A Prince's Ransom: Kidnapped by the Billionaire (23 page)

“Kat, you must stop pacing and calm down,” Eric’s voice echoed from the top of the stairs as he descended, looking very crisp and proper in a pressed black suit with a cornflower blue tie. She stopped and looked up at him, letting out a breath.

“I can’t help it,” she almost wailed, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t even go to this, I’m just going to ruin everything. When I woke up this morning I couldn’t remember a single thing about what you spend all day trying to teach me, I’m just going to embarrass myself, and you, and…”

He caught her wrist and pulled her into his arms, her frantic words making him walk faster down the stairs. “Stop it, you are not going to embarrass me, or yourself. You are just nervous from thinking about it too much.”

“I’m not going to be less nervous when we actually get in that carriage with people coming up to us and talking to us! If anything, I’m going to be more nervous! Something American schools really don’t do well is make us good at public speaking. And I’m supposed to be British, not American, and I can’t—mmph!” Katherine’s words were silenced against his lips when he suddenly kissed her with abandon, only to allow her fingers to twist into his suit when she kissed him back.

For several long moments, she lost herself in that kiss, clinging to him. This is what she was fighting for, this moment when everything that was wrong with Eric melted away and there was just the two of them, and the potential to be actually happy for the first time in her life. She pulled back from him with a gasp, her pulse racing, and she swallowed hard.

“Better?” he asked her softly, with a leer teasing at his lips.

Mutely, she nodded, and Eric laughed softly, wrapping his arm around her waist and moving with her towards the front door where a servant waited to open it. His bodyguards were already seated in the carriage out front, looking as inconspicuous as two six-foot, extremely burly guys could look next to the suave prince and his petite companion. Eric helped her into the carriage before sitting down next to her. The seats were more comfortable than they looked, and he didn’t let go of her hand as the carriage door was shut and the driver climbed up to take the horses’ reins. There were two of them, both white, and the carriage itself was one of those open carriages. Katherine had no idea what they were called, but it was only half a carriage. No windows or full, proper doors or anything. Better for talking with people outside of it.

“Now remember, ma chérie,” he murmured to her. “You need only smile and answer everything to the best of your abilities. I will be right here beside you, answering anything that you do not know.”

“Which will be basically everything,” she murmured, pressing her hand tighter into his. “You spent hours teaching me facts, but they aren’t really going to be asking about facts, are they? They’re going to be asking about my opinion on certain things.”

He lifted a brow at her. “Yes, they are. Which is something you should yet be able to answer, regardless of what straight facts you retain from studying yesterday.”

“Right,” she murmured, and yet her heart lurched when the carriage started moving. The king and queen were in the carriage in front of them, along with Élise, who was too young to ride by herself or really be flagged for those sorts of conversations. Behind them was more of an actual parade, with a mounted guard and a marching band.

Soon they were out onto the main street, following the cones in the road that blocked off wrong turns and oncoming traffic. It was slow going since there were people walking on either end of the parade, but it was sooner than Katherine liked that they were pulling onto the first main street of the city. People lined the sidewalks, and they started cheering and waving as the royal family came around the corner.

“Remember, just smile,” Eric whispered into her ear, before he turned to do so himself, lifting his free hand and waving at the gathered crowd. More people shouted when they saw him, and Katherine made herself smile as well. They had about half a block before people would actually come up to them, Eric had explained before, so that the entire parade had a chance to get onto the street before foot traffic slowed them down even further.

There were
so many
people waiting for them—cheering for them. Tara and their class were probably in the crowd somewhere too, but she hoped they didn’t get close enough for any of them to recognize her. Dr. Walker probably wouldn’t let them actually participate in that part of the parade, though, when it was supposed to be reserved for actual Montavians to have the opportunity to speak with their rulers and officials about important matters.

Why was Katherine up here again? She knew her hand was probably too tight around Eric’s but he was the only thing keeping her from bolting out of the carriage as it rolled along right now. If she wasn’t holding onto him, she would have jumped up already and taken off, never to be heard from again. That was still an appealing option, some part of her brain thought with a near-hysterical giddiness and sense of self-preservation.

Through her smiling and waving she glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the parade. Almost all of it had turned the corner, leaving just the last of the band, but they were already coming into view. That meant it was officially time to start—and the crowd knew it too. There were police ready at the checkpoint, and they fell into line, flanking the royal carriages stoically before people started coming up. There had never been any sort of real security issues during parades like this, but the family could never be too careful. Katherine’s heart leapt into her throat as she saw people coming up to her side of the carriage.

The woman who approached was inspecting her curiously, obviously confused about her presence; other people around had the same curious glances. “Hello,” Katherine greeted them with a smile—forced though it was—as she had been told to greet them so that the people knew she spoke English primarily. “It is lovely to meet you.”

The woman lifted a brow even higher, and yet she smiled a little bit. “Ah, may I ask who you are, miss?” came her first question, and Kat nodded.

“Yes, of course. I am Lady Elizabeth Sutton—a friend of the royal family who asked me to attend the parade so that you might have access to views on certain subjects beyond only that of the king, queen, and crown prince.”

The woman perked up at her answer, and beamed at her. “Oh, that is a lovely idea! We hear so much about other country’s politics on television, but Montavian is so small and inconsequential, it is like the rest of the world doesn’t know we exist!”

“Well, I will certainly do my best to offer everyone that outside view,” Katherine said carefully, knowing she needed to remain diplomatic and politically correct right now—mostly because she didn’t know enough about politics to speak more exactingly about that. Political correctness was safe, in these moments.

“
Merci
, my lady. My question is in regards to recent rumors of trade agreements with France—do you believe that these agreements are wise, even though we have spent long years trying to distance ourselves from French influence, regardless of our similarities to that country?”

Montavians are much more involved in politics if that was her first question
, Katherine thought, almost amused. “If anything, I would believe that trade agreements with France would solidify Montavian as a separate country,” she decided on after a moment’s thought. “And it signifies that France thinks you are, as well. It presents an opportunity to build this country’s world presence by ensuring that the closest and most similar neighbor finds such agreements to be worthwhile.”

Other people had started coming up to the carriage to wait for their turn to ask, and there were murmurs amongst them at her answer. She hoped it was the right one, with Eric answering something in French on the other side. The woman who had posed the question was considering it.

“I suppose that is true. If they only consider us an extension of themselves, France wouldn’t see the reason to establish such trade agreements.
Merci
.” Katherine nodded and the woman stepped back. A man took her place, but he stared at her without saying anything for a long moment.

Katherine shifted. “Can I help you with something, sir?”

“There is a rumor going around that Prince Eric has decided to get engaged to an American whore,” he said sharply after a moment, and her eyes narrowed as she stared at him.

“Excuse me?” she gasped, her mind whirling. Brigitte. Brigitte had started a rumor about her, despite the queen’s warning against doing just that. But it was the only explanation there could possibly be, and her heart pounded loudly in her ears.

“Are we supposed to accept some American idiot on the throne beside our prince? How is that decision for the good of the nation?” the man continued, refusing to back down despite her obvious shock. The way her nails bit into Eric’s hand had made the prince turn, catching the end of the question.

But she shook her head slightly before he could intervene, swallowing hard. “Regardless of where you heard such information, it
is
just a rumor. It seems shortsighted to believe that that’s the entirety of the situation based on one rumor,” she pointed out, looking around the crowd, which seemed very displeased with what the man had said. “Whether or not His Highness has any intentions of marrying an American, I should like to think that he has proven himself to have good judgment over such matters. And if he does have such intentions, he must equally believe that such a marriage would be good for his country. He wouldn’t consider marrying someone he thought would hurt his people.”

The man drew back slightly, obviously having not considered that angle before. “But is there such a girl?”

“If there is, I imagine you will be given the opportunity to meet her well before any wedding arrangements are put into play. But do not judge her on rumors alone, she might end up surprising you,” Katherine said, glad to no longer hear her heart in her ears. The man stepped back with a nod, allowing the next person to come up. She let out a sigh and shut her eyes for a moment. Eric’s fingers closed firmly around her hand, and he turned back to his own side of the carriage.

Katherine slowly swirled the glass of ice cold water, staring at the setting sun over the courtyard of the palace. The water was her best friend right now, because after hours of answering people’s questions, her throat was more or less trashed and she didn’t feel like talking for a week. That made the prospect of attending another function, one with even more talkative and well-educated people, many, many times more unpleasant. But she’d gotten through the day. And she’d gotten through the question that could have just about killed her. Maybe Eric was right. Maybe she could actually do this.

“It is a tiring thing, is it not?” Queen Annette’s voice made her jump, and Katherine quickly turned around to face the older woman. Her expression was neutral and subdued, and she didn’t seem tired at all despite that she had probably dealt with way more of her people’s questions than Katherine had. “Admittedly, that is not something that ever gets any easier, but one tends to grow more accustomed to it, so you are not exhausted by the end of the day.”

Katherine shifted uneasily and cleared her throat a little bit; she regretted it almost immediately, and lifted her glass to her lips, taking a long drink. “Yeah, I think that’s something I’d just need to practice My throat in particular is really pretty out of it.”

“Warm lemon water or tea.”

Katherine blinked. “Excuse me?”

“That is what I drink after a long day of talking,” the queen elaborated with a hint of amusement, lifting a small teacup in her hand to indicate what she was drinking. “I discovered years ago that it helps the throat enormously after days such as this. You may put honey in it if you desire, but I do not, unless I know I shall have a few days without such intensive talking.”

“Oh… I’ll have to try that.”

“I shall have the kitchen bring some up to your room after you retire for the evening.”

“Thank you.”

Annette moved closer, standing beside Katherine at the balcony railing. The girl turned around, leaning on it carefully, even though she was painfully aware that the queen wasn’t. “I admit I am impressed with you, Katherine. I was even impressed with you the other day at the villa, sticking up for yourself in front of Brigitte as you did. She has long since learned to play the game and she is not easily flustered, but you did not let that stop you, or even trip you up.”

Katherine blanched a little. “You know about that?” She hadn’t said anything, earlier. She hadn’t been going to say anything.

“Eric told me,” she murmured with a sigh, her fingers compulsively shifting a dark blond piece of hair back into place. “I suppose I ought not be so surprised. Brigitte was never one to handle losing very well, but I would have expected better of her than to stoop to something so petty. It seems Eric was quite right to refuse to marry her and give her access to the throne, but I must apologize to you.”

Katherine blinked. “To me?”

“
Oui
. My test for you this week was not meant to involve such a direct attack as that rumor nonsense, although it seems you handled that just as well as you handled the rest.” The queen glanced at her from the corner of her eye, lifting a brow. “You must truly wish to be with my son, if you would do things so clearly out of your comfort zone and so clearly beyond your experience.”

Katherine’s cheeks colored a little. “I probably shouldn’t,” she admitted softly. “Eric did… some not very nice things, when I first met him. But… yeah. I think I do. I want at least the chance to try.”

“Which is fair enough, but ultimately, Katherine… I do not think you are suited to being queen. Managing to hold your own in front of Brigitte alone—when you have some potent knowledge about her—and in front of the people who would never guess who you are, that is not enough for me to believe you can run my country. Or that you are right for Eric. He is love struck, I will admit, and you are a charming girl. But I never imagined that he would let anyone cause him to even hint at abandoning his kingdom, and certainly not that he would drag someone so ill-suited for the life he must lead into its midst.” The longer the queen talked, the louder Katherine’s heart thundered in her ears. “You have the rest of the week, as I have said, but you ought to prepare yourself now for my answer.”