Wouldn’t attending Juilliard be the perfect example of pursuing something you care about? Wouldn’t that set a good example for my child?
As soon as the thought crosses my mind, pain pierces through me and my eyes prickle with tears.
Leaving Argyle means leaving Theo.
I have to choose between my dreams, and the man that I’m falling in love with. The father of my child. The future King of Argyle. The only person that has made me feel valued and important.
Either way, I lose.
The only question is—what am I willing to sacrifice?
My dreams, or my love?
19
Theo
My bedroom is lonely without Cara. I’ve gotten used to her company over the past few weeks and being alone seems strange now.
The morning is bright as I wake up in an empty room. I sigh, glancing out the window, and then drag myself out of bed. I make my way down the stairs and out to the beach that hugs the royal grounds. My shoulder feels better than it did a few days ago, and the doctor seemed hopeful that it would heal quickly.
What did he say to Cara, I wonder? There’s something she isn’t telling me.
When I get to the edge of the beach, I kick off my shoes and let my toes sink into the sand. I inhale the salty sea air and close my eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds of the ocean.
This is my happy place. I love Argyle. I feel privileged to be its future King. I’ve spent most of my life thinking that would only happen when I was much older, and I’d have my life as my own.
But Father’s condition has worsened, and I need to step up.
After my trip with Cara, I’m starting to feel ready. I can lead this Kingdom. I can help turn around the economy and mend the international relationships that my father has allowed to wither away. I can try to bring prosperity back to the people of Argyle.
Over the past three weeks, I’ve started to imagine doing it with Cara by my side. Maybe even a couple of kids running at our feet. It’s something I didn’t even know I wanted, but now I feel like I can’t live without it.
As I walk toward the crashing waves, a seagull squawks above me. I look up at the bird, watching it land a few feet away from me. It cocks its head to the side, as if it wants to ask me a question.
“I don’t know, gull. Being the King of Argyle seems a lot easier when Cara is by my side, but I don’t know if that’s what she wants. She left pretty quickly yesterday.”
“Talking to birds now, Doctor Doolittle?” I turn to see my brother Dante walking on the sand toward me. He grins, his shaggy hair blowing in the breeze.
“Birds don’t talk back,” I grin.
My brother claps me on the back, and I wince at the pain that shoots through my shoulder.
“Sorry,” Dante cringes. “I got the final report back from the lawyers this morning. I have news.”
“Oh?”
“Turns out, the marriage clause for coronation might not actually be consistent with the laws of Argyle. Every lawyer I’ve spoken to has agreed. Having a spouse isn’t necessary to be crowned King or Queen, according to the law. It’s only part of the royal culture. Wouldn’t hurt you in a court of law—only in the court of public opinion.”
“Is there a difference?” I scoff, shaking my head. “Public opinion is more important than the law.”
“Maybe. But you have public opinion on your side. I’ve been tracking your three-week tour through the Kingdom, and all mentions of you on social media are trending towards the positive.”
“How did you do that?”
“I track all the mentions, hashtags, and keywords that come up with your name and variations, and then I run them through a data analysis software to categorize them as positive or negative,” Dante explains, letting his eyes drift out to sea. “Then, I crunch the data and get it to spit out overall trends of popularity for you, for Father, and for the government as a whole.”
“Of course you do. Nerd.”
Dante grins, swinging his gaze back to me. “Someone’s got to do it, and I know it’s not going to be you.”
“I’m hopeless with computers. That’s why I let you do it.”
“Clearly I got all the brains in the family.”
“If my shoulder wasn’t injured, I’d be punching you right now,” I grin.