LITMIR.BIZ

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      ‘It’s not what I expected.’

      ‘What did you expect?’

      ‘Something busier—a five-star hotel on the beach, with a nightclub.’

      ‘Is that what you wanted?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘I told you, Sunita, I’ve changed. Plus, this time needs to be for you and me. No distractions. You wanted to get to know me better. Here I am.’

      So he was—and the thought had her reaching for the lime drink she’d ordered.

      She needed to focus on the practical—on need-to-know, real-life information.

      ‘I need to know what our marriage would mean on a day-to-day level for Amil. What it will be like for him to grow up in a palace, as a Lycander prince. Right now it feels surreal.’

      ‘The state apartments are a bit more opulent than your average home, I suppose, but otherwise his childhood will be what we make it.’

      ‘Will he go to a nursery?’

      ‘I don’t see why not—there will be a certain level of security arrangements, but I can’t see a problem with that.’

      ‘And he’ll have friends round to play?’

      How she’d craved friendship as a child—but there had been no one. Her mixed race heritage, the fact that she was illegitimate, the fact that her mother was a model, had all combined to make school a miserable place of isolation for her. She knew exactly what a solitary childhood could be like, and she didn’t want that for her son.

      ‘Yup. Again, subject to security vetting.’

      ‘Is that how it worked for you?’

      She sensed the tension in his body.

      ‘It isn’t relevant how it was for me,’ he said.

      He had to be kidding. ‘Of course it is. You are a prince who grew up in a palace. You want Amil to do the same. So, did you make friends, have kids round to play? Were you treated differently?’

      Discomfort showed as he shifted on his seat, picked his beer up and put it down again without even taking a sip. ‘My life...my younger brothers’ lives...weren’t as straightforward as I hope Amil’s will be. There weren’t that many opportunities for us to make normal friends. It was better for Axel, because my father sent him to boarding school, and—’

      Whoa! ‘That is not happening to Amil. I will not send him away.’

      ‘I won’t rule that out.’

      ‘Yes, you will. I don’t care if every Crown Prince since the Conquest was sent to boarding school. Amil isn’t going.’

      ‘That is not why I would do it.’ Frustration seeped into his tone. ‘In fact, I didn’t say I would do it. It is simply a possibility I will consider in the future.’

      ‘No.’

      His voice tightened. ‘Different children thrive in different conditions. Axel was educated at boarding school and it didn’t do him any harm. I spent a term there and I loved it.’

      ‘In which case, why did you leave?’

      ‘Because my father changed his mind.’

      ‘He must have had a reason.’

      ‘I’m sure he did.’

      Despite the even tone of his voice she could sense evasion.

      ‘Do you know what it was?’

      ‘My father’s attitude to my education was a little hit and miss. Axel went to boarding school, but the rest of us... We had tutors some of the time, attended a term of local school here and there, or we ran wild. For my father, education wasn’t a priority—in the palace or in the principality as a whole. I will change that, but it will take time—that’s why I won’t rule out boarding school if it is right for Amil.’

      ‘That is my decision.’

      ‘Amil is our son. We will make decisions about his future. Not you or me. Us—together.’

      ‘And what happens if we don’t agree?’

      ‘Then we find a compromise.’

      ‘There is no compromise between boarding school and not boarding school. It’s black or white. What happens then?’

      ‘I don’t know. But we’ll work it out.’

      ‘Those are just words. Neither of us has any idea of how to work things out.’

      Which was exactly why this was a terrible idea. Co-parenting sucked.

      ‘Fine. Then let’s work it out now,’ he said.

      ‘How?’

      ‘You tell me exactly why you are so adamant that boarding school is not an option. The truth. My brother loved his boarding school, and the few months I spent there were some of the happiest times of my life. I will not rule it out without reason.’

      ‘I...’ Explanations sucked as well, but she could see that she didn’t sound rational. ‘I’m scared for him. School was an unmitigated disaster for me—because I didn’t fit from day one. I was the only mixed race child in my school, and my mother’s status didn’t help. Plus, quite often she would pull me out of school to go on shoots with her—she had no one to leave me with, you see. I guess I was an obvious target.’

      ‘Were you bullied?’

      Although his voice was gentle she could hear an underlying anger, saw the clench of his jaw.

      ‘No. It was much worse. I was ignored. Some girl decided that the best way to treat someone as low down the pecking order as me would be to pretend I was invisible.’

      She could still hear it now. The high-pitched voice, so stuck-up and snobbish, the other girls gathering round to listen. ‘It is demeaning to even acknowledge a dirty girl like her. So we will ignore her. Are we all agreed?’

      ‘My whole experience of school was miserable. The only saving grace was the fact that it wasn’t boarding school—that I could go home to my mother. Amil will be different too. He will be royalty—there will be people who are envious of him. I don’t want him to be far away and miserable.’

      Though in truth there was even more to it than that. There was her bone-deep knowledge that time was infinitely precious—she had had so few years with her mother, but at least they had had the maximum possible time together.

      ‘I don’t want him to be far away. Full stop. He is my child—I want to see him grow, and I want to be there for him.’

      Frederick’s hazel eyes studied her expression with an intensity that made her feel he could read her soul.

      Then he nodded. ‘OK. You get the casting vote on the boarding school question.’

      ‘Why?’ Wariness narrowed her eyes at his capitulation.

      ‘Does it matter?’

      ‘Yes. I need to know that you mean it. That these aren’t just words to sweeten the marriage offer.’

      ‘Because you still don’t trust me?’

      She wanted to—she really did—but how could she when there was so much at stake?

      ‘Let’s say it would help if I knew what had changed your mind.’

      ‘You’ve made me realise why I enjoyed boarding school so much. Why Axel thrived there. It was the opposite to your situation. For us it was an escape from our home life—boarding school was a haven of certainty after the chaos of life at the palace. Somewhere I knew what was what, where I had an opportunity to actually get an education. Our home life was erratic, at best. It won’t be like that for

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