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“Oh, Leo.” She released her grip on me to cup her palms over her face. To my far left, the underbrush crackled with movement. Without seeing them, I felt the cameras zoom in. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted. To be chosen by you. To know that we have a future that’s real and filled with love, that’s…”
I couldn’t listen to her. Though she kept talking, my regret and anguish drowned her out. What was I doing? Why couldn’t I stop?
“Gwen, will you take this charm,” I worked on the latch that would connect it to the bracelet, “as a symbol that your heart is true, your intentions are pure,” with the charm attached, my need to flee grew stronger, “and you are willing to serve the people of Nolcovia as their future queen?”
“Yes, Leonidas.” Her hands shifted to cover mine. Pure wonder filled her sparkling eyes. Why did fate have to be so cruel? “My heart is yours. It always has been.”
She moved to kiss me again, but I stumbled backward, feigning a lack of balance. “Sorry, the snow shifted beneath me.” I pushed back the sleeve on my coat to check the time. “We need to get back to the palace. The others have to prepare for the choosing ceremony.”
Gwen wasn’t stupid, but my only hope was that she was blinded by her side of the events. Still, the interior of her eyes twitched as they started to narrow. Maybe she didn’t like being reminded that she wasn’t alone in the competition. Maybe she could see that I wasn’t on the same page. Maybe, like me, a ball of dread had started twisting though her guts, telling her that we’d only prolonged the pain with my rash decision.
Either way, it didn’t matter. Everything I thought I knew, I didn’t any longer.
The fate of the kingdom was in my uncertain hands.
Fitz
Tom walked beside me as we moved through the palace, tablet in hand as he checked off our agenda.
“Tonight, you need to eliminate one from the ranks bringing us to eleven contenders.” Check. “Tomorrow, I need a name for—”
“What if there are more?” My tone had turned lifeless, drained by the events at the group date.
“More what?”
“More I want to send home?”
The head producer had a hard time hiding his shock. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Two days in and I wanted this over as soon as possible. “If I know there is nothing between us, I don’t see the point in keeping them here, right?”
“That’s… uh… one way to look at it.” My walking pace increased with my anxiety, and Tom skittered to keep up as he pulled his phone from his pocket. “How many charms do you want there tonight, Your Highness?”
“Nine.” I corrected myself. “Eight. Gwen has hers.”
He took a moment to pause and construct the text. I impatiently stared at a portrait of my great-great-grandfather Leonidas Ignatius, the first with my name. His glowering glare never wavered while I had a hard time maintaining even his imagined stare. The whole thing with Gwen had rattled me. From the start, she was the one I’d imagined I could end up with but kissing her was like… kissing a sister.
“May I compliment you, Leo, on that last interaction with Lady Gwendolyn. We only edited and pieced the clips together in the last twenty minutes and they’re already skyrocketing in views. There’s talk that you’ve already found your queen.”
My stomach roiled at the thought of lying to Gwen for the rest of my life. Was there any chance that my feelings would change?
“Is there anything more you need from me?” I started walking, unwilling to stay on the thread of conversation he refused to drop.
“Oh yes,” he caught up quickly. “Tomorrow you’ll visit Princeborough Province, but as a single date. I need the name of the lady of court you’d like to take with you.” His bony elbow jabbed my side as he nudged me repeatedly. “Though, I bet I know who you want to take.”
“Blair,” I answered without feeling. Spending time with Gwen was the last thing on my mind. I needed space to figure out what everything meant.
“Oh. The chauffeur’s daughter?”
Could she be nothing more than her father’s station in life? “I’m sure there’s more to her than that, Tom.” I arrived at my door and paused with my hand poised to make my escape. “Anything else?”
“There are some concerns rising in the kingdom that you haven’t sent the American home, and the way Gwendolyn was talking tonight, I’m afraid it might need to be addressed.”
“What are you asking?” Panic rose at the idea of anyone looking into my past with Coco.
“Nothing, really. Not yet.” He picked his words carefully. “But if she continues to stay, you might need to explain how an American could serve as the queen of Nolcovia, or your subjects will assume your plan is to abdicate the throne.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I snapped as I shoved the door open. Tom said something else before I made it inside, but I pushed my back against the door, pressing it closed as I took in a deep breath of free air.
