Mina watched this display in horror. After Nicholas’s proposal, she had told Gregory how close she had come to losing Nicholas because of his interference, and though he had glowered at her, she thought he had understood. But perhaps he had understood—he had chosen this moment to ask for Lynet, when the whole court was watching. If Nicholas refused his generous offer or insulted him in any way, everyone would wonder if there was some deeper meaning behind it, and the last thing Nicholas wanted was speculation about his daughter. Mina wondered how accidental Lynet’s injury truly was.
She couldn’t see Nicholas’s face from where she was standing, but she could see his defeat reflected in the coldly triumphant gleam of her father’s eye. She wanted to intervene, to snatch Lynet away from them both, but she knew that if she approached them now, Nicholas would think she was part of her father’s plan.
Gregory reached for Lynet, who was clinging to her father with all her strength, but then one of the guards came forward with the king’s surgeon. Nicholas gratefully handed Lynet to him, instead, while Gregory shot an angry glare at the intruding surgeon. “Your offer is appreciated but unnecessary,” Nicholas said to Gregory for the benefit of the crowd. He followed the surgeon out of the Hall, not once looking at his new queen.
Mina stood there helplessly, not sure if she should follow. Rumbles echoed throughout the Hall, and Mina knew that if she didn’t quiet them now, they would overpower her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Xenia, the ghost of a smirk on her lips. How satisfying it would be for her if Mina should begin her reign in confusion and chaos. Mina’s fists clenched at her side. I am a queen, she reminded herself. And I am loved.
“Please be calm,” she called to the crowd. “The princess has a small wound, nothing that will not heal shortly. Continue your meal, as I’m sure my husband would wish you to do.” Her voice was steady, and the anxious rustling died down. Mina knew she had to return to the table; if she didn’t, they would all assume something was wrong.
Before she ascended the dais again, she examined the mirror and found a small crack in the glass near the bottom. She could have fixed it, of course, but too many people had already seen the damage. “Should we dispose of it, my lady?” one of the men asked.
Mina brushed her fingers against the cool glass. It wasn’t just glass, though; she was reaching out to herself, to the image that had taught her that she was a queen. Wouldn’t it be ungrateful to be rid of it so soon?
“No,” she said. “Take it to my chambers—the queen’s chambers.” The men obeyed, carrying the mirror out.
Gregory came to her side. “Nicely handled,” he said as they ascended the dais together.
Mina didn’t answer. She only took her seat at the high table and looked out at her new subjects, finding herself in the reflections of their eyes.
*
After the feast, Mina went looking for her new husband. She hadn’t forgotten the promise she had made to herself, that she would tell him about her heart on their wedding night. She would explain to him what it meant, and he would reassure her that her father must have been mistaken, that their love for each other proved her heart was as real as his.
She found Nicholas in his room, staring into the fireplace.
“Has the princess recovered?” Mina asked.
Nicholas turned to her, his whole body tense. “Yes, she’s asleep in her room. I’ll check on her again later tonight.”
“Surely it isn’t that serious? It was a scrape. Didn’t your surgeon examine her?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I want to be there if she needs me. I don’t want her to think that our marriage will change anything.”
“I see.” He’d rather spend his wedding night with her, Mina thought, and she couldn’t help the burst of rage she felt—toward her husband, his daughter, even his dead wife.
“You’re angry with me,” the king said, lifting an eyebrow in surprise.
“I’m not angry, my lord,” Mina lied, “but I had hoped not to spend my wedding night alone.” She came closer to him and placed one hand on his chest, curling her fingers over the fabric of his shirt, wishing she could reach through flesh and fabric alike to claim his heart for her own. The king was staring at her hand, and he brought his own up to cover it, his skin warm from the wine and the excitement of the day. She slid her hand away from his, up to his jaw, his cheek, and he pressed her hand to his lips. Mina leaned in, feeling alive under his gaze. “Come back with me to my room, husband.”
Cupping her face, he kissed her roughly. Mina brought her hands to his chest, but at her touch, he retreated, shaking his head at her. “I can’t ignore what happened tonight, Mina.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I thought I could marry you and still keep Lynet away from your father, but that was a mistake.” He shook his head again, looking away from her. “I’m afraid this marriage was a mistake.”
His voice was resolute and unwavering as he spoke those words. And even as Mina felt dread slowly spreading through her, part of her knew that she should have expected this from the start. No one can love you, remember?
“Nicholas, you can’t mean that,” she said in a near whisper. “You wanted this as much as I did.”
“I know,” he said. “But I haven’t known a moment’s peace since I proposed to you. I kept wondering if I was endangering my daughter, if I was pursuing my own selfish desires without thinking of her. At least now I know I was right to feel that way.”
“It’s a little too late to change your mind, isn’t it?” Mina spat, her hands shaking. She didn’t know whether to be devastated or furious, both emotions building inside her until she was sure she would tear herself in two.
He stepped closer to her and took her face in his hands, simply looking at her, searching for something. “I’ve been unfair to you,” he said softly. “When we’re alone together, it’s easy for me to forget who you are, to pretend…”
Mina pulled herself away from him. “To pretend that I’m Emilia. Is that what you mean?”
“Mina, I’m sorry.”
He reached for her again, but she stepped away from him. “If you closed your eyes and held me in your arms, it would be easy to think that I was her, to feel like you had a wife you could touch again. But I’m more than just something to touch, Nicholas. I want you to love me.”
“I know. But I can’t give you what you want, any more than you can give me what I want. I see that now.”
He started to turn away, but Mina stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Why?” she demanded, her voice trembling. “Because of my father? Or because of her? Emilia is dead, Nicholas.”
She knew at once that she had made a mistake, and her hand fell from his arm. Even with the fire burning behind him, at that moment he looked like he was made of ice, rigid and unfeeling. “Nicholas—”
“You’re right,” he said in a quiet voice. “Emilia is of the past, and now I must look to the future—to our future. I won’t take your crown from you. We will still be king and queen together, I promise. But we will be husband and wife in name only. And I don’t want your father to think of himself as Lynet’s family.”