Modern Romance Collection: July Books 5 - 8. Natalie Anderson

the old man had lost his favourite son and the legacy he wanted to leave in one fell swoop! He wanted to be remembered by history as the King who had reunified the island, and he could see that dream slipping away.

      ‘Are you all right?’

      His attempt at sympathy was greeted with a pithy retort. ‘A bit late in the day to show concern for my well-being. But how I am feeling is not important. The future of our line, my legacy, the reunification is what is important. You and he, you connived...you knew he was not my son. I suppose you both thought it was a revenge for your mother. I know you both blamed me...that woman... I loved her!’

      The last anguished words seemed ripped from him, leaving a shocked silence in their wake.

      Sebastian had thought that this day couldn’t hold more shocks and now this?

      ‘Yet, you made her miserable.’ Luis was right: of all the things their father had done, that was the one that Sebastian had never been able to forgive. As for forgiving himself, how could he? Why should he? He had watched his mother die, slowly, by inches and had been helpless to stop what was happening. He should have been stronger.

      ‘Do you think I was happy? She never loved me. I knew that. I was willing to turn a blind eye to the affair and then it was out and I... None of this is important now. What is important is saving our plans. Reunification is the only thing that matters. We must think ahead—delay would be disastrous.’

      ‘The Summervilles—have they been told?’

      ‘The Duke is furious, and I don’t blame him.’

      ‘How is Sabrina?’

      His father’s heavy brows knitted. ‘Who?’

      His jaw clenched. ‘The bride.’

      ‘Oh, well, upset, I assume. I doubt if she knew about this woman so it must have come as a shock.’

      The implication took a few moments to sink in. ‘But you did?’

      An expression of irritation flicked across the older man’s face. ‘Do you think I do not always have eyes on you both?’ he sneered. ‘I know you did not actually have an affair with that married woman last year, though you seemed content to allow the world to think the worst of you,’ he observed drily.

      Sebastian gave an impatient shrug; none of this was news to him. ‘This isn’t having your spies report back on my love life so you can stay ahead of the game. You knew that Luis was in love with someone else and still you pushed him into marriage.’

      The condemnation made no impact on the King. ‘I knew he’d had an affair with a woman with an unsavoury past. I asked him to stop. I knew he had slipped,’ he admitted. ‘He actually wanted to tell the... Sabrina, but we talked him off the ledge.’

      ‘How long has this been going on?’

      ‘Around two years.’

      Sebastian sat down in a chair. ‘I don’t believe this.’

      ‘Unlike you, he was discreet.’

      Sebastian’s head lifted. ‘So it’s all right so long as no one finds out? You pushed him into marriage. Did it never strike you as unfair to—?’

      His father flashed him a look from under lowered brows. ‘He promised me it was over and I believed him.’

      Sebastian’s anger vanished as his father swayed, the pallor of his face acquiring a grey tinge that sent a slug of fear through Sebastian. ‘Are you all right?’

      ‘I’m fine.’ The older man sank into a chair, shrugging off his son’s helping hand irritably. ‘I am not about to hand over my crown any time soon.’

      ‘I don’t want your crown.’

      The King gave a laugh that ended with a wheeze. ‘Are you so sure about that? You were always the one that people looked to. Your brother... No, you have no brother. I have no son...the bastard is gone!’ He broke off, gasping as his lips turned bluish.

      ‘I’m going to call a doctor.’ Before he could raise his voice to call for the help that would undoubtedly be stationed outside the door, his father grabbed Sebastian’s arm to get his attention. The fact that his hand was shaking shocked Sebastian in some way more than every other shock the day had delivered.

      ‘No, just get me the bottle out of that drawer.’

      Sebastian opened the drawer. ‘This?’

      His father nodded. ‘One under my tongue.’ After a moment he nodded. ‘That’s better.’

      ‘How long have you been ill?’

      ‘I am not ill.’

      Sebastian handed him a glass of water. ‘How long?’

      ‘It is just angina.’

      It seemed to Sebastian that just and angina were not two words that ought to be used in the same sentence.

      ‘Did Luis know?’ He hoped bleakly that the reply would be no, because the brother he loved and admired could not do what he had knowing their father had a heart complaint.

      ‘He needed to know. He was the heir.’

      ‘And I did not?’

      ‘You didn’t want to know, but now you have no choice. You, God help us, you are the future of our country.’

      Sebastian’s gaze lifted upwards but the elaborate ceiling with its raised relief panels stayed where it was thirty feet above his head. The impression that it was inexorably lowering was an illusion; his cage had no bars, no locks. He would be expected to enter of his own free will. The devil had come to claim him.

      ‘So no pressure, then.’

      ‘Do not be flippant, Sebastian.’

      The comment wrenched a hard laugh from Sebastian. ‘You expect me to step up, just like that?’

      ‘I expect you will do your duty. Your trouble is everything came too easily to you. Unlike your brother you never had to work at anything. That, and your problem with authority.’ A laugh rumbled in his chest. ‘You are the authority now.’ The thought seemed to amuse the King for a moment at least before he turned to the matter in hand.

      ‘Count Hugo is briefing the press now. I want you to make an announcement to the guests. It is very important that we are on the same page to minimise the damage, so we will liaise with the Summervilles, smooth things over. Your stepmother is with them now, then, after a decent interval, it can be announced that you and the girl... Sabrina...have decided to get married.’

      ‘I always knew you were ruthless but the human factor, does it actually matter?’

      ‘The human factor as you call it is a luxury we do not have. It is one of the things we sacrifice for the privilege of being who we are.’

      ‘Don’t you think that after this Sabrina might have other ideas? That she might not like to be moved like a pawn on a board?’

      ‘She is not a pawn, she will be Queen, and if you think her parents are less committed to this than we are, you are wrong.’

      Sebastian turned his head from his father to stare at the wall beyond, where light filtered through stained-glass panels of the window left a shifting, shimmering rainbow effect on the stone wall. He took a deep breath and pushed beyond the static buzz of adrenaline overload, fighting to contain the sense of helpless anger he felt surging inside him.

      It was ironic—in some ways this was the opportunity he had always imagined, the definitive moment when he could throw his father’s expectations and duty back in his face!

      Now it was happening and as much as he wanted to reject his father’s certainty, as much as he wanted to yell, ‘To hell with duty,’ and walk away, he couldn’t. He could fight against the duty, but in the end he would do what was expected.