Arianna & Finn (Royals of Valleria #3) (22 page)

Finn spent the rest of the day traveling through Valleria. Because he wasn’t a wanted man in this country, it was easy enough to take trains through the countryside and into neighboring France. From there he made it to the French-Brazenbourg border just as night fell. Knowing his name so close to the border would be easily recognizable, he chose instead to use one of his contacts and found lodging in a discreet chateau. From there, someone from Brazenbourg would help him cross the border.

He had remained tense the entire journey. He wasn’t naïve enough to assume that Henry wouldn’t have him followed; in fact, it had been easy to figure out exactly who it was. By the time Finn had transferred from Metz to the local bus system, he had managed to shake them off, hopefully for good.

The chateau boasted an extensive golf course, and he’d arranged to sleep in the course’s clubhouse. The chateau itself was hosting a wedding this weekend, and it was best for Finn to stay away from the crowd. The wedding, however, had meant that food would be readily available and, having not eaten even breakfast that morning, Finn was running on fumes.

All of his thoughts centered on survival and Arianna. All through his journey, he had kept rereading the false articles about him, and wondered what Arianna thought about him. They’d only spent about a week together, but they’d come to mean so much to each other in that time, at least he thought they had. Did she have so little faith in them? In him?

Perhaps if he found out who was scheming against Valleria, then he would prove to her that he loved her. He hoped it would be enough, as he wasn’t sure what else he could do. If she didn’t want him, he knew there would be no one else.

He still hadn’t received a reply from her. He just hoped Arianna was okay.

***

After a restless day in her apartments, Arianna was ready for escape. Though her royal apartment boasted several rooms for her to wander in, including a full kitchen, she felt trapped and caged.

She could have ignored her father’s edict; it would have been easy enough to escape the palace, and he knew it. But her father’s words had kept ringing in her ear all day:
I’m disappointed in you.

She had dinner in her room alone, and had a scary feeling that this may be just what her married life would be like, though she refused to believe it. She and Henry may not care for each other, but they could grow to love each other. She would become a mother one day, and then that would change everything. It could work out, she assured herself. She would make sure it worked out.

She was about to give up waiting for her father and ready to bed instead when the knock came at her door. When she answered it, she was startled by the person behind it.

“Henry. Whatever are you doing here?”

He pushed past her and entered. “Shouldn’t a man see his fiancée?”

“I suppose, but it’s not very proper, is it?”

Henry’s lips contorted into a grim smile. “Proper? Oh, I think it’s highly proper.”

“Why don’t we call Alex or my father as a chaperone?” There was a hard look in his eyes and she didn’t want to be alone with him. She didn’t feel safe.

“I don’t think we need a chaperone.” He glanced around the foyer. “I think you should show me around your apartments.”

She wondered what he was up to, and how he’d found her apartment in the first place, but didn’t ask. Later, she would wish she had. “All right, I’ll give you a brief tour.”

She took him around the living room, kitchen, offices, and other rooms before turning back towards the foyer.

“The bedrooms? Surely, you have one of those,” Henry asked.

“Of course, but I don’t think you need to see it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” He turned and walked farther down the hall, opening the doors to linen closets and guest rooms before finding her bedroom.

“Henry, I really must ask that you leave.”

He ignored her, instead just wandering around and taking in the room. She had always been a fairly neat person, so thankfully there wasn’t any mess or random undergarments lying about. He stopped in front of her dresser, and picked up the amethyst and emerald necklace she’d worn in Brazenbourg but not to the ball.

He turned to face her, his hands full of jewels. “I’ve just had dinner with your parents. I’ll be glad once you come back to Brazenbourg for good and we won’t need to see them again.”

“What are you talking about? Just because I marry you doesn’t mean I’ll never see my parents again. We discussed this.”

“I never agreed to that. You’ll need to show your complete allegiance to Brazenbourg.”

“Of course Brazenbourg will become my home, but I couldn’t give up Valleria; the public wouldn’t understand and it wouldn’t be right.”

“Right? Right? You don’t have the first clue what’s right.” He walked over to her and placed something in her hand. When she looked down, she saw they were Finn’s cufflinks; she had never returned them, but instead had placed them in her jewelry box, which sat atop the dresser. “These belong to my useless brother, don’t they? Don’t they?”

Arianna couldn’t speak; she just shook her head, unable to believe she’d been found out.

“Have you slept with him? Have you?” He was moving even closer, forcing her to take a step back, then another, and another. She stopped only when she felt the bed behind her.

He pushed her down. “If you’ve slept with my brother, then you won’t have any trouble sleeping with me right now. Although, I don’t think we’ll be doing much sleeping.”

“Stop,” she cried and quickly slid back, eventually stepping off the opposite side before his hands could get to her.

“I won’t have a whore for a wife.”

“I am
not
a whore.” Her breath was coming in harsh gasps, fueled by adrenaline and anger. “Don’t you dare call me that again.”

“Are you pregnant? You’ll have a formal test done before this wedding proceeds.”

Pregnant? Her hands automatically went to her lower abdomen. Her mind did frantic sums and tried to remember if they’d ever been unprotected. She was on the pill; she’d remembered to take it every day, hadn’t she?

“I can see by your face that it could be a possibility. Well, now with Finn gone, it looks like I’ll be raising his bastard.”

“What? What do you mean he’s gone?”

“I’ve exiled him from Brazenbourg, and ensured that he would be exiled from Valleria. He’ll never come near you again.”

Despair filled her at the thought of never seeing him again. “What? He’s your brother. How could you do that?” She couldn’t believe his own brother would exile him.

“I take it you haven’t seen the papers this afternoon?”

She hadn’t wanted to look at any news since this morning; she hadn’t even checked her phone. “No.”

“If you had, you’d realize that he was a traitor to my country. Now, he’s finally gone and hopefully dead.”

Dead
? An image of Finn, cold and lifeless, sprang to her mind and she cried out. “No.”

“Oh, yes.” Henry’s grim smile sent chills through her.

“If I am pregnant, why would you even still want this marriage? I don’t understand.”

“I will claim the child as my own. No one is ever to know the truth.”

“But why?”

“The car crash that killed our parents also injured me. Apparently, I cannot have children of my own. I always hated Finn but, after the accident, I knew he could become ruler because of my impotence. Brazenbourg is
mine
. No one else’s.”

What had she done? What had she agreed to? She’d trusted the wrong man, and betrayed the one she should have held close. History was once again repeating itself, but now there may be a child at risk because of her foolishness and rash behavior.
What had she done?

Arianna let out another cry when Henry tore the delicate strands of the necklace apart with his bare hands, scattering the jewels and diamonds across the room. “Valleria isn’t your home anymore. It’s Brazenbourg. It’s time you accepted that.”

He turned to leave, Arianna frozen on the other side of the room. “Oh, and Arianna?”

She turned to face him, her eyes wary and her body stiff and defensive. “What?” she asked quietly.

“The next time I come to your bedroom, I want you naked and waiting for me.” With that chilling demand, he walked out.

Only when Arianna heard the outer door close and silence ensue did she finally collapse onto the floor in tears.
What had she done?

After her tears abated, her hand once again went to rest over her womb. There was a possibility she was pregnant, and with Finn’s child. She imagined a young boy with his warm, green eyes, and suddenly hoped it was true. But what kind of life was she bringing a child into? She couldn’t marry Henry, that was absolute, regardless of whether or not she carried Finn’s child. Her child.

Their child.

She wondered what had become of Finn. Suddenly, the article this morning seemed too convenient, too over the top. Hadn’t she seen and heard Finn’s feelings for her firsthand? The pictures must be fake. Why hadn’t she just asked him about the article instead of jumping to conclusions?

And a traitor? She
knew
how much he loved Brazenbourg; it was same love her father and Alex, and all of them, really, held for Valleria. He would never betray his country. She spied his cufflinks fallen to the floor nearby, where she must have dropped them when Henry came after her.

What had she done?

She slumped further onto the floor and her hand came in contact with two glittering jewels: one emerald and one amethyst. She rolled them around in her hand, feeling their smooth surface and remembering how the necklace had once felt as it laid against her skin. The first time Finn had seen her had been in this necklace.

And now Henry had destroyed it.

She had to speak to Alex; he may know where Finn was. First, however, she needed to speak with her mother. Mama always knew what to do.

Arianna used the secret passageways to travel from her apartments to her mother’s. Her father would still be in his office, she knew, but Mama always had too much to see to the day after a ball.

Arianna reached her mother’s door several minutes later and knocked. “Mama? Are you there?”

Unlike the other secret doors, the one that led to the King and Queen’s rooms could not be opened from inside the secret hallways; only someone on the other side could open it. And so her mother did a few moments later.

“Arianna? Whatever are you doing here? Your father told you to stay in your rooms.”

Arianna took barely a second to throw herself into her mother’s arms. “Oh, Mama. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, darling. Oh, my baby girl.” Genevieve shut the secret door and then led Arianna to a living room. As they sat down on a long couch, Arianna tightened her hold on her mother’s frame. Despite having nine children in eight pregnancies, Genevieve’s waist had remained fairly slim, but the rest of her body was curved and soft; perfect for a child needing comfort, no matter how old they were.

“Are you upset about your father?” Genevieve stroked Arianna’s hair with one hand and held her tight with the other.

Arianna shook her head. “I made a terrible mistake, Mama, and I don’t know what to do.”

“The engagement?” Arianna nodded against her mother’s bosom. “This morning you thought it was the right thing to do. What changed?”