Free His Arranged Marriage by Tina Leonard

submissive posture. Dakar was known for not wasting a rancher’s time and money, for he executed his task with speed and potency.
    Serena and Cade were, for now, at least in the same corral. Perhaps if she could offer the king something that could soothe the insult Cade had unwittingly visited upon him, something more could come of the marriage than cocky body language and teasing that disguised the attraction between them.
    The king would likely want an annulment.
    She had little to offer a king that might buy Cade some time with Serena.
    “His Highness will speak to you now,” the king’s adviser said.
    “Thank you,” Rose murmured.
    “Good afternoon, Rose,” King Zak said. “It is afternoon in your part of the world, is it not?”
    “It is, Your Highness,” Rose said respectfully.
    “We are related now,” the king told her. “Please call me Zak. I was quite pleased with your son, however impetuously he took my daughter from me. I must say that the expediency worked to my benefit, however. No one was the wiser until the deed was accomplished.”
    “Actually, King Zak,” Rose began nervously, “there’s a slight problem. Perhaps a large one, actually.”
    “Don’t tell me he doesn’t want my daughter!” the king roared.
    Rose jumped, gulping nervously. “No, no, that is not the problem, Your Highness. Please do not concern yourself that Serena is anything less than the wonderful princess we expected. Quite the opposite, in fact! She is a star that The Desert Rose never expected to shine upon its humble existence.”
    “I will hear more of this problem, then. Quickly, please.”
    Rose’s fingers shook on the receiver as she held it to her ear, closing her eyes to pray for the rightwords. “King Zak, the fault is all my own. My sons have ever been inclined to look after one another. Prince Makin was averse to marrying—anyone at all, although Serena is certainly a jewel to bless a man with many days of joy. Prince Kadar, in seeking to allay his brother’s concerns, took it upon himself to stop by Balahar on his way to Saudi Arabia, in order to meet Princess Serena. Apparently, he was confused by palace protocol, and accepted her by accident. So charmed was he by her,” Rose continued hastily, “and not wishing to cause her embarrassment, nor to humiliate me, he went through with the marriage.”
    “My daughter married the third prince? This is not what we agreed upon!”
    “No, Your Highness, it is not, and for that, I am dreadfully sorry.” Rose’s thoughts shifted like sands in the desert wind as she chose her next words carefully. “We could return Serena to you, at once, in the same condition in which she left your palace, which I can promise you is a fact that would be verified easily by a palace physician. Coming home to you with an application for a marriage annulment, however, would most likely bring a stain to her name. Palace gossip would be wicked and intense, as it might appear that her husband did not desire her. Remember, no one knows that Prince Kadar married her instead of Prince Makin, and as they are twins, no one would believe the story if we had tocome forward with it. People will say that we fabricated the whole thing.”
    “And also that my rule must be weak indeed to allow such a thing to occur under my very nose.”
    “Precisely. Which is why I would like to make a counterproposal to you, if I may.”
    King Zak hesitated a moment. Rose’s fingers tightened on the telephone. The ruler had every right to be outraged, both as a monarch and as a father, and she could not blame him for not wishing to listen to one more word she had to say. For Cade’s sake, however, she added a plea.
    “Your Highness, please, hear me a little longer. I would like to right this wrong you have suffered.”
    After another long moment, he said, “I’m listening, my lady Rose.”
    She blinked, both at his kind tone and his choice of words, which brought her to equal status with him. He was