Crown Prince's Chosen Bride by Kandy Shepherd

sentence, hoping he hadn’t noticed the pause. ‘So that my skills don’t just dwindle away. Did you learn English at school?’
    â€˜Yes. I also had a tutor. My parents felt it was essential we spoke good English.’
    â€˜â€œWe”? You have brothers and sisters?’
    Tristan stared out to sea. ‘I have a younger sister. I...I had an older brother. He...he died when his helicopter came down in the mountains a year ago.’
    Gemma wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t be a cliché. ‘I...I’m so sorry to hear that,’ was the best she could manage.
    His jaw tightened. ‘It was...terrible. His wife and their little boy were with him. My family will never get over it.’
    Gemma was too shocked to speak. She went to reach out and put her hand on his arm but decided against it, not sure how welcome her touch would be in this moment of remembered tragedy.
    â€˜I carry the loss of my brother with me in my heart. There is not a day that I do not think of him.’
    â€˜I’m so sorry,’ she said again. She wished she could give him comfort. But they were still essentially strangers.
    He took a deep breath. ‘But enough of sadness,’ he said. He turned to her. ‘I don’t want to talk about tragic things, Gemma.’
    There was a bleakness in his eyes, and his face seemed shadowed. She was an only child. She couldn’t imagine how it would feel to lose a sibling— and his sibling’s family. ‘No,’ she agreed.
    How lucky she’d been in her life not to have suffered tragedy. The loss of her birth father hadn’t really touched her, though she suspected her mother still secretly grieved. Gemma had had her share of heartbreak, though. She had genuinely loved Alistair, and the way their relationship had ended had scarred her—perhaps irredeemably. It would be difficult to trust again.
    A silence fell between them that Gemma didn’t know quite how to fill. ‘Tell me more about Montovia,’ she said eventually. ‘Are there magnificent old buildings? Do you have lots of winter sports? Do you have a national costume?’
    â€˜Yes to all of that. Montovia is very beautiful and traditional. It has many medieval buildings. There is also a modern administrative capital, where the banks and financial services are situated.’
    â€˜And the chocolate?’
    â€˜The so-important chocolate? It is made in a charming old factory building near the lake, which is a tourist attraction in its own right.’
    I’d love to go there some day.
    Her words hung unspoken in the air between them. Never could she utter them. He was a tourist—just passing through before he went back to his own life. And she was a woman guarding her heart against falling for someone impossible.
    â€˜That sounds delightful,’ she said.
    â€˜There is a wonderful chocolate shop and tea room near my home. I used to love to go there when I was a child. So...so did my brother and sister.’
    Gemma wondered about his sister, but didn’t want to ask. ‘Where do you live?’ she said instead.
    He took another deep breath. It seemed to Gemma that he needed to steady himself against unhappy thoughts. His brother must be entwined in Tristan’s every childhood memory.
    â€˜I live in the old capital of Montovia—which is also called Montovia.’
    â€˜That could get confusing, couldn’t it?’
    â€˜Everyone knows it. The town of Montovia grew up around the medieval castle and the cathedral and sits on the edge of a lake.’
    Gemma sat forward in her chair. ‘A castle? You live near a castle ?’
    â€˜But of course. Montovia is ruled by a hereditary monarchy.’
    â€˜You mean a king and a queen?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜I wasn’t expecting that. I assumed Montovia would be a republic—a democracy.’
    â€˜It is... We have a hereditary monarchy, but also a