C.J. Miller - The Secret King

She smoothed her green dress, hoping it was appropriate for the evening’s events. Iliana had helped her select it and yet Serena was a bundle of nerves about the entire visit, including what she was wearing. This was not where she shone. She was not great at small talk and mingling, and preferred to stay on the outskirts of a crowd and watch. Or better yet, to sketch or paint from a safe distance. Even hiding behind a camera had a certain appeal.

Before her father’s birthday party, Serena had not been to a formal occasion in years, avoiding them with carefully constructed excuses. Grief knotted in her stomach and she blinked away tears. How she wished her father and her sister were still alive!

“Your Grace?” her guard asked.

Serena realized she had been standing rooted in the same place, looking up at the palace. It was a breathtaking display of architecture and design. When Samuel had inherited the throne after the untimely death of his uncle, he had put energy and resources into renovating the two-hundred-year-old structure. The effort showed.

“I’m fine.” Her guards flanked her and she took the stairs to the front door. It opened and she was escorted inside.

She had always believed her castle to be ornate, but the palace of Rizari made Acacia’s royal home look like a straw hut.

This was her first date with King Warrington, although she wasn’t sure if he would consider it a date. Officially, it was a dinner party with members of the royal social circle, some whom she knew by name and others not at all.

Her heels clicked against the floor as she was escorted by King Warrington’s butler and her guards into the dining room. She was almost used to having her guards so close, but in her home, they didn’t hover over her as they did in public.

Serena scanned the room for an inconspicuous place to sit or stand, as was her usual technique when being in an unfamiliar place. Her eyes landed on a man across the room and her breath caught in her throat.

“Your Grace, may I offer you a drink?”

She held up her hand to decline, vaguely aware that she may have been rude, but she was impossibly fixated on one person. The man who had saved her life. As she crossed the room, she realized she could be mistaken. She could be imagining him. Thinking of him so often had a strange effect on her. She found herself almost subconsciously looking for him everywhere she traveled.

When she was a few feet from him, he took a sip of his drink and then turned his head toward her. Their eyes connected. She remembered those kind eyes, eyes of strength and compassion.

“Is it you?” she asked.

“Your Grace.” He bowed to her.

“What is your name?” She had to know before he disappeared again. A swell of emotion and questions rose up inside her.

“Casimir Cullen.”

Casimir. A regal name. His voice set off a sensation in her stomach, and excitement spiraled throughout her body. “Do you remember...” She didn’t know how to finish her thought. He had to remember that night. Anyone who had lived through it would have it seared into their memory.

She had thought, upon their reunion, her protector would grab her, hug her to him, and now she realized, she had pictured him kissing her, banding his arms around her and making her feel safe for the first time in weeks.

“I remember.”

She would have to settle for being the target of his warm, intense gaze. But the effect was much the same. “I’ve been trying to find you.”

He inclined his head and Serena glanced at the person he had been speaking to. More specifically, the woman he had been speaking to. This was the king’s dinner party. Was Casimir here with his wife? Why did that thought devastate her? Her entire being should be focused on grieving for her father and sister, and trying to wrap her arms around the tremendous tasks ahead of her. Yet part of her clung to Casimir as being something bright and good in her future. It was presumptuous of her to think they had a future.

“That night was difficult. I have been traveling, trying to clear my head,” he said.

“With your wife?” she asked, gesturing to the woman standing across from him.

The woman smiled. “Cas and I aren’t married.” The look she gave him implied she would like to change that at some point.

Cas. The nickname suggested familiarity and Serena was confused. Was this his girlfriend? Suddenly, her mind was reeling from a barrage of thoughts. What was he doing here? How did he know King Warrington?

The king of Rizari. Serena’s heart dropped and she felt sickened. She was at the palace to spend time with King Warrington and she was fixating on Casimir. She glanced around the room. As if reading her thoughts, Casimir spoke.

“The king has not yet arrived.”

The woman giggled. “He tends to be late. You know the type.”

Serena didn’t know the type or understand the reason for the laughter, and while his tardiness might have been rude, she was grateful he had not yet arrived. It had given her this moment with Casimir. “Casimir, could I speak with you alone for a minute?”

The woman frowned but stepped away. Serena walked toward the double-wide glass patio doors. Casimir followed her, as did her guards. Casimir opened the doors and led her outside.

“I have so many questions,” Serena said.

“Please ask them. I told you I was yours to call upon.”

He had said those words and yet he had disappeared without giving his name. “Do you live in Rizari?” she asked.

“I do not. I live in Icarus, but I travel frequently throughout the Mediterranean.”

Many follow-up questions came to mind. “What were you doing in Acacia?” Serena asked. She wanted to know everything about this man. Everything.

“Acacia is known for their world-class boat making and I am having one built. My friend Fiona,” he gestured inside to the woman he’d been speaking with, “knew I was in town and invited me to your father’s birthday party as her guest.”

His story made sense. Acacia’s boat-building history dated back a thousand years. Most of the royal naval fleet had been assembled in Acacia. To hear him refer to his companion as a friend soothed some of her worry. “I am pleased you recognize quality.”

He glanced at her lips and then his gaze skimmed down her body. “I recognize it.” His meaning was decidedly sensual.

“I have wanted to thank you for what you did that night. I don’t recall if I did at the time.”

She didn’t want the conversation to circle around the worst night of her life. Serena struggled with her grief and anger over what had happened. Yet, she felt it was important to acknowledge what he had done and express her gratitude.

“I did what any man would have.”

Except that he had done what no one else had. “My guards had left me.” Before becoming the heir apparent to the throne she had only traveled with one guard. That night she’d had two, but they had been trying to stop the gunfire and in the chaos, they lacked the training to execute the proper response.

“Their mistake,” Casimir said.

A mistake that could have cost her her life. Her uncle was reviewing and changing security measures to ensure nothing like it happened again. “You owe me nothing. But I want to know more about you.”

“Your Grace, you may ask me anything you wish,” Casimir said.

It was a cool evening and Serena noticed she could not see or smell the sea from the palace. “What do you do? I mean, besides saving the lives of princesses?”

He grinned. “My father owns a financial services company. He and I recently parted ways. A life of numbers and spreadsheets bored me. Until I figure out what I want to do next, I’ve been traveling, studying and having fun.”