Chapter 203

“What do you suppose would happen if the population of Orlune thought that one of their numbers might be its lost heir?”

“I'd guess some would try to take advantage of it.”

I went ahead and said this with as much conviction as I could. At this point, there was no reason to try hiding such ideas from the king. He'd clearly thought of these on his own and seemed to be testing me. I'm sure he wanted to see if I would try to lie my way out of it, and then he could say that I was doing exactly that. Because if I was going to lie to the king about being his heir and try to claim a place within the royal family, why would I tell him that's the sort of plan someone might come up with?

“Are you trying to take advantage of me?”

His blunt question was accompanied by a direct stare as if he would see straight through me to the truth.

“I wouldn't dream of it. I've built a career around trying to do what's best for our country. I know that you need an heir. But lying about it wouldn't serve the best interests of the country. Honestly, lying about it wouldn't serve my best interests either. It would only take a quick blood test to tell you whether or not I was telling the truth.”

“And a blood test is what started this all,” he said. “Have you had blood work done recently?”

The blood drained from my face. “Yes,” I admitted softly.

“For?” He growled back.

I jutted out my chin. It was insulting that he made my having routine blood work done sound like I'd committed some sort of crime. “I've been running all over Orlune doing interviews for you, your majesty.” I threw this at him as harshly as I dared. “I've been feeling anemic and out of sorts, so yes, I had blood work done. I was tired of feeling ill. And was looking for the best solution.”

He shifts in his seat, his gaze flipping back and forth between several emotions. He's obviously weighing out what I've said and what he wants to do to me next.

“And where did you have this blood work done?” He demands. “Despite the best efforts of my investigators, they're having trouble tracing down the origin of the blood sample in question.”

“I had it done at a charity hospital. I have no idea whether they have an on-site lab or whether they send it out. I can't account for where my sample went after I gave it.”

For some reason, this seems to annoy him. “I'll be blunt, Miss Laurentia. This missing child thing is not a good look for me. And I don't appreciate people who throw kinks in the way that I'm running this Kingdom. Do you understand?”

I nodded, swallowing hard.

“But,” he continued, “none of that changes the fact that I am in need of an heir to the throne. Queen Yarrow cannot be relied upon to fulfill that duty. This leaves me with a choice. I can either embrace this long-lost heir. Or I can undergo a massive clean-up campaign to try and undo the damage and back my way out of putting some stranger in line for the throne that I have worked so hard to maintain—for my father, my family, and my legacy.”

He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a stack of papers, setting them on the table. “These documents confirm that the leaked blood test was indeed true, and some young woman is the daughter of me and the late queen. I would like you to take another blood test so that we can confirm that this young woman is indeed you. After all, you may have just assumed the name of Elena Laurentia.”

I bit my cheek against replies to how ridiculous that sounded. If there were other women named Elena Laurentia running around Orlune, surely they'd be in the palace as well. Of course, then again, maybe he had them here and they were just tucked away where I couldn't see them. For all I knew, he could have been doing interviews like this all morning.

But a blood test I could handle. My breath caught in my throat. Wait, no, not a blood test. If he took a blood test, he could find out that I was pregnant and use that against me. A DNA test didn't have to come from my blood.

“I'll take a DNA test,” I agreed. “But I want to do one of the ones that's a cheek swab.”

“Why?” he asked suspiciously.

“Do you not remember me just telling you that I've been anemic and lightheaded? It's been so bad that I had to go in for a test. The last thing I want to do is another blood draw. You should be able to get plenty of DNA from the cheek swab, right?”

The king nodded slowly. “Very well. My manservant in the outer office will take care of you. We'll continue this discussion once the results come back. I have the top doctors and laboratories on my payroll. It should only take a couple of hours.”

He waved a dismissive hand at the door. I got out of my chair and hurried out, unsure whether to be relieved or all the more worried. The mousey man let me back to the room where he'd put Charles and the others.

“We'll have lunch brought to you,” he said, bowing quickly before leaving.

When I entered the room, Charles let out a huge sigh. He hurried over and wrapped me in his arms.

“I was so worried that I wasn't going to see you again,” he murmured into my hair.

We both stood for a few minutes, taking deep breaths of one another’s scent to calm ourselves. This quickly turned into kisses Charles pressed into my hair. These wandered lower until he nibbled at my ear.

I let out a gasp and pushed away slightly, glancing around the room. The place they'd been left to wait for me was some sort of media room. Lounge chairs of various shapes and sizes occupied the corners of what turned out to be a very expansive room. Stacks of magazines and newspapers sat on racks where one could access them and read.

There were also tables with outlets for various electronic devices and a large TV monitor on the wall between bookshelves. File in one of the chaise lounge chairs. His eyes were closed, and his breathing soft and deep. David slumped in an armchair. His eyes drooped heavily, and the magazine in his hand sagged.

“Don't disturb them,” Charles whispered. “They've been just as worried about you as I have. But I think they got up way earlier than we did. Besides…”

Rather than finishing the statement, he nibbled at my ear and turned me away from the chair where David sat, wrapping his arms around me and cupping my breast.

Since I was facing away from Charles, I went ahead and rolled my eyes. Were all men this horny? Or was this just an alpha thing?

That didn't stop me from following Charles over to another chaise lounge. He sat and drew me down next to him. He wrapped his arms around me, leaned back, and pulled me against his chest, and I happily took comfort from him.