Princess in Love by Julianne MacLean Read Free Book Online Page A

Regime, the people
     adored him.
    “It is no longer my purpose,” Leo replied. “It is now yours and yours alone.”
    “But you are pledged to Princess Alexandra Tremaine,” the duke said, sounding confused.
     “You have been pledged to her since birth. You’ve always known that.”
    God help him, Leo had given up everything for the Royalist cause— everything —but he was done with that. His encounter with Rose last night had confirmed it.
    “If Alexandra is so keen for me to be her champion,” Leo said, “why have we not been
     introduced? Why is she now competing with all the other women in England for a chance
     at Randolph’s hand in marriage? Don’t look at me as if it were not true. I’ve read
     the papers, Father. I know she has been presented at court, and that she has been
     provided with gowns and jewels, and she is considered the current favorite to win
     a proposal from the future king of Petersbourg.”
    The duke sank back into his chair. “Dammit, Leopold. Why must you question everything?”
    Leo walked to the window and spoke with bitter rancor. “Because I am not your bloody
     pawn.”
    He took a moment to make sense of all this and bring his anger under control.
    “Do not lose heart,” his father said with concern. “You must continue to be patient.
     You know we don’t have the resources to raise an army. This is the most efficient
     way to regain Alexandra’s crown and for you to rule beside her one day, as was always
     meant to be.”
    Leo inhaled deeply, moved to a chair and sat down. “So this is the new plan? Alexandra
     will marry Randolph and be crowned queen all on her own without any help from us,
     while I simply wait in the wings for the people to realize they prefer true royal
     blood on the throne?”
    It was a ridiculous pipe dream. It was never going to happen. And quite frankly, Leo
     was surprised his father was willing to accept such a passive strategy.
    At the same time, Leo felt a great weight lift from his shoulders, for clearly Alexandra’s
     marriage to another man constituted a breach of their contract.
    His father stood up and circled around the desk. “Yes. Then, and only then, will we
     have the power to turn the tide.”
    Leo shook his head. “No, Father, not we. If she accepts a proposal of marriage from Prince Randolph, I shall consider myself
     released from our betrothal and no longer a part of this.”
    The duke hesitated. “But you cannot shun your duty. We are Hunts! We are descended
     from King Marcus II, while Randolph’s ancestors were butchers and blacksmiths. Alexandra
     has no family, and the New Regime may not be kind to her when they discover she is
     the secret Tremaine princess. She will need your friendship and the support of the
     Royalists when she arrives in Petersbourg. And you are not my pawn, Leopold. Your
     duty is to serve the crown, not me.”
    It was a convincing argument, one he had heard many times before.
    Duty to your true king. Honor for our family  …
    An almost violent rage filled Leo suddenly. He had sacrificed a great deal in the
     name of duty and honor, and perhaps if he believed Prince Randolph was a villain,
     he might continue to put duty above all without question. But over the past few years
     he had come to know Randolph and his brother Nicholas very well—and their sister Rose—and
     he could no longer believe that the destiny he’d always accepted as true was the proper
     course of action.
    As a boy he was too young to understand and knew nothing but obedience to his father.
     As a man, however, he had come to recognize that Frederick was a great king, while
     his own father was a greedy dreamer and an adulterous husband.
    God knows what he would do with the Petersbourg crown if he ever seized that ultimate
     power.
    “I will have no more of this,” Leo said, backing away. “If Alexandra marries Prince
     Randolph and one day sits upon the throne, I shall consider my duty to the Tremaines