Arranged: An Array Series (Book #1)(28)

George





Chapter 11





I settled on a navy-blue chair in my father’s “crusade room” with a glass of brandy. My father chatted and paced the floor about the festivities of my mother’s birthday celebration, and I tuned him out. After Lady Dawson’s attendance last night, my mother had pissed me off and confirmed she was trying to get rid of Madelyn.

“So, what was it that you called me in for?” I asked, growing tired. “I promised Garrett we’d practice sparring for the tournament.” Father stopped and leaned an arm against the wooden mantel over the fireplace. A large painting of him, dressed in an elegant blue robe with his crown, hung above it.

“It’s Lady Stratford,” he replied, pausing.

I shrugged. “What of her?”

Father sighed. “You must stop courting her.” I removed the glass of brandy from my lips and furrowed my brows as he continued. “It isn’t that she isn’t lovely and kind, she is. I just don’t think she has the stomach to be a queen.”

“Is this you speaking, or Mother?” I asked.

He brought a glass decanter of brandy over from the liquor cart and refilled my glass with a generous amount. “Only me. Even though your mother has made it perfectly clear, in her own way, this is me talking to you. Father to son.”

“Madelyn is of good breeding; she would be the ideal woman for my children,” I said. “She could learn to fit the role of Queen.” Father sat across from me, propping his feet on the small table between us.

“It’ll take years for her to absorb it all. Plus, the people have to grow to love her, accept her as their Queen.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Isn’t that what you did with mother? She isn’t Tellivan.”

My father took a gulp of his brandy and smacked his lips. “And the people hate her,” he said bluntly. I gaped at him. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I found a solution.”

I narrowed my eyes, leery. “And that would be?”

“Ava.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“She would be perfect, George. She—”

“No.”

“She has already been made for the role,” Father put in. The phrase “royal chained” rolled in my head when I thought of ‘Ava’ and ‘Queen’ in the same sentence; it was how she used to describe it.

“She doesn’t want it,” I stated. “I’m not going to put this on her.”

Father crinkled his face. “Put this on her? It is an honor to be called upon to rule this beautiful country.”

I tsked. “I don’t know if I’d say that.”

My father stood, his gray hair disheveled. “Don’t be an ungrateful ass. Just because we are dealing with rebels in our country doesn’t mean it’s less worthy.”

I swirled the liquid in my glass, giving me something to do so that I didn’t lose my temper. “You brought her into this mess the moment you made her an heir. Now she has to watch her back.”

“I’ll stand by my decision of making her an heir,” Father ground out, pacing the room, across the faded line he’d put into the rug from prior rants. “I had my heart planned on this arrangement. Ava fits you like a glove, would keep you in line. The people love her; she loves them. I needed to make sure I had a second option. It’s horrible to think about, but…it’s what I have to think about.”

I bowed my head in agreement. “Ava would, indeed, be beneficial,” I conceded. “For the crown, not for her. I won’t break our deal.”

He stopped and turned toward me. “This was a courtesy. I wasn’t asking.”

“I’ll find someone else,” I retorted.

“Ava is right here,” Father insisted, pointing at the wall. “She is perfect, George. There won’t be—”

“I know where she is,” I snapped. “Father, we’ve done enough to her already. Let her live her life now.”

“I’ve done nothing to that girl but treat her as one of my own!” he barked, his face flushing.

“You put a fucking target on her back the day you signed on, making her the next heir!” I shouted, standing. “Is that how you take care of your own?”

My father halted and stared at me intently. He looked weary, years of worry taking its toll. His broad shoulders were now sagged, and the lines shown under his eyes from lack of sleep. “I gave Telliva a fucking promising future if you died. Not everything is about everyone’s feelings and how they will feel. She is the only person that I trust to run this country well.”

“Make Reddington the heir,” I retorted. “He’s my cousin, for Femme Fatale’s sakes!”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” Father roared. “Do you want your mother to kill me with her bare hands? His mother tried to kill your mother all those years ago. Do you think giving him the throne would sit well with Cecilia?”

I dropped my glass, not giving a shit where it landed. “That’s your fuck up, not ours. And now Ava has to pay for it?”

Father strode toward me, clenching his fists. If my father was twenty years younger, he would have scared the shit out of me.