Stealing His Princess (Kings of Conquest #2) - Adelaide Forrest Page 0,7

my throat as I did so. As I remembered that I’d always turned down visiting him in Mitnar for fear that he would have Bristol there. The less time I spent around the siren who tempted me, the better. “It has. I hope your mother and sisters are well?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Well enough, I suppose. Louisa is happily married and quite pregnant. Mother is thrilled at the prospect of having a grandchild. It’s keeping her distracted, truth be told.”

“And the little monster?” I asked of his younger sister, surprised that she wasn’t here.

“Faith is irritated that we didn’t let her come. Of course, she’s barely of age, so Mother had to stay behind and keep her out of trouble.” He turned to view the room. “They grow up so quickly, don’t they?”

“They do,” I answered, as I spied my sister speaking with the older man our mother hoped for her to marry. “Far too quickly.”

“Your sister caused quite a commotion tonight, revealing herself finally. I’m sure I heard no less than three distinct groups talking about her.” Holden threw me an assessing look. “How are you feeling about that?”

I sighed a little, because if there was anyone who knew and understood the struggles I had with my family, it would be Holden. “I have to be fine with it. I’ve no control over it. I can only pray that Alina will be well.”

He reached out to squeeze my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Aric. How is it we rule entire countries, but we have no say in the decisions that influence our own lives?”

Of course, he would mention Bristol. It galled me he could think about the need to marry her in the same tone I spoke of not having control over the man my sister was being made to marry. “Speaking of futures, how is she?” I asked, sipping my scotch and attempting to keep my face neutral to make sure I showed no sign of anger over the fact that he had no appreciation of the treasure he was being given.

On the rare occasions I’d found myself in the same event as her, I’d watched Bristol from a distance. But she’d never seen me. I’d made certain she never saw me watching her from the fringes of the royal elite.

Desiring. Wanting.

But forbidden.

Not until this evening had I ever let her eyes land on me, and I already regretted the increased awareness I felt because of it.

“I can’t believe you two have never met. Two of my closest friends, and never so much as a hello between you. How did I manage that?” He laughed, and I shrugged in response.

I didn’t dare tell him I’d made sure I would never meet Bristol Chaisson of Theodosia. If I yearned for her from twenty feet away, I didn’t want to consider what may happen if she stood within my reach for even a moment. I would never betray Holden or Lantis that way. “I suppose we’ve never had occasion to meet. I’ve rarely left Lantis except for school, and it’s not as though she went to University with us.”

“I suppose that’s true. I must rectify that. I wouldn’t want the first time you two meet to be at our wedding.” My hold on the glass tightened to the point that I wondered if it might shatter, knowing our meeting became more and more inevitable with every day that passed. I’d have to touch her hand, kiss her cheek in greeting, hear her speak my name and watch her plump lips smile around the sound.

And I’d do it knowing she was officially promised to another man.

But short of ending my friendship with Holden, there would be no way to avoid that meeting. “That would be awkward timing. Your best man meeting your bride for the first time when she says ‘I do.’”

“We can’t have that, given the spectacle my parents are planning. But Bristol’s good, at any rate. As good as can be, I suppose,” Holden sighed. He looked to his feet, a bitter chuckle escaping his lips. “It should feel like a hit to my confidence that she doesn’t look forward to being my wife.”

“I imagine it would be hypocritical, since you don’t want her either,” I said, the brittle edges of my annoyance leaking out of my voice.

“She’s beautiful. I can’t deny that, but she’s pretty in the way Faith or Louisa are pretty," Holden said, his face twisting into a grimace. I imagined the two of them