“Anything, Your Highness,” Maya said fervently.
“You are good friends with Prince Luka Kamenev, are you not?”
Well. Maya blinked. It was true that she and Luka had once been best friends, but after everything that had happened between them—
“The Prince and I are friendly,” Maya said cautiously.
“Excellent.” The Princess looked at the sky, looking for a pheasant in flight. Spotting one, she raised her magic-spelled rifle, and took a shot.
When the pheasant fell, she turned to Maya.
“Convince my brother to agree to an arranged marriage with Lady von Demidov.”
Of course. As the heir to the throne, Crown Princess Annika was strengthening her position. Grand Duke Demidov had the largest fleet of ships in Drakazov. Princess Annika already had the armies of the Engelhart family with her—the second largest after the Imperial Army.
With the financial might of the Demidov family on Princess Annika’s side as well, none of the nobles would think to challenge the crown. The Crown Princess would need the assurance of powerful backing if she hoped to claim the crown without incident.
Despite the Tsar naming Princess Annika as his heir, there were several nobles who still held sexist views that a woman could not be counted on to lead the Kingdom. Oh, the Tsar had ranted and raved when he’d declared that he would abdicate this year and crown his daughter, as if his word alone would be enough to get his court to fall in line, but among the nobility, the Crown Princess still had plenty of opposition to becoming only the second female monarch in the history of Drakazov.
Princess Annika needed to consolidate her position before she could ascend to the throne, and it seemed she was not above using her family to do so.
“Do this for me, and you shall be free of your obligations to your father. Baron von Rakhmonov could never go against a direct decree from my father.” The Princess paused. “I will even agree to become your patron, so that you can invent in peace and need never worry about being forced into another marriage contract by your father.”
Maya took a deep breath. “Maybe when Luka returns from the Eastern front, I can talk to him—”
“He’s been back from the war for a month,” Princess Annika said, her eyebrows going up. “He’s at the Second Queen’s estates in Kamenev. Did you not know that?”
“He’s at his estate?” Maya blinked. And he hadn’t even written to her? She pushed down the stab of hurt that followed that thought.
Well, so what? If he wasn’t in the mood to visit, she could always go to him herself.
The Crown Princess stared at her shrewdly, and Maya could see that she was reconsidering their agreement. She couldn’t allow that.
“I will visit Luka soon.” Maya said firmly.
Crown Princess Annika gave her a half-smile. “It bodes well that you can walk into his estate without waiting for an invitation. The Prince has been refusing all invitations since his return.”
Maya swallowed past her suddenly dry throat, trying to keep her emotions off her face.
“Well, then. Do we have an agreement, Lady von Rakhmonov?”
Maya nodded. “We do, Your Highness.”
“Excellent.”
All Maya had to do was convince Luka—whom she hadn’t seen in three years—to agree to a marriage of convenience.
Easy.
CHAPTER TWO
The first thing that hit him was the pain.
As soon as the light hit his eyelids, Luka groaned. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing at his eyes, hoping to dispel the weariness thar clung to him. He looked about with bleary eyes, fighting a yawn so big it cracked his jaw.
His valet had left everything out for him, just as he wanted. With a grunt, Luka swung his legs over the side of the bed. Then, clutching the bedpost, he levered himself upright with another grunt of effort.
The pain was shocking, and immediate. It nearly took his leg out from under him, but Luka gritted his teeth, and willed the waves of pain to pass.
