Anything for Her - Complete

Chapter 30

"Your Majesty," Christian said mockingly as he bowed flamboyantly before Lissa. She'd been sitting in their chambers for the last hour waiting for him to appear.

Christian had arrived in the early hours on the Royal jet. Knowing he was due, Lissa had expected him to come straight to their suite, but he hadn't. Instead, he and Guardian Vitsin had slept in adjacent guest rooms on the second floor of the Palace. Now showered, dressed and breakfasted, Christian made the obligatory appearance.

"Christian," Lissa replied her voice steady, despite being taken back by his formal greeting. "It's good to see you."

"Is it?" Christian asked, almost in surprise. Lissa might appreciate seeing him, but the same could not be said of how he felt about seeing her.

"It's been months, Christian," she replied, almost imploringly.

"Not enough of them," Christian replied with an undeniably bitter note to his voice.

Pretending not to hear his acrimony, Lissa smiled politely and gestured for Christian to sit. His refusal made their meeting all the more awkward.

"Cards on the table time, your Majesty," Christian said, looking at his wife like she was some sort of science specimen. "I know you slept around and got pregnant. I know Rose and Dimitri's kid is your biological daughter. I know you were willing to do whatever it took to her, and me, to hide that fact. What I don't know is how you see things going forward."

This hadn't been the homecoming Lissa had hoped for. She'd naively hoped months absence would make Christian more forgiving. If anything, the reverse was true.

"We settle down and start a Moroi family of our own," Lissa replied, as though that outcome was obvious. "I know I did the wrong thing and, in time, I hope you can forgive me."

"You want us to pretend nothing happened, maintain the lie Rose cheated on Dimitri, and just go on with our lives?" Christian asked, stunned Lissa was so openly callous.

"I'm not proud of my decisions," Lissa said, meeting Christian's eyes. "I made the best choices I thought I could at the time. Rose will take care of the child. As monarch, I can't be seen to have a Dhampir bastard."

"So, it's ok to have one, but not to have people know?" Christian asked, his contempt multiplying by the second.

"Yes! A King can have mistresses and bastards by the dozen, but it's different for a Queen. I need to be seen as pure and irreproachable. If word of this... situation... were to become public, it would ruin me and create untold political instability," Lissa tried to explain.

"I don't care about the political ramifications of what you did! I care about the promises you made to me. The same ones I made to you! You stood in front of half of Court, our friends, and God, promising to love and be faithful to me! We're meant to be a partnership! Then I find out that you cheated. And not just that, you were willing to destroy your best friend's life to try and conceal what you did! All this time you have justified your response by discussing what's politically expedient. Not once have you apologized to me. You've not apologized for cheating on me. You've not apologized for lying to me. And you've not once thought about this from anyone's perspective but your own!" Christian bellowed, uncaring who might hear him.

"That's not true," Lissa asserted. "I am sorry!"

"Sorry for being caught is not the same as being sorry for doing it in the first place!" Christian growled.

"I am sorry! It was a stupid one-off. I was drunk and lonely. If you hadn't gone on that tour..."

"So it's my fault now?"