I smile blandly at him. “Theo invited me.”
“Where is he?” He looks over my shoulder into the empty Throne Room.
“I don’t know.”
His brows narrow in suspicion. “When are you leaving? You can’t be seen here so close to the coronation. Especially not looking like that.”
I smooth my hand over my messy ponytail and cross my arms. “Or what?”
His scowl deepens. “If you see His Majesty, tell him that I’m looking for him.”
“Okay.” I probably won’t, and to make up for it, I hold out the gift basket. “Are you hungry? Do you want some pineapple?”
He looks at me dismissively. “I’m allergic to pineapple,” he says as he brushes past me down the hall.
“Wait!” I call out, before I even know why I’m doing it. My brain trips over itself trying to remember something important, and then it hits me in the chest like a crashing plane.
I get a flash of Victoria dismissively rolling her eyes—not at me, but at Henry, poison-testing passion fruit on the island.“Pineapple gives you an itchy tongue.”
Graves looks at me over his shoulder. “What?” he asks impatiently.
“I saw the articles about Henry playing football for charity. He looked great,” I say quickly, hoping that I’m wrong.
Graves smiles, his dimples flashing. “He always looks brilliant, doesn’t he?” He nods proudly and walks away, and all the jumbled pieces in my brain fall into place.
All at once, everything makes sense. No wonder Graves is constantly throwing Theo under the bus in favor of his younger brother. It’s not because Henry is “more authentic” or “works harder.”
Henry gets special treatment from the media because his biological father is the press secretary.
I pull out my phone and quickly Google old pictures of Richard Graves. Hidden in the depths of an old royal message board is his high school photo, complete with a mop of black curly hair.
I close my eyes as I’m hit with another memory, this one excruciating: Theo told me that his mom leaked the news of her own divorce in order to bury a story she didn’t want out. Theo’s dad died as a result of trying to cover up that story, and I’d bet anything that it had to do with Alice, Graves, and the child they had together.
I step into the Throne Room and close the door behind me, fighting to keep my breathing steady. My theory was right inall the wrong ways: it’s not Theo who’s ineligible for the throne, but Henry, the only sibling who ever really wanted it.
The door clicks open, and I jump. Theo and Henry walk into the room wearing matching smiles. Henry’s nearly vibrating with excitement. Dread seeps into my veins as he slowly approaches the thrones on the dais.
“Has Theo told you the good news?” he asks in an unsteady voice.
I shake my head, too afraid to ask.
Theo crosses the distance between us, takes the fruit basket from my hands, and places it on the floor. Then he looks at me, relief and excitement written in his eyes and his smile and his easy posture.
“I’ve spent the last several days with my political advisers and every constitutional expert I could get ahold of, and now it’s official.” He grins at me expectantly, but I feel like I’m falling into quicksand. “Before the coronation tomorrow, I’m going to abdicate the throne, and Henry is going to become the king.”
Henry pushes his hair out of his eyes, and with a deep breath that he’s been waiting all his life to take, he sits on the throne.
CHAPTER37
“Henry, leave,” I say. There’s not enough air in the Throne Room.
He blinks in surprise. “I mean, I will this time, but you won’t get away with talking to me like that when I’m the king.” He smirks playfully.
I feel like I might pass out. I rub my sweaty palms on my thighs.
Henry slowly stands up. “Whoa. Weird energy in here.”
“Go,” Theo barks at his brother.
