Chapter 112

Nicholas

I stood before the King in his chambers. He was angrily pacing the length of the room. Back and forth, back and forth. Occasionally he would stop to shout at me, but he’d always break himself off, unfinished, and continue pacing.

“How could you think –?”

“You deliberately disobeyed –!”

“What do I even –?”

A few minutes in, his face was turning red, and my mother, the Luna was forced to intervene. She stood in his path to keep him from pacing, then whispered into his ear.

I never totally understood their relationship. My mother was a private person. And though the two of them often gave compliments to each other, any meaningful conversations only went on behind closed doors.

Truthfully, even after knowing them both my entire life, I had no idea if they even liked each other at all, or if their marriage was a show they put on for the world.

My father took a few deep breaths. He nodded at my mother, and then turned to face me.

“You and Julian chose Piper after I specifically told you not to,” he said. Rage crackled under the false calm of his voice, occasionally leading to a twitch in his eyebrow or a downward curl of his lip. “That girl does not belong here.”

“She is honest and genuine, with a sick child we are helping to take care of,” I said, my own anger growing inside of me. “She deserves to be as much – if not more – than anyone else.”

The King threw his hands up.

The Luna stepped forward. “She can be a fine person without being a good Luna, Nicholas.”

“She’s passed nearly every event with flying colors.”

They were being biased because she was common. I wanted to help them see without directly calling them out. To do so would be incredibly dangerous, even for me.

The King’s opinions could never be wrong.

The King huffed in the Queen’s direction. “He’s your son.”

My mother ignored him. “You know, Nicholas, what the weight of the crown can do to good people. It’s not just for the sake of the kingdom that I caution you, but for her sake, too. She cannot bear the weight required. Her goodness? Her kindness? Her spirit? All will be crushed, to say nothing of her little girl.”

As loathe as I was to admit it, in my heart, I knew she spoke true. Piper could be a good and just Luna, but the burden of a cruel world would press down on her. It would wear at her soul, and I alone would not be enough to protect her.

She had enough problems, with her sister and her wolf, and poor little Elva’s illness. She didn’t need the added weight of a near war and a disgruntled people.

“Tell me what you want me to do,” I said, burying the ache in my heart.

“Your favoritism of Piper ends today,” the King said. “You need to show more intimacy with Lilliana, to help raise her popularity. I’ve already discussed this with her –”

“You what?” I gasped.

The King lowered his brow, and I snapped my mouth closed. I hadn’t meant to speak out of turn, but he’d surprised me.

And stoked my anger. He’d speak with Lilliana before his own son?

“We’ve arranged a secret rendezvous between you and Lilliana, during which you will be interrupted by a camera crew. The public will see it all, and know she has your favor.”

“You can’t expect me to actually kiss her,” I said. The disgust in my stomach was brewing into a vile, sour mixture.

“Nicholas,” my mother said. “You will soon marry this woman. Kissing her is the least of what you will be expected to do.”

I knew my duty. It still made me sick.

I wanted to argue. I wanted to raise hell, and demand they let me choose Piper.

But I was my father’s first born son. I had responsibilities to the throne and to the kingdom over myself. The expectations on me made it impossible to lash out in the rebellious way Julian, as the second son, was allowed to.

So I gritted my teeth, and I agreed.

When I arrived at the meeting place, on the patio just outside the dining room, Lilliana was already there, waiting for me. She walked right up to me, no preamble or greeting, and kissed me full on the mouth.

It was an awkward kiss. Her lips were too firm, not malleable at all. Her body was stiff against mine. Her hands sat on my shoulders with no grip. No pulling, or clawing. No passion at all.

This kiss was miles away from the spark I had shared with Piper, when I had pulled her to me in that hallway and we ravaged each other’s mouths. Piper had clung to me like she wanted me inside of her. I had totally lost control of myself to the flames, ready to burn with her in that moment.

Whatever she wanted. Whatever she needed. I would be the one to deliver it and have her screaming my name. Not Julian’s. Mine.

This kiss with Lilliana in comparison was entirely sterile.

I placed my hands on Lilliana’s hips simply because it would be strange to have them dangling at my sides. Maybe this was what she was thinking of too: what we might look like for the cameras.

She didn’t try to deepen the kiss. Nor did she try to pull away.

So I did the same. We stood there, two statues, pressed together at the lips. And we’d stay that way until the cameras happened upon us.

I counted the seconds until this nightmare would end. It felt like centuries. Eons.

Then finally, I heard the bustle of the camera crew.

“Look! There they are!”

Finally.

The crew rushed out onto the patio with us. Lilliana and I broke apart. Lilliana appeared appropriately embarrassed, covering her mouth with her hand and lowering her eyes demurely. But there was no blush in her cheeks. No tremor in her shoulders.

Lilliana was a world-class faker.

I was certain I looked unhappy, because that was how I felt. I wanted for the world to be anywhere but where I was, with the producer jamming a microphone toward my face.

“A secret lover’s rendezvous!” the producer said with glee. “Does this mean Lilliana is your choice, Prince Nicholas? Do the other girls even stand a chance?”

When I didn’t answer with more than a sigh, Lilliana stepped in front of me, placing herself at the microphone.

“He’s so sweet, the things he says to me in private,” Lilliana said. “And the way he kisses…” She pretended to be embarrassed again, lowering her head. “He’s a very good kisser.”

I was going to be sick after this. There was no other way around it.

The producer tried to go around Lilliana to ask me more questions, but Lilliana was an effective blocker, always inserting herself along his path.

Inside my jacket pocket, my phone began to vibrate. I removed it and saw a message from Mark that began with 911. An emergency.

Heart tightening, I immediately opened it. Had something happened to Piper or Elva?

The message read, Piper’s twin spotted on the grounds. Come to Piper’s room.

I moved at once. To hell with this publicity stunt. Piper could be in actual danger.

I sidestepped Lilliana and the entire camera crew and rushed back inside.

“Prince Nicholas!” Lilliana called after me. I ignored her, not caring how it would look for the watching cameras. Let them think I was rejecting her. What did any of this ruse matter?

I had to get to Piper and Elva. I had to see with my own two eyes that they were okay.

Then and only then could I deal with the fallout.