But then Lucas smiles again in honest delight. “We’d love to have you, Prince Nicholas. Come in, please. Princess Iris. Prince Hex. All of you—right this way.”
He pushes the door wide. An office space lies beyond, bigger and more open than Dad’s office but still strung with the same decorations as the rest of the palace. Greenery and poinsettias, bulbs and sparkling lights. The desks vary from cluttered with photo frames and personal effects to clinically neat, and the air is buzzing with the frenetic energy of work.
That energy crashes to a halt at our entrance.
And yeah, we are out of place, Iris, Hex, and me. As I turn to meet all these gazes, most people are smiling, some are outright confused.
“Is it… okay that we’re here?” I ask Lucas.
He’s going to realize what I’m asking,whois asking, that Prince Coal shouldn’t be trusted—
“Of course,” he says. “In truth, we’ve been expecting you for a while.”
“You have?”
“Well—yes. You’re the future of this Holiday, aren’t you?” Lucas pushes his grin around, eyeing people in aget it togetherway.
I scramble to figure out a logical explanation forwe’ve been expecting you.
Then it hits me, and I feel like such a dumbshit.
Dad didn’t let news that I was responsible for New Koah get very far.Somepeople know, of course; but he kept it under wraps as much as possible tosalvage our reputation.So of course most of Christmas’s department heads would be waiting for me to resume training. Why wouldn’t they? Especially with my active steps to not be in the press since New Koah, they’ve all probably been wondering why I’m shaping up but not taking a larger role in things.
Which Dad would know. Wouldn’t they be asking him about me?
“Now,” Lucas says, “did you have some place you’d like to start specifically?”
“Anywhere,” I say, because I can’t very well be like,Do you have a list of contact info for these leaders that I definitely mean nothing nefarious by asking about?
Lucas ushers us towards the back of the room, and as we round a few more desks, a massive globe comes into view.
Dad had stood right in front of it.“These are the people who need us. And I do meanus,Nicholas—you and me. One day, it will be your job to make the world happy.”
I rub at my chest, the spot where that ache hasn’t let up.
How did I remember him so wrong? Why did I keep an image in my head of him that was so shockingly different, someone hopeful and full of wonder against someone callous and cruel?
If I hadn’t stormed into his office and demanded to be a part of stuff again, would he have ever reached out? Did he hold me back because of how I’ve behaved, or was it something else?
Hex leans into me, lets his body rest against mine for half a beat. “Are you all right?”
Iris is close enough that I catch her corresponding concern.
“I’m not sure my dad wants me to do this,” I whisper. “Take on responsibilities.”
“Why?” Iris asks.
For the same reason he stages every photo op. For the same reason his one and only priority with me and Kris ispublic image: control. It’s honestly easier to have a son who’s getting in trouble and rebelling in stupid ways than it is to have one who questions the structures and might make changes. When Daddidset up training for me, it wasn’treal,and he only ever punished me for my antics when they got problematic for Christmas.
Was heintentionallykeeping me useless?
What exactly is my reputation among the press and our people?
But he told me about his blackmailing scheme, and he didn’t have to. Or maybe he only told me as a test, like he said. He wanted to see what kind of leader I’d be—one like him, ruthless and devious, or one like… one like it should be.
I give Iris and Hex a forced smile. “It’s nothing.”
But neither of them believes me, because I’m a crap liar when people know my tells.
