Royal Hearts by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

be
surprised at how well I can engage in battle when I need to,” he
dryly stated. “I have been trained since childhood to fight for the
queen.”
    “Yeah. Well, I can beat up any guy I want to
here on Earth.”
    Clearly, this wasn’t the avenue Hathor wanted
to pursue. A servant of the queen was expected to maintain a humble
attitude at all times. Also, he was to do no harm unless it came
down to self-defense or in defending the queen.
    Forcing aside the urge to wipe the smug smirk
off of William’s face, Hathor asked, “How much do you know about
Ann? Do you remember dumping her once she moved to Florida? Do you
remember rejecting her for four years before she went to Raz to be
the queen?”
    “She mentioned something about that in the
past, but I did no such thing. She and I were dating, and she was
convinced she was destined to be a queen of some other planet. I
didn’t believe her at the time. Let’s face it. It sounds like
something a person makes up. Anyway, when I saw the Sphinx and a
blue little creature come for her, that’s when I realized she was
telling me the truth. I wanted to go with her, but she wouldn’t let
me. I still don’t understand why. Things were going great between
us. Despite what you think, I would never have dumped her, even if
she had moved to Florida. She never gave me a chance. I could have
been a good king. That’s what I’m going to show her. She’s going to
take me with her this time.”
    Hathor frowned. “In case you didn’t
understand what I said earlier, I’ll make myself clearer. I’m the
king. That means she’s already married. We’ve been married for two
years and we have a daughter.”
    “So?”
    Hathor blinked in surprise. “So?”
    “Yeah. So what? Look, what happened in the
future we came from isn’t necessarily going to happen this time.
We’re all starting with a clean slate. The future is wide
open.”
    It took Hathor a minute to find his voice.
“But Raz needs her. She’s the queen. She has people to rule over,
other planets to help, a daughter to have… Raz will cease to exist
without her.”
    “That’s why I’ll go with her when it’s her
time to go. I’m not going to risk the lives of people on another
planet to keep her here.”
    “But she’s married. To me.”
    “Not yet. The future is wide open. Anything
can happen.”
    Heat crept up in Hathor’s face. “But there’s
a child. That child won’t exist if we’re not married.”
    “I can give her a child. Then that child will
exist. These details are easy to work around.”
    “You can’t do this. I love her.”
    “And I don’t? I just spent the last six years
wishing I could be with her. You’ve had your chance. It’s my
turn.”
    Hathor’s jaw clenched. What did Ann ever see
in this creep? “All you care about is yourself. You don’t care who
you hurt. Ann was happy with me.”
    “Interesting that you should
say she was happy
with you. I like the sound of that. It’s almost poetic.” He stood
up. “It looks like you’ll just have to win her from me. I have
nothing more to say to you, so I’ll be glad if you show yourself
out.”
    Hathor watched as William
left the room. Don’t hit him. A king never
loses control. He maintains the dignity worthy of the queen at all
times, regardless of his feelings.
    Hathor rose to his feet and stiffly made his
way out of the house. He couldn’t let Ann down. He couldn’t let Raz
down. He would fight for her, and he would win. But he would do it
with honor. He wouldn’t stoop to William’s level.
    He made it to Kent’s car, got in, and slammed
the door. Wincing, he said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to shut it so
hard.”
    “That must have been some talk you two had,”
Kent said, turning off his radio.
    As Kent backed out of the driveway, Hathor
felt better. “William is the most selfish person I’ve ever met.” He
glanced at his new friend. “I’m sorry, but I can’t explain what
happened back there or why I’m so upset