Page 94 of Legacy of Glass
“But what of the Legacy?” he tried desperately once he had regained control. “That was the reason for my betrothal to Olivia in the first place. Do you really want to risk losing its power by swapping brides?”
“Of course we won’t just swap them without any ceremony about it,” his mother said. “The scholars have finished deliberating, and they believe that it will be fine as long as we have another ball and do the whole thing over again.”
Julius frowned. The scholars had reached a consensus? Why hadn’t he been informed? Had his parents purposely kept the information from him given his mother’s awareness of his feelings toward Olivia?
“We’ll expand on the story of your rescue of Marigold,” his father said. “We’ll say that the two of you are in love and that she was intended as your betrothed from the beginning, but she was abducted on the night of the ball. We’ll tell them that Olivia is a close friend of Marigold and stepped in to placate the Legacy, intending only to help her friend and the kingdom. That’s very close to the truth, anyway. The people will understand that your and Olivia’s ruse was intended to fool the Legacy, not them. We’ll say the two of you have never been more than friends, but that you’ve been working together this whole time to locate Marigold. You finally succeeded at locating her, and you were so desperate to rescue her that you rushed in yourself. It’s a romantic tale and won’t do Olivia any harm in the public’s eyes, so you needn’t worry about that. She will be a selfless hero who worked tirelessly to save her friend. And you will be a desperate lover, doing your duty to protect your kingdom, even while you worked in the shadows to find your true betrothed. We’re already organizing the new ball for tonight.”
“Tonight?” Julius and Marigold cried in unison.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s not as fancy as the last one,” the king said shortly.
The queen’s mouth twisted, clearly pained by the necessity of putting on a less than stellar social event.
Julius’s mind raced to find the flaws in his parents’ plan. He was sure they must be there—they had put the whole thing together under pressure and at unbelievable speed. There had to be flaws.
But Julius’s growing desperation didn’t help him to think clearly. He wasn’t as convinced as his father that the public would accept the story the king had concocted. But by the time that became clear it would be too late. Olivia would have been sent away—with Cade, no less, apparently—and he would be tied to Marigold. Given the current mood in the room, he wouldn’t be surprised to hear the wedding was already being planned for the following week. Autumn was the traditional season for weddings, after all, given all the betrothals that began during the summer social season.
“Father,” he began, having run out of arguments. He had no options left except to refuse to participate in the outrageous scheme—and to keep refusing no matter what they threatened.
But before he could state his refusal, the door of the small receiving room burst open, and Daphne stormed in, an enormous mouse trotting behind her.
“There you are!” she exclaimed. “Why is this palace so enormous?”
“Excuse me,” the king said coldly, “but this is a private meeting.”
“I don’t care,” Daphne said calmly. “I need to speak to Julius.”
Julius ignored his parents, hurrying to Daphne’s side. “What is it?” he asked, alarm spiking through him. “Where’s Olivia?”
“That’s just it,” Daphne said, clearly concerned. “I can’t find her. Mildred came to my room and?—”
“Mildred walked to your room? Alone?” Julius cried. “But she never leaves Olivia’s suite.”
“Exactly!” Daphne said, clearly gratified that he understood the enormity of what had happened. “So I went back to Olivia’s suite with her to try to find my cousin, and she was gone.”
The queen cleared her throat awkwardly. “I didn’t expect her to respond so promptly, but it’s most considerate of her.”
“What do you mean, Mother?” Julius asked, his voice icy. “What have you done?”
“While Lord Emerson was…explaining the situation to Marigold, I thought it would be best to send Lady Olivia a note,” his mother said. “You were probably too distracted to see me slip out for a moment.”
Cold fury ripped through Julius. Before he had agreed—before they had even finished discussing the situation—his mother had attempted to preempt his decision.
“How dare you,” he said, his low voice so loaded with his fury that his mother turned white and fell back a step.
“Your mother was perhaps a little precipitate,” his father said in a measured tone, “but there’s no harm done. If Lady Olivia has already left the palace, she obviously doesn’t mean to cause trouble, which is a relief. We must all work together if we’re going to see Sovar safely through this crisis.”
“Excuse me,” Daphne said with as much icy dignity as Julius had ever displayed. “I wasn’t finished speaking. Olivia wasn’t only missing from her suite, but her bedchamber was in chaos. Her possessions were thrown everywhere, like someone had searched the room in a hurry—or there had been a fight.”
“What?” Julius asked sharply, stepping back toward Daphne.
The queen shifted uncomfortably. “If she’s already gone, she must have packed in a hurry. I can understand if she didn’t feel the need to worry about the state of the items she was leaving behind. It’s reasonable she might feel a little hurt.”
“Someone will need to track her down and smooth any ruffled feathers,” his father said, his brow creasing. “We don’t want her causing trouble. But that can wait for after the ball. Once the new betrothal is official, we can have someone?—”
“It absolutely cannot wait,” Julius said, his voice and stance as implacable as stone. “If you will not search for Olivia, I will do so. Do I really have to remind you that you’ve already made this mistake once before?” His eyes flicked to Marigold.
“I assure you she hasn’t been abducted by Lord Strathmore,” his father said in a tone of strained patience. “We already have him in custody.”
