Page 113 of Fake Fae-Ancée

I sat up in bed, stared down at him. Yuri propped himself up on one elbow, shrugging.

"Again??"

"Nicolai makes the better king anyway. We both always knew that." He threw me a hooded look. "I secured the line. My family is back in charge. That's all I needed to do."

He reached behind himself, pulling his phone out of his back pocket, swiping.

"Here, have a look."

A video flared on the display. A clip from a news program. Some giant-ass hall, probably in the Helsinki Winter Palace, or some other place where a designer with unlimited access to stucco and gold leaf had gone completely haywire. The room was packed with people and reporters, cell phones and television cameras and countless noblemen, lords and ladies, watching the scene as the community of Bears pledged allegiance to their new king Nicolai Kalinin.

"Oh..." I said.

"Turns out, being king of Bears is easier after all when there's no Fae bride involved." He put his cellphone away. "For some reason the Bears are much more accepting of that, prophecy or not."

Swallowing hard, I looked at him. "I'm not your bride or anything."

"Yeah. But when I had to decide between this and you, the choice was easy."

I stared, throat tight, eyes burning. I couldn't stop my chin from quivering.

"You're kidding me."

Yuri shook his head once. "Nope. Not kidding. I abdicated fair and square. Renounced all claims. We all signed various papers, made oaths and ate a symbolic salmon. King of the Bears is now Nicolai Kalinin VII. Long may he watch over the Bears."

"You're not king?"

"Hello? Are you listening?"

I quipped a short laugh. "So the whole shebang was for nothing?"

"I wouldn’t say that." His hand found mine, our fingers intertwining. "My family is back on the throne. The usurper is dead. A great wrong has been righted. Plus, Nox doesn’t want to kill you anymore. You should count that as a win."

Still, I shook my head. This was all just too absurd.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"I would've looked horrible in a crown," he said. "I'd much rather spend my life getting on your nerves forever."

"It's a little late for that, isn't it?" I said in a hoarse voice. "We've both signed. The divorce is through. Rien ne va plus and all that."

Yuri cracked a broad smile. He reached behind him, rummaged around on the floor beside the bed where he had probably thrown down his bag. He rummaged some more, then found what he was looking for.

"You know what's the most important thing about divorce papers?" He held it up, the stack of papers we had both signed. I took it as if in a trance. "You have to file them, too."

I looked at the papers.

I blinked at Yuri.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Come on, McKenn. You're usually much faster."

I held up the papers. Pointed to them. "Are you telling me that..."

"…as long as we don't file them — and I mean send them to our lawyers setting the legal machine into motion and thus making those papers final — I'm still your loving and devoted husband." His smile broadened some more.

I deflated into my pillow.

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