“What does Hallie have to say about it?”
“She wants Laila to stay here. Not that Humayun has any interest in her opinion.” Raina snorted. “Being forced to negotiate with a pregnant princess has Humayunriled. He keeps asking to talk to my father or my husband. I keep telling him he can deal with me, or with you. Women are powerful here.”
“I have no husband or father for him to appeal to. He’ll have to deal directly with me. Which is going to be so delightful after I turned down his offer of marriage and then walked away from marrying one of his sons.”
“Ran away, more like.” Raina laughed. “I am so glad you did, too. What a catastrophe that would have been, in the long run.”
I glanced over at Lorcan. Saving my ass yet again. I know his reasons for speaking up that day were driven by self-interest. He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else touching me. Our interests aligned that day. Despite everything, I’m glad he spoke up.
Now, I have to fix the mistake I made. If it winds up helping Hallie and Laila, the whole disaster will have been worth it.
“Humayun is threatening to file complaints with Interpol and other international organizations classifying us as a haven for pirates and child sex trafficking—”
“He what?!” I gasped. “That is underhanded as fuck—”
“Whoa. When did you start swearing?”
“In my head? Years ago. Out loud? Since the war.” Nobody wants a princess who curses, but that’s what they’re going to get. I paced the length of the shadow, trying to walk off my surging anger and anxiety. “I’m not sending Laila back unless she wants to go.”
“Great. Another war. Plus, we’ll be international pariahs.” Raina blew out a sigh. “Hallie should change her name to Helen of Troy. Hallie of Trissau.”
I snorted.
“Plus, Scarlett arrives next week with all our stuff from Scotland. And the charity auction winners are coming in the first week of October,” Raina added.
“Wonderful.”
Two kinds of outside aggressors, plus civilians, arriving close together. How am I going to fend off Humayun and the pirates, without getting my friend or a bunch of strangers with more personal wealth than my entire nation, killed?
“Hallie and Laila’s mother. What’s her stance?”
“She wants Laila to come to Switzerland and live with her and her girlfriend,” Raina replied instantly.
My father, for all his faults, bequeathed me with a global reputation for intelligence and problem-solving. He never meant to. He wanted to highlight my beauty (since diminished), dedication to duty (questionable, considering my atheism and reluctance to play princess). Despite my doubts and failings, I cannot deny that I inherited a deep pool of popularity among the denizens of the internet.
This is a tool I can leverage.
“Would she consider coming to live here? Both of them?”
“I can ask.”
“Do it. If you have a few minutes, send me anything damning you can find out about Humayun, especially his country’s human rights record.”
“You want to go on the offensive?”
“Not militarily. PR. I’ll call King Humayun as soon as I can. This afternoon or tomorrow. I need his direct line.”
“Great. I’ll text you the asshole’s number. I’m sick of dealing with him; you can take a crack at it.”
Tovian popped into view. “Someone wants to talk to you.” I held out the phone.
He plugged one finger into his ear and wandered away, seeking privacy, smiling softly.
True love. I don’t need to see that. My heart pinched in a painful reminder that for me, such things are out of reach. I love it for them. It’s never going to happen for me; I need to let go of the fantasy.
I am a scientist; I deal in facts. The reality is that I love Lorcan, and Lorcan loves a version of me that never truly existed. He always wanted the princess. I live in this body but it’s not really mine; time and history will claim my corpse. The only thing left of me will be my bones and whatever I achieve in the time I have left alive. Given my mother didn’t live to see thirty, it might not be much.
Better get cracking.
