Court of Flowers (Sutherland Book 1)

X | The Garden Ball

His Royal Highness, Prince Albert of Sutherland, was not the kind of man Sasha had imagined him to be.

She had not been in any venue where she might have chanced upon his face—or any of the royal family. She only had the Sutherland Post to help her imagine what he might look like.

He was not handsome like West was, but his eminent presence was enough to make one stare with awe.

He was tall, his body fit. Not too lanky as what they said King Louis was. He had dark blonde hair that was almost brown in the dimly lit drawing room in Sasha's villa. His deep blue eyes looked innocent, yet there was a cunning glint to them. His nose was just as the drawings in the Sutherland Post drew them to be—perked up, as proud as the chin that was high in the air as he studied the room, turning about with his hands behind him.

Clad in a simple black coat over a white shirt and dark trousers, he donned nothing else to display who he truly was.

If Sasha had not been forewarned of the identity of her new flower, she would not have recognized him.

"Tell me, Sasha," said the crown prince, "how old are you?" His eyes veered back to her.

He just looked at her and she could feel the room start to get dark. Good lord, please, not now!

"Three and twenty," she weakly replied, blinking too often than necessary to fight off the darkness looming in the corners of her vision.

The prince nodded. "You are eleven years younger than I."

Sasha swallowed, panic starting to settle in.

What did he want?

Was he here seeking to be pleasured?

Or was he here for her mission?

Her question was answered almost instantly. The prince stood in front of her, while she sat in the winged chair, one he offered moments ago.

"I decided to speak to you myself because the task assigned to you is highly delicate and I find that it warrants my personal attention." He spoke with such eloquence that made Sasha wondered if it was acquired or learned. His voice was not so deep, his tone just at the right pacing. And when he spoke, his voice demanded attention, but never coercive. One simply found themselves listening.

"West Blackwood, your gentleman—and do not expect me to use the term you Belcourt ladies use to speak about the gentlemen of Belcourt for I find it funny my tongue cannot roll the word properly." Sasha nodded for she agreed. "West Blackwood is the only son of the former Prime Minister from the previous monarchy, Addison Blackwood, with his wife Elizabeth Blackwood." He paused to check if she was listening. "Elizabeth Blackwood was a former Belcourt lady. I am certain you have heard of Karolina?"

Sasha's breath caught in her throat. "Karolina was the first woman to have been re-courted."

The prince nodded. "I heard that it is not done often."

"It is not."

"And you are the only other person to have been re-courted," he added, his deep blue eyes glimmering with amusement.

"I am."

"I only know very little about Belcourt, yet I find these things truly amusing and quite... shall we say, intriguing?"

Sasha did not offer a reply. Belcourt was intriguing as he said, but it was difficult to explain the society they have inside the institution, much more to a man who was so far different from all of them.

"Elizabeth, or Karolina as you may know her because of the history she made in Belcourt, has given birth to another child that was not her husband's."