ROYAL ROCK(3)

That was going to piss off the cabinet. I didn’t much care, though. They were a bunch of stuffed coats playing political games with each other. I was the king now, and I didn’t have to stoop down to their shitty level.

That American girl was the first person since I took the crown who had actually stood up to me. That meant she actually had a spine, and there was nothing I wanted more in a woman than fire and strength.

Bryce Koch seemed to have both in spades.

“No,” I said to the Foreign Affairs Minister Richter Johansson. “Leave the girl alone. I deserved it, actually.”

“What did you say to her?”

I shrugged. “Just mentioned my desire to get to know her better.”

“I’m sure.” Richter’s pursed lips screamed disapproval, but that was fine. I was used to disappointing the members of the royal cabinet, the powerful lords and ladies who helped run the government of Starkland.

Lynette Muller, the public affairs minister, shook her head. “This is going to look bad, Your Highness.”

I winced. “Stop calling me that. My name is Trip.”

She shrugged. “Very well, Trip. With the separatists in the south gaining ground since your father passed, we can’t afford for you to look weak.”

“Then do something about that.” I shrugged. “Leave the girl alone. She’s a guest here.”

“Very well.”

I liked Lynette, though she could wear on my patience with her strict etiquette. She was middle aged, blond, and thin. The other members of the cabinet called her the Pig Charmer behind her back, because she spent all her time trying to win over the public.

The other ministers could be a bunch of out-of-touch, aristocratic shit heels.

“Minister Muller has a point, Your Highness,” Richter said. I gave him a look and he frowned. “Okay, Trip. The rebels are gaining some support, although slowly. We can’t afford for you to look weak.”

I stared the man down and leaned forward. “I’m many things, Richter, but I am not weak.”

“We know that, Trip, but the people need to know it.”

“Fuck them,” I said, looking out the window, “and especially fuck the separatists.”

The separatists, or the Democratic Legion of Revolutionaries, were a huge pain in my ass. They began as a movement that wanted more democracy in Starkland and had bloomed into a full-on revolt when my father passed away two years ago.

None of this was meant for me, I thought for the hundredth time. If Leo hadn’t been so desperate for military glory, I’d still be living the life of a high-ranking minister. I wouldn’t have the responsibility of the entire nation resting squarely on my shoulders. That sort of responsibility was meant for my older brother, Leopold. He’d been born and bred for it, whereas I was never expected to amount to much.

Which suited me just fine. Starkland was a beautiful country full of beautiful women, and it was my pleasure to meet as many of them as I possibly could.

I’d met a lot in my time, right up until Leo died two months ago and the crown passed to me. Ever since then I was learning my new job and didn’t have time for the pleasures of my old life.

Frankly, I hadn’t so much as looked at a woman that way until Bryce Koch showed up. I couldn’t help but smirk at her the second she stepped off that plane. She was a few years younger than me, twenty-one, with long dark hair tied up in a thick bun. Her lips were full and her green eyes instantly took in everything around her. I loved the way her soft, pale skin looked underneath her dark clothing, and I wanted so badly to slowly strip her bare until I could see and taste every inch of her.

Which was why I couldn’t help myself. Normally I’d be polite to visiting guests, but she was just too delicious. I had to say something, just to test her.

And she passed that test with flying colors. She passed that test so well, the entire country was going to be talking about her for some time to come.

It was a shame that she didn’t know why she was really visiting Starkland. If Lynette had actually told the Kochs from the start, I doubted she would have been so shocked by my comment. Actually, they probably wouldn’t have come at all.

There were two big problems every king must face. The first problem was that of popularity. Even though a King had absolute authority, his ability to effectively rule could be seriously hampered if his popularity among his subjects was very low. The people’s opinion mattered, which was something I was coming to realize and respect more and more.

The second issue was that of succession. In Starkland, we did not have queens. Only men could truly rule. It was antiquated and out of date, but it was the way things worked, and it had worked for thousands of years. At this point in Starkland’s history, we weren’t going to be changing the rules of succession.