The morning of the town hall meeting dawned gray with the promise of rain. Since I was supposed to be hiding all day, Eloise dressed me in comfortable pants and a light blouse. I attended to some last-minute business concerning the seating of the guests at the town hall and poked my head in on General Leger's security meeting.

They were doing a weapons check at the gate of the palace and again at the front door but Georgean insisted that it would look bad for us to check people more than twice so this was the most they could plan. Security would be tripled on the third floor where the entire royal family would be sequestered for the day, except for Eikko. He would have the most experienced and skilled guards General Leger had that wouldn't be guarding the third floor. Multiple exit plans had been planned for the morning in case of an emergency, General Leger claiming that they were last resorts. He was really trying to be optimistic about this idea.

I kept Ivan back after the meeting. "You understand the plan?" I asked him.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You just need to fire one blank. It doesn't matter where you shoot it. If the people can be convinced that terrorists are a real threat, we can swing them back on our side. They just need to see that they can penetrate the palace and want us dead," I said, mostly to remind myself of my logic in this madness.

Ivan bowed his head. "I understand, Your Majesty. You have nothing to fear here in the palace. If the terrorists had men inside, you would know."

"How long have you been a guard, Ivan?"

"Around fifteen years, Your Majesty. I was immediately placed here at the palace and was shortly assigned to your younger brother."

I nodded. "You know my family, and I trust you. We need more men with your loyalty under our roof."

"Agreed, Your Majesty."

"Best get going. I don't want anyone to be suspicious of your involvement in this." He bowed again and exited the room, cutlass clanking against the doorframe as he went.

I met Eikko in our bedroom where he was donning a fresh suit for the town hall. I straightened his tie and lapels, needing to give my hands something to do. Eikko could sense my nervous energy and grasped my wrists, forcing me to stop. "You would never put me in harm's way, Eadlyn."

"It doesn't feel that way today," I whispered. "I trust Ivan. I just have a weird feeling…"

"Yes, it's called fear. I understand it's something relatively unfamiliar to you." I rolled my eyes at his smile. "Listen to me Eadlyn. General Leger has made this place into a fortress. Even if something does go wrong, I will be safe."

"He'll hate me if anything goes wrong with Ivan's plan. He should know about it."

"No. He can't know about it if you want the plan to go smoothly." He cupped one of my cheeks in his hand. "I love you, Eadlyn."

"I love you too."

Eikko leaned down to kiss me fervently, almost desperately. I clung to him, unable to bear the thought of him going into a shark tank in a little under an hour. He wrapped his arms tight around me, obviously thinking the same thing. "We just have to get through today. Then we can go on and live happily ever after," he whispered into my hair.

"Happily ever after with a war. I'm afraid that this will just be the start of a long battle." I started, realizing that I had never told him about my phone call with Ahren. "Don't kill me, Eikko, but I may or may not have scheduled a peace summit for the week of June sixth."

"June sixth?" he repeated, drawing back from me abruptly. "Eadlyn-"

"I know, I know. Believe me, Ahren isn't happy with it either. But of all of our allies, we are the most neutral at the moment and we are the only ones that could actually get everyone here. Unfortunately, that's the soonest we could plan it."

"Eadlyn, if you haven't already had the baby, you'll be on maternity leave that week. How are you supposed to host twenty different nations and garner world peace?"

"I can do that while on maternity leave and I can do that with a newborn. Mom told me that newborns are easy to take care of. It's the toddlers that cause trouble."

Eikko took a deep, annoyed breath. "Maybe for her, who had four of them. I don't think it'll be so easy the first time around." I raised my eyebrows at him and he shook his head. "I can't believe I'm letting you do this."

"You're not letting me do this. You know my limits, Eikko. If I need to be told to go to bed or whatever, you are the emergency shutdown button, okay? We," I placed his hand on my belly, "are your responsibility that week. And you may have to be the one to negotiate world peace too, but we'll worry about that when it comes."

"I can't believe we only have a few months left. It feels like just yesterday that we were meeting."

There was a knock on the door and Eikko's butler poked his head inside. "It's time, Your Majesties. General Leger would like for Queen Eadlyn to go into her secure location now, before any guests arrive."

"Of course, thank you Adam." I met Eikko's eyes again. "We'll be fine. General Leger won't let so much as a fly into the family room, okay?"

"Just let me tell you one more time that I love you." He kissed me again, this time chastely. Then he bent down to press his lips to my belly. "And I love you, sweet girl."

"We'll be doomed if this baby is a boy," I told him.

He smiled, his excitement not quite reaching his eyes. "There's no way we're having a boy. Only girls, and they're only allowed to look like you."

"Okay, okay. Go, appease the citizenry. We'll see you for dinner." He squeezed my hand one last time before I walked over to the family room where my family and his family were already gathered.

Mom and Lennie were laughing over what looked like a photo album and I groaned, instantly deciding to let them look at my baby pictures in peace. Al and Kaarlo were engrossed in some sporting event happening on television and Kaden and Osten were playing an intense game of chess. Dad was on his own, staring down into the gardens with a glass of something in his hand. With little energy to talk to anyone else at the moment, I approached him and looked down toward the gardens where guards were in the middle of rotating their shifts. It was a choreographed, well-practiced routine. Even in these moments in between their shifts on duty, they were vigilant.

"It's quite something, isn't it?" Dad asked.

"What is?"

"Being surrounded by these people that are willing to die for you. For most of those men, the only thing I know about them are their names yet it's their job to die, if it means that I live." He took a swig of his drink. It was definitely something stronger than wine.

I frowned. "I've never really thought about it, honestly."

"You've never had to. It's all you've known." He paused again, gritting his teeth slightly. "I saw you talking to Ivan this morning. Everything okay there?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Dad leaned against the window frame, still looking outside. It was just starting to rain. "When we found out that we were pregnant with you and Ahren, we started choosing guards who would be your personal body guards. Did you know that our personal guards have to go through an extra two months of intensive training? Because we didn't. You two weren't even born yet and we were choosing the people that would spend their lives guarding yours."

"Why hasn't General Leger talked to me about it yet?"

"We're at war, Eads. Even if it's not official, increasing troop presence overseas means decreasing the men we have here, domestically. We're spread thin. Even if Aspen won't admit to it, I can tell. It's just like when I was a teenager."

Though he was standing right next to me, talking to me, I could tell that Dad wasn't totally there. His mind was somewhere else. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

"You'd understand, now, why memories from my adolescence may keep me up at night, right?" I nodded. "I try to hide it from your mom so that she won't worry but it's no use. You live with someone for twenty years and very little can be kept secret from them."

"I understand that. Eikko hates it when I find him in the kitchens in the middle of the night."

"He's a fine man, Eadlyn. I couldn't be happier for your choice."

I sighed. "I wish the people felt the same."

He put his hand on my shoulder. "They'll adjust. This year, your first year as queen, is not supposed to be easy. You've handled everything with little trouble. Sure, you've had hiccups here and there but I couldn't be more proud to be your subject right now."

"No offense, but you're a rather privileged subject, Dad. You know everything, you know I'm doing the best I can. The people don't know that."

"Then why let them bother you?" I shrugged. "Look, you're never going to have one hundred-percent approval. You'll be really lucky just to have seventy-five. You can't please everyone, but you can keep them safe, fed, and housed. Focus on the basic human rights. The education programs and infrastructure and sport camps will come later."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You should relax today. You don't have any duties to fulfill this afternoon, you're with family, aside from being in a room that's on lockdown, it's just a normal day. Why don't you take a break from queen and just be daughter and sister for the time being?"

The baby kicked, seeming to like the idea of relaxing. I smiled slightly and faced Dad fully. "I think I'm supposed to be Mom right now." Dad frowned, not quite understanding, so I grabbed his hand and placed it on my belly.

It took a few moments but the baby kicked again, making Dad suck in a breath. "Eadlyn…" His eyes were wide with excitement and wonder, looking slightly as if he had no idea what he had just felt.

The baby continued kicking his hand as I said, "Haven't you done this before?"

"Three times, actually. But it never ceases to be amazing."

"Yeah, it's really amazing in the early hours of the morning."

Dad winced slightly and moved his hand automatically as the baby shifted, kicking elsewhere. "I remember that from your mom. Kaden was by far the worst. Go figure, your mom's hardest pregnancy and he turned out to be an angel. I can't believe that's my grandchild. I'm too young to be a grandfather, right?"

"Would it make you feel better if we called you uncle?"

He laughed. "No, actually. As much as I hate being a grandfather before I'm fifty, I can't wait to be Grandpa to your children. It's...I never really knew my grandparents. Magda is the only grandparent you had. Your mom and I are overjoyed to see your children with four grandparents, just the way it should be."

My eyes welled up at the thought. Even six months ago, with Mom's many health scares, that would have been a thought to ignore. It would have been a hope, a prayer. Now, seeing her beaming in all of her good health and happiness and relaxation, it was an assurance.

"I think the baby got tired," Dad said, pulling his hand away. "C'mon, let's get you off your feet and maybe even give you a chance to nap while the little one is still, okay?" He led me to one of the couches and gestured for me to sit down.

"Will you stay with me, Daddy?" I asked, not quite ready to be without him. I felt six-years-old again. Something about having him here, holding my hand, made my nervous stomach feel one hundred times better.

"Sure." He sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulders. I nestled into the side of his body. It wasn't the same as being held by Eikko or even Ahren but he was still just as comforting. It wasn't long before I was nodding off.

I wasn't entirely sure if I was dreaming or not when the alarm went off, making me nearly jump off of the sofa. My brain wasn't processing anything. There was just Dad, his hand tight around mine, pulling me toward a door. Al suddenly appeared my side, his hand on the small of my back. We entered the secret passageways. Dad and Al never lost contact with me as we dashed through the dark tunnels. I whined slightly when we passed the spot that Eikko and I always escaped to.

It wasn't until we were in the large safe room and I had the chance to take in the faces looking at me that I realized why I was panicking. Eikko wasn't here. "Eikko…" I panted, winded after our mad dash to safety.

Dad rubbed my back. "Just catch your breath, sweetheart. In and out."

"Eikko...he isn't...he's not here…"

Mom was suddenly before me, her hands gripping my shoulders. Her eyes locked on mine and she mimicked controlled breaths. "You can do this, Eadlyn. You need to breathe deeply for your baby. C'mon, listen to Dad and I."

I didn't want to listen to them. I ducked under her hands and started pacing. "Eikko isn't here. Where is he? Will they bring him here? What's going on?" The questions just came tumbling out. My hands were twisting around each other and it just felt like my lungs weren't holding any air.

"Eadlyn!" Kaden shouted abruptly, making everyone in the room stop. We all looked at him but he was only looking at me, his early teenager face lifting defiantly. "We don't know where Eikko is. Worry will not help that. Slow down, take some big breaths, concentrate on that for now."

The silence was too much. It made me feel like the whole room was going to cave in. My composure completely crumbled then and I unlocked my knees, sinking down against the heavy vault door. Mom knelt down next to me, clutching my hand and wiping away my tears. As I cried, I worked on breathing and finally paid attention to Dad, still mimicking the way I should be breathing. Eventually my body started to relax a bit and exhaustion fell into my bones. I was wide awake, my mind still working a million miles a minute, but my body seemed to be telling me to rest.

I fell into a sort of worry-induced coma, not really responding to anything around me or focusing on anything. Dad lifted me up gently and carried me to one of the chairs. Mom draped a blanket around my shoulders and started rubbing my feet. They were trying. They were really trying to keep me sane. The longer I stared at the door, though, the more my mind spiraled.

I thought back to when I was thirteen and had a crush on the prince of Saudi. We danced at a party and when he left, he promised to call me. Dad even let me give him our private family phone number. I sat by the phone in the family room for hours, just staring at it. I missed lunch and my afternoon lessons. Mom finally came and sat down next to me. She had said, "A watched phone never rings." It didn't make sense to me. It felt as if (despite the fact that by then it was late at night in Saudi) I looked at the phone long enough, I could will it to ring. Anyone could have called that phone, really, but in my mind the only person who could call that phone was the prince.

So I kept watch over the vault door, waiting for it to open. It would either be Eikko, being brought to safety, or General Leger with news. Officer Wells was in the room but he wouldn't clog up the radio by asking about Eikko when the guards needed their radios to communicate through whatever madness was happening above us. This was something we would have to wait out.

My mind brought me back to reality when I heard Mom say the word "Astra".

"What about Astra?" I asked suddenly. There were two years between myself and my oldest cousin but growing up, she had been one of my closest confidantes. After her mom passed away and she moved back to Carolina with her dad's family, we drifted apart. At the time, we were in such different stages in life. Astra was a full-blown teenager starting to get real-world responsibilities and I was still an awkward pre-teen, my only responsibilities being to make my parents look good. Distance and grief had added a strain to our relationship, and Aunt May would occasionally mention some dissention to the crown from the Orders family.

Mom started, not expecting me to tune in so abruptly. "I was just mentioning to your father that it may be time to bring James and the kids here. They may have distanced themselves, but I worry about them. Especially being on the other side of the country...it makes it hard for us to protect them."

"Could they really be in danger because of us?"

"We love them, Eadlyn. They're family. That makes them a weakness," Dad said, patting my knee. "It may be a few days before I can bring it up to Aspen, though. We don't know what's happening upstairs and how much that will change things for the next week or so."

Mom nodded solemnly. She didn't talk about Astra and Leo often, despite being their godmother. She and May shared the responsibility for Astra but lately, it had seemed May was the only one really visiting them. I tried to put myself in Mom's shoes, losing a sister so suddenly and then having to care for her children that looked so much like her. The thought of losing one of my brothers was painful in a way different from the thought of losing Mom or Eikko. Especially Ahren...he was my other half. Some days it felt like being an ocean apart was too much.

"Leo still has school," Mom argued. "It's his last year, he'll want to stay with his friends."

"His safety is more important. We've seen what the rebels can do to people far less important than a queen's nephew."

"They already feel like we get in the way of their normal lives enough as it is. Should we really add another disruption?"

Dad shrugged. "They were born into the family. They'll have to understand that no matter how much distance they put between us, they can't really get away."

"What about…" Mom's voice trailed off but Dad seemed to know where she was going.

"We should. He'll be insulted if we do nothing."

"I'm sorry," Lennie began, approaching my parents and I, "but you're not talking about bringing more of your relatives here for safety, are you?"

Mom and Dad exchanged a befuddled look. "Indeed, we are," Dad confirmed.

Lennie's eyebrows rose. "You cannot be serious about this. You brought my family and I from our homes to this palace, all in the name of safety, and now look where we are. We are hiding in a vault under a palace that our ancestors built, cowering, while who knows what is happening to my son-"

"Lennie, I understand that this is frustrating," Dad started but Mom overpowered him.

"We are not cowering, I can assure you of that," Mom snapped.

"Well we're certainly not fighting," Lennie said. "Tell me, Queen America, what exactly are we doing down here if we're not cowering or fighting? Don't tell me you've lost your nerve."

"How dare you speak to my wife like that," Dad growled, stepping in front of Mom protectively. "Don't forget that while we have taken you in, she is your queen and demands absolute respect. You are our guest here."

"This is a hell of a way to treat your guests."

Al stood and put a hand on Lennie's shoulder. "Len, that is enough."

"No, these people deserve to know what kind of circus show they're putting on here. You wonder why the people hate you so much. Look around! Your palace is crumbling around you, Your Majesties, and your guards are stationed all over the world because your enemies outnumber your allies," Lennie said aggressively.

"We are not in a time of peace," Dad pointed out.

"We were when we gave our son to you. And now look. He could be dead upstairs for all we know and we are just down here, twiddling our thumbs, waiting for news that probably won't come for hours."

Kaden stepped in between my in-laws and my father then, putting his hands out. "Stop, all of you. Emotions are high right now, I get it, but arguing isn't going to solve anything."

"As soon as this is over, I'm taking my family back to Swendway," Lennie snarled.

"Go ahead," Dad taunted, nostrils flared.

Kaden sighed, his head bowing. Josie gently pulled Dad away, separating him and Lennie further. Mom's teeth were still gritted, her face flushed with anger. I was frozen in my chair, my mind replaying what Lennie had just said. He could be dead, I thought. The father of my child could be dead and we didn't know. We would know, right? They would tell us right away if he had died. God, he was mine to protect, he was supposed to be safe with me in my palace, and I fed him to the wolves…

"Ead?" Kaden said, looking at my inquisitively. "What do you mean, fed him to the wolves?"

"You heard that?" I asked as I started to notice all of the people staring at me, waiting for answers. "It wasn't supposed to go like this, the town hall."

"How was it supposed to go?" Mom asked quietly.

"Eikko told me he could do this. I gave him the option, he was going along with the plan. We were so confidant that it would work…"

"Does it have to do with Ivan?" Dad pressed.

"Ivan?" Kaden chimed in. "My old bodyguard, Ivan?"

Our attention shifted to him. "Your old bodyguard?"

"He hasn't been around for a couple weeks. I figured that he had quit or retired or something. What does any of this have to do with him?"

Mom pressed a hand to her mouth and took a few steps away from the group, already panicking. Dad looked straight at me. "Eadlyn, exactly how is Ivan involved in this?"

I never got the chance to respond.

With a loud squeak, the door swung open and I jumped to my feet, nearly knocking my mother over in the process. A breathless General Leger stepped through and to my supreme disappointment, Eikko didn't follow after him. He was alone.

"Aspen, what happened?" Mom asked, taking him by the shoulder and seeming to inspect him for injury.

He didn't answer. His eyes swept the room until they fell on me. "Eadlyn…" he sighed, his expression grim. "I'm so sorry."

Ivan was a rebel plant in the guards. General Leger proclaimed that he was probably the most successful plant that New Asia had ever had. He had risen through the ranks, unsuspected, and was placed in front of the royal family. And while it would have been easy for him to simply kill us all in one broad stroke, he apparently had orders to wait until we put him in the position to do harm.

I had given him that opportunity. My husband was lying in a hospital bed with a bullet wound in his stomach because of it.

General Leger gave us the full debrief as we waited for Eikko to wake up from his surgery that saved his liver and corrected any other internal damage done. He explained how Ivan waited for eleven minutes to pass in the town hall before raising his gun and firing at Eikko. He made it past all security checkpoints because he knew where they were. Because he was a guard. The other guards took him into custody. The emergency alarm blared. All other guards helped calm the guests and get them to safety. The town hall, for all intents and purposes, was a disaster.

It was a few hours after we emerged from the safe room that Eikko blinked his eyes open, grasping at the mask on his face in fear. I knew that he couldn't stand sleeping in a way that had him restrained. There were some nights where he didn't even like me to touch him while we were sleeping because it plagued on his anxiety. When he woke up with wires tangled around him and a mask strapped around his jaw, I immediately pulled at his hands and started speaking to him.

Dr. Cleary assured us that Eikko's injuries were non life-threatening. He would be slow moving for a few weeks and wouldn't be able to do anything too rigorous for up to two months but he would be just fine by the same time next year. Mom stayed with me in the afternoon as I sat by Eikko's side. Dad attended to any security measures that didn't require the acting queen. The only thing I had to sign off on was the use of torture on Ivan in order to extract information about New Asia and any other rebels hiding in our midst. Only General Leger's closest friends were allowed around us now. For their safety, Kaden and Osten had been quarantined to the first floor library so that we could all be on the same level of the palace.

Mom was quiet as we listened to the soft, steady beeping of Eikko's heart machine. She picked at her fingernails thoughtfully, uncharacteristically quiet. "We hired him," she mumbled, sounding mostly like she was talking to herself.

"Sorry?" I asked, drained in every way possible.

"We hired Ivan to protect us. It seemed so thoughtless. He was one of the stand-out guards, he made Aspen's shortlist for recommendations for Kaden. There was no way for us to have seen this coming."

"I did. I had a terrible feeling about today."

Mom shook her head. "You didn't know that it would be this."

"What are the odds that I chose him?"

"From the outside perspective? Terrible. It makes no sense for you to have chosen him to be your own plant in the town hall." We both winced at her casual use of the word 'plant'. "But as someone who understands you and how our personal guards work, it makes sense. You couldn't send one of your own guards because they can't leave you. Kaden's and Osten's have more flexibility and Kaden's guards have been serving him personally for fifteen years, making them less recognized by other, low-level guards. It's no coincidence that he started excelling as a guard while I was pregnant with Kaden."

I shook my head for what felt like the hundredth time. "Has anyone talked to Ahren yet? If he hears about this in the news…"

"Your dad is calling him. We had the same thought. All that matters is that you and the baby are safe."

"Eikko…"

"Will recover." Mom sighed and ran a hand down her face. "It's hard to watch them hurt, isn't it?" I nodded numbly. "Did your father ever tell you how I found about the scars on his back?"

I blinked, slightly nervous about treading this territory with her. I wasn't sure I could handle it emotionally at the moment. "He told me that the last time it happened...he did it for you."

She nodded, a sad smile tugging on her lips. "I was walking right down that hallway outside later that night, after the Report. I was waiting for him to come tell me that I was going home. To get some clarity, I decided to walk down to the gardens. You know how much I love walking through the gardens." I nodded, knowing that they were frequently a place of refuge for both her and Dad. "And I bumped into him, walking right out of that door. He could barely stand up straight and he had this little box of medical supplies because he was planning on tending to himself."

"He said that he tried to hide it," I said, recalling vaguely the story that Dad told me. Truth be told, most of it had been overshadowed by the revelation that Lady Brice was actually Aunt Brice.

"Lucky for him that I bumped into him. The rebel alarm went off and he was in no condition to run, so of course Fate decided to stick us in a small safe room together. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew, I had patched up his back for him and was realizing just how deeply he loved me. And how much of a fool I'd been to think that he wasn't so sincere in his feelings. He could have told me he loved me twenty times. Seeing his back torn up from him trying to protect me...that's what sealed it for me."

"But isn't it terrifying, knowing that if anything had happened to him and you lost him, it would be your fault?"

She winced. "Yes, when you put it like that. Relationships are more than that, though. He's my best friend. We actually started out as friends, for however brief a time. Surely you know by now that the fear of losing your other half is outweighed by the value of your relationship. Just take it as a gift, that these boys would do anything for us."

"I'd prefer it if blood didn't need to be spilled."

"Of course you would. We can't live in...Oh, Lahja, join us."

I turned in my seat to see my sister-in-law lingering in the doorway, hesitating. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Please, we're just in here having girl talk," Mom said. "Husband stuff, you know?"

Lahja smiled tentatively as she sat in one of the numerous chairs in the room. "How is Eikko?" she asked, nodding to her brother.

"He's out of the woods, so to speak," I told her, my hand tightening around his reflexively. "Dr. Cleary said he'll fully recover in time."

"Good. America, I want to apologize on behalf of my mother. What she said to you and your husband was wrong-"

Mom waved her hand. "Your mother isn't sorry, Lahja. Don't feel it necessary to apologize for her actions. Believe me, what she said isn't all new to me. I've heard it all before. And I've heard it from my brother, actually, so I could handle it. Maxon made it into a much bigger deal than it needed to be, defending my honor and all of that. See what I mean?" she asked, looking at me. "Men."

I chuckled at Mom being ornery again. Leave it to her to make me smile after the day I'd had. Eikko shifted his head slightly. "He must know we're talking about his kind," Lahja said, starting to giggle herself.

"Us men do the same thing," he said in a very raspy voice, barely able to breathe the words out. I had to swallow my tears of relief just at hearing him speak.

"How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?" I asked, swiping a hand down his cheek.

He shook his head just a little bit. "It hurts, and there's nothing you can get me that I'm allowed to have right now."

"Fair enough."

"How are you?"

I smiled sadly, brushing some of his dark curls away from his face, my thumb swiping under his eyes. It felt so unbelievably good to see his eyes. "Not a scratch. Baby is fine. She's been kicking all day. I guess she could sense that her daddy was in danger."

His hand sought my belly and I leaned closer so that he could reach better. "My girls…"

"We don't know it's a girl."

"It's a girl."

"I love you." I pressed a kiss to the back of his hand, his fingers still wrapped in my free hand.

"Love you." He closed his eyes again, exhausted from our brief interaction. I peered over at Lahja and Mom and saw that both of them were misty-eyed from watching our exchange.

Lahja wiped at her nose and tried to disguise her tears as she said, "He seems good."

"Yeah," I sighed, looking at his face again. "We're good."

Lennie visited the next morning when Eikko was much more alert. The nurse gave him a light breakfast that wouldn't put him at risk of getting sick from eating it with all of his pain meds. I hadn't needed to say anything to my younger brothers to know that I needed comfort through the night because without a word, they joined me in my bedroom for the night and kept close watch over me. With a few hours of sleep and a quick bath from Eloise, I felt refreshed enough to face whatever aftermath awaited me from the day prior.

The first matter to attend to was Lennie. She beat me to Eikko's room. She was standing at the foot of his bed, arms crossed, her jaw sticking out petulantly. I lingered outside the door, listening in. "I want to be part of your life, Eikko, and part of my grandchild's life but I refuse to remain jailed here any longer."

"We're not keeping you prisoner," Eikko insisted.

"Are you not? You brought me here without asking me how I felt about moving and leaving behind our business and our house-"

"You were moving to Swendway anyway," he remined her.

She huffed. "I would like to return to Swendway now. Today."

Eikko bit down on his bottom lip, looking torn. He chewed over it for a few moments, seriously weighing his options from the looks of it. "Okay," he finally acquiesced. "I'll have one of the secretaries arrange your travel for the day."

"Thank you, Eikko." Her tone softened. "I am glad that you're okay."

"You'd be happier if I went with you today, right?"

"Of course. I hate the idea of you being involved with something so messy and dangerous."

He shrugged. "She's the love of my life. She is my soul mate. I would walk through fire if it meant keeping her and our baby safe."

"You will do good work here, Eikko. We have no doubt of that."

"Thank you." She stepped forward to kiss his forehead. Al followed suit and shook Eikko's hand, both smiling sadly as they passed me on their way out.

Al stopped before me. "Thank you for all that you have done. We want to return when it is safe. I want to meet my grandchild."

I rose on my tiptoes so that I could embrace him, wanting him to know that I appreciated his kind words. It would be strange not having them around and the separation would be hard on Eikko, but I couldn't keep them here like prisoners. "Thank you for Eikko," I whispered to Al. He patted my arms and then left the hospital wing behind his wife.

I joined Eikko on his bed, sitting near his hip. "So they're leaving for good?"

"Seems so," he sighed dejectedly. "I always knew that they wouldn't be here long. I'm glad that they were here and they have a better idea of what we do here. But I can respect them for wanting to be home home right now. Don't worry, she did ask how I was doing before you got here."

"Do you get scared?" I asked suddenly.

"Scared of what?"

I waved at the room. "This, the dangers of our lives here. This isn't what you're used to and it certainly isn't what you signed up for. I'm sure that when you arrived here last year you didn't think that you would be lying in a hospital bed right now because of a New Asian spy."

"I'm always scared, Eadlyn, but I'd be more scared of you doing all of this on your own. I'm lying here because the only other option was to have you at the town hall. I took that bullet for you and our baby. I would do it again if I needed to."

"I wish you didn't have to think like that."

He shrugged. "Ours has never been the most conventional relationship. This is just another part of that." He brushed his thumb over my knuckles. "I've said it a hundred times, Eadlyn, and I pray that this is the last time I have to say it for you to really get it: you're worth it."

I pursed my lips as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. "Good, because I do need you. I never thought I would need a man in my life but I really do need you. Congratulations, you turned me into a living, breathing human being."

"Maybe I wanted to marry a rock with no feelings." He curled his finger at me, indicating for me to lean forward. I happily obliged him, minding the bandages on his stomach and being careful for my baby belly to not press into him too much.

Unfortunately, I could only let my dad take care of my duties for so long and I had to return to work the following day to see to the fallout from Ivan. Eikko's parents had landed safely in Swendway and I alerted our distant cousins that they were there. They agreed to place some undercover guards near their house for protection, keeping at a safe distance so that they didn't suspect anything.

Lady Brice had the latest report for what happened on my desk, although Officer Wells had filled me in already. I put it aside and studied the next letter in the stack of papers. It was signed from General Leger and without having to read it, I knew what it said. I snatched the paper off of my desk and went outside to the hallway where Officer Wells was stationed.

"Where is General Leger?" I demanded, starting to shake with anger.

"I believe in his office, ma'am."

I stormed down the hallway to the office closest to the main stairwell. Before General Leger was in charge, the general's office was downstairs close to the barracks but he and Dad worked together so closely trying to negotiate with New Asia and putting the rebels to rest that it wasn't practical for him to be four floors down. They cleared out a conference room and made it into the new general's office. It was closest to the steps so that he could move about the palace efficiently but it also meant that he was in the first line of defense if anyone dangerous found their way to the fourth floor and an heir or adviser was there.

He was standing at his desk, signing various documents and sliding them into a manila folder. "Queen Eadlyn, how can I help you?" he asked, not a hint of trouble in his voice as he addressed me.

"What is this?" I growled at him, showing him the letter.

He glanced up and sighed deeply before going back to his documents. "My letter of resignation."

"Who said you can resign?"

"Me." He ran a hand through his hair, a habit he and Dad seemed to share. "I don't need your permission to do this, Eadlyn. It's my career that I'm surrendering. Things will carry on much the same for you."

"I don't understand. I thought you love your job."

He struggled to come up with the right words. Finally, he said, "I love my job when I'm doing it well. Doing my job well means that you and the royal family are safe. Right now, the prince consort is recovering from a bullet wound that I couldn't take for him. I've failed you, Eadlyn. If he had died, it would have been my responsibility."

"You couldn't have predicted this-"

"It's my job to predict this!" he exploded. "I assigned Ivan to Kaden's security detail. I gave his name to your parents. I placed an enemy spy right in the most advantageous position he could have been in. I never suspected a single thing about him. This is my fault." He paused to collect himself. "When I took this position, I promised your parents that I would never fail them, and I had a good streak. It's over though. Clearly the job has advanced past my abilities, and it's time to step down."

"It's my fault, actually. I planned the stunt with Ivan," I blurted out. He turned from the filing cabinet that he was about to slide a folder into, eyebrows in his hairline. "It was supposed to be a fake shot but then it turned out to be real...anyway, it's my fault that Ivan was even there in the first place. You can't quit for something that I did."

He shook his head. "I was the first one to put him here. The last general resigned after the massacre involving your parents. It's only natural for me to do the same."

"I still trust you to protect us."

"I don't trust myself. And you need someone who is confident."

He was really doing this. He was actually going to leave us. "Who will replace you?"

"I have a few men in mind. They've been sticking close to me this past year or so, starting to learn the ropes of my job. I'm not taking this decision lightly, Eadlyn. You will need someone strong and able to guide you through these next few months."

"Then why leave?"

"I'm exhausted," he said simply. "I need to spend time with my wife. I'm tired of having to spent nights here at the palace because of work. I'm tired of having to explain that to her. She would never dare ask me to forego my duties to be her husband but it's time I start putting her first. She needs it."

"Mom always said that you're the hero Miss Lucy needs," I said quietly.

He smiled at that. "I'm no hero, Eadlyn. I just have the opportunity to be heroic." He lifted a folder from the filing cabinet and handed it to me. "This is what you should know about Marid and New Asia. It's not a lot. It's really one big puzzle but I trust you to figure it out. Your father trained you well."

"I guess I'll sign this then," I said, tucking the letter of resignation inside. "It's been good to have you here, General Leger." I offered him my hand and he gladly accepted, giving me a firm shake.

"It's been my pleasure, Your Majesty."

I walked back to my office, folder tucked closely to my chest. I looked around me at the fourth floor of the palace. All of the portraits that I had opted to have up here as decoration had been changed. The curtains were a deep blue, different from the crimson ones Mom had selected. The palace was changing, and so was the world around it.

It felt right, though. It was the natural transition of things, the cycle of royalty changing in and out. I rubbed my belly, feeling my baby kick back. "Don't worry, baby, we'll make it all good for you." She kicked my bladder then. "Right, after I use the bathroom."