Chapter 29
I blinked myself awake, surprised that I had drifted off even for just a few minutes.
Shifting in the hospital’s waiting room chair, I found my back and neck unbelievably stiff.
Well, you certainly aren’t twenty-one anymore, I mused to myself as I slowly moved my head to one side and then the other.
Steffan sat two chairs away, quietly working on a crossword puzzle while keeping one eye on the hospital staff passing by.
I had convinced Faxon to let Steffan relieve him for a few hours so he could get some rest. Even though he had finally relented, I had a feeling he hadn’t gone far; he had likely convinced the nurses to let him crash in one of the on-call rooms.
“Would you like me to call for some coffee or some food, Your Majesty?” Steffan asked. “I’m sure we can procure you a shower as well if you’d like.”
“I’m going to pretend that wasn’t a hint, Steffan,” I said wryly. “I’ll get some coffee in a bit, thank you though.”
One side of Steffan’s mouth tipped up as he nodded, pulling out his phone, no doubt to text Faxon that I was awake.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, Faxon rounded the corner holding a drink carrier with three hospital coffee cups.
He handed the first one to me, and the second to Steffan as he rose—I mentally berated myself for not even considering earlier that he had likely needed the caffeine as well. It had been a long day for all of us.
“Thank you, Faxon,” I murmured before I took a sip. It wasn’t the best coffee in the world, but it would do the trick.
Faxon nodded, taking the seat Steffan had just vacated. He eyed me for a moment before saying, “Countries. Letter T.”
Faxon had been my personal security guard for over a decade, and at some point, we had developed a game wherein one person named a category and a letter of the alphabet, and the other person had to name as many items in that category starting with that letter as they could.
I knew now that he was trying to distract me from worrying about Adelaide, but I was also grateful to him.
He wouldn’t push me to talk things out or try to make me go home; instead, he would simply sit with me and offer what diversion he could while we waited.
After about half an hour, I was stalled out on animals beginning with W when the sound of Gram’s cane floated down the corridor. A few moments later, she rounded the corner, the sheen of recently shed tears in her eyes.
I rose, wrapping her small frame in my arms. “How is she?” I asked.
Gram patted my back. “I think she’s going to be just fine. Why don’t you go on in and see for yourself?”
I drew back, taking in the force that was my grandmother. “Thank you for coming.”
She reached up and placed her cool hand on my cheek. “Thank you for calling me. Now, go get your girl.”
I pressed a kiss to the back of Gram’s hand before racing down the hall to Adelaide’s room.
After knocking on the door, I opened it just wide enough to poke my head in. “Can I come in?”
Adelaide was sitting up in bed, dressed in a fresh pair of pajamas. She looked tired but much better than even just a few hours before.
I closed the door before closing the space between us, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. “Hey,” I started. “Are you—”
She held up a hand to stop me. “Ollie, wait. I have something to say first.” She took a deep breath.
“You were right when you said what happened was traumatic. It was, but not just for me. I can only imagine how scary it was for you, too. But I need to believe you and trust you to know what you can handle. There’s this voice inside me that keeps trying to convince me that I’m better off facing all this alone, that I don’t deserve the joy you bring to my life every single day.
But a very wise woman just helped me realize that that voice is a liar. ”
She paused, reaching over to the bedside table and picking up a piece of string that looked like it had once been part of the hospital blanket on her lap.
“Now, you’ve done an awful lot of proposing lately, so I would like to have a go at it.
” She took my left hand, holding it gently.
“Oliver Courtwright, I know that the future is uncertain and we still have a lot to learn about my diagnosis, but I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side for any of it.
I’m sorry for ever doubting you, for letting my fears cloud the vision of what we could be together, and I promise never to do that again.
Will you marry me in”—she paused to do some quick math in her head—“twenty-six days?”
I laughed, tears welling in my eyes. “Yes, my love. Nothing would bring me more joy.”
A smile split her face as she tied the string around my left ring finger. “I didn’t have any of the crown jewels handy,” she said with a smirk, “so this will have to do.”
I leaned forward, cradling her face in my hands as I pressed my forehead against hers. “Nothing could be more perfect.” Our lips met, a tender expression of all the love we couldn’t put into words and all the hopes we held for our future together.
The next morning, I was stretched out on the hospital bed with Adelaide tucked underneath my arm as we brainstormed where we wanted to go on our honeymoon. The doctor had cleared Adelaide to be released the next day, and I couldn’t wait to get her back home and dote on her properly.
“Why did we never discuss our honeymoon before?” Adelaide asked as she played with the buttons on my shirt.
“Because you were quite certain you weren’t marrying me,” I answered matter-of-factly.
Adelaide scoffed. “You say that as though you were so sure.”
“I’ve known I was going to marry you since the day I originally proposed.”
She smacked my stomach playfully. “You did not.”
It was my turn to scoff. “I very much did! I watched you navigate that interview with Warren as though you’d been doing it your whole life, and I knew in that moment that I was going to marry you someday.
I’ll admit, I didn’t know when or how it would happen, but I knew that eventually I would truly be yours. ”
She smiled, a blush creeping across her cheeks. “Don’t you mean that I would be yours?”
I shook my head. “No, Laidie. You belong to no one. But my heart does and will always belong to you.” I kissed the top of her head as she buried her face into my chest.
My phone rang, interrupting the moment. I had given clear instructions that I was not to be bothered unless it was an emergency, so seeing Knox’s call come through set me on high alert. I answered the phone, putting it on speaker.
“Knox? What’s wrong?”
“Have you looked at the news?” he asked without preamble.
I shook my head before remembering that he couldn’t see me. “No, why? What are they on about now?”
He sighed loudly. “Adelaide. Someone leaked her diagnosis to the media. And before you go on a rampage,” he added, clearly reading my mind, “I doubt it was the hospital staff. There was a lot of bustling in the Council chambers, and it’s not impossible that someone overheard you speaking to Dr. Haas or the paramedics and decided to make a quick buck by speaking to the press. ”
“Shit,” Adelaide muttered next to me, echoing my thoughts. “How bad is it?”
“Well, some outlets are displaying reason and human empathy. But quite a few are focusing on the uncertainty regarding a royal heir. It’s stirred up quite a bit of discussion on social media.”
Adelaide glanced at me. I pulled her closer to my side, burrowing my face in her hair, hoping she understood the silent message. I’m still not going anywhere.
Knox cleared his throat nervously. “There’s more.”
“No, thank you,” I said curtly.
Knox huffed a wry laugh. “I wish it worked like that. Head Councilwoman Bates called me a few minutes ago. They would like to see you for an emergency private session first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Oliver…” Adelaide breathed nervously.
“Don’t worry, love,” I said with a confidence I didn’t quite feel. I smoothed a hand over her hair.
Knox continued, “I tried to get them to reconsider or reschedule, but—”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll be there.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
No. “Yes. Thank you for fielding her call and for handling things while I’ve been here at the hospital.”
He snorted. “Literally my job, brother.” The events of the last few days had proven that I had made the right decision in naming Knox as my Chief Counselor.
“All right, well, remind me to give you a raise. Text you later.”
“Text you later. Birdie says to give Adelaide our love.”
I hung up the phone and looked down at Adelaide, who was watching me with apprehension. “Well,” I said, rubbing a hand over my jaw. “Looks like tomorrow will be eventful.”
“Your Majesty, thank you for meeting with us today on such short notice,” Head Councilwoman Banks began.
I nodded curtly. “I wasn’t aware I had much of a choice, Head Councilwoman.” As this was a closed session, we were in the Council’s private chambers, a smaller room that more closely resembled a conference room than anything else.
“Yes, well.” She cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable. I stared at her, unblinking, refusing to yield. A few of the Council members shifted in their chairs, sensing the awkwardness in the air.
Good. Let them squirm.
“Can we please make this quick? I have some other meetings to get to today.” A lie—the only thing on my schedule for the rest of the day was getting Adelaide settled back in at home, but they didn’t need to know that.
“Of course, Your Majesty. I’m sure you have seen the conversations happening in the press and on social media the last few days?”
I tipped my chin in acknowledgment.
“Well, a number of us on the Council are…shall we say, concerned about your choice of fiancée, given some of the ongoing discourse regarding the Crown’s future.
We thought it would be prudent to encourage you to reconsider the upcoming nuptials, particularly considering the marriage law is no longer in effect or applicable to your situation. ”