Bax:
We need you, Reid. Come back where you belong.
We need each other. Neither of us can do this alone.
I don’t know how it changed, but somewhere between a tour bus and a seaside sunset, my priority shifted. It’s not about filling my role to the best of my ability. It’s about her. Making sure she’s safe and confident and happy.
Happy. That won’t come from marrying Markham Grimstad, a man she barely knows. If there was more time, she could decide if they would even fit together, but her sole focus is helping her country thrive by whatever means necessary. She’ll do what she has to because that’s who she is, and if accepting his proposal is the clearest way to accomplish her goals…
A political alliance is not a surrender.
But it’s not a good idea, either.
Derek:
Checking in to see how things are going with Freya.
Elliot:
I’m figuring it out.
Or I thought I was, but it hasn’t been working. We were becoming friends, and then things took a turn I never expected them to take.
Derek:
You’re awake?
Elliot:
Not for much longer.
Derek:
Good. You can’t help anyone if you’re dead on your feet.
Sometimes I swear he can see me. Or he’s in my head. Either way, he has spent his life studying people and reads me better than anyone, even from thousands of miles away. Since I told him about the struggles I went through after Griff died, he knows how easy it is for me to take on responsibility that shouldn’t be mine to bear alone.
Derek:
You know how to do your job, but can I give you some advice?
Elliot:
Hit me with it.
Derek:
Along with trusting yourself, you need to trust the people who are there to help you. You have good men under your command, so use them. And trust Freya as well. She looks delicate, but she has a fighting spirit and a good head on her shoulders. She knows better than anyone what to do. You have a whole team, Elliot.
This isn’t all on you.
How does he always say the right thing? Since the day I met him, he has known exactly what I need to hear.
Freya’s asleep in the next room over, and in a few hours she’ll be ready to face her next challenge, most likely in a way I can’t prepare for because she is always going to do things her way, like Derek said. That’s what makes her great, and who am I to stop her? I’ve been trying too hard to control everything, forgetting that I’m not the one who’s been preparing for a crown my whole life.
I know my place. I need to stay there instead of entertaining thoughts ofmorewhen that’s not something I can have. If Freya can keep a cool head through surprise proposals and unknown threats, I can find a way to do the same, no matter what I’m up against. Trust my team. Trusther.
I need to do better.
