“I traded nightmares of sinking boats for flaming airplanes.”
He tucks the throne book under his arm. “For me it’s the volcano, except instead of spewing ash and magma, it’s an eruption of quicksand.”
“How would that even work?”
Henry laughs and pushes his hair out of his eyes. “I don’t know! I wake up in a cold sweat before it kills me.” He reaches for the door, and I put my hand on his to stop him.
“Thanks for coming,” I say, and I mean it. It’s nice to have one royal who’s still willing to talk to me.
Henry smiles, and the dimple really is overwhelming. “I do have one more surprise for you, if you can keep a secret.” He motions for me to follow him, and we tiptoe past stained-glass windows and a sleepy receptionist wearing a waistcoat and tie, through empty corridors, and all the way to my room without being seen.
I glance up and down the empty hallway. “Where’s the surprise?”
“Go in.” He nods, and my heart beats double-time as I twist the handle with sweaty palms. I pull the door open, and Comet is waiting for me on the other side, his tail thumping excitedly.
I don’t even bother fighting the tears as I kneel on the hard floor to hug my dog. I glance over my shoulder at Henry, who is watching me with a grin. “The nurses are going to kill you when they find him in here,” I say.
He stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Do they not teach ‘snitches get stitches’ in America?”
Comet and I climb into the hospital bed, and Henry pulls a chair next to us, puts his feet up on the end of my bed, and flips on the TV. We settle on an old episode ofDoctor Who,and after ten minutes I’ve never been more confused. I turn to Henry to demand an explanation, but he’s already asleep with his head on his shoulder. Twenty minutes later, the mean nurse comes in to check on me and kicks Henry and Comet out with a nasty glare.
Stitches,Henry mouths as she ushers him into the hall. He lifts his fists and dances on his toes like we’re facing off in a boxing match. The nurse slams the door in his face.
I slouch down into my bed and fall asleep with a smile.
CHAPTER31
DAYS UNTIL THE CORONATION:THREE
Despite telling me to use my alone time to think, Henry gives me almost no alone time. The day after he and Comet snuck in to see me, he stops by again, this time with his fifteen-year-old sister, Louise, in tow. Louise has the same fair hair and complexion as Victoria, but her dimples remind me of Henry. She enters the room shyly, half hidden behind her brother’s back.
“We heard you’re getting sprung loose this afternoon, and Louise had an idea.” Henry nudges his sister toward me. In her hands, she’s clutching a small suitcase.
For the first time in days, I feel a surge of adrenaline. I push myself up to my knees. “I’m leaving? Who told you that?”
“Uh… the doctor. Who else? Go on, Louise.”
Louise’s cheeks turn scarlet. “It’s probably a silly idea.”
“You were buzzing to get over here. Just ask,” he says.
Louise’s shoulders are nearly to her chin as she heaves her suitcase onto the foot of my bed. She opens the case to revealenough makeup to make a beauty influencer swoon. “There are cameras swarming the hospital waiting to get the first photo of you, so I thought, if you want, I could maybe do your makeup? It’s a hobby of mine.”
I can’t help but smile. If she didn’t look just like Victoria, I’d have a hard time believing that they’re related. “Oh my gosh, thank you!” I haven’t felt pretty in days.
Louise beams and gets to work, picking out shades to match my skin tone while Henry settles in with the throne book that he borrowed from the library.
“Where’s Brooke and Naomi?” Louise asks as she curls my eyelashes. “I saw the pictures in theEchoand was hoping to meet them, too.”
I glance at the clock. It’s still early, and my jetlagged mother might be sleeping in, but I wish I knew for sure. The first thing I’m doing when I get back to Chicago is buying a new phone. “They’ll probably be here soon if you want to wait.”
“Look up,” Louise says. I do, and she swipes mascara over my lashes. “I have my last dress fitting for the coronation in an hour.”
“How’s that going? The coronation, I mean. The, um, planning of it. It’s still happening?” A flush of heat sweeps over me, and I’m tongue-tied out of nowhere. If the coronation is still going forward, either Theo and I aren’t really married, or I’m about to be crowned queen consort, and I won’t have to spend any more sleepless nights staring at the ceiling, planning my future.
Theo wouldneveragree, but if he did…
Louise waves her hand in the air. “Boring ceremony. Big hat. Stolen jewels. There’s not much to talk about.”
