I was all for having a treat as a reward for good work, and we’d certainly earned an apple dumpling, in my not-so-humble opinion.
I did not for one second think Victor would stay quiet. He wouldn’t like the fact that I had taken over one of his projects or gotten the motion carried. It showed very badly on him that people were willing to give me his responsibilities, and that I’d managed to succeed where he had failed for five years. When he learned what had happened here—assuming he was even awake, since it was only noon—there would surely be a temper tantrum of epic proportions. Was I worried? Not even remotely. The whole reason I’d been adopted to begin with was because of his sorry ass.
But I wasn’t going to think of Victor. An apple dumpling was calling my name.
Twenty-one
James
“It’s all going rather well.” I summed up my report with a smile.
Yesterday, after the successful council meeting, Helena had become incredibly busy (we had managed to sneak in our treat though). I was at the stage where all work had been delegated and no one needed to follow up with me yet, so I had a bit of a window in which to update the king and queen. Hence, this meeting in the sunny courtyard off the king’s study.
Honestly, the day was too beautiful to waste. The temperature was perfect, with lazy white clouds sauntering by, the slightest breeze caressing over our skin. It was a precursor to the incredible heat of summer, which none of us looked forward to, but I would enjoy this spring day while I had it.
An array of tea, cakes, and sliced fruit was spread out over the round table in front of me, so I took advantage and bit into an apple slice. Ah, wonderful flavor. The apples had done very well this last crop.
King Patrick beamed from ear to ear while snagging another piece of cake. “I amdelightedby all your progress. You’ve done more in a month than I ever thought possible! I watched you in action and still marvel about how you swung the vote in your favor. That topic has been languishing for years now.”
“I made it personal.” I shrugged, as that was the truth of the matter. “Human beings can’t wrap their heads around the idea of a greater good with much ease. Hard to get their attention to stay on topic. But if you make it personal, where this directly affects them? Oh, they’re very invested. I had a chat with each person, found a way to make it personal to them.”
On my left, Queen Beatrice idly fanned herself with a heavily lacquered fan of stark whites and greens. “My, you went to every single person?”
“Well, not all of them. I knew from the previous council notes who was already on board with the project. I visited the fence-sitters.”
“Ah-ha.” A true, rare smile lit her face. Normally her smiles were used as weapons or to mask some other emotion. Right now, she genuinely looked pleased. “I knew it was the right idea to adopt you. Look at you, solving problems that have plagued us for years.”
I smiled back at her. Instead of adopting me, you should have parented your own children. Your eldest wouldn’t have turned out to be a horrible human being if he’d had twenty percent more attention from his parents.
Then again, considering how much these two did not like each other, was it any wonder they were negligent parents as well?
Although Queen Beatrice seemed to think I was doing all this work for their sakes. Ha! Nothing could be further from the truth. I was doing this for Edwin. I, just like the rest of humanity, moved because something was personal to me. I had to not onlysafeguard myself in order to have any chance of wooing Edwin, but I had to make sure he was integral to the successes of this life so he could attain Paradise with me. All the work I did with him was to succeed in those two goals.
Out of nowhere, the doors leading out here burst open, crashing to either side so hard it risked shattering the glass. I was half out of my chair, hand grasping for my sword—shit, not armed—but then paused, realizing there was no real danger.
Well. Maybe.
Victor was in a fine dander. Sloppily dressed, like he’d thrown on clothes to rush out here, eyes bloodshot, black hair a riot. He looked like prey the cat had dragged in, grown bored with, and abandoned in a bathtub.
“How dare you!” he screamed at his parents, spit coming along with the words. “How dare you cozy up with the very man who’s insulted me! He’s made my name into a laughingstock, and you’re sitting there having tea with him!”
“Victor.” King Patrick sighed, already done with his son’s shit. “You made yourself into a laughingstock.”
Victor flinched and looked at his sire like he couldn’t believe the words he’d just heard.
“Since taking on the role of crown prince”—Queen Beatrice’s expression was of Very Disappointed Mother—“you have successfully destroyed your reputation again and again. You have donenothingto fulfill your duties. Look at this specific situation with the seawalls. You had five years, Victor.Five yearsand absolutely no progress was made on a serious issue impacting all of us. James fixed the situation in less than a month.”
Victor’s eyes cut to me, the hatred shining intensely.
I’ve stared down worse things than you, you upper-class crumpet. You’re all bark, your bite pathetic, and the best thing in life you can do right now is die.
Queen Beatrice snapped her fingers, demanding her son’s attention once more. “You. Eyes here. Let’s be clear, the reason why your duties have been taken from you is becauseyou failed to do them. The reason why we adopted James was becauseyouwere so pathetic and inadequate, we had no choice but to bring in another child who would actually do the work. Hating James does not fix anything, nor does it make sense. You are the one who made this bed.”
Victor had been in the fuck-around stage for five years and liked it. He was now, sadly, in the find-out stage and didn’t like it as much. Boo-hoo, poor princeling.
You could tell I was completely broken up by this.
“So, what, I’m not allowed to be upset about this damn bastard swooping in and claiming all the glory after I’ve done all the groundwork?!”
