“Comforting.”
She merely shrugs.
I press my fingers to my temples, where a migraine has begun to pound. “God, my head feels like it’s going to explode.”
Chloe extends a hand toward me, waggling her fingers. “I have a fix for that.”
In the past, she would’ve pulled a baggie of pills out of her pocket and tried to shove one down my throat. But her newfound sobriety means no self-medication.
I narrow curious eyes at her. “What kind of fix?”
“A break from the television screen, for starters. That stuff will rot your brain.”
“Did you know one channel is actually circulating a composite image of my face morphed with Alden’s, to illustrate what our potential children might look like?”
“Were they cute?”
“Not really the point here, Chloe.”
“I don’t know… his blond hair and your green eyes… Could be a killer combo…”
“You’re really going to tease me? Today? Of all days? When my whole damn life is crumbling around me?”
“I actually came to help, believe it or not.” She winks and rises to her feet. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere. Just… away from here. Away from the castle, out of this city.”
“We can’t just leave! The results of the vote will be announced in a few hours!”
“Exactly. A fewhours. That gives us plenty of time for a quick diversion.”
“Chloe… I can’t.”
“Give me one good reason why not.”
I open my mouth to do exactly that, but… In truth, I don’t have a good reason why we can’t leave the castle. I don’t have any justification at all for sitting here dwelling on all the things that could possibly go wrong today, listening to talking heads on a television screen dissect my life from afar.
Noting my reticence, Chloe grabs my hand and pulls me reluctantly out of my seat. “You’ve been working so hard, these past few weeks. Running yourself ragged. Now, as if the vote wasn’t enough to deal with, you’ve got Octavia making her move. Alden making his. It’s too much for one person to deal with all at once.”
“I’m fine.”
“You aren’t fine. You’reexhaustedandoverwhelmedandin need of a serious break.” She shakes her head disapprovingly. “Do you think I haven’t noticed how drained you are? Do you think it isn’t clear you’re barely holding it together?”
“But—”
“Nobuts.” She tugs me toward the door, her tone brooking no argument. “Now, we’re leaving. I already told Galizia to bring around the car.”
I’m smart enough to realize this is a battle I am not going to win… and self-aware enough to recognize the truth in Chloe’s words.
It’s been ages since I spent time doing something besides campaign for this vote. I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to spend a day without schmoozing nobles at a fundraiser or orchestrating a touching photo-op for the nightly news or going over talking points for a press conference.
Loosing a martyred sigh, I leave the television screen behind — and, with it, all my worries about referendum results and distant heirs and scheming stepmothers.
Chloe is right.
At this point, the future is out of my hands.