Captured and Crowned Read Free Page A

Prince, which had thrown the council into emergency session. Unless they deemed him truly unfit to rule—which was possible, considering his reputation—the accession ceremony would take place tomorrow promptly at eleven in the morning.
    As if that weren’t jarring enough, he was now forced to assume his brother’s betrothal agreement as well! He had tomarry Demetria Andreou—in less than two weeks, if he kept to the schedule that had been set in place.
    Damn the fates!
    Desirable, unfaithful Demetria would be his wife. His Queen.
    â€œI don’t look forward to tomorrow.”
    â€œFor what it’s worth, I think you’ll be a good King,” Mikhael said.
    Kristo wasn’t so sure. Though he’d done his duty to the State Council, and sat in on required meetings, he’d paid little heed for he’d been in reality no more than a figurehead.
    However, he’d taken his role as ambassador much more seriously, as that had allowed him to wine and dine dignitaries around the world. Gambling and carousing, as his father had called it.
    At times that had been true. But the setting had allowed him to do what came naturally. In turn, being away from Angyra had allowed him the freedom to do what he really wanted.
    But that would soon be in the past.
    â€œHas he contacted Andreou yet?” Kristo asked.
    â€œHe was speaking with him by phone when I left.”
    How would Demetria take the change of plans?
    Kristo stopped before the palatial window and looked out on the terraced garden that stepped down to the cerulean sea. He splayed his hands on the casing so hard that he felt the heavy moldings imprint on his flesh.
    Dammit, he didn’t want to be King! And by hell’s thunder he certainly didn’t want to marry Demetria!
    But the only way to surmount his fate was by death or abandonment of his country. Though he’d joked that he could walk away from Angyra and never miss it, the truth of the matter was that he couldn’t shirk his duty.
    â€œGregor felt certain that Andreou wouldn’t balk at thechange of plans,” Mikhael said. “He suspects that the lady might feel differently.”
    â€œHow she feels doesn’t matter. She has a duty to uphold.”
    â€œTrue, but you are a stranger to her.”
    In some ways, but in others they were intimately acquainted. But that was his guilty secret to bear.
    â€œAs Gregor pointed out today, the betrothal contract simply states that Demetria is to marry the Crown Prince,” Kristo said, chafing over the fact that he was now that man. “Surely she is aware of that fact.”
    â€œYou are being callous about this, brother.”
    â€œI’m simply being pragmatic,” Kristo said. “Demetria and I are bound by the same laws. There is nothing left to discuss.”
    The Royal House of Stanrakis had one ancient and non-breakable rule. All future rulers must be of noble Greek blood. As the Stanrakis family continued to produce males, their Crown Princes had only to find a noble bride of Greek blood.
    Easier said than done. But then, they weren’t marrying for love. Even if such a thing existed, it wasn’t ordained for a Stanrakis prince.
    It certainly wouldn’t be for him!
    Demetria had been handpicked by the King. She had been groomed to be the next Queen of Angyra.
    She possessed the right lineage. Her maternal grandfather was Greek—one of the old noblemen like Kristo’s father. And her mother had married a Greek, even though Sandros Andreou’s blood wasn’t as pure.
    That man had pricked his temper more times than naught over business dealings. As for Demetria—she fired his lust as well as his anger.
    â€œI still think it would be wise for the sake of your marriage if you would take Demetria aside tomorrow and talk toher,” Mikhael said. “It would go a long way in allaying her fears.”
    Kristo stared into his glass, his smile slow to come.