Secrets of a Prince (The Princes of New Sargasso #3) - Carol Moncado Page 0,63
will be sentenced next week.”
“What?”
“He chose a tribunal rather than a public trial.” He smiled gently at her. “It’s over.”
Minnie slumped back in her chair. “Thank God. What about Kari’s parents?”
“Her mother is pleading guilty to lesser crimes in exchange for her cooperation. Her father hasn’t had his trial yet. That’s all I can say about it.”
“Understood.”
“I did want to let you know something else. Your father’s title will be stripped from him now that he’s been convicted. It will happen at the next Council meeting. I could have done it on my own, but chose to wait. At the same time, I will recommend someone take over the title and the home.”
She sat silent for a long moment. “I suppose that’s understandable. It makes me a little sad to know someone else will be living in the home I grew up in, but he deserves to have it taken away.”
The king appeared to be hiding a grin. “I’m going to recommend it be passed on to you and Joss.”
Minnie blinked. “What?”
“You’ve proven that you weren’t a part of the conspiracy and cooperated with the investigation at every step. Caleb and Rosie have her title to pass down to their family. Gideon has titles. So does Ezekiel. David does, but also because he’s married to a princess from another country. That leaves Joss without any title besides Prince of New Sargasso. It is my pleasure to recommend the two of you for it.”
A wave of acceptance, unlike anything she’d ever felt before swept over her. “Thank you, sir. You’ve been more of a father to me in the last few months than mine ever was.”
If she wasn’t mistaken a few tears welled up in his eyes. “If you’d like, you can call me Papa.”
The press conference was about to start when Joss and Caleb hurried into the ante room then walked more slowly into the room where the press conference was being held.
They took seats near the back. Their wives, along with several other people were seated near the front. The middle rows were filled with local reporters and even a few international ones.
A minute later, Kari stood at the podium. “Thank you all for being here today. As many of you know, The Trilunium Chronicles have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. They were always my favorite books, and whenever I could, I donated to The Literacy Council’s program that gives a copy to every student in New Sargasso.”
She glanced down at the papers in front of her. “We were all thrilled when we discovered the completed New Moons Rising manuscript. But when I first found the partial manuscripts and notes for at least a dozen more stories set in Trilunium and in King Patrick and Queen Maria’s new home, it broke my heart. I knew what the notes said, but even I would never have the thrill of reading the stories. Children and adults the world over would know less than I did.”
Joss kept his eyes on Minnie as Kari talked. He could tell nerves were nearly getting the best of her, but she managed to keep it under control.
Kari went on. “The plan for this contest was born when I found the TriluniMunity website with thousands of amazing fan fiction stories. These stories, of course, were not part of the official Trilunium lore, but what if the authors were given the notes left by M. Karson? What if one of them could mimic her style and create new stories from her notes in a way that would make her proud? It’s been done before by the estates of other authors, why not Trilunium?”
The other men and women seated near Minnie and Rosie seemed to be more anxious than Minnie. Were they finalists?
“We had thousands of entries. The choices at each round were exceedingly difficult. From the first rounds, we chose fifty to go on. A new round of judges chose ten semi-finalists. Another round of judges chose three finalists. Along with the trustees of the M. Karson estate, I was the final judge as the Trilunium heir. The entries were identified only by a number. The names connected with the entries were known only to our webmaster until the contest judging ended.”
She grinned. “Once we finally made our choice, I went back and read the top fifty entries, and I’m incredibly glad I wasn’t the one who had to make the choices. The forty authors who did not move on