He was likely right, dammit. “What if one of you is the monarch and I’m more of a shadow monarch? I truly don’t mind doing the work.”
Helena shook her head immediately. “No, James. It won’t work. No one wants anyone else but you.”
I set to arguing the point, because godsdammit, I really didn’t want that throne.
Edwin
I watched James argue with his siblings and felt bad he was once again considering a position he loathed. I knew what the crown had cost him, the aftermath, the nightmares, the trauma of life as king—I’d seen it firsthand. Helped him through it. I wasn’t blind to what he’d survived. All things considered, it amazed me he was willing to live this life again. Had fought for the chance, even. In his shoes, I wasn’t sure if I’d have made the same choice.
Even talking about being king must be incredibly painful for him. If I could remove this from him, I’d do so, but I didn’t see a way for that to happen. If being king was part of his Tasks, then trying to evade the throne would only lead to failure in the end. He was normally better at seeing the overall picture. Maybe his strong hatred for the throne didn’t allow him to fully see the reality.
Even though Helena and Prince Royce had been born into the royal family, they didn’t have the same clout. The same presence. I’d watched arguments that had been in progress for sometimes years suddenly clear up with James just walking into a room. He had an authoritative presence. Granted, I bet he wasn’t like this in his first life, not to the same degree as now. His vast experience had led to part of his confidence. Still, he was a natural.
He could lead this country into something amazing. Under this man’s leadership, we could reach those goals we all aspired to attain.
If we could somehow convince him to take the risk.
I listened with half an ear as he argued with his siblings, trying to use his lethal charm to convince one of them to take the throne. The irony of the situation did not escape me. So many people would love to have the throne—except the three main candidates.
Perhaps this was my Task?
Despite what James kept saying, I didn’t believe riding on his coattails would take me to Paradise as well, not for a second. No, my Task was probably something wholly different. Something I’d failed to do in the first life. I had no idea what it might be. But I did feel part of it was convincing him to take the throne. I didn’t see how he could attain Paradise again while staying a prince.
How to convince him, though?
How did I even know if I was right?
If someone could just give me a list of things I must do in order to attain the end goal, I’d be ever so thankful. Someone take the guesswork out of it, please. I wasn’t a fan of guessing. Mostly because I guessed wrong half the time.
James abruptly stood. “I’m not arguing this anymore. I will be in the training yard, beating things up so I can feel better. Bye.”
Turning on his heel, James disappeared, leaving the three of us around the table, the remains of dinner between us.
Helena sighed, staring after him. “I do feel bad about being pushy. But I’m very sure he needs to be king again.”
“I am as well.” I shrugged. The decision seemed obvious enough that all of us were in agreement. “I think it’s also one thing to assure him, another to back up those promises. If we put our money where our mouths are, we’ll have better luck convincing him. That said…I don’t know if we’ll have time. The protests and talks about making James the next crown prince are very loud. Especially with Victor no longer holding the position of crown prince, and the title itself in jeopardy, people are demanding someone be appointed.”
Prince Royce slumped in his chair. “I’d take it temporarily if it wouldn’t cause such issues to get back off.”
Which it definitely would.
“I’m also not really in the running.” Princess Helena made a face. “Granted, I don’t want to be anymore, but it is rather insulting. I had such little support it’s basically useless. I don’t know if James can run from this. He might be made crown prince by overwhelming majority.”
Entirely possible. “Even the king and queen are discussing it?”
“Oh, especially them. My father has been quite vocal.” Helena rolled her eyes. “I think he’s forgotten the clause is even in the adoption contract.”
I’d suspected as much. “But if they hit him with the news right now that he’s to be the next king…I don’t think he’ll take it. In fact, I’m not sure how far he’ll go to avoid it.”
All three of us shared a look. No one had any suggestions.
Which was very much not good.
Forty-two
Edwin
Knowing James wouldn’t be in the best of moods, I waved off the maids after they drew a bath. I didn’t want anyone else in our rooms tonight. When darkness properly fell, he came in, as I’d expected. He didn’t train in the dark, usually; he preferred a dawn workout, so he’d quit when the light failed. He did smell suspiciously of horse, and I saw some dark hairs on him, so apparently he’d gone to Titan. He didn’t seem all that sweaty, so they must have just ridden around the palace grounds.
