“And without a prenup, there will be no wedding,” Demyan added after several seconds of silence by his uncle.
“You don’t mean that.”
“When have you ever known me to bluff?” Demyan asked.
Fedir frowned. “She really does mean something to you.”
“My integrity certainly does.”
He was a ruthless man. Demyan knew that about himself. He could make the hard choices, but he was an honest man, too. And he didn’t make those choices without counting the cost.
“A man has to make sacrifices, even in that area for the greater good.”
Demyan shrugged. “I’ll contact the lawyers with the changes I want made to the agreement.”
He wasn’t going to debate his uncle’s choices. The other man had to live with them and their consequences. It might be argued that everyone in the palace did, too, but Demyan wasn’t a whiny child, moaning how his uncle’s decisions had cost him his family.
The truth was, his own parents and their ambition were every bit as culpable.
“I’ll trust you to be reasonable in your demands.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Demyan, you will never be king, but you are no less a son to me than Maksim.” Fedir laid one hand on Demyan’s shoulder and squeezed.
The words rocked through Demyan. His uncle was not an emotionally demonstrative man, in word or deed. Nor was he known for saying things he did not mean, at least not to family.
However, Demyan’s cynicism in the face of life’s lessons drove his speech. “A son you call nephew.”
“A son I and all of Volyarus call prince.”
“You never adopted me.” According to Volyarussian law, which the king could change should he so desire, doing so would have made Demyan heir to the throne, not the spare.
He understood that, but it was also a fact that if he were truly every bit as much a son to Fedir, his place in the right of succession wouldn’t have been a deterrent.
“Your parents refused.”
Was Fedir trying to imply he’d asked? “I find that difficult to believe. They gave me up completely.”
“But so long as you were legally their son, your father had leverage for his interests. He and your mother categorically refused to give that up.”
His uncle’s words rang true, particularly when weighed against how few of Demyan’s father’s efforts had met with support of the king since he’d become an adult. “I get my ruthlessness from him.”
“But your honor is all your own. You are a better man than either of your fathers, the one by birth and the one by choice.”
Fedir was not a man who gave empty compliments. So, Demyan couldn’t help that the older man’s words sparked emotion deep inside, but he wasn’t about to admit that out loud.
“Oxana feels the same. She is very proud of both of her sons.”
He thought of the excitement the queen had shown when Demyan had warned her that he’d found the one. “She wouldn’t be proud of me if she knew why I’m pursuing Chanel.”
“You’re wrong. I am very proud of you.” Oxana came into the room from the secret passageway entrance. “You have put the welfare of our people and your family ahead of your own happiness. How can I be anything but proud of that?”
Fedir started, clearly shocked his wife had been listening in.
“She’s a special woman. She deserves a real marriage.” It wasn’t a sentiment Demyan would have expressed to Fedir without prompting, but this was Oxana.
She’d sacrificed her entire life for their country and her family. Yet she was not a bitter woman. She loved them all deeply, if not overtly. She deserved to know that Demyan wasn’t going to play Chanel for the sake of her inheritance.
“So, give her one.” Oxana smiled with the same guarded approval she’d given him since he was a boy, though as he’d grown older he’d learned to look deeper for the true emotion. It was there. “She is a very lucky woman to have you.”
Since he wasn’t about to comment on the latter and the former was Demyan’s plan, he merely nodded.
“That’s not a reasonable request,” Fedir said forcefully.
“For you, we all know that is true. But Demyan is a different man. A better man, by your own admission.”
Fedir scowled at his wife of more than three decades. “He is our son. How can you demand he sacrifice the rest of his life for the sake of this girl’s feelings?”
“How can you ask him to sacrifice his personal integrity to save our country?” Oxana countered, deigning to look at Fedir.
“He is not being dishonest.”
“Oh, so you’ve told Chanel about her inheritance?” Oxana asked Demyan.