25. Soren
SOREN
Apparently, all I’d needed was one terrifying night in jail to forget the grudge I had against my father. As soon as I entered the hotel suite and saw him pacing by the bed, I once again became the little boy who’d cried in the arms of his father when he’d been rescued from the dumbwaiter.
“Father!” I cried and walked right into his arms when he opened them. “You’re really here!”
“Son.” He clutched me close to his chest, patting my hair gently. “Of course I came. I trust Bastian, but I wouldn’t take any chances with your future. I’ve already done wrong by you once and vowed by your mother’s grave that I will make it right.”
I clamped my eyes shut and inhaled the familiar scent of him. Over the years, as I got older, the hugs became fewer, but I couldn’t blame him alone. I’d reached a certain age when I preferred to seek comfort in the arms of a lover rather than my father.
Although it wasn’t the same thing.
My father’s hug couldn’t ease the ache in my chest that it wasn’t Jude holding me. Jude, who’d been at the police station, hired a lawyer for me, then disappeared when he found out who I really was.
Or maybe he’d left because of how long the police had taken to process the new evidence that showed I had nothing to do with the drugs.
Thanks to Phoenix, who’d insisted on questioning last night’s workers at the club again, Roger, the bartender, had recalled seeing Evan and one of the bouncers talking throughout the night.
The bouncer had caved when Phoenix confronted him and told him that the surveillance footage might have been tampered with locally, but it was only a matter of time before the security company provided the backup stored in the cloud.
He’d spilled his guts, denying he knew beforehand what Evan had planned.
He thought Evan only wanted to teach me a lesson for interfering with his relationship with Martin.
He’d confessed that he’d given Evan the spare key to my locker.
Once he’d found out what Evan really did, he’d tampered with the surveillance footage to hide his involvement.
Before I left the station, Aaron had confirmed that Evan had been taken in for questioning and was unlikely to be released. He was facing several charges, including possession of a controlled substance and planting false evidence.
By the time I’d been released, Jude and his lawyer had already left.
I’d wanted to go after Jude right away, but Bastian had forbidden it.
The journalists lined up outside, shouting questions at us, also made it impossible for me to slip away on my own.
I’d had no option but to return to the hotel where my father waited.
I’d had no idea meeting him again would be so emotional.
“I would ask you how you have been, but I think it is unnecessary considering the reason we are here.” Father patted me on the shoulder and released me. “Let me get a good look at you.”
“Father, I’m fine, I promise.” I turned around slowly so he could assess me. “It was all a misunderstanding, and the charges have been dropped. You really didn’t have to leave the country to handle this personally.”
“A misunderstanding? You were framed, Soren. Do you know the kind of penalty that comes with drug offenses?”
I shuddered because Aaron had explained it to me in the gentlest of voices, and it’d still sounded horrible.
“It boggles the mind how you got yourself into this mess, Prince Soren,” Bastian said, walking over to sit primly in one of the oversized chairs close to the French doors that led to the balcony.
“I swear I really am innocent this time,” I said. “I’ve been working hard for the past month. I have a home and a job. I’ve been responsible! It’s not my fault that Evan lost his mind after he was rude to me and the gentleman he had set his sights on broke up with him because of it.”
Father’s face paled. “Just what have you been doing for work, Soren? Should I prepare myself for a scandal?”
“I worked at a club as a server. Nothing more. Or is the idea of a royal working a menial job a scandal? Might I remind you that I am practically a commoner with a useless title as prince.”
“Your title is not useless.” Father gestured to the couch. “Have a seat. We have much to discuss.”
Sitting was not easy when all I wanted was to find Jude and explain, but the sooner I had this conversation with Father, the sooner I would be able to leave.
I sat at the very edge of the sofa in the corner, prepared to leave just as soon as my father had finished chewing me out for getting into yet another scandal.
“You have changed,” Father said. “Of all my children, you were the most agreeable.”
I laughed softly. “You mean I used to nod and go along with whatever I was told was best for me?”
“Soren—”
“You know it’s the truth, Father.” I clasped my hands in my lap, digging my nails into my skin.
“I grew up being told I was the third prince and thereby useless, so I squandered my years on frivolity and not learning responsibility. Then my brothers passed away, and I was told I was now the new crown prince, so I went along with that too and let everyone push me into a role that they never prepared me for. And then—and then, when I made the simple mistake of trusting the wrong person, you all told me I was a traitor who had betrayed my country and therefore was no longer welcome there. Well, I’ve been on my own for almost five months, and I’ve learned that I am so much more than what anyone else wants me to be.
First and foremost, I am a person who deserves to make my own choices. ”
“What do you want then, Soren?” Father asked softly.
I want to find Jude and remind him that I love him despite lying to him.
“I want to go back in time and tell the people closest to me about who I really am.” I hung my head. “But I can’t. The damage is already done, and I’m not even sure if I can fix it.”
“That’s right. Bastian told me about a man. Is he the one of whom you speak?”
“Yes. I’m in a relationship with a simple man who works with his hands and who cares about me. He’s taught me how to survive on my own, and I just want to be with him. Am I allowed to be with the man who makes me happy?”
“Soren, I would never stop you from loving someone,” Father said carefully, his gaze shifting to Bastian as they communicated silently. He sighed. “But you must love him from Belvaria. The crown prince cannot reside in another country permanently.”
“What crown prince? You had them strip me of my title, remember?”
“Soren,” Bastian replied. “His Majesty has initiated proceedings to overturn the judgment rendered against you. Your conviction for treason will be vacated and expunged from the royal record, while the decree removing you as crown prince will be formally revoked. In the eyes of the Crown and the law, your title, rank, and standing will be restored in full.”
Shock radiated through me as I stared from Bastian to my father. “What? How’s that possible?”
“Your father had doubts about what happened, so he secretly ordered an investigation,” Bastian explained.
“The official evidence had appeared convincing, but certain details never sat well with His Majesty. Your relationship with Felipe began too conveniently, and the information later attributed to your carelessness was too precise to have been obtained by chance.”
My stomach tightened. “What did they find?”
“Just as we suspected, Felipe did not enter your life by accident.” Bastian’s expression hardened. “The relationship was orchestrated from the beginning. He was introduced to you as part of a deliberate effort to gain your trust and remove you from the line of succession.”
I shook my head. “By whom?”
“The chancellor.”
The room seemed to tilt. “No.”
“I’m afraid so,” Bastian said. “The investigation uncovered correspondence, financial records, and communications tying him directly to the scheme. The chancellor had access to the same intelligence, and he was the one passing sensitive information to Rosenmark.”
My chest tightened until it hurt. “Why would he do that to me? I know many of the people in the court didn’t believe me capable of replacing my brother, but that is cruel. I was not only stripped of my title but sent away, never to set foot back into my home country again.”
“And he will pay dearly for it,” Father said, his voice firm.
“The chancellor had his heart set on his daughter, Isolde, becoming queen through her engagement with your brother. When he passed away and you assumed the role of crown prince, he knew that would no longer be the case since you were gay. He orchestrated the whole thing to take you out of the picture to pave the way for Isolde to marry your younger brother when he came of age.”
I wrapped my arms around my middle as tears blurred my vision.
Because of greed, twice now I had been set up by those I’d let get close to me.
First, when Felipe entered my life pretending to love me while helping destroy everything I had been raised to protect.
And now Evan, who was practically a stranger.
Each time, I had been the easiest person to blame.
The foolish prince.
I’d certainly earned that title.
But no more.
“Soren, you are the crown prince of Belvaria,” Father said.
“You’ve been through a lot, and that might cloud your decision about what you plan to do with the title.
Still, Belvaria is your home, and I hope you see that now, more than ever, you owe it to yourself to prove that you are suitable for the position and not let them win. ”
“What I plan to do with the title?”
“You just said that you were never given a choice before. This time, I am allowing you to choose whether you want to retain your position as the future king of Belvaria.”
I swallowed hard, already feeling the weight of the position settle across my shoulders. He said he was giving me a choice, but was it really one? If I walked away, wouldn’t I disappoint my mother? My brothers? Every heir who had come before me and carried the responsibility until it became mine?
Five months ago, I had accepted my fate without a fight. I had handed over my title because I’d been made to believe I never deserved it in the first place. At the time, crown prince had been something not meant for me but had fallen into my lap due to a crisis.
I understood more now.
I knew what groceries cost. I knew what happened when bills arrived faster than money.
I knew people could work long hours and still have to choose which expense mattered most. I had met so many youths who had nowhere safe to sleep because the people meant to protect them had turned their backs on them.
I thought about Halo House and the way Phoenix fought to protect the vulnerable by opening the doors of the home his late husband had willed to him so that others could have a safe place to grow.
I thought about Jude, laboring tirelessly in his workshop from sunup to sundown, and how he would never have been able to own a home without it being willed to him.
I thought about how much people carried while the people in power who could make a difference ignored them.
And it changed what the title meant to me. It was an opportunity to be the change I wanted to see.
“Maybe five months ago I would have turned my back on the title,” I said slowly. “But I understand now. I want to serve my country well, to rule not because I was born first in line but because the people deserve someone who will pay attention.”
My father’s smile wobbled and tears filled his eyes. He nodded slowly, a laugh spilling from his lips. “And an excellent king you will be someday. Now we will return to Belvaria and you will learn how to serve your people well.”
The thought should have filled me with nothing but joy.
Instead, Jude’s face came to mind. I had tried calling him several times from the car on the way to the hotel, but he hadn’t answered.
I knew he was more than likely angry and hurt.
Either way, I couldn’t leave things between us like this.
Not after everything he had done for me.
Not after he had become home when I thought I no longer had one.
Not when I loved him.
Not when no one deserved to be my consort more than the Daddy who’d grounded me and made me into the version of me who felt ready to learn how to become the kind of king who would make a nation prosper.
Phoenix.
He was the only one I could count on to help me. If he wasn’t mad at me too for keeping the secret from him.
“Father, I will return to Belvaria with you, but there is one thing I need to ask first.”
Before anyone could question me, I lowered myself to my knees before him.
“Soren,” Father said immediately. “Get up.”
I remained where I was, bowing my head with the respect due not only to my father but to my king.
“Your Majesty, I ask your permission to bring the man I love home with me.”
The room fell silent.
“He gave me shelter when I had nowhere to go,” I continued. “He cared for me when I had nothing to offer him, and he loved me without knowing who I was. I do not want to return to Belvaria without him.”
“Soren, you do not need to kneel to ask me this.”
“Please, Father.” I finally raised my head and looked at him. “You often credited my mother’s love and presence in your life for what sustained you as a young king. All I want is to have the man I love stand beside me in the same manner.”
His expression softened. “You love him?”
“With all my heart.”
He held out his hand. “Then bring him home, son. He will be welcome in Belvaria.”