“You have video games?” Karma looked interested.
“Holographic characters. We each pick one.”
“Great idea!” Kismet seconded the motion. If their siblings were engaged in an activity, they’d be less likely to fight—unless the game involved fighting, in which case Karma’s character and Falkor’s would try to kill each other.
They stood up, and Falkor said, “Jaryk, could I have a private word with you?”
“We’ll meet you in the library. I’ll bring the desserts!” Kismet took the tray from the serving cart, and she and her sister left for the library.
* * * *
Jaryk eyed his brother. “If this is about Karma…”
“It’s not. People have been asking me about your marriage, so word has gotten out. Have you told Charday yet?”
“Yesterday.” Jaryk nodded. “It went well.”
“It did?”
In between yesterday’s public events, Jaryk had sought out Charday. He’d dreaded it, but he owed it to her to tell her face-to-face the relationship was permanently over. He’d debated whether to tell Kismet about Charday but decided the past must remain in the past. The past relationship had no bearing on their marriage, and he wished to avoid giving his new wife any doubts about his commitment.
In truth, he was ashamed he’d married her just so he could marry somebody else.
“Remarkably well,” Jaryk said.
Falkor cocked his head and frowned. “What did you say?”
“That I had gotten married, and I was happy with my new wife. I told Charday that while I had affection and respect for her, we weren’t compatible in the long run, that our personalities would not mesh well.” It surprised him he’d ever believed Charday would be a suitable wife.
“And she said…”
“She understood, and she’d begun having doubts about our suitability herself as well as the burden of responsibility of marriage to a royal.”
“That doesn’t sound like Charday.”
“I admit, I was surprised by how well she took the news, but we hadn’t seen each other in a couple of months, anyway. Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. I guess her interest in me cooled as mine did for her.”
Falkor crossed his arms. “If you say so. You know her better than I do.” Then he flashed a smug smile. “Marriage seems to be working out, huh? I guess my idea to sign you up for Cosmic Mates was a good one.”
“Onegood idea is not much of a track record. But yes, marriage to Kismet has worked out better than I could have imagined.” Contentment brought a smile to his face. He’d gone from counting the days until he could be free to envisioning a long, happy future. “Mother likes her a lot. Father is the only holdout now.”
“I don’t think Father would like anybody he didn’t have a hand in picking. He won’t give up easily.”
“Neither will I.” Kismet was the wife he wanted.
“What about Alia?”
“She knows the engagement is off.” The queen had confirmed Alia and her family had been notified. He hadn’t contacted her personally because he hardly knew the woman.Their engagement had been a cut-and-dried political merger, not a love match or even a friendship.
“Will she be at the ball?”
“I highly doubt it.” He couldn’t imagine she would attend.
“She might be curious to see who you threw her over for.”
“I didn’t throw her over. I never agreed to marry her in the first place. And I don’t think she was keen on me either.”
“Kismet knows about Alia, right?”
