Jeff looked at the people around him, eyes pleading. “Shouldn’t this be Samantha?”
“We still can’t find her,” Anju said gruffly.
Lord Orange cleared his throat. “Given what she wrote in that note, Samantha and my grandson may not want to be found. Some people would interpret her message as a renunciation of her title,” he added, his tone unreadable.
“Jefferson,” Anju added, “in her Declaration of Regency, Beatrice named you as her contingent heir. Should anything befall her during the period of regency, which it has, then you become Acting King.” Nina could practically hear the capitalization in those words.
Finally, her mind caught up to the scene unfolding before her. Jeff was about to take the Oath of Accession to the Crown.
She thought dazedly of what he’d said just last month, when he’d explained that Beatrice had named him as her Regent. It’s just a bunch of parties and ribbon-cuttings, he’d joked. Hey, at least I have more excuses to wear my ceremonial sword.
He hadn’t anticipated this, but then, no one could have.
Once or twice over the years, Nina had wondered what might happen if Beatrice abdicated her position and Samantha became queen, for no real reason except that Sam was her best friend and she wondered what kind of queen her friend would make. But never had any of her what-ifs or imaginings brought her here, to a situation where Jeff would be the one in the Imperial State Crown.
Daphne put a hand on Jeff’s arm in reassurance. “You can do this, Jefferson. You’re ready.”
From the way she touched him, Nina saw that Daphne was in full control of herself—and of Jeff—once more. It was like his moment in the garden with Nina had never even happened.
Stunned, Jeff nodded. Nina watched as Anju handed a book to Marshall’s grandfather. A Bible, she realized. The tattered, paperback kind that you could always find in a hospital somewhere.
The duke held it before the prince, his face grave. Jeff placed his right hand atop it.
“Your Highness. Do you solemnly swear to govern the United States of America according to its laws and principles?”
Jeff’s voice was surprisingly steady as he replied, “I do.”
“Will you faithfully execute the Office of King, for as long or as short a time as you may need to hold such office, on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Beatrice, long may she reign?”
Long may she reign, Nina thought with a pang. She glanced back toward the hospital bed, where Beatrice lay still.
“I will,” Jeff promised.
Nina felt Daphne’s gaze on her again. For a moment Daphne’s perfect mask dropped, and her face was alive with greed and ambition.
Of course Daphne would be thrilled at this turn of events. As long as her fate was tied to Jeff’s, then his swearing-in meant her triumph. If Daphne had anything to say about it, she would ascend to greater heights than even she had dreamed of.
Forget trying to become a princess—now Daphne had set her sights on being queen.
“And will you preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States?” the duke finally asked.
Jeff nodded. “All of this I promise to do, so help me God.”
The Jeff that Nina knew was so very unkingly, with his boyish humor and easy charm. But as he lowered his hand from the Bible, she saw that there was something different about the set of his shoulders, the firmness of his jaw. Already he was more distant, more regal—not like her playful Jeff at all, but a figure from one of the glossy postcards sold in the palace gift shop. Too distant and high-ranking to touch.
Here he was, the boy Nina had loved for more than half her life. Maybe he loved her too, or maybe he loved Daphne, or maybe he loved them both at once—this was Jeff, after all, who had a bigger heart than anyone Nina had ever met, except maybe Samantha.
But in the end, Nina’s love for him wasn’t enough, not when so many forces were tearing them apart: Jeff’s position, and Nina’s aversion to the spotlight, and Daphne’s ruthless determination to have Jeff for herself.
A sense of weary, stifling defeat settled over her.
If Nina couldn’t handle being with Jeff the prince, there was no chance she belonged with Jefferson the Acting King. She’d be subjected to a thousand times as much scrutiny, would be picked apart and judged and found wanting by the entire world. Her family would be thrust under a microscope, her past raked through. Nina couldn’t go through that again. She couldn’t go up against Daphne again, not when it kept ending in such heartache.
“You win,” she whispered, too softly for Daphne to hear. Not that it mattered. Daphne already knew she was the victor.
Blinking back tears, Nina hurried down the hall before Jeff could see her.
By the time she descended the front steps of the hospital, a few reporters had gathered near the entrance. Word of Beatrice’s accident must have finally leaked. There was a collective intake of breath as Nina pushed open the main double doors, but when they saw her, they all glanced away in disappointment. They’d probably been expecting a member of the palace’s PR team.
Then one of them called out, “Hey! Aren’t you Samantha’s friend, the one who dated Prince Jeff?”
The cameras rose into the air, their metallic clicks multiplying like the drone of wasps.
And suddenly they were all shouting questions at her: Where is Samantha? Is it true that Beatrice is on life support and Jeff is king? Was the car crash really an accident, or did someone try to murder the queen?
“The only thing I know for sure is that it’s all changing,” Nina said, her words tight with a raw, hot emotion. She refused to let herself cry in front of the cameras.
“What’s changing?” a reporter called out.
“Everything.” Nina hurried down the last few steps, then glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But when it’s all over and the dust has settled, this country will never be the same again.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I can’t believe we made it to a third book! This series has been a joy to write, in no small part because of the many talented and wonderful people who’ve made it all possible.
Caroline Abbey, I’m so lucky to work with you. Thank you for your thoughtful editorial notes, your sense of humor, and most of all for believing in this series so fiercely that you helped us get a third (and a fourth!) book. Here’s to more royal adventures to come!
I’m grateful to the entire publishing team at Random House, especially Michelle Nagler, Mallory Loehr, Kelly McGauley, Caitlin Whalen, Kate Keating, Emma Benshoff, Jenn Inzetta, Elizabeth Ward, Adrienne Waintraub, Tricia Lin, Jasmine Hodge, Morgan Maple, and Noreen Herits. And special thanks are due to Alison Impey and Carolina Melis for yet another spectacular cover.