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It was almost enough to make Charlie break down and laugh. At twenty-one, she could no longer avoid putting her name in the registry of unwed nobles, and almost immediately she’d found herself magically whisked away to what appeared to be the royal gardens. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around, so Charlie wandered to the plot of medicinal herbs and started mentally cataloguing what was present, what they could be used for, and what was missing. It was good practice, and she couldn’t imagine whoever her designated mate was to be would mind her knowing herblore like this. Even the most traditionalists acknowledged that it was good for a woman to be able to use herbs to nurse her family through injuries and sicknesses, and the more modern ones thought it was good for a woman to have a passion to follow.
She wasn’t getting who she was dreaming of. One of the excuses she’d used to avoid registering was that when her father died with no sons or brothers, his barony was dissolved, and therefore she wasn’t exactly a noblewoman. After some discussion, she had been told that the barony had not been dissolved, but was currently being held by the crown in the event that Charlie had a son. Just because the title couldn’t be held by a woman didn’t mean it couldn’t pass down through one.
Between the lack of proper nobility and the lack of family fortune, there was absolutely nothing that would recommend her to a member of the royal family. Even the somewhat scandalous Princess Lisa would expect to have a more suitable match than her. The scandal, of course, is what drew Charlie to Lisa. She’d stood in court, faced her uncle, and absolutely refused to either divulge the father’s name or terminate the pregnancy. Charlie couldn’t help but admire the balls that must have taken. There was no way Lisa would be here, be the one Charlie had been destined to marry, but she could dream until the actual person showed up, right?
A throat clearing behind her got her attention, and she turned around. And stared, mouth hanging open. “You’re… it’s you. You’re here?”
“I know, right? They wouldn’t let me pull my name out of the registry, though. I wish I knew what to tell you, but I’m sure you know the rules. We can take as long as we want, but we don’t get to leave until we’ve married and consummated.” Lisa crossed her arms over her chest and gave Charlie a rueful smile. “I’m already such a scandal that I don’t think anyone would be the least bit surprised if you just took off and ignored that you were married, and I wouldn’t blame you a bit, but I need to get home to Ben before someone does something stupid like paying some random man to show up, claim to be Ben’s father, and disappear with my son.”
“Is that what you want me to do, then? Abandon you?” There was only one way Charlie was ever going to even consider doing that, which unfortunately seemed likely. Life was determined to be cruel. At least it would be a good excuse to head out on an adventure, find herself a quest and go on it, but being married to the princess of her dreams and still not allowed to be with her? This system sucked!
Lisa drew in on herself even further, sitting on a bench across the path from Charlie. “That depends. If it were just me, then I’d be begging you to stay, but I can’t do that to Ben. I can’t bring someone into his life who I’m having to coerce or beg or bribe to be there. He deserves honesty. I’ll do what I have to for him to be safe and happy.”
Charlie closed her eyes, letting the relief wash over her. She crossed the path and sat beside Lisa, holding out a hand in invitation. Lisa looked at it hesitantly. “It’s safe. All that stuff you think you’re going to get rejected for? Ben, standing up for yourself, doing what you want and what you believe is right instead of what you’re told? I admire all of that. If you let me stay around, you don’t have to worry. I won’t run off on Ben. I won’t run off on you.”
Lisa slowly let a hand unfold itself from her body to settle in Charlie’s. After a beat looking at the entwined hands, she looked up at Charlie. “Of course you can stay, if I can trust you with Ben.”
“Your uncle may disagree. I’m…”
“Oh, fuck him,” Lisa snapped. “I know who you are and why he’s going to have a problem with you, but if he won’t let you stay with the royal family, then Ben and I are going with you if you leave. It’s just Ben that I’m worried about, and if you’re okay with becoming instant mom, then I’m glad you’re here.”
“You know who I am?” That was easily the biggest surprise of all of this. Marriages pulled weird stuff sometimes, now that Lisa had explained she could understand the initial reaction, but why would Lisa know of her?
“Hard to miss the beautiful redhead who tells off the authorities when they try to force her to get herself registered to marry,” Lisa said, a genuine smile lighting up her face. “I was hoping it would be you, if you would stay with me and Ben. You seemed like a good match.”
Charlie’s first instinct was to crack a joke about Lisa mistaking her for some other redhead if she thought she was beautiful, but she managed to suppress that. “Well then. We’ve got a marriage to consummate, and a kid to get home to. Shall we?”