Page 74 of A Wise Prince

“Why would he take the crown?” I ask Jack.

I can hear everyone in the room simultaneously gasp at my statement.

Jack’s lips twitch with a smile. “You’re smart, very smart. Don’t let the world know how smart you are.” I’m uncertain of how to take that comment.

My father stands and everyone’s heads turn toward him. “I think I know why,” he says, his face shows guilt and regret, but his voice maintains the authoritarian leader vibrato that he’s known for and I wonder for a split second how he can do that. He clears his throat before continuing. “When I first met Senator Farrington, I was in a meeting at the World Bank. The meeting was discussing economic relations between North America and smaller principalities. Conrad Johansen was there as one of the representatives for Norddale. They invited me out to a private dinner, just the three of us. I found that a bit odd as I hadn’t announced my candidacy yet. They talked about power regimes and asked my opinions. I remember they were both wearing the same ring. It had a forty-four engraved on it and small diamonds on either side of it. The diamonds were pink and unusually shaped for a men’s ring. I remember noting that, but at the time I didn’t ask. Later, after Farrington had blackmailed me, I was surprised when he mentioned his clear political intentions that no one person holds too much power. He held up his hand and pointed to his ring. He said something about it reminding him of a mission started by his father, the late Senator Farrington Sr. Douglas Farrington Sr. was extremely anti-monarchy. I believe those diamonds were from Queen Louisa’s crown, and I believe the senior senator was at the gala before her accident. I believe he was involved and also took her crown as a trophy, assuming her death would bring down the monarchy of Norddale and cascade into the other monarchies of Europe, creating a domino effect.”

My father pauses. I look around the room. My mother’s face is pale as is Ashlyn’s. Everyone looks surprised, except Jack, but Jack’s poker face is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in my life.

“That would make sense,” King Michael says on a sigh. “John, I hold no grudge against you. I too have kept quiet because of blackmail.”

The silence in the room is deafening. “What?!” Auggie, Chris, and Anna all say simultaneously.

I look to Jack, his jaw clenches, the only sign that perhaps, he doesn’t have a poker face after all. I want to know more about his man.

The king looks pensive as he gazes upon each person in the room. “I live with the regret every day that I didn’t speak up, that I didn’t act upon my suspicions, that…well, I was younger and felt invincible. Conrad had come to me, asking if I would consider being the one to end the monarchy and allow our country to become a full democracy. I told him that we were a democracy, and for all intents and purposes, I was a figurehead that helped represent us to the international community. He didn’t agree. A few weeks later, we were at a meeting. He pulled me aside and said he had a proposition for me. He proposed to have me absolve the monarchy in exchange he would not dispel to the public about a drunk one-night stand I had with the princess of another monarchy in Europe while I was in college. It was after I was dating Louisa. She knew and had forgiven me, so I called his bluff and told him to go to hell. The next day, it was in the tabloids. For years, I wondered about that night. Princess Alice seemed not with it and I was feeling weird. I often wondered if someone had drugged us, I am now guessing that it was set up, that it was all a plan from the beginning.”

If I thought the silence in the room was deafening before, it has taken on a vacuum effect that has essentially sucked all the air out of the space. I realize that I haven’t breathed in over a minute as everyone gapes at the king.

Jack turns back to the president and shakes his head. “I’ll never understand politicians as long as I live.”

Chris curses under his breath. “Fuck, I thought we dealt with this issue.”

Anna looks surprised. “Well, so much for my excellent spy skills,” she mutters under her breath.

King Michael looks at her. “You were much too young. I never told a soul, until now. Not even your mother.”

August

The revelations are too much. I stand, knocking over a chair and walk out of the room. I don’t want to hear any of this. I don’t want to know the lengths that supposed good men will go to in the search for power. I walk out of the place and into the gardens where I sag against a stone wall. I pound my fist against it as I curse under my breath.

A moment later, I hear soft crying. Kate? I follow the sound and am surprised to find my sister sitting on a bench, her head in her hands. I sit down next to her and wrap my arm around her shoulders. She leans her face into my chest as she cries.

“I’m so stupid! How did I not see any of this?” she says, her voice muffled by the fabric of my shirt.

I kiss the top of her head. “Because you love our father and love blinds us.”

She huffs. “You can’t let love blind you in my line of work, Augs. That’s how you get yourself and your loved ones killed.”

“I’m sorry, Augs,” she continues as she wipes away another tear.

“Suzy Q, it’s not your fault,” I growl. “None of this is your fault!”

“He’s right, you know,” Chris interjects as he walks up to us.

I can’t remember the last time it was just the three of us. It’s been too long. He sits down on the other side of Anna.

I almost want to laugh. Our badass hacker sister is still and will always be our little sister. Even now, we naturally sit on either side of her, protecting her, keeping her safe.

“Clearly, everything is a fucking mess,” Chris states, dryly. Neither Anna nor I respond verbally, merely nodding our heads in agreement.

“We are just marionettes in someone else’s puppet show,” Anna starts. “I shouldn’t have ever let my guard down. Someone was watching me, watching all of us. This whole time, we thought we were adrift at sea, captains of our own ships, but in reality, someone was controlling the current and the wind.”

She pauses. I start to turn to her, to reassure her when she jumps up and spins on her heels to face us. “Fuck! That’s it! Damn it! I’m so fucking blind!”

“What’s it?” Chris asks, rubbing the back of his neck in a telltale sign of stress.

“I need my computer, lots of coffee, and a few hours,” she says as she runs off without any explanation, leaving Chris and me staring at her back in complete bewilderment.

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