The Forbidden Heir: A Novel of the Four Arts by M.J. Scott

Author:M.J. Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780992461539
Publisher: emscott enterprises

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Cameron had lost sight of his wife amongst the milling whirl of dancers. Immediately after the crown prince had led Sophie away, Alain’s wife, Crown Princess Nathalie, had stepped up and curtsied daintily before him. Unlike her husband, the princess was golden-haired and blue-eyed, coloring displayed perfectly in the shimmering gold gown she wore.

Also unlike her husband, Nathalie did not seem much inclined to talk. She responded politely to the few conversational forays he made but didn’t attempt to lure him out herself. Was she annoyed about having to dance with an Anglion? Resentful of her husband dancing with Cameron’s wife? Or was she just not talkative?

Whichever of the options was the truth, it was something of a relief to be able to focus on the dancing and not have to speak as well. Sophie had learned the Illvyan dances more quickly than he had during their hurried hours of rehearsals. She had more practice at dancing, he supposed. Most of the time when he’d attended court balls, he’d been standing on the sidelines, dressed in uniform and protecting Eloisa. That didn’t involve dancing.

And tonight, the stakes were high. He didn’t think literally stepping on the toes of the crown princess was likely to win him any friends. So he concentrated and tried to ignore the part of him that kept looking for glimpses of Sophie’s red dress through the crowd.

By the time the seemingly never-ending set of dances came to an end, he had no idea where Sophie was. He hadn’t thought it would be possible to lose anyone wearing a dress that color in a crowd, but he’d underestimated just how many people were filling the ballroom. But he could hardly charge into the mass of people in search of her. He might not have spent much time dancing at balls, but he’d spent plenty of time observing them and absorbing the protocol. To abandon the crown princess instead of escorting her back to the dais where presumably her husband, not to mention the emperor, would be waiting would be foolish.

If the encounter with the Anglion delegation had shown him anything it was that they might well need the goodwill of the emperor. Because it seemed goodwill from Anglion might be in short supply.

He escorted the princess through the crowd, pretending he didn’t notice the guards who immediately began trailing them at a discreet distance once they stepped off the dance floor. In the Anglion court, the guards were present but they rarely stayed so close to their charges.

What was happening in Aristides’ court that would mean the members of the royal family had to be more closely protected? Was it the presence of the Anglions they didn’t trust or someone—or something—else? Of course, Stefan and Eloisa had only ever had to worry about threats from their own nobility—and it had been a long time since there’d been a movement against the crown—and countrymen. They didn’t rule a whole continent, or the many countries within it. They didn’t have subjects who’d become subjects by force.

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