Royal Marriage Market Read Online Free PDF

my cheek as I gaze upward. “I wonder what it would take to stage a coup?”
    Lukas reclaims the stick from one of the dogs. “Balls of titanium, I imagine.” Bitter chuckling escapes him. “Not so doable for emotional eunuchs like ourselves, right?”
    “Did you know your uncle planned to arrange your marriage?” I ask our father.
    He squats down to pet one of the less obnoxious dogs. As there are five of them, and I’ve been gone for years, I haven’t yet put effort into learning all their names. “I’d heard rumors of the RMM from my cousins, but I certainly never thought I’d be worth any leverage in such matters.” The dog leans its head against my father’s leg. “But mi madre always warned that, as nephew to the King of Spain, my future was not always mine to make.”
    It’s pointless to argue with him, especially as I know he has no pull with the She-Wolf at all. And still I find myself saying, like some kind of bloody fool who just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, “It’s the twenty-first century. Arranged marriages are archaic!”
    “There are plenty of places in the world where that is not the case and you know it,” my father counters.
    “In First World countries, it most certainly is the case. If I’m not mistaken,” Lukas’ glance around us is exaggeratedly sweeping, “despite this island being a shitehole in the Baltic Sea, we’re still considered First World—or so people believe, considering our wealth. So, Chris’ point stands.” He kicks the toe of a Wellie into the mud, suctioning out a hole. “There are a lot of royals out there right now marrying whoever they feel is right.”
    “Not during the Decennial Summit,” our father says softly.
    Lukas turns away, stalking toward the pond’s edge.
    A weathered hand comes to rest against my shoulder. “ Mi hijo , you must understand that—”
    “No,” I tell him. “I really don’t.”
    I’m surprised when he doesn’t roll over and just let it go like every other time confrontation finds him in this family. “We aren’t like other people. We don’t have the luxury of doing what we wish, no matter what the rest of the world thinks of us. You have a duty to this country, Christian. Fighting against expectations will only lead you to pain and misery.”
    The clouds above us rip open. Lukas barks out an order to round the dogs up so we can head back to the palace. My father moves to follow, but I stay him with a hand on his shoulder. “That’s rich, coming from you.”
    “It comes from me,” he says quietly, “because I speak from experience.”
    I feel like punching something. “I don’t want what you have. I want . . .” I pull at my wet hair. “Shite . . . love, maybe? At least friendship? If I have to marry somebody, I want it to be because I choose to, not because my fucking monster of a mother made me.”
    But then he’s gone without another word. Brown fur flies as the dogs circle him on the path back toward our prison.
     

chapter 5
     
     
     

    Elsa
     
    What do they call those final, desperate moments of the condemned, where sweet, soft mercy is pled for, only to have fragile hopes carefully cultivated be stomped upon with unforgiving steel-toed boots? An appeal, maybe?
    Whatever it is, that was me an hour before we left Vattenguldia via private jet. I went to my father with my pride tucked into a pocket, petitioning for compassion and understanding.
    He was unmoved. “You are taking this too personally.”
    “How can I not? It is personal. This is my life!”
    “Yours is a life of service. You have a chance right now to make a difference for our country, as does Isabelle. Two massively beneficial chances. If you are unhappy with your spouse, do as I’ve done.”
    I was agog. “You want me to find myself a good old-fashioned paramour?”
    He was incensed with me more than he’s been in a long time. I was put soundly in my place, reminded that, no matter if I married a butler or a prince,