Chapter 18 #2
“I’m implying nothing. I’m flat out telling you that I have a firsthand account that you hired someone to attempt to kill me and make it look like an accident.”
Phillip’s face went a dangerous shade of purple. “You’re out of line.”
Lady Nibley adjusted her spectacles and set the birth certificate back onto the table.
“The boy’s right, Phillip. You made a mistake.
” She folded her hands in her lap, as regal as any queen who’d ever sat on the Thalanian throne.
“Seeing as it required a vote to strip Theodore Fitzcharles III of his rank, based on the evidence provided by Phillip Fitzcharles, there’s no reason we can’t take a vote to reverse the order and reinstate him. ”
“You can’t do that,” Phillip snarled. His composure cracked and fell away like a badly fitted mask. “He’s a bastard and some bullshit paper isn’t enough to prove that he isn’t.”
Lady Nibley ignored him the way she would ignore a toddler throwing a tantrum. “All in favor of reinstating Theodore Fitzcharles III as rightful King of Thalania?”
Slowly, hands went up around the room. Theo noted that three—Hollis Vann, Doyle Bakaj, and Yancy Popov—hesitated before raising their hands. They didn’t want him back, but with four already voting to put the motion into effect, they didn’t want to bring attention to themselves.
I’ll deal with you three later.
Lady Nibley nodded. “Welcome back, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Lady Nibley.” It was done.
He’d won.
Theo turned to look at Galen and Meg, but stopped at the sight of Phillip backing toward the door. “Going somewhere, Uncle?”
“You son of a bitch.” He moved, yanking the gun from Isaac’s holster and pointing it at Theo. “You can’t inherit if you’re dead.”
Phillip never saw Galen coming.
He grabbed the hand holding the gun and forced it to the ground as Phillip squeezed off two shots, and then Galen delivered a devastating punch to the older man’s jaw, sending him to the floor in a heap.
It was over in seconds.
He handed the gun back to Isaac. “Next time someone gets the drop on you like that, I’m going to kick your ass myself.”
Isaac went pale. “Noted.”
Theo took a careful breath and turned back to the nobles, all watching with varying degrees of surprise and alarm. “If you wouldn’t mind staying in the palace for a little while longer before going about your day, I have an announcement to make once I’ve taken care of this issue.”
Once again, Lady Nibley spoke for all of them. She walked over and patted his cheek. “You’re a good boy, Theodore.” She stepped over Phillip’s prone body without missing a beat and walked out of the room.
The others followed more slowly. Lord Huxley clasped Theo on the shoulder. “I’m genuinely happy to have you back, Your Highness.”
“Thank you.”
And then the room was empty except for the three of them and Isaac and Phillip.
Theo stared down at his uncle. He’d like nothing more than to remove the man permanently, but doing so would alienate people he couldn’t afford to anger.
“Isaac, arrest my uncle. He’ll be held on charges of treason while we conduct an official investigation into the events surrounding my father’s death and everything that’s happened since.
” It was possible that Phillip had covered his tracks too well, but they would find out one way or another through the investigation.
If his uncle was found guilty of treason through an official investigation, not a single one of his allies would stand with him.
It was the only way to ensure Phillip didn’t become a martyr.
He waited for Isaac to pull Phillip to his feet.
“Once you have him secured, send a team to collect Dorian Mikos.” Galen’s father would receive the same treatment as Phillip—an official investigation followed by a trial.
It would effectively take their fates out of Theo’s hands, and more importantly, out of Galen’s hands.
Isaac nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I’ll see it done immediately.” He hauled Phillip out of the room and shut the door softly behind him.
Theo walked to the door, locked it, and finally gave Galen and Meg his full attention. Galen had an inscrutable look on his face, but there was relief in his dark eyes. Meg grinned bright enough to blind him. She threw herself into his arms. “You did it.”
“We did it.”
“You were amazing.” She kissed his jaw, his chin, his mouth. She wiggled out of his arms before he could fully enjoy the feel of her. Meg tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Congratulations, Theo. I mean it.”
But she thought he’d turn her away now, send her back to New York. Reinforce the barriers he’d tried to put into place between them.
Fuck. That.
Theo walked to Galen and snagged his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. He told his best friend with teeth and tongue what he’d already said with words. I love you. I’m sorry. The last needed to be voiced, though. Theo broke away. “I shouldn’t have sent you away.”
“No, really?” Galen gave him a tight smile. “Congratulations, Your Highness.”
“Don’t pull that bullshit.” He walked to the nearest chair and dropped into it.
They drifted to stand next to each other, though he doubted they meant to.
It was just sheer magnetism, drawing them together with both proximity and chemistry.
He felt the pull, too, a hook in his gut that demanded he go to them, touch them, hold them close and celebrate this win.
Not yet.
Theo considered how to broach the subject, but in the end, he wanted nothing between them but perfect honesty. No good intentions. No self-righteous bullshit. Just the truth. “I want you to stay. Both of you.”
Galen crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ve talked about this. Several times.”
“Yeah, we have. Things change.” He leaned forward.
“Princess, you have another year of school and I’d never ask you to sacrifice that, but you don’t start back up again for another eleven months.
Stay with us. Figure out if we can make this work.
I know we can, but it will take time to work out the kinks. ”
She looked torn between hope and fear, her hazel eyes too large in her face. “What happens when eleven months is up?”
“That’s for you to decide. Go back to NYC and finish out the degree. Visit us on your breaks, and we’ll visit you in between breaks. Or do your year remotely. It’s your choice.”
Galen shifted. “You have to marry, Theo. It’s part of the gig.”
This, at least, he had an answer for. “If you agree to stay, to be with me, I’ll name you Consort. Both of you.”
Meg blinked. “What?”
Theo couldn’t help a grin at their confusion.
“There’s an old clause in our laws—so old, I’d completely forgotten about it until Isaac brought it up.
Thalania’s always been a small country, and as power rose and fell around us, one of my many times removed great grandfathers decided that if he had to marry a foreign princess to save the country, he would, but he wouldn’t share full power with her.
So he named her Consort to his King. It put her above the noble families, but below his position.
Their children were legitimate, of course. ”
“Charming.”
“It was a different age.” He shrugged. “Only two of the monarchs in the entire Thalanian history utilized that clause, so it’s not well known. The reason I bring it up now is because there’s no limit on the number of Consorts a monarch can have.”
Galen looked away, and back. “It will cause problems. Triads aren’t exactly an accepted thing, here or on the world stage.”
“It won’t cause any issues that we can’t deal with together.” Theo pushed to his feet and crossed to them. He took their hands, and hesitated. This had to be their choice, damn it, but fuck. He wanted them to make the one that would bring them all the most happiness.
He flat out wanted them. “It won’t be easy.
There will be unique challenges, and things will be messy while people get used to the idea that their king is in love with two people.
It’s worth it to me. More than worth it.
I love you. Both of you.” He hesitated, trying to control his racing heart.
He might as well have tried to control a stampede.
“But if you don’t want all the strings that come attached to loving a king, I can’t blame you for that.
Or if you want to take the eleven months and figure it out at the end of it, we can make it work. ”
“That means keeping things secret,” Galen said.
“Yes.”
“No,” Meg said. “No secrets. If we do this…” She gave herself a shake and lifted her chin.
“I want you, Theo. And I want you, Galen. I can’t pretend that I’ll be graceful and easy about every challenge that shows up, but I’m willing to fight for you—for us.
” She gave him a tentative smile, and then turned it on Galen. “What do you think?”
“It might be a mistake.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “No shit it might be a mistake. It could blow up in our faces—literally, apparently. The question isn’t what could go wrong. It’s whether you are willing to fight for what you want—what you love.”
Fight for us, Galen.
Galen looked them both. “This is what you want—what you really want?”
“Yes,” Theo said.
Meg took longer. “I never expected any of this, but… I’m not willing to walk away just because it wasn’t part of my plan. We can make it work. I know we can.”
Finally Galen nodded. “Then I’m in.”
Theo pulled Galen in for another kiss, and then Meg. “We need to change and address the media.” He kept a hold of Meg’s hand and tugged her behind him to the door and down the hall toward the private living quarters.
They’d agreed.
He’d barely dared hope that they would, and now he wasn’t about to pussyfoot around on following through on his end of things.