We were quiet for a minute, watching Marid’s handsome face on the screen. He certainly had his wave down.
“I’m so sorry, Eadlyn,” Josie whispered, drawing my focus back to her. “For everything, and for how I’ve been, and for what you’re dealing with now.”
“You had no idea, did you?” I asked, my tone gentle.
Embarrassed, she shook her head. “I thought everyone did the work for you, and you just said yes or no.”
“That it was all parties and money and power?”
“Yeah.” She let out an almost laugh. “I can’t believe I spent my whole life wanting to be a princess only to see I could never, ever handle it.”
I shifted on the couch, finally putting to voice a thing I’d been almost positive about from the very beginning.
“Is that why you put Kile’s name in? So you could be a princess?”
She blushed fiercely. “I didn’t think he’d actually get drawn. And if he did, I didn’t think there was any way you’d choose him. When I saw that kiss on the front page of the newspapers, I was so excited. I started designing tiaras in my notebooks.”
“And now?”
“I’d still like to have one of my very own, but I know I haven’t earned it.” She smiled slowly. “And I realize that even if he wins, I wouldn’t exactly be a princess, but it still feels like a big deal. I look at your aunt May, and how glamorous she is, traveling around the world and meeting all these people and looking like a runway model.”
“I can see the appeal,” I agreed. “Mom’s siblings definitely got a better deal than she did in certain ways.”
As I thought of my aunt and uncles, a wonderful idea struck me, and I was thrilled that at least one good thing might come from this day.
Josie played with the hem of her dress. “Yeah, it looks fun. But I was way too obsessed with it. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time.”
“So am I. It was hard growing up with someone who wanted to be me without doing any of the work.”
“And it was hard for me growing up in your shadow.” She seemed sad, unsure of herself now.
“You know, Josie, it isn’t too late to fall in love with something else. You happen to have an excellent resource in me, and I’d like to help you find the right path. So long as that path is far away from my tiaras.”
She giggled. “I have no idea where to start.”
“Well, you’ve proven these last few days how helpful you can be. What if we put you on the payroll, as an office intern? Whatever you’re going to do, you’ll need your own money for it.”
“Really?” she gasped.
“Really.”
Josie flung herself across the room, colliding with me in a hug. For the first time, I didn’t mind her being so close.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ve got to do the good I can while I’m here.”
She pulled back. “I swear, if you step down, I’ll never forgive you.”
I hadn’t meant to give that much away in a sentence.
“I realize that doesn’t mean much, but still. Don’t do it. You can’t.”
I shook my head. “I won’t. I promise. As tempting as it is, I’m too proud to do it.”
Dear Uncle Gerad,
This letter is long overdue. How are you? How’s work? How’s . . .
Okay, I need a favor. My lady-in-waiting’s boyfriend is also a talented scientist. I’m not completely sure if his field and yours are similar, but I thought you might at least have a connection that could get him work in Angeles. It would mean the world to her if he was closer, and it would mean the world to me if she was happier. Do you think you could help?
Friendly reminder, I’m your queen.
Thanks bunches! Love you lots! Visit soon!
Eadlyn
CHAPTER 29
FOX UNDERSTOOD WHAT BEING SUMMONED to my office meant. So he refused to come and instead sent his good-byes through Neena, who arranged for him to stay at a hotel until he could get a flight to Clermont the following morning.
I felt low, sneaky somehow, like I’d gotten off too easy. I’d been prepared for a battle. I got a retreat.
But Hale walked through the doorway all smiles, dressed to the nines and ready to leave like a gentleman. His arms were open as he crossed the office, and I fell into them, trusting him to a fault.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” he whispered into my ear.
“Me, too. But you know how to get ahold of me if you need to, right?”
He nodded. “Neena gave me some information along with my flight details.”
“Good. Because I’m probably going to need to speak with you soon.”
“Oh?” he asked, stepping back and straightening his suit coat.
“Of course. Someone has to design my wedding dress.”
Hale stood there, the smile wiped instantly from his face as if he thought this was some twisted joke.
“Eadlyn . . . do you mean that?”
I held him by the shoulders. “You shielded me when the public threw food. You befriended me before I was willing to accept it. Even now you’ve protected me, far past anything I’ve deserved. The least I can do is be your first client. I’ll be watching your skyrocketing career with interest, sir.”
His eyes glistened with tears, but he managed to keep himself together.
“I’m kind of scared to leave,” he confessed. “So much is going to change once I’m outside of these walls.”
I nodded. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to all be bad.”
He laughed. “When did you become such an optimist?”
“It comes and goes.”
“As do most things,” he said with a sigh.
“As do most things,” I agreed. I hugged him one last time. “Have a safe flight, and start designing as soon as you get home.”
“Are you kidding? I’ll be designing in the car!”
Hale kissed my cheek and winked. “Bye, Eadlyn.”
“Bye.”
With Hale gone, everything spiraled into a laser focus. This was the end. There were two suitors left, and one blue-eyed soul mate. I wasn’t sure who to speak to first. After some thought, I realized Eikko knew what was coming. He wouldn’t be surprised by my announcement. But Henri would, and I expected he was going to take it hard. I would see Kile first, and that would leave me plenty of time to talk this out calmly with Henri through the painful use of his positively wonderful translator.
I was trembling when I knocked on Kile’s door. I hadn’t prepared a speech or anything. And while I assumed he’d say yes, I really had no idea. What if he’d suddenly decided that I wasn’t worth all the work?
His butler answered the door and bowed deeply. “Your Majesty.”
“I need to speak with Sir Kile, please.”
“I’m sorry, miss, he’s not here. He mentioned getting something from his old room.”
“Oh. Well, I know where that is. Thank you.”
I made my way up to the third floor, following the path I’d taken the night he’d agreed to kiss me in the hallway. What a strange turn our lives had taken.
Kile’s door was slightly open, and I could see him tinkering away in the corner of his room. He’d flung his suit jacket and tie on the bed and was sanding a small piece of wood, presumably preparing to attach it to the structure beside it.
“Can I come in?”
He whipped his head up, and a few strands of hair fell into his face. It was getting long again. It didn’t look as bad as I remembered.
“Hey there,” he said, shaking the mess off his hands and coming to greet me. “I was hoping I’d get to see you today.”
“Oh, yeah?”
He put an arm around my waist and pulled me to the back of the room. “I was watching some TV this morning, and I kept seeing all this stuff about Marid.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know. He’s a bit of a problem right now.”
He swept some dust off a chair, and I sat across
from him, looking at his little creations. Detailed sketches in blue and black ink, piles of books with papers sticking out, and his miniature buildings scattered around like a tiny town. He’d made a world up here.
“Can he really propose?” He sounded nervous, like he feared Marid might take me instead of the country.
“He can, I suppose, but I won’t say yes.” I sighed. “Turns out Marid is not the ally I thought he was. He’s been threatening to sway public opinion, and at first I wasn’t sure he could do it. Then the way he got himself into everyone’s house today . . . it’s brilliant, really. Just like Lady Brice said, it’s an instant, battle-free invasion.”
“Invasion? Like what? Is he suddenly vying for the crown?”
I ran my fingers over the lines of one of Kile’s drawings. “I don’t think it’s sudden. I think he and his family have been looking to make a move for quite a while. The inept young queen was a perfect opportunity.
“Now he wants to be my consort and use my name to make his plans happen. My only hope is to get engaged before he can try to propose, because I’m sure the press will just gobble it up if I reject him.”
“So let’s do it.”
“Do what?”
“Get married. Eadlyn, I’d marry you tonight. Between the two of us and our families, there’s no way he’d survive. People have been pulling for us from the start. Marry me, Eadlyn.”
I looked into the sweet and worried face of Kile Woodwork, and for a minute I really thought I could. I’d told myself it would all be easy, to walk down an aisle and find him at the end. He’d always make me laugh. And after the last two months of being on the same side, I knew, without question, that he would support me for life.
“I will confess, I came here just now to make that very proposal. But . . . I can’t.”
“Why? Is it because I didn’t get down on one knee?” He dropped instantly, gripping my hands. “Or wait, is it because you’re supposed to ask?”
I got down on the floor with him. “No. It’s not because of any of that.”
His face fell. “You don’t love me.”
I shook my head, laughing. “No, it’s not that either. In fact, I might love you a little too much. Maybe not entirely romantically, but I definitely love you.”
“Then why?”
“Because of this,” I said, motioning to the work around me. “Kile, I’ll never be able to tell you how much it means to me that you would take me for life just to save me from one person. Considering what a pain I’ve been, that’s a miracle.”
He chuckled, still holding my hands.
“But all you have ever wanted was to get away from these walls. All you want to do is build. I think that’s a beautiful thing. So many people in the world want to tear things apart. How wonderful is it that you’d do the opposite?”
“But I’d give it up. I wouldn’t mind.”
“I would. I would mind. And eventually, when the scary side of my life dies down, you would, too. You’d die a little from the ache for it. You’d resent me.” Tears pooled in my eyes. “I can’t live in a world where you don’t like me.”
“I’ll stay, Eady. I’m telling you, I want to.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. You just said that you needed to. Who could do this better than me?”
Hot tears streamed down my face. “Please, don’t make me force this on you.”
“You can’t make me leave, Eadlyn.”
I ripped my hands from his and shot to my feet, wiping my face. I looked down on Kile, my sweet, sacrificing friend, and steadied myself.
“Kile Woodwork, you are hereby banished from the palace for the term of one year.”
“What?” he stood, balling his fists.
“As compensation for losing your home, and for services rendered to the royal family, you will have an apartment fully paid for in Bonita.”
“Bonita? That’s on the other side of the country!”
“In addition, funds and materials will be allotted to you to begin a housing project for the homeless in the province’s capital city.”
His face softened. “What?”
“If you find the funds or materials insufficient, you may write the palace and request more, and I will have them sent to you as quickly as possible.”
“Eadlyn . . .”
“You will always be my family, Kile, but I won’t make you my husband. I can’t do that to you.”
His voice was tender. “But you will make someone your husband. You need to now.”
“It will be Henri. Fox left a few hours ago, and Hale just got into a car.”
He was completely floored. “This is really the end, isn’t it?”
“And I was prepared to be with you for the rest of my life. In a way, I guess I still can. But I’d hate myself if I kept you here. It’d be heartless.”
“What about Henri? Will you be happy with him?”
I swallowed. “He does worship the very ground I walk on.”
Kile nodded, allowing that. “I suppose you could do worse than absolute devotion.”
I smiled. “Thank you. You have kept me sane through so much of this, but I can’t take away the one thing you really care about.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
I walked toward him, and he folded me into an embrace, holding me so close it almost hurt.
His voice sounded tight when he finally spoke. “If there’s anything I can ever do for you, tell me.”
I wept into his shirt. “I will. And I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Except marry me.”
I pulled back, happy to see him smile. “Except marry you.” I let go, lacing my fingers together. “I’m going to make the official announcement tomorrow. I need you to stay until then so the press doesn’t get wind of what’s going on. After that, I don’t want to see your face for a year. You hear me, Woodwork?”
“I get a pass for the wedding, right?”
“Well, of course, for the wedding.”
“And Christmas?”
“Obviously.”
He considered. “What about your birthday?”
“Well, Ahren did say he’d come back, so it’ll probably be a marvelous party.”
He nodded. “Okay then. A year except for those three days.”
“Perfect. And in the meantime, you’ll just be doing the thing you were born to do,” I said with a shrug, as if this was all nothing.
He shook his head. “I’m going to build something. I’m really going to build something.”
“And you will change lives because of it.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“You’re welcome.” I kissed his cheek and ran out of the door before I changed my mind. “I’ll see you in the studio tomorrow. I’ll send details once I have them.”
In the hallway, I held my hand to my stomach and took a deep breath. I’d made a choice. So why did I suddenly feel out of control?
I hurried back to the office, glad to see that everyone was on the move, making tomorrow come together as smoothly as possible. Everyone it seemed, except for me.
“Lady Brice, can you please get Erik for me? I need to speak with him about the specifics of tomorrow.”
“Consider it done.”
CHAPTER 30
I PACED THE OFFICE’S SIDE parlor, waiting for him to come. Every second, the mass in my throat grew bigger, threatening to trap all the words I had to say beneath it.
“Your Majesty?” he said quietly, and even though there were people swarming around, he didn’t think twice about smiling at me like I was his sun and stars.
“I need to speak with you about tomorrow. Would you close the doors, please?” I tried to keep my voice even, but his expression showed he knew I was holding back. And that made the attempt at diminishing how important this was that much harder.
“Are you all right?” he whispered, even though we were alone.
I exhaled, trying to keep calm. “Not quite.”
&n
bsp; “According to the news, you have an unexpected suitor,” he said plainly.
I nodded.
“How long has this been a problem?”
“Longer than I knew.”
“I imagine this has caused you undue stress.”
“It’s done so much more than that.” I swallowed. “Because of this issue, I am forced to announce my engagement tomorrow.”
“Oh.” The tiny word held a world of shock.
“And due to Kile having other pursuits that I couldn’t ignore, I will be proposing to Henri. Today.”
At that he couldn’t muster a word at all.
I reached for his hand, and he gave it to me. He didn’t even look angry, which would have been fair since I’d backed out of nearly every promise I’d made. He was, quite simply, only sad. A feeling I identified with all too well.
“I’m sure you understand that I will have to leave after tomorrow,” he said quietly.
“I’ll have Neena find another translator. You shouldn’t be forced to replace yourself.” My breathing hitched, and the tears came. “I’m planning on going within the hour to see him. Do you think . . . could you please not be in the room?”
He nodded. “If you had asked me to stay, it might be the first time I tried to refuse you.”
We stood there, quietly holding hands. Maybe if we were still, nothing could change.
“I’d prepared myself,” he said. “I understood what was coming and still—”
The pain of standing there watching Eikko’s lip tremble was acute.
I fell into him. “Eikko, I need you to hear it. Just once, I need you to know it without doubt. I love you. And if I was free, if I was my own person, I’d escape with you now. But Marid would use my absence as a reason to take the throne, and my people.” I shook my head. “I can’t. . . .”
He took my face in his hands, making me look into his eyes. Though they brimmed with tears, they were as beautifully clear as ever. “What a privilege it is to come in second place to your people. What a queen you’ve become, that you can’t bear to part yourself from them.”
I pulled him to me, kissing him as if our lives depended on it. Maybe it wasn’t the prettiest kiss, with moisture under our noses and mascara on my cheeks, but it was the encapsulation of all the other ones we’d never get to have.