“I guess part of me is just too stubborn to let it go, when I’m so close to finishing.” I sigh. “If I do… it feels like I’m conceding to Linus. Like he’s broken me completely.”
She raises her bong in solidarity. “Stick it to the man, sister.”
My laugh is genuine this time. “Plus, there’s the fact that without my studies, I’d be bored out of my skull. There’s not much else to do around here.”
“That I will agree with. No amount of drugs can make this place more fun.”
“At leastyouget to leave.”
“With a full contingent of body guards,” she grumbles.
“I’d take the whole damn King’s Guard if it meant a few hours outside this castle.”
She bumps her shoulder into mine. “It won’t be this way forever. After the coronation, the press will simmer down. The story will fade from the headlines. And eventually, investigators will discover who started the fire, and these insane security protocols will ease up. You’ll be free to live a normal life. Well… as close to normal as life for a Lancaster ever gets.”
I glance over my shoulder, toward the East Wing. Or… the eyesore that used to be the East Wing. It’s gone, now; reduced to a pile of blackened ash, the larger pieces of debris already cleared away by a work crew in the night.
“What if they never find out who did it?” I whisper, throat tight.
“They will. They have to.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the public demands justice for King Leopold and Queen Abigail. They would never stand for this kind of treachery going unpunished. Especially not with Henry’s life still hanging in the balance.”
“Any word on his condition?”
“No improvement.” She takes another bong hit. “I tried to visit him at the hospital yesterday, but they wouldn’t let me in.”
“Why?”
“He’s in a sterile room because of his burns.” She shakes her head. “The risk of infection is so high, the doctors say any exposure to outside germs could be fatal, at this point. He’s too weak to fight. I think we all know… he’s fading more and more each day. It won’t be long, now.”
“Dammit.” My heart lurches. “You know, it’s strange: he’s my cousin and I’ve never even met him. Now, he might be dying… and I’ll probably never get the chance.”
“You’d like him. Everyone does.” She pauses for a long moment. “I actually bumped into Alden at the hospital. Just sitting in the waiting room, staring off into space. He looked like he’d been there all day.”
“He and Henry were pretty close, right?”
“Best friends. Damn near inseparable, especially after Henry and Ava’s engagement. He’s taking this really hard. Much harder than that selfish sister of his. She doesn’t seem to give a flying fuck about her fiancé dying.”
“Then why the engagement?”
She looks at me like I’m an utter idiot. “Ava Sterling would marry a limp-dicked old bullfrog for the chance to be queen someday.”
“Ah.”
I always forget most people actuallywantto be royal. To them, being one of the Lancasters is a dream to aspire to… not a nightmare to avoid at all costs.
Chloe clears her throat. “Anyway, Alden actually asked me about you.”
My brows go up. “Really?”
“Yeah. Wanted to know how you were coping with all this craziness. I told him to swing by the castle and ask you himself.”
“Chloe.”
“What?” She smiles innocently.