The King's Bride

Chapter 17

Killian Dufort

"You want to marry me."

....

Shit.

Killian hadn't thought he was being overt about that at all, but....Something must have reminded her of Bertram's phone call. Killian had no reason to doubt that her father would have told her about it.

That didn't really matter at the moment, how she figured it out. What mattered was that she was now wise to him.

....How to rescue this?

In truth, he wasn't sure whether it was best to admit or deny. If he denied it, as was his first instinct, this whole...thing would probably just look really weird. He was aware of that. But if he admitted it....

Well, it could go a few different ways, and he didn't see any of them being in his favor.

But...he supposed honesty was probably best here. He would take trying to explain himself over making up a lie and looking like a bigger creep than he already knew he was right now.

Killian eventually exhaled. "...Astute observation." He opted not to make any eye contact, but a swift glance in her direction told him that Nova was staring at him incredulously.

"...But why?" she asked after a few moments.

God this was embarrassing. Killian pointedly gazed out the window, clearing his throat. "I have...six months to get married, before more than half my country starts to panic over it." He assumed everyone at least knew that, whether they cared or not, so saying it out loud, explaining it, was....

Ugh.

Nova, on the other hand, seemed to find it funny. Killian looked at her as she snorted. "Seriously?"

He frowned. "Seriously. You laugh, but nationwide panic over my marital status is a real concern of mine. I would rather just do it than needlessly worry my superstitious people." Killian sighed. "I love them but they drive me crazy."

Nova shook her head. "I never got why that's such a big deal. It's not the Dark Ages anymore."

"Old habits die hard. Some never die at all."

The woman snorted and shook her head again, returning to gaze out the window in thoughtful silence.

It wasn't much longer before they arrived at the garden, which felt a bit redundant now, seeing as Nova had already discovered Killian's ulterior motive. But at the very least he could milk the publicity out of it. If people thought the two of them were romantically inclined, it would both relieve the country and send them into an excited tizzy. That, and all the rumors could help pressure Nova into marrying him.

Yes, he's a dirtbag, he's well aware, get over it.

At least Nova seemed more amused than uncomfortable now, which Killian supposed was an improvement, as he guided her into the gardens. For their king's privacy, his guards hung back a bit, but no less prepared to spring to his defense. Eventually, after a bit of awkwardly silent walking, Nova broke it. "Why me, anyway?" she asked. "Out of everyone in Weisland."

That was.

Aha.

Not a question he wanted to answer. Because Killian had been entirely prepared to let it go, were it not for her father's badmouthing. That detail was something he wanted to use for later, in case things went south. "Why not you?" he countered, looking down at her.

She gave him a look, knowing that that was a cop-out answer. But, then she nodded her head slightly and said, "Well, I already gave Bertram my instructions on this."

....

"Instructions," Killian repeated, frowning. "What instructions." He knew she wasn't talking about accepting the proposal, because she and her father had made that decision abundantly plain.

She smirked. "Well, if your staff doesn't relay all the information to you, then I guess you'll never know~..." she said mockingly, starting to walk in the opposite direction.

Killian scowled. "What are you talking about, woman?" he remarked.

She stopped and turned to shrug at him with a shit-eating smile on her face. Then she started to giggle.

Because he'd started pulling out his phone. Feeling himself growing frustrated already, Killian navigated to Bertram's number and called the man with a scowl on his face.

"My lord?"

"Bertram. This damned woman is telling me she gave you instructions. Why the fuck didn't you tell me that yesterday."

"Oh, uh....I didn't think it was important. The answer had been no."

"Well....Tell me now!"

Bertram was silent a moment, before, "...Dear me, I don't seem to remember."

Seeing the further irritation cross Killian's face made Nova start to laugh harder. "He forgot didn't he? Oh this is priceless."

I'll show you priceless, Killian grumbled in his head. He was about to tell Bertram he was a dead man, but then Bertram spoke up again. "Oh yes! That's right, she said that 'next time you propose, you'd better drop onto one knee.' Yes, that was it, I believe."

....

Killian would've done that, if he wasn't already positive that Nova would say no. Which...he supposed was why Bertram hadn't mentioned it in the first place. Fair play, Bertram. "...Thank you Bertram," he muttered.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

Killian put his phone back into his pocket and glared over at Nova, who raised her brows at him expectantly. "Hi~," she said teasingly.

"I'm so glad this amuses you," he retorted. "But I'm not laughing."

"That sucks."

Ooh. The kettle. Is whistling. "If I get on one knee, will you cooperate?" he said, crossing his arms.

"Ah so he did remember," she said, smiling. Then she pointed her finger at the ground and circled it a few times. "We'll see. You gotta do it first."

This woman was absolutely infuriating. Killian stifled a sneer, rather poorly at that, and decided he could bear the humiliation if it got her to agree. "Fine," he grumbled through gritted teeth, lowering himself down into the grass. Once he was there he forced a smile and said, "Marry me, Miss Reed."

Nova covered her mouth to contain her laughter. He wasn't sure what was so fucking funny, but he was swiftly losing patience. "Okayokayokay," she giggled, touching her chest and taking a breath once she was over her laughter. She cleared her throat, before gazing down at him. "Tell you what," she said. "If you get me to tell you that I sincerely love you, like a normal person, I'll marry you."

Except, the king didn't have time to spend convincing this woman to love him first. "Why don't we get married first and I'll get you to love me afterward."

"Yeah, no. Good luck with that." Then Nova turned and started to walk away again.

Killian got back to his feet and called before she got too far, "I'll pay you."

"That's pathetic," she tossed over her shoulder.

The king didn't want to do this, but he didn't think he had a choice. Technically Mr. Reed had committed no crime, but his anti-monarchy statements in the face of the monarchy gave Killian an excuse to at least set an investigation into motion and hassle the man.

"If you don't," he started, pulling out this last resort. "I'm sure your father will not appreciate being implicated for treason."