A Prince's Ransom: Kidnapped by the Billionaire (26 page)

“
No! Mother, you tell me what you said to Katherine! Why else would she have left this note, why else would she had left without saying anything to me?!
” Eric was shouting in French at the top of the stairs as the main door opened and they stepped inside. Katherine froze, staring upward; the prince was still shirtless. The king and queen stood nearby trying to calm him down—trying to stop him from storming off after Kat to bring her back himself—still in their own sleepwear.

“
Eric, please, you must understand that what has happened with Katherine… she is not suited to be queen! And she knows that, that is why she left. Please, I am sorry,
” Annette pleaded desperately, but he tore away from her.

“
That isn’t good enough, she was—
”

“Eric,” Katherine spoke, and silence immediately descended on the hall. The three royals stared down at her, startled.

“Katherine,” he breathed, and then he pushed past his parents, taking the steps two at a time and rushing toward her. She realized that he had already thought he was too late. He had already thought she was gone, out of his reach. He caught her in his arms and pulled her hard against his chest. Her arms wrapped around him, and she trembled. “Never. Never do that again.”

“Never…” she whispered in agreement.

“Élise?” Grégory looked down at his daughter, trying to make sense of the situation.

“I couldn’t just let this happen. I couldn’t just let her leave,” the princess answered him, her voice quivering.

“Élise, you went all the way to the airport and brought her back?” Annette asked, exasperated, and her daughter nodded. Katherine pulled herself from Eric’s grasp.

“I’m glad she did. I… what I did was selfish. But I did it because I was afraid of all of this, of what you would say, at the end of the week.”

The queen looked at her with displeasure. “Katherine, I think you have caused enough drama this morning, don’t you agree?”

“No, I need to say this. Because it’s the only thing that will prove to you that I’m good for Eric. That I’m good for Montavian.” She stopped, but they were all looking at her, waiting. “I love your son. I’ve loved him for a while now, but I was afraid to tell him. I’m used to men who… don’t treat me that well. But I had something your son has never dealt with: I knew when he was lying to me. I don’t think he’s ever had that before, and it’s good for him. He’s been better since accepting that himself, I think.”

She turned slightly, and looked over her shoulder at Eric. He was clutching her note. “And I know I’m not in any way qualified to be queen. I’m just not, I don’t have a clue how to do any of this, but I think that might be okay. I think I might be better at it than I believe, and I have time to learn it. With him. With Élise. With your children whom you’ve raised so well, so much better than I was raised. But it’s more than that. Eric loves me, too. He never would have tried to come after me—certainly not without a shirt—if he didn’t. And Eric deserves to be with a girl he loves. He’ll be better that way, a better man and a better king. There are way worse girls out there who want him, and they would be worse than me for your country and for your son.”

Katherine looked at the stunned faces in the room and waited for them to respond. At first their silence frightened her, but then she realized they were actually thinking over what she’d said.

“Then what do you want from us? From our family?” the king asked warily, but not without some note of warmth in his voice.

“I want more than this week,” she answered confidently, raising up to her full height despite her small size. She squared her shoulders and continued, “I want more than you deciding how long we get. We deserve to be with each other if that makes us both happy, so I’m not letting you say when I leave. I’m not letting anyone say, except for us.”

Eric stepped closer to her as her wavering voice trailed off, and his arm caught her around her waist, pulling her against him. Annette looked down at her in silence, before slowly descending the stairs. Even though she couldn’t be wearing more than slippers, her footsteps still managed to echo in the entrance hall, and Katherine made herself breathe.

The queen didn’t stop until she was standing directly in front of the two of them. Katherine cringed, waiting for the explosion. But instead, there was a smile. A small, slight smile, and a soft laugh. “I was hoping you would come back, Katherine.”

She stared, uncomprehending. “What?”

“I knew I would frighten you with what I said. But it was what you did after that I was waiting to see. Eric telling us you ran away… I was disappointed. I thought you would do better. Even if it was with Élise’s help, however, you came back. More than that, you came back and stood up to me. That is not an easy thing to do. And it is that which convinces me that you could be queen someday, that you could stand by Eric’s side and be what is best for this country.” The longer Annette spoke, the more Katherine’s jaw dropped. All of that had been another test? Another ploy to see how she would act? She couldn’t find the words to speak.

“You’re letting her stay then, Mother?” the Prince asked, the sound of his voice similarly shell-shocked.

“No, I’m not,” the older woman said, folding her hands in front of her and leveling her gaze at them both.

“But you said... I’m sorry, it might be a culture thing, but I don’t get it,” Katherine said, weary to the point of exhaustion at the stress of the past week.

“Ah, but I do get it,” Eric said, grinning sheepishly at his mother. The queen pressed her lips into a thin smile at his understanding. Eric straightened up and turned serious. “Mother, as the crown prince of Montavian, I am telling you that my choice of a bride is Miss Katherine Saunders. That is my own decree.”

Katherine elbowed him sharply in the ribs without taking her eyes off the queen. Eric winced, then cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I mean, Kat Saunders.”

“Yes, son. And wherever your relationship goes with her, Eric, I support you both. Because she is right, she does make you better. And you make her better.” Annette smiled broadly as Grégory came to stand beside his wife.

“Thank you,” Katherine breathed—but the words were barely out of her mouth before Eric spun her around his arms, lifted her up, and kissed her. She answered his kiss recklessly, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I love you.”

“And I love you, ma chérie.”

Epilogue

The streets were empty of cars as the pre-dawn teams hung garlands from the lamp posts that crisscrossed the cobblestones. Baskets of fresh flowers hung from windows that lined the main street through the city, and banners emblazoned with the crest of the royal family fluttered on large poles along the route.

Inside the palace, Katherine paced back and forth in front of the windows, the curtains drawn tightly to ensure no paparazzi could see in. Her gown stood draped over a dress form, and there was broad speculation about what it looked like. Vegas bookies had even taken bets on the designer, the fabric, the length of her train, even the color, although Brigitte was to blame for that. The scorned redhead had started yet another rumor, this time that the palace had refused to allow Katherine to wear virginal white.

“Are you ready?” Élise asked, sticking her head in the door. She took one look at Katherine’s face and stilled.

“No! I can’t do this! This is exactly why Eric kidnapped me in the first place, to try to force me to marry him! I... I just...” Katherine pressed a hand to her abdomen to control the nausea she felt at the thought of walking down an aisle.

“Kat, dear... you’re okay,” Tara called out for the hundredth time from her wingback chair by the fireplace, her voice taking on a sing-song quality as she repeated what had become a mantra. “No one has kidnapped you, you’re here by your own choice, this wedding was all your idea, you love Eric more than anything. You can do this.”

“She’s right,” Élise said, hurrying into the room and shutting the door to keep prying eyes out. “You’re going to be fine. You’ll be more than fine!”

“The whole world is watching!” Katherine cried, struggling not to hyperventilate. “Little girls in Iowa are staying up way past their bedtimes to see this on television. WHY IS MY WEDDING ON INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION?!”

“Kat...look at me. If you can’t calm yourself, I will have to do something drastic. Something I promised I would not do.” Élise looked her straight in the eyes.

“You wouldn’t...” she hissed.

“Oh, but I would. You must calm yourself or you will faint before you reach the altar. And if letting Eric in here before the wedding is the only way to calm you down...”

“No! I’ll be good! I’ll behave! Don’t let him in here!”

“Kat, I never endorse this kind of thing, but here. Drink this,” Tara said, getting up from her chair and handing Katherine a small silver flask.

“Dude, no. It’s like seven in the morning. What’s wrong with you?” Katherine asked, wrinkling her nose at the obvious breach of etiquette.

“Trust me on this. It will seriously help you.”

Katherine eyed the flask skeptically then caved to the peer pressure. She threw back the flask and took a long gulp, then held it back out in confusion. “That was just cola.”

“I know. I thought the caffeine might get you to focus. Now let’s get this giant balloon of a dress on you and get you married!”

The carriage, a much more opulent one than the simple open carriage she’d ridden in during the parade, wheeled to the cathedral behind a team of six horses while thousands of people lined the streets. Not one to shun technology, the palace had a jumbotron erected outside the cathedral so the people could watch the ceremony in which their crown prince married the love of his life, an American commoner who’d already stolen the people’s hearts.

“You can do this,” Tara reminded her in the glass-enclosed carriage. Élise smiled supportively, giving her a thumbs up sign.

“I can do this...I can do this...” Katherine repeated between deep breaths.

“And we’re here!” Tara and Élise clapped their hands excitedly while Katherine looked panicked.

“Already? Is the kingdom actually shrinking? It should have taken longer, I should have had more time!”

“You don’t need more time, my sister... your prince awaits!”

Katherine smiled at the romantic phrase, then took one last breath and released it. She turned in time to see the royal guard line up at the carriage door, their sabers held in front of their faces as they stood at attention. When the footmen opened the door and helped her out, followed by her two attendants who straightened her train, the guard held their sabers high for her to walk into the cathedral alone.

It had been a hard decision to leave her parents out of the planning, but ultimately, it had been their choice to stay in the States, not Katherine’s. The news that they weren’t coming had stung for several days, but eventually it confirmed what she already knew: her past mistakes weren’t only her fault. She owned up to them, to be sure, but ultimately their lack of care and attention meant she’d had to raise herself. She made peace with a past that she had had to live virtually on her own.

“Your Highness...” Tara whispered jokingly, pointing the way up the carpeted runner to the ornate doors of the giant church.

“Stop that. I’m not a Highness yet. I’m just Kat in a really big dress,” she whispered back. Élise handed Katherine her bouquet and kissed her on the cheek.

“Oh what the heck, that’s just a formality. Betrothal, check. Wedding, check. Coronation, check. It’s all just details.” Tara laughed lightly, trying to calm Katherine’s nerves as they continued to walk at a painfully slow ceremonial pace.

When the grand doors opened on their enormous iron hinges, there was a loud shuffling sound from within the church as everyone turned to see the new princess. Katherine felt hers legs go weak and her head start to swim as she looked at the hundreds of attendees, all sizing her up with a critical eye.

So, this is the upstart social climber who thinks she can join our ranks
, she could practically hear them thinking.

A roar from the crowd outside startled her, then she remembered the live feed. Her first steps into the church must have just made it to the large screen. Oddly, instead of making her more nervous, it made her feel warm. Katherine might be a disappointment to a number of fancy people in this church, but she—her past notwithstanding—was the right choice for the tens of thousands of people crowding the streets for this joyous occasion.

“Kat? We have to go,” Élise said in a halting voice. Katherine nodded.

She steeled herself to take the first step, the first of many to reach the altar, the first of many that some of the dignitaries in the church would be scrutinizing and whispering about, then openly mocking later this evening after the festivities were over. But a movement at the front of the church caught her eye, and an audible gasp started at the front pews and grew louder as more and more people reacted.

Katherine looked up and her vision blurred immediately. At first she thought it was just more nerves, more illness, but then she realized it was her tears. Through the swimming image, she saw Eric practically running towards her.

Oh god, what’s he doing? I’ve screwed this up, too
? she thought, anguish building up inside her. But when he finally reached her and she could see his face, he was smiling with sheer joy.

“My lady,” he said, bowing low then offering her his arm.

“What are you doing?” she whispered urgently as she linked her hand through his elbow. “You’re supposed to be up there!”

“Ah, my dearest, you do not understand how this works.” He began to lead her, nodding in greeting to various open-mouthed royals and dignitaries.

“Yes, I do, we practiced it! You’re supposed to be waiting up there!” Katherine looked over her shoulder once for confirmation and saw that Tara and Élise were both as confused as she was. She felt a slight tug on her gown when the youngest cousins began to carry her train, just as they’d rehearsed. “See? I remember! We rehearsed it yesterday!”

“Yes, but as our marriage exemplifies perfectly, I have no trouble breaking with tradition when the need arises,” Eric answered, turning his head slightly to smile at her.