Chapter 27 #2
I could only stare at her phone screen, showing me a news article with photos of my mother wearing my grandfather’s ceremonial crown. My father was still nowhere in sight, and Raaz was just close enough to the other Links to be suspicious, if anyone bothered to look hard enough.
“We’re speculating the skipped coronation is to cover up for the video that was leaked late last night. Is this your mother?”
She swiped at the screen, then handed the phone back to me. I stared at the tiny phone screen, seeing who was very obviously my mother, very obviously in the midst of one of her fits, pacing back and forth across her drawing room.
“My moment is coming. The King is dying. Marion tells me there’s not much else that can be done for him lest she Exhaust.”
“Why not use one of the other Healers?” It sounded like Hugo, off-camera asking the question.
My mother scoffed. “They’ve already Exhausted! I can’t keep killing off Healers to save that sorry old man!” She ran her hands through her hair. “It’s too bad she can’t make him any sicker. My son deserves to be Crown Prince while he’s young and capable of making a difference.”
I shook my head slightly, my heart beginning to pound. A dull headache had started at the base of my skull, and I looked up into Marina’s eyes, surprised to find regret looking back at me. She reached out slowly, pulling her phone from my grasp.
“Where…” I cleared my throat. “Where did you get that footage?”
Marina shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “It’s online,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes, shaking my head.
“I have to go,” I whispered back. “Sorry to leave you hanging.”
“Your Grace, I’m sorry. I didn’t…realize you didn’t know–”
Well, that was almost worse than what I’d seen.
The public only saw the worst in me. And for the first time in my life…I cared.
My darling had come to see me.
I felt her presence some time after lunch. She’d been nearby, watching me interact with the Governor, watching me pose for photos.
Luckily she’d left before I’d watched my mother ruin anything that’d been left of our reputations.
I felt nauseous as I made my way up the foothill, deciding to hike instead of shadow-walk. I needed time to breathe before I reached Skye. I needed to figure out what to tell her, how to explain the shitstorm we were about to find ourselves in.
All because my mother was sick.
I’d made it a joke up until this point because it had been funny to me. Watching my mother throw a tantrum over small, silly things had been funny when I was a teen and even young adult. The best way to do whatever I wanted was to set my mother off on a tangent to distract her.
Now, that idea made me sick.
Had those Sensors been right?
Was this because she wasn’t fully connected?
But now, she was with Raaz…did she have any more hidden Links?
I stopped abruptly, finally blinking the scenery into focus while my stomach rolled.
Was my mother even a Key?
She said she was, but could I trust her?
She’d just named me Crown Prince without a ceremony. Even my misogynist grandfather had given his daughter a ceremony.
I decided in that moment that I would be bitter about the lack of ceremony until the day I died.
“Shadow?”
I breathed out harshly, blinking up at my Key. Skye was sitting cross-legged in the grass, looking like she was about to stand and come to me.
“Darling,” I replied, striding forward to close the distance between us.
Her long hair was straight, hanging in a glossy sheet down her back. I placed my hand on the top of her head, ruffling her hair slightly as if I were petting her.
I was expecting her to knock me over in response, but instead, she pressed her temple against my thigh.
“What happened?”
I sighed deeply, then plopped down into the grass beside her. I gave her parents’ headstones a cursory glance, as if they’d changed since the last time I was here.
“Is it that obvious?” I murmured, then shook my head. “Why didn’t you come out and join me?” I ripped a blade of grass down the middle, ignoring her question. “We could’ve been miserable together.”
Skye snorted again. “I’m fine being miserable alone up here, thanks. What did that chick want?”
“Journalist,” I explained. “Asked me a bunch of odd questions.”
“Why’d you talk to her? You ignored everyone else.”
“She was the only one actually from the Gulf,” I replied, then shook my head. “She asked such weird questions, though. Like she was trying to catch me saying something wrong.”
“Did you?” Skye hedged.
“I hope not,” I muttered.
I stretched out my legs, leaning back on my palms, and Skye moved closer to my side, leaning into me and draping her arms around my shoulders.
“What’d she show you on her phone?”
I tilted my head back, blinking at the twinkling stars. “She showed me a video,” I murmured. “A video of my mother that could implicate her in regicide.”
Skye jerked away from me. “What?!”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Yep. It was borderline treasonous. I just…my mind is everywhere.”
“Oh, Rafe.” Skye rested her head on my shoulder, then took my hand in hers. “I’m so sorry. What can I do?”
“Forgive me. And have some patience,” I groaned. “We’re about to be in a lot of trouble.”
“It’ll be okay,” Skye whispered. “Whatever happens.”
“Well, darling, don’t be so optimistic. You haven’t heard the problem yet.”
Skye furrowed her brow. “You said your mother–”
“My mother also named herself Queen this morning, and me Crown Prince.”
Skye blinked several times. “Without a coronation. Oh.”
I nodded. “It gets better.” I handed her my phone.
Skye gave me a funny look, but then glanced down at the phone, reading the article lightning fast. She jumped to her feet as she reached the photo at the bottom of the article.
It was a selfie photo of Skye and Aiden that must’ve been taken from his social media. She looked great, and he did, too, though I’d be having the article’s author fired immediately for including a photo of Skye in workout gear as one of her first official images.
I expected Skye to be shocked, maybe even angry. I wasn’t expecting a screech of horror that made some seabirds flee from a nearby palm.
“Your mother named me HEIR PRESUMPTIVE FOR NORTH AMERICA?”