dropped his hands. “It’s a story. I don’t write autobiographies.”
“But you write what you know.” Austin moved closer to Libby as she reached for the drink in his hand.
“I tap into emotions I know. But…” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Maybe this one was hitting a little closer to home than some. But it is fiction. Only fiction.”
He should have never started this stupid story.
“Relax. It isn’t like anyone knows who Victor Holt is.” Hannah patted his arm. “And if they did, they don’t have the inside scoop on your life like we do.”
“True. We’ve all known you had a thing for Devin since the first time you and Liam brought her to Mom and Dad’s for the weekend.” Libby said the words, but they all confirmed it with a nod.
Everything was spinning out of control. “It was a group of friends. Liam invited her. I was just there.”
“See, that’s why I think he might be Rand in the story.” Hannah was talking directly to Libby. “He wants the girl, and she wants him, but he doesn’t see it.”
“Would you all stop? I don’t need to thaw. I’m not in the story. Devin isn’t in the story. And Devin doesn’t want me.”
“We think she might.” Hannah exchanged looks with Libby. “At the very least, there is a spark of interest.”
“Like the looks she was giving him at Thanksgiving.” Libby nodded. “And did anyone else notice how red she got when he offered to drive her on Sunday?”
“Have you ever considered telling her how you feel?” Hannah’s voice held a sympathetic edge his siblings were lacking. He wasn’t about to answer that question, but at least his sister-in-law wasn’t enjoying roasting him for sport.
Seriously? “You’re all being absurd.”
“Not as absurd as liking a girl who likes you and never asking her out.” Austin slipped his arm around his wife’s waist. Got it. No sympathy from the brother-in-law.
He glanced to Luke for support, but his brother only knew part of the story, and after laying it all out there with his dad a few days ago, Logan wasn’t ready to be that raw again anytime soon.
“Trust me.” Luke spoke up once more. “If Hannah and I had been more honest with each other to begin with, it wouldn’t have taken us so long to get to the altar.”
Hannah patted his arm. “And just be glad confessing your love to Devin doesn’t jeopardize a kingdom’s alliances.”
“I’m not in love with Devin.” He might lose his mind. “The story. Isn’t. About. Us. And volunteering to help doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m done with the conversation. I’ll wait in the car.”
Logan turned away, but Luke’s voice carried. “Was I that clueless?”
He could just make out Hannah’s laugh and the words “Much more, my love” before he was absorbed into the Christmas crowd.
He wasn’t mad, but he didn’t like being the center of everyone’s attention. Not to mention they had gotten it all wrong. The story wasn’t about him. Sure, he’d tapped into his personal experience, but it was still only a story. Wasn’t it?
He found an out-of-the-way bench and pulled up the chapter Luke and Austin had just read and skimmed it over. His reading slowed as he neared the end.
Stone of Anwar: Chapter 4
The wedding had been set for three weeks from tomorrow, and it took all of Rand’s strength not to slam his fist into the wall. He’d avoided Orin as much as he could the past week. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was run into Astryn. Not that it had stopped him from seeing her. Everywhere he turned, she seemed to be there.
He’d gone riding only to see her in a distant field in a full gallop with her golden hair waving behind her. Or when she watched them train from the shadows of the window where she assumed she’d been hidden. This princess was not one who enjoyed her days at tea or needlepoint. He had no doubt that had she been born a man she would have made a great warrior and king.
But it didn’t matter, she had been born to her position, and so had he. Which was why he had stayed away. But even a prince couldn’t ignore the direct summons of the king. Rand pushed his way through the thick oak door and made his way to the chambers that had been assigned to Orin. At least they weren’t in Anathia where Orin could call him to the throne room.
He stepped into the sitting room and knelt before Orin. “Your Majesty.”
“Your Majesty? What? Did you offend someone important? Never mind, I’d rather remain blissfully ignorant of whatever mischief you’ve been up to.” Orin motioned to the chairs next to the stone fireplace. “I know you enjoy the freedom of being second, but you still have duties.”
Rand shrugged and walked over and settled into the chair next to his brother. “I’m at your command.”
Rand sent up a silent prayer to Origin that the command would have nothing to do with Astryn. He’d hoped that space would lessen this unwanted attraction. It hadn’t.
“I’m serious, Rand.” Orin spun on him. “The lords and council want me to name another second. They don’t think you have what it takes to rule a kingdom, and your absence at the negotiations with Cambria this week hasn’t helped.”
Negotiations. The word landed like a rock in his gut. They’d been haggling over how much Astryn was worth, and Rand couldn’t stomach it.
If he couldn’t handle that, then how was he going to stand there and watch his brother marry her when he knew it was only for political gain? His brother was kind and would be good to her, but she deserved more than that. And she wanted more than that. He’d bet all he had on that fact.
Rand turned toward the window, but the landscape blurred before him. “Maybe they’re right. Maybe I’m not fit for this position.”
If he wasn’t second, then he could leave. He still might not forget her, but at least it would keep him from doing something stupid like telling her how he felt.
Orin landed a hand on his shoulder. “There is no one I trust more with my life than you.”
And there it was. The reason he’d never leave. As much as he longed for Astryn, he loved his brother and would never leave him unprotected.
Orin squeezed his shoulder, holding his gaze. “There is no one I would trust more with this kingdom than you. A good part of me believes you would make a better king than I do.”
“I don’t want to be king.” His voice came out rough, and he tried to clear his throat.
“Which is exactly why you make a good second. A man who wants the throne is a dangerous man, indeed. But a man who understands the weight it carries and takes it out of responsibility—that is the making of a good king. That is why I insist you are my second now and as long as we both breathe.” He stood and tugged on a cord to ring for a servant. “That, and I know you won’t try to kill me in my sleep to take my place.”
“You can count on that.” Rand locked eyes with his brother. “I will do better by you, brother, I promise you that.”
Orin pulled the lid off a dark wooden box and set it aside. Anwar. The clear, two-inch, teardrop-shaped stone was so much like a diamond but yet not. Orin held it by the silver chain up to the sunlight, causing the colors to dance and swirl within the prisms, as if the stone itself lived and breathed. Rand hadn’t seen it since his mother’s passing. “Are you okay with me giving this to Astryn?”
Orin wasn’t actually asking permission. As king, it was his to give or to keep. Rather, he was asking out of kindness and respect for a brother who still grieved his mother.
Rand gave a stiff nod. “It will fit her well.”
Of course it would, because Astryn had the same passion and fire as their mother. Fitting. His father had presented it to his mother as a love gift, and now Orin would present it to Astryn. Maybe Rand had underestimated Orin’s motives for this arrangement.
A servant knocked, then entered and bowed, waiting for instruction.
“Inform Princess Astryn that we will join her for the midday meal.” Orin turned back to Rand as the servant left. “It’s time for the two most important people in my life to get to know each other.”
“Will you give it to her today?” Astryn’s pale-blue eyes flashed in his mind unbidden, and the ache inside built once more.
“No.” Orin laid the necklace on a black velvet pillow. “We need Cambria to agree to the final terms before I will present it to her at the signing of the contract tomorrow. The necklace will represent good faith until the marriage. As will the mantle they will present me with.”
The words hit him in the chest. Contract. Not love. He closed his eyes, willing the fire in his blood to cool again.
