I remembered everyone greeting me with sadness and pity in their eyes. It had been no secret how much my grandfather had meant to me. He’d been kind and loving, funny and irreverent. But most of all, he’d seen me—the real me. He’d reminded me as often as possible to be myself and let my heart shine through to the people of Liorland.
He’d said, “All they want is a leader to look up to. It is our job to model genuine goodness. To set the example of what it means to help others, to accept people’s differences, to allow our strengths to complement others’ weaknesses, but more than that… it is our job to recognize when others can lend their strength to complement our own weaknesses. No one wants perfection, Lio. They want real, fallible leadership. They want to know they are not alone and that when we fall, we dust ourselves off and stand again. It is our job to show others how to handle hard times with grace. And when it is your turn on the chair, you will promise to do your best. You will not promise to be perfect. You will promise to live truthfully and with great heart and a strong spirit, yes? If you do this, they will follow you with their whole hearts, Lior.”
It was the only time he’d ever called me Lior. I laughed now, remembering how he’d only ever referred to the throne as “that chair,” as if it was just a regular thing. It was nothing special, just the place where the man sat. Remembering his words as I spotted the throne at the front of the ballroom, I realized he’d been giving me the right words for this very moment in time.
He’d told me to be a leader who lived his truth, trusted his heart, and remained strong through adversity.
I’d walked into the cathedral a prince, a child. When I’d walked out of it, everything had changed.
I was the king, and it was time to act like it.
With one foot in front of the other and medals clinking on the front of my formal dress, I strode into the room with confidence.
It wasn’t until after my speech and the sit-down dinner that I saw Felix for the first time that day. I’d known in theory he was at the coronation mass, but with everything going on, I hadn’t actually seen him. The crowd was massive, and, knowing him, he’d hidden in the very back so as not to attract attention. I could only hope he hadn’t somehow missed seeing it.
I was dancing with Sabine on the wide wooden dance floor when her face lit up. “Oh! There’s my new friend Felix. I can’t wait to introduce him to you. He’s the sweetest thing.”
My heart jumped into my throat when I turned to follow her gaze.
There, in one of the arched doorways of the ballroom, stood the most gorgeous man to ever enter a room.
He was dressed in a form-fitting, custom-tailored tuxedo. His face was clean shaven, and his hair was styled like a movie star’s. As he entered the room, I felt like all the oxygen was sucked out of the building. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t look away. His eyes were bright and sparkling as he laughed at something my sister had whispered in his ear. The sight of him happy and relaxed caught me around the ribs like a boa constrictor.
That was my heart right there, and it was walking around free as if it didn’t belong in the center of my chest.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a trio of young women staring at him in obvious enthrallment. I wondered if I was just one of a hundred people in that ballroom who wanted him. Once my eyes caught sight of the stunning man, they couldn’t stop tracking him if I’d wanted them to.
“Lior?” Sabine asked, dragging my attention back to her earlier words.
“We’ve met, actually,” I said as calmly as I could. “At Gadleigh. He was there over Christmas.”
She was clearly surprised. “I knew he met Hen there, but he never mentioned meeting you as well. It’s not every day you meet a prince. You’d think he would have said something to me when he found out you and I were… I mean when he found out you and I knew each other.”
I ignored the attempt to define our relationship. “I believe it was common knowledge I was hiding away from the media. Maybe he was deliberately valuing my privacy.”
“Hm. That makes sense. He seems like a quiet sort anyway. But really lovely. Did you have a chance to get to know him at all? He said he spent lots of time in the glassmaking studio while he was there.”
I noticed Hen whisper in his ear again. His head tilted back to laugh, exposing part of his creamy-skinned throat.