already acted as if Odette was his queen, and for Iskandar, I was king. The only other people who knew this secret were Eliza—she could never—so all that was left was my brother. And he was gone. Who else?
“Gale, I’m waiting for you to tell me this is idle gossip, so I may leave your rooms and prepare for breakfast.”
I glanced up to her, trying to lie, but for some reason, I had lost all my skill. So, all I could do was stare.
“Galahad!” she snapped, rising from her seat. “Have you lost your mind?”
“In all honestly, at the moment, I did,” I whispered. “Arthur took me to task for it.”
“He knew?”
I nodded. “He told us to keep it secret because the people would be in an uproar if they found out.”
“He was right. They would be!”
“Yes! He was right, and the next day, he died.” I tried not to snap. “I married her, Mother, and it was my happiest day before my most devastating. I trusted Arthur would fix it because Arthur always fixed it. Even when she came to Ersovia to divorce me, I personally checked the records, but I couldn’t find it. So, I figured if I couldn’t find, and no one else reported it as everyone was combing through her past for dirt, then Arthur had saved my ass one final time.”
“Why do you always need saving?” she hollered.
“Because I am not as perfect as he was!” I hollered back. “I apologize. I’ll say it again. I am sorry that I disappoint you time and time again, Mother. And that I break protocol time and time again. I know you do your best to save me, too. But maybe, just maybe, I’m unsavable. I will never be fit for this role. I will never be the best king because I was never supposed to be! You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it! But I am trying! I cannot change my past!”
My chest hurt.
I wished to shove this whole morning back to hell where it came from. Hanging my head low, I sat back down on the edge of my bed, the fight now out of me. “I beg your pardon for my tone, Your Grace.”
“I will leave you to calm yourself down before I see you at breakfast,” she replied.
All I could do was nod as she took her leave, closing the door behind her. Tossing my phone to the side, I glared up to the ceiling, still trying to figure out how this came out, why this came out now. It took up all the space in my mind before rising quickly from the bed. I picked my phone back up, dialing.
“Adelaar.”
“Come now.”
“Yes, sir.”
I hung up and waited in the center of my room, pacing slowly. It felt like forever before I heard a knock.
“Come in.”
Iskandar stepped inside, dressed in black, and closed the door behind him before standing straight. He bowed his head once before speaking. “You called for me, sir.”
“That night, when Odette and I were married, you got a call from my brother again, didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And then you left the apartment.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where did you go?”
“Back to the courthouse where you were married.”
“I thought so. But it should have been closed. Odette and I were the last people there that night. What happened?”
“It was closed. So, I tracked down the woman who married you both. It was late, and she was a bit worried. Prince Arthur told me to tell her whatever I needed to, to get the information from the courthouse.”
“You paid her off?”
“Yes, sir,” he said with no shame.
Shaking my head, I nodded. “And then what happened?”
“She accepted. I called the Adela—I called Prince Arthur. He said all right and that he would speak to me the next day. That was the last time I spoke to him.”
I frowned. “Did the woman you paid off speak?”
“I just finished talking to her this morning. She retired and now lives in Florida with her family. She did not. Nor did she ever tell anyone, including her family. After all, she did violate the law.”
This was the dirtier side of the crown, which covered any traces of mistakes no matter what the cost—even the law. I hated this side. And I hated knowing that my brother felt the need to bribe someone to break the law just to cover for me. It did not fit the image of the brother I wanted to remember. But what did I expect?
“Do you know