I thought being lost at sea after a perilous thunderstorm was the coldest and most miserable thing I’d ever experience, but that was before half a dozen furious Brits were testing out the phrase “if looks could kill” on me, slowly freezing the atmosphere in this room with hostile words and frigid glances. The press people especially seem to loathe me, their stares full of bitter accusation. The message is clear: I am a problem to be solved.
“I have canceled all remaining tour appearances,” the tour secretary says now.
Any inclination I might have to apologize is stemmed by Brooke, who is pressing her fingernails into my knee under the table. “Don’t let them blame you,” she whispers.
The communications officer places half a dozen pieces of paper in front of Theo, who has been avoiding eye contact with me since the news of our wedding broke. “We need a story to feed to the press while we deal with this marriage problem. I have prepared a number of statements, and we must decide which one to run.”
Shewrote the statements, andtheywill decide. I might as well not even be here, for all they care about my opinion. “Do you even need to deal with it?” I ask, dodging the daggers thrown from her eyes. “Not that Iwantto stay married—” Theo’s gaze finally lifts to mine, his eyes unreadable. I feel like I’m in free fall. I miss the time when I understood all his expressions. “What I mean is—are we sure we’re actually, legally, married?”
“We are not sure of anything, Ms. Wheeler,” she says tightly.“Which is why we need time.” She turns to Theo. “I recommend that we run the first statement. It will prevent anyone from questioning your decision-making ability.”
“Does everyone in this room think I’m crazy?” Theo asks abruptly.
“Iwouldn’t have done it,” Henry mutters.
“Getting married to a stranger on a whim makes you seemyoung,Your Majesty,” Graves says.
“It’s almost as if a teenager shouldn’t be put in charge of an entire country. No, wait! It’s almost as if people shouldn’t be put on pedestals at all,” Theo says, and I’m confused all over again about his feelings toward his new life, his title, and how I fit into any of it. “I suppose you think Wren tricked me into marrying her?” he asks wryly.
The man on the laptop screen speaks up. “We do not know what to think, as you have not provided us with any justification for this senseless decision.”
“You will be disappointed to learn that Wren didn’t trick me at all. Quite the opposite.”
This revelation garners the biggest response yet, but it’s something I feel more than witness. The air shifts, the tension heightens. If possible, the glares in my direction intensify. It’s strange, to feel so utterly powerless and yet so significant at the same time.
“Even so, statement one is the way to go,” the communications officer replies, nudging the paper into Theo’s direct line of sight and sweeping the rest into a stack, which she taps curtly against the table. “Total denial.”
Theo’s brow furrows as he reads. “This makes it sound like Wren forged the certificate because she’s obsessed with me or something.”
“That’s not explicitly stated.”
“I don’t want to talk about the statement right now. We need to tell Wren the plan for keeping her safe,” Theo says. The communications officer sits, while others shift uneasily in their seats.
“I’ll be fine,” I say quickly. “As long as you don’t paint me as some psycho stalker in your statement, I’ll be fine. It’ll blow over.”
“Tell her,” he says, looking at Graves. When Graves doesn’t speak immediately, Theo’s jaw clenches. “Henry?” He turns to his brother for help.
“It’ll be bad,” Henry confirms.
Theo’s face turns pleading. “Wren, the press will stalk you. They’ll tap your phone, put trackers on your car, and chase you like they did today. They won’t care if it puts your life in danger.”
“I don’t drive in the city,” I say weakly.
“They’ll try to camp outside your dorm room. They’ll film you while you walk to class. They’ll harass your family and friends.”
“For what? A glimpse of my mom power walking in the suburbs? I’m sorry, I don’t see it.”
“Does she know about Dad?” Henry asks quietly.
Graves speaks quickly. “If Wren thinks she can handle it—”
“She can’t,” Theo snaps. “Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, can I ask for a favor?” he says, directing his attention to my parents on the video call.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” my dad says. My heart tilts at the tremor in his voice. I look at the screen and can’t miss the concern in my parents’ eyes.
“Show Wren what’s already started,” Theo says.
The camera leaves my parents’ faces and I catch a shakyglimpse of Wally on the carpet as they carry the phone to a window at the front of the house and direct the camera lens at my front yard. A rock drops in my stomach when I see a handful of reporters camped out on the lawn.
