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He sed hard at that thought because he had failed her, and she was the one who deserved his love and loyalty the most

Alexander returned to the palace to find Josephine, but when he reached her rooht be in the garden as she liked the garden, especially in the latter part of the afternoon He hadn’t known that He thought he should have known it

He walked through the rose garden and then the orangery, ending up in the kitchen garden where he found her sitting on a bench beneath a peach tree

She looked up at hier His gut tightened They’d beco

“Can I help you with so?” she asked coolly, formally

He wanted to kiss her, touch her, love her, ain Instead he stood there stiffly, aware of the staff probably watching, aware of the security cameras in every corner He wanted her desperately, but life in the palace was not for inti world, filled with rules and for protocol

“I wanted to tell you,” he said gruffly, “that Claudia came to see me this afternoon” He frowned, uncertain how to explain everything Claudia had told him “She said she suspected I didn’t reht I should know”

“What happened on the yacht?”

“There was a fight, but it was between Damian and Claudia”

“So ere you the one in the water?”

“Claudia said I intervened, saving her froaze bore through him Did she doubt hirabbed a lantern and struckabout the incident because she’s afraid Daht turn on her”

“That must be a relief for you to know”

Alexander hesitated, flashing back to how they were on Khronos How simple life had been and how happy he’d felt with her Happy and free She’d been happy, too

He struggled with the words “I also just want to tell you I’ you into all of this I’e you clearly didn’t want—”

“Good You should be sorry,” she said, rising “You did force e, and yes, you can be incredibly selfish, but I’m not surprised you went to Claudia’s aid It’s what you would do You understand responsibility You never fail to do your duty” And then she walked past hi him as she headed back to her suite

Josephine entered her bedroom and carefully closed the bedrooht left in her, no fight at all It was ti Bruno’s funeral was in the o as soon as they returned from the service

The funeral was held in the sa The cathedral was packed with kings and princes, and political leaders fro, with prayers and songs from the choir, and two speakers—Alexander and his cousin Damian

Alexander spoke first and was eloquent about his father’s virtues and his passion for his country, while Dath and re matches they’d played, and how close they’d been, more like father and son than uncle and nephew

Josephine could see Alexander’s jaw tighten and his fist clench as Da Alexander’s hand and the way his fingers curled and then unfurled She kept her gaze fixed on Alexander’s hand because it was far better than seeing the pain in his face

Two hours later, Josephine gave her suite of roo for the corridor

She’d written Alexander a note and she intended to put it on his bed But as she approached his suite, she heard voices, and she hesitated outside the door to his living roo to interrupt

But one of the voices grew louder, the tone one I won’t tell the Parlia to protect you when you’re a violent, unpredictable man, not fit to lead this country or wear the crown?”

Josephine shivered a little, recognizing the voice as belonging to Damian But that’s not why she shivered She shivered because she was reht she’d saved him

It was the saer The same delivery, the same inflection

It was Daht with Alexander Damian who’d struck him