It was something I knew was coming, but hadn’t expected it to be this blatant, this soon. They weren’t just rioting over the economy. They wanted the throne to suffer. It was as if they weren’t even giving me a chance to prove to them that I could be a better ruler than my father. They just assumed. Maybe they were right to. After all, I’d only met with the cabinet once and unlike my father, I did believe that the people were allowed to make demands when they felt things were unjust. The very last sign just before the carriage disappeared into the private, underground parking of the basilica read: “I hope you starve.” It wasn’t the words that hit me in the chest as much as it was the person holding it—a man with greasy long hair, tall and lanky, all bones. I couldn’t even fathom when his last meal had been. As if that wasn’t enough, there was a child standing beside him that mirrored him.
I turned to Pierre. “Find out who that man is and where his family lives.”
“I’m on it.” Pierre pushed the button on his earpiece and relayed the remark to the rest of the security. After he spoke, he turned to me. “Maybe we should find out where a handful of them live. You can pay them a visit with Emily. Let them see things will be different.”
“That’s what we’ll do.” I gave a nod. It seemed like a solid plan.
“Won’t the people you so desperately want to impress see that as a publicity stunt?” Aramis slid his phone into his pocket and looked up at me from the other side of the chariot.
It was a valid question. One I didn’t have an answer for. I looked at Pierre beside him. I was so far removed from it all that I had no idea how people saw me at all. I thought of Adeline. Adeline, who was sweet and kind but also fiery. Adeline, who made me question things because she questioned me without judging my responses. She pushed me in a way nobody else dared. Even my brother, who said whatever was on his mind all the time had a limit. Adeline didn’t. She just was. Limitless.
“Earth to Eli.” Aramis snapped his fingers. I blinked. “What the hell was that?”
“Just thinking about something.”
“Someone,” Pierre provided, his mouth turning with disapproval.
“What?”
“You’re going to see her tonight and I’m afraid of what you’ll do,” Pierre provided. “Afraid of what I’ll have to clean up tomorrow, and she doesn’t deserve that—to be something I clean up. Don’t bring her into this mess, Eli.”
“I’m not.” My frown deepened. “I’m not a monster.”
“Monsters seldom think they are.”
The words came from my brother’s mouth and I found myself unable to contend them. The more time I spent around Adeline, the more I found myself wanting to twist things and do the wrong thing because in my head and heart she was the right one to do the wrong thing for.
Chapter 29
Adeline
The air was charged. It hadn’t yet started, but anticipation rolled through me nonetheless. The deceased king didn’t allow anyone inside his coronation. I wasn’t sure he even had one. The Queen Mother held hers behind closed doors. Elias was having his televised, had opened the door to the outside world when he invited people like me, a commoner, in here. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop, and I leaned in closer when the doors opened and they started playing a hymn. The archbishop walked in followed by a row of bishops behind him—one held a sword, another a large gold crown with stones, another a chalice, another a red coat, another a pillow with a ring on it. We all remained standing, as we had been since we walked in, worried we’d miss something. I hadn’t seen the Queen Mother or Princess Pilar, or Prince Aramis, or Emily, the Princess of Austria, for that matter, but the moment I caught a glimpse of Elias walking behind the bishops, looking larger than life and handsome as ever in regal red and gold attire, I felt like the air was sucked out of the room.
A hand covered and squeezed mine on either side. I turned my attention to my right side, where Etienne was, and my left, where Joslyn was, and squeezed back, grateful for the comfort they provided. Then, my eyes were back on Elias. He didn’t look at anyone, just forward, his march steady, his head held high. He didn’t even look nervous, but I couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t be. Behind the long train of his red coat, his brother Aramis, and behind him, his sister and mother. Emily was still nowhere to be found. I was momentarily grateful for that. At least this wouldn’t turn into a surprise royal wedding. For now.