King and Kingdom Read Online Free

exactly that. Dressing down, wandering from one shop to another, being normal like everyone else. It was one more thing that endeared him to her. “I'd really like that, yes.”
    “Excellent,” he said, sounding genuinely pleased at her reply.
    Considering all that, she looked out the windows. She wasn't sure, exactly, but she thought they were heading toward the private landing strip. Interesting. Where was he taking her? Getting back to the topic of soirees, she said, “The party I attended with Mattias was interesting. The little I got to see of it, anyway. Oh—who was that guy? Prince Severian or something?”
    Sander's silence drew Chey's attention back across the car.
    A pensive expression crossed his features. “He's third in line to the throne on Weithan Isle. Brother to the woman I'm supposed to marry.”
     
     
    . . .
     
     
    The transition from limo to private plane disrupted any retort Chey might have made about 'the woman I'm supposed to marry'. At least until they were ensconced in the familiar, plush seats, buckled in, and taxiing down the runway. This was another luxury she would never get used to: simply flying wherever on a whim, with no bother about reservations, long lines or busy terminals.
    Finally, she pinned a look on Sander after the stewardess delivered a bottle of chilled water for her and a glass of some sort of liquor or another for him.
    He eyed her like he knew what was coming and had his first drink.
    “Just how serious is it?” she asked.
    “How serious am I about her, or how serious is the situation regarding the marriage itself? I have no plans to walk down the aisle with her, but the King and Queen, along with their advisers and council members, have begun making private arrangements.”
    Chey felt a stirring of anger. She straightened the leather piece over the arm of her chair, then straightened it again. Fidgeting. “And there is nothing you can do about that? I mean, if you say no, that should mean no, right?”
    “They're making political arrangements, not wedding arrangements. One eventually leads to the other, however, and it won't be long until they apply pressure for a commitment.” He had another drink.
    “It all seems very pointless to me. You won't do it, yet they're going ahead anyway. Why bother if they know you won't agree?” Chey didn't understand. She needed him to spell it out for her.
    “Because they think I'll eventually change my mind. There have been,” he paused, then continued, “persuasions put in place.”
    “What kind of persuasions?”
    “The kind that remove me from my position in line to the throne.”
    Chey gasped. “What? You can't be serious.”
    “I'm absolutely serious. Valentina Novak is second in line to the throne in her country, quite powerful in her own right, and is well appointed in Royal circles. She's made all the right connections and knows how to use them. In short, she's a force to be reckoned with.”
    “I suppose she supports this whole arranged marriage idea, too.” Chey couldn't see many women in their right mind turning down Sander for anything.
    “She does.”
    “How long have they been attempting to foist her off on you?”
    “Mm...three years now, I guess?”
    “ Three years? I thought this was something relatively new.” Incredulous, Chey stared hard at Sander's profile. The blazer spread open wider when he raked a hand back through his hair and she had a difficult time not looking at his chest.
    “No. I have resisted making anything serious, although I have spent time in her company.”
    A spike of white-hot jealousy raged through Chey. What an unusual sensation. She wasn't used to feeling it. “Really.”
    He glanced at her eyes. “Yes. Several times, I was duped into meeting her. Meaning the King's people made plans with her people and I arrived at a place thinking I was doing one thing, when in reality, I was doing another.”
    “That's unbelievably forward,” she pointed out.
    He laughed. “This