“Because I’ve sat in rooms for hours negotiating with him and he isn’t what he makes out to be.” I look at her now and see the shell she became some time ago. “His position in the party is at stake, Lise. They’re planning a vote of no confidence.”
“He won’t step down. And his father is supporting him.” She grits her teeth together.
I shrug. “Whatever.”
“What do you mean? ‘Whatever’? This is all because they think Ben killed your brother. If he did, I’ll never forgive you. You shouldn’t have agreed to have him on your team. He should never have been allowed to know all of what he could find out. And it makes sense it was down to him, Blair. All of that and he disappeared.” She sits back down and picks up the glass of wine that Franklyn poured.
I don’t respond. I’ve seen the news, the speculation that Ben was behind Lennox’s murder, the statements from the prison guard who the shooter had apparently confided it. The truth wasn’t known. Micky had already said that there was no evidence behind it, and the only thing propping it up would be money.
Someone was being paid to tell lies and it’s easy to blame the dead.
“You need to move on, Elise. You’re not going to be queen, unless I abdicate and you marry Lachlan, which would look a bit shit given that you’ve fucked the prince and the Prime Minister.” I don’t let my eyes leave her now. I want her reaction, want to feel something from her apart from ambition and greed.
And then I see it. Regret. Not for me or for Lennox. For her. Because she’s never considered Lachlan.
“You’d consider abdicating?”
“According to the same media sources that you rely on, I already have.” I pour the fuel into the forge for rumours.
“But you’re actually thinking about it?”
“I was never brought up to be a politician.” I was a chandelier, designed to sparkle and filter the light, so the reality never appeared too brutal.
I no longer glow.
“This is huge, Blair.”
I feel a flame surge inside me.
“You’re a fool, Elise. You’ll believe anything.”
I hear her sharp inhalation from across the room.
“How can you say that? We’ve known each other for so long, Blair. Friends since we were kids. How can you call me a fool?”
She looks genuinely hurt for a moment then her eyes narrow.
“Because you are one. You want status more than my friendship. There’s no way you’re interested in William Goldsmith as any more than an insurance policy.”
She stands up. “You need to consider your position, Blair. Because it’s becoming a very lonely one.”
I don’t respond, not at first because there are a lot of words I could say. Her face contracts from something that feigns sympathy, to something that shows fear.
Without me, she’s nothing and she knows it. If I sever the fine ties between us, William will no longer be interested. He isn’t her insurance policy; I am.
“The problem is, that when you wield even a little power, everyone wants a piece. And you don’t know who to trust. I don’t know whether Ben betrayed my family or whether he’s dead or who else is standing around a corner concealing a knife and it doesn’t matter, because as long as I have a finger on this crown there will be people wanting to snatch it from me. You come here, with your façade of support, and you’re not thinking of me at all. This is about you.
“It ends now. However long we’ve known each other, we haven’t been friends for a long time. Please leave.”
She freezes, apart from her eyes. They fill with tears and for a moment my chest hurts for her. Elise would pull the bullies away from me when we were at school and I always was in her debt for that, but now I see how she ringfenced me for herself, isolated me so she was the only one I could trust.
“You’re asking me to go?” There’s shock in her words.
“Yes. With whatever agenda you came here with. Take everything you need from the media. Find yourself an English lord with a decrepit house and a cocaine habit; feed off him. Not me.” The last part is cruel and it’s meant to be but for the first time I don’t regret it.
“You’ll regret this, Blair. You need all the friends you can get.” Legs that have become too slender stamp out of the room and I slump down in a chair, facing the fire.
Franklyn arrives a minute later and regards me from the doorway. “Can I get you something, Blair?”
