Positive.
Of course it was.
Chapter 15
Andrew
I woke up happy.
That wasn’t unusual, because I was a prince, and however structured that life might be, it was not an arduous one—I had very few worries. But I fancied that there was a difference to the happy state in which I woke these days to that in which I’d woken for the better part of my adult life. Happiness, I now recognized, should be an active state—there should be some cause for it. Without realizing it, I hadn’t really been happy to this point, I’d merely been carefree, which was like happiness but was a passive process—it simply required nothing to be wrong. Prior to meeting Keira, there’d been nothing wrong in my life and so I was carefree, but since meeting her, I had a reason to be happy.
Very fucking happy.
I rolled over, and I was vaguely aware of a figure in the room with me. “Morning, Margo!” I called cheerily.
“Good morning, your Highness.” The figure bobbed a curtsey.
I sat up in bed and contemplated the day before me. The only thing that really mattered was that Keira was working today. Seeing her was always a challenge as we needed to meet in secret, but I was now thinking that the time might have come for that to change. True, we hadn’t known each other all that long and had spent a disproportionate amount of that time having sex, but I saw that as a plus. To have known someone for so short a period and yet learned so much about them, to have gained such a good impression of them, to have recognized them as the person with whom you might just want to spend the rest of your life—that was something to say on so limited an acquaintance.
I knew for certain that Keira was my future, and when you realize that about a person for the first time, then you want that future to start as soon as damn possible. The time would come when I had to break the news to my family (and I hoped that they would take it better than I feared), and there seemed little point in delaying the inevitable. After all, my mind was already made up on the subject—I loved Keira.
There, I damn well said it.
I loved her.
My mother’s ridiculous plan regarding Princess Alexandra would be an inconvenience, of course, but it wasn’t like anything was set in stone. Arranged marriages fell apart every day, and this one was going to as well, just like the last three supposed ‘arrangements’ my mother had tried to make between me and other women. It was all a scare tactic she used to try and convince me to settle down. I’d played along with her whenever she’d chatted to me about it, purely because I couldn’t be bothered getting her all riled up, but if she actually thought I was going to go along with any kind of stupid arranged marriage, then she was dreaming. It wasn’t the damned seventeenth century, and I wasn’t going to be told who to marry or when.
The only woman I wanted to marry was Keira…although I might’ve been getting a little bit ahead of myself there. I hadn’t even told her I loved her yet, and that was a huge step for me; to share such an intimate conversation with someone.
But dammit, I wanted it all from her, and I couldn’t wait to have it.
As distracted as I was by these thoughts and happy anticipations of sharing my life with Keira—I could just imagine her face when I finally told her I loved her—I still noticed what was going on in the room.
“Are you off, Margo?” I asked. The maid was already headed out the door.
Margo managed a slightly fractured smile. “Yes. With your leave, your Highness.”
“Of course, of course.” I dismissed her and Margo hurried out in what seemed like extreme relief. That was odd. As was the brevity of her stay; she usually took a lot longer about cleaning the room. She’d also seemed oddly nervous when I woke up, and I wondered if she had problems at home. I’d have to ask—I liked to take an interest in those in my employ.
Once I was showered, dressed, and had eaten breakfast, I hurried off in the direction of the stables. I was accustomed to taking a roundabout route that would not let anyone guess my true destination, and I started on such a route today before checking myself. What was the point? The time for such ruses and misdirection had passed, and I had no further need of them. Today, I would walk directly to the stables, and if anyone asked me where I was going then I would say ‘the stables’ in a proud, clear voice. And if that person were to press further and ask me why, then I would reply, ‘to see Keira Valencia’.
In the event, not only did no one ask me where I was going or why, but my passing seemed to excite no interest whatsoever in the people I passed, which was a relief, and yet also somewhat disappointing. But not nearly as disappointing as what I found when I arrived: there was no sign of Keira in the small tack room. That was not so unusual in itself, because she had other duties around the stables, and I hurriedly set off to look for her. But a quick circuit of the complex provided no more signs of her than the small tack room had. I thought about asking someone, but even with my newly found pride in our relationship, I decided that might be a step too far; I didn’t want to get her into trouble after all, and it seemed as if my presence here was already drawing a few glances.