Chapter 21
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 am delighted by 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 only safeguard 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 done nothing to fulfill your duties. Look at this specific situation with the seawalls. You had five years, Victor. Five years and 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 because you failed to do them.
The reason why we adopted James was because you were 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?!”
Damn, he was loud. My eardrums were already ringing. “What groundwork? Everything you did was either wrong or so out of date it was unusable. I had to start from scratch.”
Victor whirled on me, still screaming. “Lies!”
“Go look up the proposal that was passed, if you don’t believe me.” I shrugged because I knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t actually care what had passed. He wanted a scapegoat and was determined to make me into it. “We used an entirely different set of plans.”
King Patrick’s voice grew deeper, a sure sign his own temper was fraying at the knot. “Victor, whatever your opinion of James, here’s the truth of the matter: We do not find you to be fit to be crown prince.”
Victor heard that royal we and his anger immediately segued into fear. The redness in his face drained away, leaving him a sickly yellow-grey. “Wh-what? You’re not replacing me!”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do at the moment”—King Patrick sighed—“but keeping you as crown prince isn’t doing anyone any favors.
You’re not even trying to go into your office anymore.
You wake up in the afternoon, eat something, wash and dress—and then you’re right back to your parties and gambling.
It’s pathetic, Victor. You are pathetic.
You have nothing to show for your life. You have a single month to straighten up and start fulfilling your duties.
I suggest you start today. Failure to do so will result in your immediate removal from your position. ”
Victor looked…panicked. Panicked about covered it.
As he should. The status of crown prince had offered him a great deal of protection, clout he didn’t deserve, and more money than a standard prince—which was why he’d been able to afford all his gambling, parties, and whoring for so long.
Without the title of crown prince, his budget would be reduced by half.
He seemed to have forgotten the extra money was meant to be a reward of sorts, to compensate for all the work and responsibility that came with the position. He’d been given the money for a reason but done nothing to earn keeping it.
He could go piss up a rope and suck the wet end for all I cared.
Victor didn’t say a single word. He turned around and staggered back the way he’d come, looking as if he’d just lost his soul.
The shock of hearing his father’s threat was genuine and made me wonder—did it take an ultimatum to get through to him?
I knew his parents had tried to wrangle him and given him punishments, but nothing had seemed to stick.
Was an ultimatum the only thing able to impact him?
I’d been accused of being hardheaded, but Victor took the fucking cake.
Queen Beatrice’s fan snapped shut, high spots of color in her cheeks. “I cannot believe that son of mine. Patrick, do you really think giving him another chance will work?”
“I hope so, now that James can light a competitive fire under his ass,” King Patrick corrected, also looking upset.
“And he’s going to hit certain benchmarks before I’m willing to even consider reinstating him.
If he doesn’t start attending his meetings and getting proposals passed, then he’ll lose his position entirely.
My hands are tied on that, he must start doing the work.
I think, hmm, at least three proposals.”
Queen Beatrice squeaked in alarm. “Wait, three?! Isn’t that too much?”
“Our son has had years to get these passed,” King Patrick pointed out sourly.
“James managed to get three proposals passed in a month and he didn’t have any established backing, drafts of the proposals made up, or any groundwork already laid.
If he can do that, then why can’t our son get three things done that he’s supposedly spent years on? ”
Man made a very good point. I wasn’t trying to show anyone up—I mean, I was, but it didn’t take much effort to manage—but Victor really hadn’t been trying. He’d not even gone through the motions of trying.
King Patrick turned to me. “James, do you think it’s too much? What benchmarks would you set?”
“I can give you my opinion, but honestly? I wouldn’t waste the time.
Even if you somehow browbeat Victor into the work, it would be a short victory.
Your son doesn’t like to work. That’s the long and short of it.
He’s lazy, he doesn’t want responsibility, and nothing you do or say will change his nature. ”
Both parents winced but notably didn’t disagree.
“Of your three children, Helena is by far the best candidate.”
Queen Beatrice screeched, “Helena?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve been working with her on my proposals.
” I gave Queen Beatrice a look like this should be obvious.
“I didn’t know the players here, after all, or who all to confer with.
Helena has been a tremendously helpful partner and she’s been working with me side by side, especially on the seawalls project.
In fact, she was in council with me and managed to turn the tide of the vote in our favor. ”
King Patrick gave his wife a shrug. “She did do a good job in council. I watched her work. But James told her what to say—”
“I did not tell her what to say,” I cut in. “She doesn’t need me holding her hand. She knew what to say because she spearheaded the project with me.”
Look at them, two gaping fish without a word to say. Truly, what the hell was wrong with these two? They were okay as rulers, but damn, they sucked as parents.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it.
” Though I doubted the words would penetrate.
Still, had to be said. “The only child you have who’ll make a decent ruler is Helena.
Victor’s a lost cause. Royce can’t people enough to get the job done.
He’s not stupid or lazy, he’s just bad with people, and trying to force him into a role dependent on diplomacy is doomed to failure.
Helena, though, has all the natural talent of a leader.
She’s smart, good with people, and quick on her feet.
I saw her adapt things on the fly during the council meeting and do so successfully.
Give me even a year to teach her what I know, and she’ll be formidable in her own right. ”
Queen Beatrice still looked flabbergasted, at a complete loss for words. King Patrick, though, seemed more thoughtful. Like he was truly mulling over what I’d said.
Maybe I could get Helena on the throne after all. It wasn’t like they had much choice in the matter. Their sons couldn’t be depended on and they couldn’t make me king, which only left them one choice. As obvious as it seemed, I’d still have to somehow convince them. Ha, fun times.
If Edwin was any less cute, I might have second thoughts on being prince. It was certainly a lot of work. He was incredibly cute, though, so I guessed it was worth it all in the end.
I cleared my throat and deliberately changed the subject. “Now, let’s talk about other proposals I want to make. I’ve got something of a list. Let’s start with…”
Even as I spoke, I made a mental note to assign someone to shadow Victor.
I didn’t know what he’d do next (he didn’t get this ultimatum in my first life since he’d died and taken himself out of the running), so it was a question whether he’d listen for once or let his temper get the better of him.
What I did know, though, was that whatever he did next? It would surely be stupid.