Marion Lennox - Wanted - Royal Wife and Mother

‘It was a minor earth tremor,’ she whispered. ‘There’s little damage apart from in the village. There’s been some road damage near the border but nothing major. It was only the recent deforestation of the hillside that caused the slip.’

‘Kass should never have allowed…’

‘You will never allow,’ she said strongly. ‘It’s your call now, Rafael.’

‘We will never allow,’ he said, his voice strengthening.

‘You’ll turn the country into a democracy?’ she asked, wondering. It was what the other three Alp countries had done-altered the constitution so the monarchy was a titular head only.

‘Of course, but that’s not what I meant when I said we ,’ he said, and his hold on her wrist tightened.

Her heart stilled.

‘Rafael…’

‘Kelly,’ he said and he smiled.

She gazed down at him. Her battered hero. His face was a mass of scratches and bruises. A long, thin scratch ran from ear to chin. The doctor had put a couple of stitches in the lower reaches. They’d cleaned him as much as they could but he wasn’t fit yet for a full shower so his hair was still spiked with mud.

She loved him with all her heart.

‘I love you,’ he said and her heart restarted. If it was possible for a heart to sing, it sang now. She could hear it. A heart full of nightingales.

‘I guess I love you too,’ she said unsteadily. ‘All the time you were under that slab…’

‘You love me?’

‘Maybe it’s fear. Maybe.’

‘Maybe nothing,’ he growled. ‘The guys tell me it was your skill that had them tunnelling in so professionally. We were lucky the whole thing didn’t come down on us.’

It had. She didn’t tell him that but he’d learn it anyway. Just after they’d pulled Rafael out, a final tremor had come through. The mass of mud had settled again, and their basement refuge had turned into what would have been a mass grave.

She shivered.

‘Damn,’ he said and struggled to sit up.

‘Rafael, no.’

‘Then lie down beside me,’ he said, his voice gaining strength. ‘A man’s got to say what a man’s got to say. Dammit, I should go down on bended knee.’

On bended knee…

‘I don’t think any of us are capable of bending for quite a while,’ she whispered, and amazingly she heard herself chuckle. His tug was insistent. Well, what the heck. She hauled back the covers, wiggled in and lay down beside him.

He pulled her as close as he could, he turned his face to hers and he kissed her.

Fourth kiss? It was the best, she decided. It was the best by a country mile. It was a kiss of release of terror. It was a kiss of love. It was a kiss of promise.

‘You know we can’t go further,’ he said, his voice laced with passion as finally he let her go. Only an inch, mind, but release her he did. ‘I’m so full of drugs…’

‘And you need to sleep.’

‘Sleep be damned,’ he said. ‘Kelly, will you marry me?’

‘Yes.’

‘Just like that?’

‘Just like that.’

‘It’s putting you in the royal goldfish bowl again,’ he said, holding her close.

‘But I’ll be in it with you,’ she whispered. ‘And with Matty. If it’s a goldfish bowl with you guys or a big wide world without, it’s a no-brainer.’

‘I’m your second prince.’

‘Kass was no prince,’ she said scornfully. ‘He might have been born royal but he never earned the title. You, however…You’re prince through and through.’

‘I’m a toy-maker.’

‘And an equestrian,’ she said, snuggling against him. He was wearing pyjamas. Self striped, flannel pyjamas. They’d have to go, she thought. Maybe not right now, though. A girl should show some restraint in the face of an injured hero.

He’d asked her to marry him!

‘I guess riding again wasn’t so bad,’ he admitted.

‘Your father loved it.’

‘My father would have loved you.’

‘My son loves you already.’

‘Kelly,’ he murmured and the strength had left his voice again. He had been heavily sedated to put his shoulder back in, she knew. He should be asleep.

‘Yes, my love?’

‘We can be a family?’

‘Yes.’

‘A royal family?’

‘I’ll even wear a tiara,’ she teased and the hand around her waist tightened.

‘Kelly?’

‘Mmm.’

‘I’m probably not capable of anything at all…’

‘No, but…’

‘No, but I can try,’ he said. ‘You know I asked you to marry me?’

‘Yes.’

‘And if a thing’s promised then it’s as good as done-right?’

‘I guess,’ she said dubiously, not sure where this was going.

‘Then I have a wife,’ he said in sleepy satisfaction. ‘I have a princess. And, as a princess, as a wife, there are certain duties you’ll be expected to face.’

‘I…I guess.’

‘Then we might as well start now,’ he said, resigned.

‘Um…right.’ She thought about it. She twisted and pushed herself up so she was looking down into his beloved face. He was smiling. He was even laughing! And the look in his eyes…

It was a very royal look. It was a look of complete seduction.

‘I only have one good arm,’ he whispered as he tugged her down to him. ‘Kelly, my love, my princess, my wife, I need help right now.’

‘To do…to do what?’

‘To take off these pyjamas!’

As coronations went it was magnificent.

Crater, as Secretary of State of Alp de Ciel, had been to the coronations in each of the Alp countries. He’d watched with wonder and with outright envy as the new generation of royals had taken their places as leaders in their countries, leading the way to prosperity for all.

They were here now. Prince Raoul of Alp d’Azuri was here, with the Princess Jessica, with their little son Edouard and with their twin daughters, Nicky and Lisle. Prince Maxsim of Alp d’Estella was in the next pew, with his Pippa and Marc and Sophie and Claire and bump. Prince Nikolai of Alp de Montez, with his beloved Princess Rose, with no bump as yet, were free to be best man and matron of honour. There might be no bump, but by the way they were looking at each other Crater knew the succession of Alp d’Estella was assured.

As it was assured here in Alp de Ciel. For this coronation was also a wedding.

‘I’m damned if we’re dragging all these dignitaries here twice,’ Rafael had decreed. ‘You say the coronation has to take place almost immediately. That’s how Kelly and I feel about our wedding. Besides, Anna will kill me if I drag her away from New York twice in a month, and I’m tired of her yelling at us. So we combine.’

So combine they did. The vast and ancient cathedral in Alp de Ciel’s capital was full to bursting. Every dignitary worthy of the name was crammed in, plus representatives of all walks of life in Alp de Ciel. The staff from the diggings in Australia sent representatives, beaming with approval at this happy ending for a loved staff member. Pete, as senior representative, was giving the bride away. Even Rafael’s work team from Manhattan was here-his disabled staff-as many as could fly over. Rafael was planning a local workforce with the same background. It was an outward sign of the changes that were already sweeping the country.

‘For this government is of the people, for the people, by the people, starting now,’ Rafael and Kelly had decreed, and Crater agreed entirely. Their attitude meant a motley guest list, but so what? Royalty was changing for the better, in ways Crater could only wonder at.

Everywhere Crater looked there was approval-and no more so than at the end of the aisle where one small page-boy was holding a ring, waiting impatiently for Kelly and Rafael to need it.