The Heir Read Online Free PDF

come.
    “So,” Queen Valasca began as she
meticulously peeled the shell off a hard-boiled egg, “I hear your
Luana is with child.”
    Baylin smiled and Luana could not help but
feel joy for him. It meant so much to know how pleased he was.
    “Yes, Mother.” Baylin took Luana’s hand in
his under the table and squeezed it. “According to Master Keon it
is so.”
    Queen Valasca gave Luana a sweet, loving
smile. “That is wonderful, dearest.”
    Luana lowered her head in a seated bow.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
    “Excellent!” piped the King. “Most
excellent. So once she has had the child and the royal line is
secure, you can then begin preparations to choose your Queen.”
    Luana looked up, first to the King, then to
Baylin. Her eyes were wide with shock as she glanced between them.
The past few months had been so wonderful with the Prince, and
though she knew the possibility of a betrothal could come, she
never imagined it coming so quickly. She looked down at her plate
as the sickness rushed over her. She felt faint.
    “Father,” Baylin interceded with anger in
his voice. “Is that really necessary?”
    The King coughed on a bite of sausage.
“Necessary? Is it necessary to secure the royal line and the
continuation of the Kingdom? Yes, boy, it is necessary!”
    “No,” Baylin continued. “I mean is it truly
necessary to choose a Queen as well as a bed wife. Could not they
be one and the same?”
    Luana looked over at Baylin. He had such
determination in his eyes, but he also showed a great deal of fear.
Baylin was the heir to the Kingdom, but he was certainly not the
King. To challenge the King of Grasmere, especially in front of the
Queen and Luana, was not something to be trifled with. Even if the
King was his father.
    “Have you lost your wits? You would have a
common villager be Queen of Grasmere?” The King pulled a hunk of
bread from a large loaf and threw it down on his plate. “Now come,
Baylin, let us be serious.”
    The Queen made an attempt to intercede.
“Surely, Ashmur, you can at least hear Baylin out.”
    “I will have none of that from either of
you,” the King said angrily, pounding his fist on the table. “We
hold with tradition!”
    Baylin pushed his plate of food away from
him. “Father, I love Luana. She is the only woman I will call my
Queen.”
    Luana watched as the King’s face turned red
and his jaw tightened at his son’s insolence. The Queen reached out
a hand and placed it on Ashmur’s. Her touch appeared to calm him.
Even in his anger, there was tenderness between them.
    “It is amiable that you care for the girl,
but it is folly,” the King said, trying to steady his tone.
    “Father,” Baylin tried to interrupt.
    “Enough!” the King said.
    The room went silent. The tension was thick
and heavy in the air. Luana looked down in her lap, fearful to make
eye contact with the King.
    After a few quiet moments the King
continued. “Now, I was thinking that since she is already going to
be our guest here, you might consider Princess Isla. You’ve known
one another since you were young, and it would surely solidify
faith with King Gideon that we mean to make right on our plan to
assist in retaking Mirstone.”
    “I do not want Isla!” Baylin shouted,
knocking his chair back as he stood. “I will not yield on this,
Father.”
    The King sighed and rubbed his wrinkled
forehead. His face changed to a mournful expression as he looked up
at his son. “We all make sacrifices for the good of the Kingdom,
Baylin. You must do your duty.”
    “Ashmur.” The Queen attempted to urge the
King to reconsider. Baylin paced back and forth, balling his
fists.
    Luana watched the scene unfold before her,
as though she was not in the room. The three argued about her and
this Princess Isla as though they were pieces of property to be
secured.
    Isla. The name caused bile to rise up
in the back of Luana’s throat. So this is who will take Baylin
from me. Is there really a troll