30
Morgan stopped inside the museum entrance and adjusted her school blazer with sharp, irritated movements.
She’d been silent the entire drive, pressed against the passenger door like she might bolt at the first red light.
The foyer stretched empty around them, afternoon light filtering through glass panels overhead.
Blake checked the street behind them. As she’d left the radio station earlier, she’d busted two photographers sniffing around for a royal exclusive. She didn’t want to risk reporters breaking the news to Morgan before she’d had the chance to speak to her.
‘Why are we here?’ Morgan’s voice came out flat, exhausted.
Blake hesitated, one hand half-raised towards Morgan’s shoulder. She let it drop, shoving both hands into her jacket pockets instead.
The museum had always been grounding for Morgan, ever since she was little. The cavernous rooms, the history, the bulk trivia and facts. It was a safe space for Morgan.
‘We need to talk,’ Blake said. Her voice came out thin. ‘Properly.’
‘In the museum?’ Morgan asked.
‘Don’t tell me you’re too grown up for the museum.’ Blake feigned hurt.
Morgan stared at her for another beat, something flashing across her face. Pain maybe. Or anger. She turned away. ‘Fine. But the dinosaurs are the only part worth seeing.’
She walked ahead, leaving Blake alone in the foyer. Blake watched the rigid set of Morgan’s shoulders, the same defensive posture she’d held since the school fight, since Lucy had thrown Leo in her face. And now with the added layer of the letter fallout.
Blake followed, keeping the distance between them.
They moved through the archway into Dinosaur Walk. Enormous fossils loomed overhead. Blake watched Morgan’s pace slow, her attention on the bones despite everything. She stopped at a tall skeleton, with a neck curved gracefully upwards. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her blazer.
‘See that Camarasaurus?’ The words came out cautious at first, then unable to hide a creeping excitement. ‘The tail vertebrae are wrong. Everyone mounts them horizontally, but Camarasaurus tails actually sloped upwards. Counterbalance for their necks.’
Blake moved closer, careful not to crowd her. ‘They don’t mention that anywhere.’
‘They copied old mounts. From before anyone understood biomechanics properly.’ Morgan was already moving to the next exhibit, drawn to an enormous skull with teeth bared. She tilted her head, studying it. ‘Look at these teeth. There are no serrations on the back edges.’
Blake leaned in. ‘Serrations?’
‘Like steak knives. Both edges help with tearing.’ Morgan shifted slightly. ‘Theropods are apex predators. They needed them. But the replicas skip details no one notices from down here.’
‘You can see that from here?’
Morgan shrugged, colour rising in her cheeks. ‘You just have to know what to look for.’
Blake smiled despite the knot in her chest. ‘They should pay you to fix these. You’re wasted on school projects.’
Morgan’s gaze flicked back, lingering a moment before she looked away. She nodded towards the shadowy hall ahead. ‘There’s a Triceratops. It’s almost complete.’
‘Show me?’ Blake’s voice came out hopeful.
They walked further into the exhibit, past cases of smaller fossils, until they reached a massive skeleton in its own alcove. Morgan stopped beneath it, tracing the bones with her eyes.
‘His name is Horridus,’ she said. ‘See those broken plates?’ She pointed to the frill. ‘They’re from a fight, but they’re nearly healed, which means the fight isn’t what killed him. He survived whatever did that.’
Blake’s throat tightened. It was now or never. After everything that had happened this morning, Morgan deserved to know.
‘Morgan.’ Her voice came out rough, unsteady. ‘About the show this morning.’
Morgan kept staring at the bones, but Blake saw her jaw clench, the same way it had when the footy footage aired.
‘We got a call on air. About Leo.’ Blake forced herself forward, though the words felt impossible.
‘About who he really is. He’s not a musician or some rando guy from Europe.
’ She swallowed hard. ‘Morgan, your dad is…he’s actually a prince.
A real, legit prince. From a country called Montverre.
Which, when I say it out loud, sounds completely ridiculous but I have spent today confirming it. ’
Morgan’s breath caught. Her eyes widened, and for a moment, something like hope flickered across her face.
Blake swallowed. ‘It’s tiny. Near Romania, with mountains and castles, like something from a film. But it’s real.’ She watched Morgan lean forward slightly, engaged. ‘The caller knew exactly who he was. Prince Leontius.’
Morgan opened her mouth, maybe to ask something, but Blake had to keep going. She had to get to the hard part before Morgan’s hopes grew too large.
‘After the show, we found letters at the station. Letters Steve had…’ Her voice cracked. ‘Letters from Montverre. From lawyers.’
She had to stop. Start again. The humiliation from this morning crashed back, fresh and sharp.
‘The letters made it clear Leo doesn’t want me to find him. Doesn’t want us to find him.’
Morgan’s shoulders hunched forward like she’d been struck.
Blake stepped closer, not touching but close.
‘I thought he didn’t know about us. I truly believed…
’ She stopped. Started again. ‘I thought this search might help you find something you needed. But I was wrong. I was so wrong. The letters…’ Blake’s voice went ragged.
‘He paid me to…to disappear. There was what I thought was an inheritance after you were born. From the uncle I never knew? That was…’ She had to stop, breathe.
‘That was him. Leo. He’s known about you. This whole time, he’s known.’
Morgan’s face had gone completely white. She stared at the floor. The silence stretched unbearably.
‘But Morgan, listen to me.’ Blake’s voice cracked. ‘This changes nothing about us. Nothing. I’ve loved you fiercely every second since you were born. That will never change.’
Morgan’s voice came out barely audible. ‘But the letter…You said I didn’t like being held.’
‘That was never your fault. Never. It was me not understanding.’ Blake’s eyes burned. ‘My biggest regret is that you ever thought otherwise.’
‘Hugs feel wrong to me,’ Morgan said. ‘Like clothes that don’t fit. When I was little, I couldn’t…’ She stopped. Tried again. ‘I didn’t have the words to explain it.’
Blake waited, giving her space to go on.
Morgan looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
‘But it didn’t mean I didn’t love you. My love just…
it looks different.’ She glanced away, then back.
‘When I organise your washing, or leave the last Tim Tam for you, and when I make sure your coffee’s in the right cup.
When I remind you about your keys. When I…
when I sit near you even when we don’t talk.
’ She swallowed hard. ‘That’s how I show it. ’
Tears burned Blake’s eyes. ‘I know, sweetheart. Your way is beautiful and real.’
Morgan turned back to Horridus and stared at the ancient bones for a long moment. Her fingers traced the air near a healed fracture.
‘He survived,’ she said finally, voice stronger. ‘Even after getting hurt that badly.’ She swallowed. ‘And we can too. Without Leo.’
Blake took a shaky breath. ‘You’re right. We will adapt.’
They stood together in the dim museum light, the ancient bones bearing witness, not touching, but closer than they’d been in a long time.
As they left, the museum’s automatic doors slid open, the afternoon sun momentarily blinding them. Blake blinked, adjusting, her body still on high alert. She checked the street for any media. Clear.
Morgan walked beside her now, not ahead. There was a peace between them, but it was fragile, like spun glass.
Blake let herself exhale. Let herself think about dinner. About normal things.
Then came the camera shutter, rapid-fire loud in the quiet street.
‘Blake! Blake!’ A tall man rushed towards them, camera raised. ‘Now that we know Leo’s true identity as Prince Leontius, has the palace responded? Will there be a reunion?’
Blake moved instinctively, stepping in front of Morgan.
‘No comment.’
But the photographer persisted. ‘You’re being called the new Princess Mary! Any thoughts on becoming Montverre royalty?’
Morgan stiffened beside her. The camera kept clicking.
Blake’s stomach dropped. Morgan in her school uniform. Her face. Her startled expression. The images would be everywhere within hours.
She’d been so careful. Twelve years of protecting Morgan’s privacy, gone in seconds.
‘Mum?’ Morgan’s voice came out small, scared.
Blake grabbed Morgan’s hand and pulled her towards the car park, her mind already racing through the implications.
What had she done?