He curses lowly. “After you left, these past few weeks… I’ve started taking a more active role in the anti-monarchy groups on campus.”
My heart pangs painfully. “Why are you telling me this? To hurt me even more? To dig the knife in deeper? It wasn’t enough to tell the world who I am — now you’re going to tell them how much you hate me?”
“No! You’ve got it all wrong, Ems. I only joined the group because I thought they might have answers about…” His voice drops low, as if he’s scared to say the next words too loudly. “About the fire.”
The whole world stops turning.
“What? You mean the fire here at the palace?”
“Yes,” he murmurs. “Ems… Not everyone in these anti-royalist groups is content to keep marching peacefully, holding signs and staging walk-outs. Some of them want to take things further.”
“What do you mean?”
“Last year, at one of the meetings, I heard some of the guys saying that the simplest way to solve our problem was to eliminate the source: no more Lancasters, no more line of succession… no more monarchy.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” My voice is a whisper. “Owen…”
“I’m saying that I re-joined the group after you were pulled into this life, because if there’s even a chance those guys weren’t just blowing hot air…” He expels a breath. “I couldn’t let you walk around with a target on your back. Not if I knew there was something I could do to protect you.”
My chest aches. I don’t know what to say. I hardly know which way is up, right now. Everything feels skewed, as though the world has tilted on its axis.
“Ems? Are you still there?”
“I’m here.” I force myself to take a deep breath — not an easy feat, in this corset. “Do you think… do you think there’s really a chance they could be responsible for the fire?”
“I haven’t found out anything definitive, yet. They trust me to some degree — especially after they saw me on the news, getting detained by the King’s Guard outside Windsor Abbey for outing you to the press. I’m not privy to everything, though. I need more time, plain and simple. But with the coronation tonight…”
“You think something is going to happen.”
“Everyone in Germania with even a drop of Lancaster blood will be in that castle. Plus, elite members from countless other monarchies. It would be a perfect target.”
Horror fills me. He’s right.
“I don’t know what you expect me to do with this information. Linus will never cancel — not without a credible threat. And there’s no way I’ll be able to skip it.”
“I know.” He pauses. “Just… please be careful. If anything ever happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”
A tear slips from the corner of my eye and falls to the hardwood with a small splat. “I’ll be careful.”
“Good,” he says, voice gruff. I know he’s holding his emotions tightly in check. “Could you… do you think you could call me afterward? So I can hear your voice and know you’re okay?”
“Sure,” I whisper. “And Owen?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For having my back, even when things are so messed up between us.”
“Don’t thank me, Ems. Just stay safe.”
* * *
As predicted,my warnings about security fall on deaf ears.
Linus is evidently far too busy to speak to me, so it’s Simms who receives my frantic stream of worries. He stands in the small sitting room of my suite, arms crossed over a too-tight tuxedo, double chin jiggling pompously.
“Your Highness, I assure you, you will be perfectly safe. The King’s Guard is fully prepared for all contingencies. The castle is secure.” His eyes scan me up and down, clearly disapproving of my bathrobe and bare feet. “Now, I must attend to our royal guests and you must get ready — unless you are planning to wearthatto the ceremony.”
I roll my eyes. “No, Simms.”