Chapter 19.
"What was that all about?" Kat asked as they left the parlor a respectable fifteen minutes after the King and Queen.
"I have no idea what you mean," Sebastian responded. He wound his arm around her waist and steered her neatly down the hall, walking in step with his sister and Roman.
"Come on, really? That"s all I"m going to get? From the man that made me explain the comedy of the Three Stooges to him for three hours."
Roman smiled at her. "Cheeky. I like this one."
"The American likes you too." They all laughed at that.
"It"s not all that interesting," Anastasia said. "The King doesn"t like Roman. Right now I don"t really like the King."
"Don"t say that," her husband said, his brow furrowing in displeasure. "You know I never want to come between you and your family."
"You do not come between me and my family," she said, patting his hand. "My country comes between me and my family."
"I don"t get it," Kat whispered to Sebastian.
"She"s angry with Prince Vlad. He has the tendency to cause trouble and not just in regards to Anton," he replied.
"He has always had the King"s ear. And he has always wanted more than that," Anastasia explained. "Anton is merely his puppet and I fear he will do whatever his father tells him to do. Which could mean bad things for Sezynia."
"So you don"t like Anton either?"
The royals all shared quick glances over Kat"s head. "Actually I have no problem with Anton. We talk quite often." Anastasia met the look on her brother"s face defiantly, waiting for him to begin the argument that was only ever banked, never done. "I don"t like his wife or his father. Or his mother all that much either actually."
"Did I meet his mother?" Kat asked.
"No. She divorced Prince Vlad years ago. Lives in Prague now with her French lover making a mockery of the word Royal. Or at least that"s what Mother says on the subject when she"s had too many sidecars."
Kat tried to picture the Queen less than composed but couldn"t wrap her head around the image. She imagined her as more shrewd, not less so. "She was always jealous of the Dragotsennya. Blamed the throne for the failure of her marriage and caused quite the scandal when she left," Sebastian said.
"Dragotsennya?" Kat asked Anastasia, only slightly butchering the word.
"Dragotsennya the Jewel of Sezynia. It"s the country"s name for our mother."
"They absolutely adore her," Sebastian added. Kat couldn"t help but think that was a lot of pressure for the companions of royalty. If ever there was an ideal to live up to. "Anton"s mother always resented it. She wasn"t hated by any means but she wasn"t the Queen and she wasn"t the Jewel. It ate at her."
"I understand the feeling," Roman said.
"Do you now?" his wife asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, I do. You, Feyalka, are a treasure as well. I am still a pirate who stole you away. The country is wary of that."
Anastasia let out an exasperated sigh. "Because the King is. You are not a pirate my love, you are a saint who saved me from my loneliness, my duty, and myself."
"Aren"t they just adorable?" Sebastian drolled, his tone enough to stop the Princess from whispering in her husband"s ear. She stuck her tongue out at her twin instead.
"Anyway, the whole thing with Prince Vlad is one of the reasons Baba takes the marriage requirement so very seriously. Now not just when but who as well."
"I guess finding the right person is even more important than I thought," Kat said in a tiny voice.
"No worries Kitty Kat. I know you can do it." Sebastian squeezed his arm around her waist a bit tighter. Kat leaned into him for a moment before straightening away. But not before Anastasia and Roman noticed.
"The perfect match could happen like that," the Princess said with a snap of her fingers. "You just need to make sure you"re paying attention."
Sebastian just grinned at his sister. "Me, pay attention? Never," he laughed. "That"s what I keep the American around for. She"s so level-headed and organized she can even get me in line."
"You too now with "the American" nonsense. You do remember when we met and I told you you best remember my name?"
An extremely intimate and suggestive smile started at the corner of his mouth. "Oh I remember perfectly Kisa," he murmured. Kat couldn"t stop the blush descending at the look in his eyes or the way her tongue darted out to lick her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. He leaned into her and their eyes met; no way would she be able to retreat now.
"That looks like our cue to leave," Roman whispered to his wife. His voice was low but it was enough to break Kat out of whatever spell Sebastian was casting on her.
"Goodnight brother. And Kat, so lovely to meet you," Anastasia purred. She surprised them all by giving Kat a quick hug. "May your dreams be pleasant and impa.s.sioned."
"As should yours," Sebastian replied with a quick shake of Roman"s hand. "Alone at last," he murmured as they stood in the deserted corridor, listening as Roman and Anastasia"s footsteps faded away.
"No," Kat said. The word was hard to get out as he leaned into her.
"Why?" Sebastian walked her back into the wall, leaning over her in such a familiar way she couldn"t chase away the memory of their first kiss overtaking her. It seemed like it was a completely different girl trapped in a kitchen having a Prince ride in and try to save the day. It was about time she returned the favor.
"Because you need to stop focusing on me. Don"t forget what"s important."
"Maybe this is what"s important," he murmured, reaching a hand out to grab a strand of her hair, stroking it between his thumb and finger.
"No it"s not," she said, her voice striving for a note of conviction. Kat could sense how close to the edge she was and strove for the reaction she could always count on to clear her head annoyance. "Didn"t you promise me you"d start taking this thing seriously? Do you want Anton to win by default? Because you couldn"t get your act together long enough to stop thinking with your d.i.c.k?"
Sebastian just smiled at her. "Such ugly words coming out of such a pretty mouth." He stared at her defiant eyes for a long time before straightening away. "Someone has been hanging out with Lane too long."
"Or you haven"t hung out with her enough." Kat slipped out from under his arm and took a few steps down the hall, removing herself from the coc.o.o.n of his charm. It tended to cloud her judgment and she needed all her wits about her if she was going to catapult a cad to the throne.
"Well lead the way then," the Prince said after a moment. "I am but your humble servant madam."
She rolled her eyes at him, hands moving unconsciously to her hips, steeling for a fight. Sebastian loved it found her annoyance so s.e.xy she wouldn"t have believed it. No one but his sister and Sergei ever challenged him and he found their sparring intoxicating "You know I have no idea where I am."
"Has that ever stopped you before?" he questioned lazily. "Should I lead then?"
"By all means."
He walked towards her, a c.o.c.ksure grin curving his face. He stopped just short of her, the toes of their shoes just barely touching. "Can"t I get a please?"
She had to look at him from under her eyelashes, not about to give even an inch to meet his eyes. "Please," she said through gritted teeth.
"That"s much better." Sebastian bowed her forward and hid a smile at the frustrated noises she was making. After winding themselves through endless corridors and archways, they finally arrived at the door to her suite.
"Right next door to mine," Sebastian reminded her, "in case you get scared. Or lonely." Kat hesitated with her hand on the door. "We"re scared already are we? What happened to the streetwise New Yorker I know?"
"Does it look like we"re on a street? And I"m not scared. I just really don"t feel like having to fend off Sezynian men all night." At Sebastian"s confused look she elaborated. "You know those men who were waiting at my door last night."
"Oh, you won"t have to worry about that. I took care of that." The first thing the Prince had done as Sergei secreted him away for the day was put the word out that the American was off-limits. It was no wonder everyone had been treating her like an oddity she was. Kat wasn"t his betrothed but he"d claimed her as surely as if she was. The thought of anyone else touching her caused such a reaction in him he decided to prevent it altogether.
"You"re sure?"
"Positive." If they came anywhere near her they"d have his wrath to deal with. Sebastian might have been the Playboy Prince but he could be as royally intimidating as his father when he wanted to be.
"Okay then. Good night Your Highness."
Sebastian"s eyes danced. "Your Highness? Such formality all of a sudden."
"Maybe I"ve been too informal until now."
"That can"t be right," the Prince murmured, reaching a hand out to cover hers on the door. "I like it when you call me Sebastian with your American accent. It"s cute."
"Cute?" Kat blurted, caught by surprise. "You"re calling me cute?! Oh now I know you"re just trying to get laid. Too bad Casanova, that ain"t happening." She curtsied, slipping her hand seamlessly away from his and closing herself on the other side of the door.
"Good night Kisa," he said with a laugh. "May all your dreams be pleasant, pa.s.sionate, and princely."
Kat listened to Sebastian"s footsteps retreat. She collapsed onto the end of the bed in exhaustion. It was hard to believe that she"d only been in Sezynia for twenty-four hours. So much had happened already; she worried what else might be in store. She tried to recount her day in her head and it just sounded like some wild story no one would ever believe. Kat did the one thing that made her feel most sane.
"Kat!!!" Lane screamed in excitement on the other end of the phone line. "What the h.e.l.l have you been up to? How"s the exotic land and the towering castle?"
"All fine," Kat answered. The sound of Lane"s voice, who cared what it was saying, grounded Kat like few things could. "Haven"t seen much of Sezynia, but the view out my window is nice. And the castle is ma.s.sive we could be lost for years and no one would notice."
"And how is our Prince? Is he up to no good per usual?"
"Would you expect anything less?"
"Definitely not. So . . . what have you done for yourself today?"
Kat laughed. "Really? You"re asking me that question?"
"I always ask you that question. s.h.i.t, don"t you know me at all?"
"Yes but today, really. Um, let"s see, what did I do for myself today Lane? Oh, I remember, flew halfway around the world on a whim."
"I don"t think Europe is halfway around the world from where the h.e.l.l we live. I should look that s.h.i.t up."
"You know what I mean," Kat said.
"Yes I do. And technically you did that yesterday. So what did you do for yourself today?" There was silence for a moment and when Kat didn"t rush to fill it, Lane gasped. "You did not! You did not get f.u.c.king laid!?"
"How the h.e.l.l did you even get there?" Kat asked. But that wasn"t a denial.
Lane hooted on the other end of the phone. "Girl I"ve known you too d.a.m.n long to not be able to read you like a f.u.c.king book. Even over a c.r.a.ppy international connection. Who"d you screw? What new exotic cuisine did you sample?"
Kat covered her face with her hands, a meaningless gesture since Lane couldn"t even see it, and answered with her face hidden. "I may have gone back for seconds."
"No!" Lane gasped, doing a very good job of playing Kat"s audience. "Shut up you didn"t! So this is how you help Sebastian find a wife, huh?"
"No. That"s why I"m not going to do it again."
"I"m pretty d.a.m.n sure I"ve heard that before."
Kat couldn"t stop herself from protesting. "I mean it. I blame last night on jet lag and homesickness."
"f.u.c.k, I might have to go on a trip just so I can use that excuse."
"I"m serious!"
"I know you are Kitten. That"s what makes it so f.u.c.king funny."
"I don"t see the humor."
Lane sighed in exasperation. "Girl, please, open your eyes. Sebastian is a f.u.c.king prince instead of trying to find him a wife you should step up to the plate yourself."
"How many times do we have to go over this, really? I"m not going to marry him!"
"You keep saying it but you haven"t found anyone else to do the job yet, have you?"
She sighed in frustration. "I"m working on that. And I"m not going to marry someone just because they"re rich and famous."
"And charming," Lane added. "And f.u.c.king gorgeous. And so completely into you."
"He"s not into me."
"You"re into him."
"I am not," Kat protested a bit too loudly.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, you"re a s.l.u.t that sleeps with anyone."
"I"m changing the subject," Kat said. "How"s Blaze? Did you go check on him? I tried calling him but he wasn"t picking up."
"Yes, MOM, I went and checked on him. His friend with the power tool sculptures, Dante something or other, was having an installation tonight and you know how hard it is to hear phones in those places. Gio and I are keeping our d.a.m.n promise. But you know the boy can take care of himself. He"s built like a f.u.c.king brick and as intimidating as any of the PIs or criminals I know."
"I can"t help it, I worry about him." She"d always worried about him it was engrained in her since childhood. Just like she couldn"t forget any of it Blaze"s psychotic break, his suicide attempts, that harrowing decade when he refused to take his meds because they made him feel "funny." Kat didn"t want to go back there ever. The weight of the world on her shoulders.
"You worry too much. He"s fine. We"re all fine. What you should be focusing on is what you want your princess tiara to look like. I think rubies are the ticket but sapphires would be b.l.o.o.d.y brilliant too."