The Snow Prince - Raleigh Ruebins Page 0,58

cold rush moved through my veins.

“What?” I said, standing up. “No. Why is she...”

“The reason I called for this interview, other than the very necessary response to my son’s news, is that Prince Sebastian and I have a very, very exciting announcement to make.”

“What is she doing?” I whispered. I reached for the sweatpants nearby, tugging them on. I didn’t know what I was doing. I felt the deep seated need to rush over to Frostmonte, to stop this, to not let the interview continue any longer.

“The royal family of Frostmonte would like to announce that we will be changing our royal decree for the first time in over seventy years,” my mother said, turning to smile at the camera. “My son, Prince Sebastian Ambrose, will be able to marry a man. He will be able to have his children, by whatever means, and they will be eligible heirs to the throne.”

I was frozen in place as I stared at the TV.

“No,” I whispered.

“What?” Henry said, bolting up from the couch. “Sebastian, this is amazing. This is incredible!”

“No, no it isn’t,” I said.

“What are you talking about? You can marry who you want—”

“You don’t know my mother like I do. You heard what she said, didn’t you?” I said. “That I could marry another prince.”

Henry watched me closely.

“My mother doesn’t give a fuck about my sexuality. Or who I love,” I said, feeling the blood drain from me. “All of her bullshit about tradition was just… it was just a way to keep me from you.”

“Isn’t it good that she doesn’t care?”

“She does care about one thing and one thing only,” I said. “Wealth. Prestige. Status. Whatever the fuck you want to call it.”

Henry stared at me, and I could tell he was starting to realize what I’d been thinking.

“The new decree will specify that I can marry a man, but only a man she deems worthy. Worthy via money, or certain families, or status, whatever the fuck it may be.”

“She can’t do that.”

“Of course she can,” I whispered. “She is the queen. And she is writing the rules.”

“Doesn’t anyone else have any say?”

“No one who isn’t on her payroll.”

My mother was still chattering on the TV. Henry and I fell silent, watching as she continued to personally taunt me from behind a television screen.

“Sebastian has always been a troubled boy, but a boy with a heart of gold. His first love was actually another boy from one of the surrounding villages under Frostmonte. He loved him with all of his heart. But when Sebastian took up his duties at the castle, he asked that I send his first love away to boarding school. I obliged, of course.”

Henry’s eyes shot up to meet mine. “She’s lying.”

My blood ran cold.

“He is very thoughtful,” the interviewer said. “The royal family paid for his first love to go to boarding school?”

“At Sebastian’s request. Yes.”

“Lying, right through her teeth,” Henry repeated. “She is the one who wanted me to go to boarding school, not you. She orchestrated the whole thing.”

My throat was tight. “She’s not lying,” I whispered.

Henry looked at me like I’d just punched him.

I felt like my insides had just been scooped out. But I wasn’t going to lie to Henry. Not about this.

“I did ask for you to be sent to boarding school,” I said.

“Sebastian, you don’t have to cover for your mom, if that’s what you’re doing.”

I shook my head. “It was my decision. The money was… was part of my trust money. Not even hers.”

“Jesus Christ, as if this day could get any worse,” Henry muttered. He walked over to the other side of the room, looking out the window and then back at me.

“Worse?” I said. “We—I thought today was incredible—”

“It’s been a roller coaster from hell,” Henry said, shaking his head. “I love you. I’m not just saying that because it sounds good, I’m saying it because I really feel it, and I’ve felt it for almost my whole life. But I need to be able to trust you. What have you not told me, Sebastian?”

He watched me, waiting for an answer. All I could tell him was the truth.

13

Henry

It felt stupid to think that for a moment, I’d imagined I could have a simple life with Sebastian. I’d let my guard down faster than ever.

It was like a blow to the face, learning that he had been the one who sent me away to boarding school.

I wanted to run. I wanted to be as far away