“Your Highness,” Elliot says after glancing down at his phone. He meets my gaze again, his expression tight. “It’s almost time.”
I might be sick. “Do I have to?”
“No,” Derek replies, “but I doubt the people will be very happy if you’re not on camera when you find out you won the election.”
“Camera!” The word squeaks out of me as awareness hits me hard. Elliot never got a chance to send for Runa, and in my panic I destroyed the haphazard braid holding my hair back. It is a wild mess around my shoulders now, and I am about to beg Elliot to fix it when Bonnie and Carissa hurry to my side and start wrangling my waves.
I keep my eyes on Elliot as they work, wishing he were the one running his fingers through my hair but grateful that my friends are here to help.I love you, I mouth to him.
You are perfection, he mouths back. I do not have his lip reading skills, but he makes it easy to understand his words because they are written all over his face.
I lift an eyebrow.That was never in question.
I can’t wait to see how it feels to kiss a queen.
Whether that is actually what he said, my face heats so hot that I worry everyone will be able to read my thoughts. This man…I can’t wait to see how it feels to kiss a king, I mouth back.
Elliot grins, but beside him, Derek groans and palms his face.
Apparently he can read lips too. What, is this a more common skill than I realized?
“It is not my fault you cannot mind your own business,” I tell Derek in Candoran.
He rolls his eyes, which prompts Elliot to say, “You are the one who pushed us together,” in Candoran as well, and the shapes of the sounds are more beautiful on his lips than they should be. I am impressed by how much he has picked up in the couple of months he has been here but not surprised. Elliot is a man of many talents, particularly when it comes to his tongue.
Oh, I need to keep my thoughts away from his tongue unless I wish to melt into the floor.
Glancing at the rest of our friends, who all do their best not to look interested in whatever the three of us are saying, Derek seems to think through his words carefully. As always, his Candoran is almost flawless as he says, “I knew you would be good for each other, but I never expected this.”
Neither did I, Derek.
Bonnie and Carissa finish tucking a final braid around the bun at the back of my head, looking rather pleased with themselves for finally finding a way to help me. I hug them both, and then I have no more excuses to delay my entrance into the conference room.
“You can do this,” I tell myself, wishing I sounded more confident; right now, I am a terrible motivator. “You…” The panic is returning, leaving me dizzy. “You can…”
Suddenly Elliot is at my side, a fiery look in his eyes. He is the only thing I can see. “If you don’t go out there,” he says slowly, “I willmakeyou go out there. I’m not letting you miss out on your future just because you’re scared.” His eyes are saying so much more, but he does not give me a chance to try to interpret because he bends down and moves in, as if he is about to throw me over his shoulder like he did in Invem.
I applaud myself for only flinching a little and recognizing that he would not do something so cruel. Losing the election would be mortifying; being carried into the room over my bodyguard’s shoulder would be a thousand times worse. Ignoring his tiny smirk, I stand as regal as I can. “That will not be necessary at the moment, Mr. Reid.” But he may need to carry meoutof the conference room when all this is over. I might not survive the evening.
That look is still in Elliot’s eyes, and I know now what he is trying to tell me.No matter what, I go where you go.
My shoulders relax.
Everything will be okay.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Freya
Everyoneintheroomstands when I enter. It is something I am used to, particularly when it comes to the press, but as I stride across the room, I feel out of place. Not because I chose to forgo a tiara today or because my hair is not as polished as it usually is when I face the world.
But seeing a room full of people bowing to me as if I am better than them makes it very clear that I do not deserve the life I was given. I feel entirely inadequate.
My parents, adorned in crowns, sit at the front of the room, proud and confident and so sure of their place in life. I always thought I was just like them, but after the last few weeks, I am not certain of anything when it comes to who I am and where I should be. Now I understand why my brothers have always seemed to float through life, though they are good at looking as regal as our parents as they stand behind Mum and Dad.
Markham is in the middle of a formal bow when I reach the podium where the winner will give his or her speech, and I gently touch his uninjured arm. “Please,” I beg him, shaking my head when he looks up at me in confusion. “Of all people, you should never bow to anyone.”
As my friends find seats on the front row, Elliot takes his place behind me on the stage, his expression as stoic as it was the first time I met him. But he cannot hide the pride from his eyes as he slowly scans the room. I feel his approval down to my toes.
