Page 143 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“Hello,” I said quietly. It was the first time I’d been alone with him that evening.

“Hi.” He cleared his throat. “How are you?”

“I’m well.” I smiled, genuinely. “I finally managed to get Shehryar away from the wall.”

He smiled back. It was small, but it reached his eyes. “I saw.”

I felt like the new kid at school who had been complimented by someone in my class. Wary and pleased all at once. “How are you feeling?”

He rubbed a hand over his cleanly-shaven jaw. “Nervous, actually.”

I was surprised by his honesty. “Why?”

“I…wrote my speech for you. But I’m not convinced it’s good enough anymore.”

The cogs got caught in my brain, stuttering in the same spot after he’d jammed a stick between them. I wasn’t given the chance to pull it loose as someone spoke through a microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Dames and Dukes,” a woman said as the music died away. “May we please have your attention as the seven royal households take to their crests.”

Everyone went quiet, and simultaneously, all the royals turned to face the stairs of the platform leading directly up to their crest. I automatically held my chin high and followed Kareem up the three steps before Jahandar’s circular crest. My ears buzzed from the afterquakes of his bombshell, but I stood to his left and did my best to resist searching his unrevealing expression.

With all seven families in place, facing the audience, King Rami and Queen Leila stepped forward with microphones in their hands. The rest of Touma’s royals lingered a step behind—the Dowager Queen on King Rami’s side, Prince Arsh next to her and Adam standing at the end. That left Kai and Fay to stand on Queen Leila’s left.

If the significance of Kai’s position next to his mother wasn’t obvious, then the change in his royal tunic was. It was still black, but rather than a red sash across his waist, it was a light blue matching the flower decorations. And the buttons and plaited ropes decorating his tunic were silver.

In other words, he was dressed in the uniform of a Touman crown prince. And he looked gorgeous.

“…and we thank everyone who has participated in these past two weeks,” Queen Leila closed her speech with a smile as bright as the silver sparkle of her dress, “for making the 875th Anniversary of The Peace such a special and memorable celebration.”

A roar of claps and cheers erupted through the hall. While clapping along, my gaze clashed with Kai’s darker one, and a smile pulled at my lips. His eyes glittered knowingly, though his relaxed expression remained as the version of him I had once called Orange. It was crazy how long ago that felt and how far we had come since.

“Now, as for Touma’s pledge this year,” King Rami said as the cheers settled, “we are happy to announce that His Highness, Prince Arsh—with the support of all six other royal households—will initiate and see through a Change of Law proposal for the Legitimacy and Marriage Act of 22 PR. For a law that no longer represents what family, marriage, and legitimacy now mean in our society has no place in any royal household either. It is long overdue an update.”

A murmur of curiosity filtered through the applauds. But so did several nods of agreement.

“And now,” the Queen said, “we would like to invite His Majesty, King Kareem of Jahandar, to step forward and seal another leaf over this year’s celebrations.”

There was nothing about Kareem’s speech that indicated he had written it for me. He thanked those who had made the celebrations possible, he made the typical jokes here and there, he talked about the progression we were making collectively to a better world. Not once did he refer to me.

Until the end.

“Before I announce Jahandar’s pledge, I would like to take a moment to gloat,” he said with a light grin and chuckles bubbled through the air. “This year, for our annual royal game, Crown Princess Esmeralda and I were paired together in a team. And my sister and I won.”

I heard the split-second noise of cheering, but my ears went numb as the pounding behind my ribcage grew silent. It didn’t restart.

He called me “his sister.” In public. Not his heir.

Kareem grinned around the room. “It was a reminder of the days we used to play in the corridors of the palace, and a reminder that I ought to use the gym more often.” More laughter travelled the Grand Hall. “But more than that, it was a moment for us to bond again as family.”

His voice took on a softer, sincere tone. “In the rush and intensity of politics and running government, it has become far too easy to forget that we are siblings. Work becomes central and we don’t stop to reminisce our childhood nor create new memories. But at the end of the day, we are there for each other even though it may not always be obvious that the unconditional support is there. That is what being family means, no matter what form it comes in.”

My head was ringing again, but the hall was pin-drop silent.

“However, there are many children in Jahandar and in all of Neves, who like my sister and I, have lost their parents in one shape or another, and do not have the supportive family system they need to thrive. It was something the late Queen—our mother—cared about immensely, and it is something Crown Princess Esmeralda has dedicated so much of her time to as well.

“Therefore.” Kareem lifted his chin. “Jahandar pledges seven billion Raal to set up the Amara-Ayla Foundation, which will provide grants and loans to shelters, schools, and universities to support and guide orphans and abandoned children with their education and life choices, while also giving them the chance to have normal childhoods with fully funded trips with their found families.”

Amara-Ayla…as in…for mother and me?

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