Keys to the Kingdom by Fiona Wilde Page B

surrender, Angelica had certainly not said 'no.'

     

Chapter Seven

    Luna and Ivan

    Princess Luna stood looking out the window, her pretty face wearing a scowl that would have diminished the looks of any other woman. However, on the face of a princess even a scowl looks pretty.
    From his vantage point in a nearby chair, Prince Ivan made this very observation. Like her sisters, Luna was a vision of loveliness. But he would not tell her this. Not now.
    "Firmness," he reminded himself. "What this lass needs is firmness. Compliments and pleasantries can come later, after she is tamed and brought to heel."
    He smiled, proud of himself. Kier, his eldest brother, would be proud of how well he was handling himself in the face of Princess Luna's sullenness. Since they'd arrived in their quarters, she'd neither looked at nor spoken to him. Prince Ivan supposed she was doing this to manipulate him.
    But it would not work, he thought. No, not on him. Let the princess try whatever she pleased - tantrums, silent treatment, pleading - he would let her know regardless that he was in charge.
    "I'm hungry."
    Prince Ivan jumped, surprised to hear her finally speak to him. And especially surprised that she would confess to being hungry. Most ladies ate like birds in front of gentleman and pretended not to want food in their presence, even if they secretly pined for it.
    "Hungry?"
    She smiled. It was a pleasant smile and Prince Ivan - poor thing - was too enchanted by the sign to assign any motive to this sudden pleasantness.
    "Yes," she said, and then walked over, waving her hand before her as if brushing away the silence that had hung between them.
    "It seems silly to fret, given that I can do nothing about my situation. I've thought and thought of ways to get out of it and all I've done is make myself hungry."
    She looked at him. "Are you hungry?"
    Prince Ivan, like most men, was always hungry. But he was leery of the beautiful princess who now faced him with such a casual demeanor. He'd been warned to be ready for anything from the mischievous he hoped to take to wife. Could it really be this easy? Could Princess Luna really be giving up without a fight? It seemed to good to be true. And if there were food involved, well it seemed even better.
    "Caution," a voice said to him, and he stepped back as he affected what he hoped was an aloof look.
    "I'm not sure if I can allow that at the moment," he said. "You've not yet convinced me I can trust you."
    "Trust me?" she asked. "To eat? How can I convince you that I can be trusted to eat?"
    "No," he said. "Not trusted to eat... That's not what I meant."
    She raised an eyebrow at him. "What then?"
    "To behave," he said.
    "To behave when?" she asked. "When I'm eating? Are you afraid I'm going to throw food at you?"
    "Well, no. Of course not. I mean. Well, maybe... " Prince Ivan was stammering now as he tried to make sense of his own hesitancy. Just what was he afraid of?
    "We aren't leaving the room," he finally said, his words coming at her in a rush. There. If her plan was to get out and escape then he'd thwarted it. But she remained completely calm.
    Instead she shrugged.
    "Who wants to? I'm used to having my meals brought to me, anyway."
    Prince Ivan felt his hope take another small leap. The girl seemed calm and positively resigned to her situation. Could it be that he'd gotten the one reasonable princess? He smiled to himself, imagining how he could use this to his advantage by presenting his docile, agreeable mate to his brothers. They would be impressed, especially when he privately told them how difficult Luna had been, and how he had tamed her through sheer mastery of the situation.
    Ivan turned so Princess Luna would not see his expression. As second to the youngest he was low in the princely pecking order. Producing a well-mannered princess as his brothers struggled with their little hellions would raise his standing within the family. The way he saw it, he had nothing to lose by