There was a rustling sound in the corner of my room, jolting me from my sleep. At first, I wondered how I could have been sleeping so lightly that such a small sound would awaken me but my hands then slid over the vacant spot in bed beside me. Eikko was gone. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, shoving my unruly hair back from my face. "Eikko?" I called into the darkness, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

I could hear more rustling from several feet away. Relying on memory and instinct, I slid out of bed and made my way over to the corner of the room in the blackness, my hands finally reaching the small table there. My eyes were finally adjusting enough for me to make out Eikko's silhouette. "Hey, what are you doing up?"

"I just have to finish this," he said urgently.

"Finish what?" He didn't answer so I reached over and turned on the light, throwing the room into an abrasive yellow glow. "Eikko, it's the middle of the night. It can wait until morning."

"No, it can't. I promised you that I would do it for you but it's not done yet and it needs to be done. I can't sleep until it's done."

I could see his hands were shaking as he took notes in the margins of the report he was reading. "Hey." My hands closed around his but he tore them away.

"I just have to finish this. If I don't, I'm a failure and you'll see no reason for me to be around. I already am a failure and you don't see it but you will and when you do, you'll realize that you made a mistake," he said, his words coming out in a jumbled mess. "I just…I feel like…I can't breathe."

It all clicked then. The shortness of breath, the way his hands trembled at the slightest deviation in plans, his aversion for the spotlight… "You have anxiety," I concluded in a whisper, unable to help saying it aloud. I didn't have much time to process this conclusion though because he was in the spiral of an anxiety attack. Mom never really had a recurring problem with anxiety but I had witnessed her having one or two over the years. She and Dad were always careful to keep them quiet, no doubt because she didn't want people fussing over her.

When she would dissolve into a puddle of tears and shallow breathing, I would just stand by and watch, at an utter loss as to how to help her. Dad would always make her sit and he would sit close without actually embracing her. One time he explained to me that she needed her space during her anxiety attacks but she still needed to hear his voice to talk her off the ledge.

I relied on those experiences then, in my bedroom in the middle of the night, as the same monster that was anxiety swallowed up my Eikko. I thrust my arms around his waist, pressing my face between his shoulder blades, shushing him gently. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here," I assured him. I hoped that this would work. Most of his worrying seemed to center around me so I figured that reassuring him that I was there to stay would help. "I love you so, so much. I could never regret you. Never. You're a wonderful fiancé and a great man. I'm here and I'm not sending you anywhere, anytime soon." I held him as his breathing eventually slowed enough for me to guide him over to the edge of the bed. Reluctantly, I slid away and went to the bathroom for just a few seconds to get him a glass of water. "Small sips," I instructed, passing it to him.

His hands were still shaking but his breathing was at least better. I waited for his hands to still enough for him to hold the glass steady on his own before going to my closet and retrieving the box of chocolate I kept hidden in there. It was the finest chocolates we could get imported and I couldn't find any better reason for them to be consumed.

It was another several minutes before he gathered himself enough to speak. "Put this at the top of things I was hoping you wouldn't see for a while," he said in a breathless voice.

I smiled sadly and rubbed his knee. "You've managed to bring the Queen of Illéa to her knees though. That's talent there."

"I'm sorry, Eadlyn."

"You have nothing to apologize for," I said tenderly. I rose to sit beside him, my arm wrapping around his waist. "How long have you had anxiety?"

"My whole life," he admitted slowly. "At first my parents tried to say that it was nothing; it was a phase I would get through. My sister was actually the one who stood up for me. We tried medication, then therapy, then medication and therapy. We even went to some herbalist but nothing worked. We've just kind of learned how to deal with it over the years."

I frowned, unable to imagine how terrible it must have been for him. "Why didn't you say anything to me? Did you really think I would kick you out?"

"It made sense to me. I didn't think that the palace would allow you to have a defective prince consort."

Though it was a terrible thing to laugh about, a small giggle peeled out of me. "Eikko, you have no idea…Okay, so let's start with my grandmother. She was sick apparently. Dad told me that she wasn't even supposed to be able to have kids; my dad was the only one she carried to term and they even expected him to have complications. They knew about her fertility problems before my grandfather chose her. Then there's my mom. God, she's had problems with anxiety over the years. According to Marlee, she and Dad met when Mom was in the middle of an anxiety attack. And let's not forget about the fatal, hereditary heart conditions she introduced to the royal bloodline. Believe me, a little anxiety would never keep you from the throne."

"I just don't want you to see me as weak," he admitted in a voice so small and quiet, I almost didn't hear him speak.

"Anxiety doesn't make you weak, Eikko. Even though it's not something I deal with, I know how hard every day is for you. I know how exhausting it is and how hard you have to work to see the good in everything. Anxiety makes you stronger than you'll ever know." A thought occurred to me then. "Would you like to try medicine again?"

"I wouldn't be opposed. If it would help me sleep, I wouldn't turn it down."

I nodded. "Because I'm sure you can try talking to Dr. Ashlar. We can get you any kind of medicine here at the palace. If it's something you're open to."

"We could try," he said.

"We?"

He smiled bashfully. "You help me manage it."

My heart actually physically warmed at that. "Well, then let's see if I can help you sleep a bit. Your reports can wait until morning." He started to protest but I put a finger to his mouth. "Your queen is commanding you to try to sleep."

We climbed back under the covers together, his face pressing into my shoulder as he curled up against me. "Will you hold me?" he asked, his voice sounding so young and innocent that my heart broke a little for him.

"All night," I promised.

The next morning, Eikko was back to being his chipper self. He was furious with Marid but it was at least a fury that we could turn on and off. I was starting to consider making my bedroom a Marid-free zone because Lord knew he was not welcome in bed with Eikko and me. He left my room early to at least make it look like we hadn't spent the night together. I was positive that Dad knew but even if he did, I wasn't about to parade it in front of him.

Eloise was quiet as she helped me get dressed for the day. "When did I last wear this dress, Eloise?" I asked, running my hand over the shoulder of a navy blue dress. I had the perfect yellow blazer to go over it.

"What's the number, ma'am?" she asked me from where she was laying out her makeup brushes.

"7129," I answered.

She pulled a massive binder out from a drawer in my vanity and thumbed through it, searching for the number. "February 11, ma'am. You wore it for tea with Queen Nicoletta."

"Perfect. Pull my yellow blazer and maybe find a green accent necklace?"

"Lovely choice, Your Majesty," she complimented.

Eloise was just finishing my hair and finding the right heels for me to wear when I received a note from Her Majesty Queen America's official desk, asking for an audience with Her Supreme Majesty Queen Eadlyn in the Women's Room before I started my day. I huffed and walked to my office, relieved to find Lady Brice there, organizing my folders for the day. "Do I have time to go speak with my mother?" I asked her.

"She cleared your morning for tea," Lady Brice answered.

I felt my shoulders sag. If she had done something like this a few weeks ago, I would have stood her up, saying that I had too much to do. That was before she almost died though and I was only just starting to realize how desperately I didn't want her to die. I would spend the rest of my life and every resource given me by the palace to keep her from dying, simply to avoid seeing my father so distressed again and to also avoid the cataclysmic hole she would leave in our family.

Mom was waiting for me with a tray full of breakfast tarts and pastries, a pot of hot tea beside them. "Good morning," she greeted. "Sorry if I impeded on your schedule for today."

I waved it off and sank into the sofa across from her. "It's a welcome break. While I would rather use this time to get more sleep, spending it with you is okay too."

"I'm sorry I haven't gotten to spend much time with you these past few days since you got back from Kent. Osten has been sick and I've been covering for your father's last bits of work so he could care for him. Dr. Ashlar didn't want to risk me getting sick," she explained, seeing the questions in my eyes. It was unusual for my mom to not be taking care of one of us when we were sick.

"Mom, you're supposed to be relaxing, not working. General Leger was right; you really don't know what retirement is." I picked a cucumber sandwich off of the tray and shoved the whole thing in my mouth, suddenly ravenous.

"I'm getting there."

"I didn't become queen early for you to keep getting stressed."

She sat up straighter. "I'm not stressed. Do I look stressed?"

"A little."

"Well, I certainly look better than you. Honestly Eadlyn, have you been sleeping at all?" she reproached.

I shrugged. "Nighttime is the only time for Eikko and I to really talk. We have so much that we don't know about each other and I'm also trying to keep him up to date on everything going on so that he knows what he's doing when he officially steps into his role as prince consort."

"Aspen told me about your visit with his parents," Mom said quietly, almost reluctantly. "Want to talk about it?"

I moved to sit next to her, resting my head on her shoulder. "I just don't get what I did wrong. He said that they wanted to meet me. I understand that they were probably trying to look out for him but isn't there a certain line that you know you can't cross as a parent? Like a line that says that your child is in love and there's nothing you can do about it?"

"Some people are scared of that line, Eadlyn," she said. She pressed her lips to my hair and brushed it back from my face with her cool fingers. "Your grandfather went to extraordinary measures to ensure that Dad would never cross that line. How is Eikko doing?"

I beamed and sat up to see her face. "You called him Eikko."

"It is his name, Eadlyn."

"Yes, but it's Finnish."

"You're forgetting that I speak four languages in addition to English. I think I can handle one name in Finnish. We may need to discuss it though if you give any of your kids Finnish names." I cringed. Even though I was about to marry Eikko and he was the absolute love of my life and my soul mate, thinking about having kids with him at that point was slightly terrifying. "Am I putting the cart before the horse?"

"A bit. Wait, four languages? Spanish, French, Italian…what's the fourth?"

Mom laughed to herself. "Toddler." I laughed with her, shaking my head. "You laugh now but just wait. You'll be amazed how much you understand when you have a toddler screaming at you in the wee hours of the morning."

"I don't know how you were a mom while running the country. I can barely do it now."

"Believe me, it wasn't without some sleepless nights and some spats with your father. You got the best of us at times, my love."

I frowned. "Me? I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's true," she said, nodding. "You would scream and scream and scream if you weren't being held by one of us. And of course, your screaming would then wake up your brother. It's a miracle Dad and I wanted to have kids after you two."

"How did you and Dad manage it? You two are so close but I now know how little time you two had. I feel like Eikko and I barely see each other and we go to countless meetings together."

Mom paused, thinking it over. "Obviously you two have figured out that nighttime is when you're guaranteed the most time alone. But there are other things you can do to mix work with play. One of our best ways of spending time together as husband and wife while being productive was…" Her voice trailed off and she blushed.

"God, do I want to know?"

"We would take baths together while reading reports," she said quickly, trying to get it out. "I'm just saying, there are ways for you two to remain close and have time as husband and wife while not having to shirk your responsibilities as rulers. Of course, using dates as motivation to get your work done is never a bad idea either. For a few years we were able to have a date every Tuesday night."

"Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be so lucky as to have found a guy like Eikko. Somehow, the two of us go together so perfectly…I just can't wrap my mind around it."

Mom gathered my hair in her hands and draped it down my back. "Love is a tricky little thing, isn't it? Just know that you are always welcome to come to your father and I if you need help. We can't fix all of your problems and you should learn how to work through things on your own but we're here."

"Thanks, Mom." I didn't want to think too much about the fact that we very nearly lost the ability to have her and Dad there for us forever. Even though Mom was the one who nearly died, Dad would have never been the same again if she had died. "Mom, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but I have to know: what's Dr. Ashlar's official prognosis for you?"

She pressed her lips together, her hand flickering to her chest unconsciously. She was still recovering from open-heart surgery and though she put on a brave face, I knew that she had to have been having some bad days. And Mom was strong but she could only be strong for so long. I wanted to be the one she could turn to if she had to. "It's okay."

"Just okay?" I pressed, my stomach clenching.

"Obviously I'm more at risk for having another heart attack in the future. It's just a matter of being careful from now on, okay? They have me on strict medication and I have to go see Dr. Ashlar every week for a check up. Your father is making sure I'm exercising, resting, eating right, and all of that. Really, Dad's not going to let me try to check out on him again," she joked morbidly.

I wasn't laughing though. "And if you do have another heart attack?"

"Than they'll do another bypass," she said simply, shrugging. "I am well taken care of, Eadlyn. You do not have to worry about me. You have a whole country to worry about."

"Mom, if I don't worry about you, who will?"

She laughed out loud again. "Your father. Believe me, he worries about me enough for the whole family. I swear the man would never sleep if it weren't for Dr. Ashlar telling him that he needs to stay healthy for my sake. Even then, he sleeps just enough to ensure that he doesn't look like death."

"When you were in the hospital, you said that you've seen Dad get through far worse. What…what was that about?"

Mom pressed her lips together, her eyes growing sad. Clearly I had brought up something she didn't like talking about. I hoped I didn't just unknowingly put her back into memories of the massacre. "You know we almost lost your father during the massacre, right?" I nodded solemnly, holding my breath for whatever she was about to say. "I was with him…as he was dying. And Eady, I hope you never have to experience what I did in that moment. I hope that you never have to look into your love's eyes, knowing that they're dying…" She shook her head, unable to continue.

I put my arm around her, resting my head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Mom. I can't imagine what it was like." I had had to face the prospect of not marrying Eikko, of having to live my life with someone else at my side and it was hard but it was somewhat acceptable. At least I would be able to know that he was out there, doing well for himself, and possibly happy. To have to live without him because he was no longer alive…I shivered at the thought.

"Enough of this sad talk though. I want to get the real scoop on what you were thinking for the wedding. And his parents. I only got bits from Aspen; I want the whole story." Just like that, Mom was back to being Lady America Singer, the firecracker Five that joined the Selection begrudgingly and stayed at the palace for the food.

I happily obliged her and we spent the remainder of the morning ironing out other things I wanted for the wedding. I was able to tell Mom all about Eikko's colorful home he grew up in and give her the full play-by-play of my encounter with his parents. I even confided with her about his anxiety because I was quickly realizing that I needed someone to talk to about it and she would understand. It was this amazing thing, the bond my mother and I had. And it had nothing to do with her almost dying or the fact that I was doing her job; we both were hopelessly in love with incredible men. We had found our soul mates in the most unlikely of places and those circumstances had somehow bonded us in a way that we had never bonded before.

I left the Women's Room with a smile on my face, musing over how lucky I was to have such an incredible woman as a role model in life. My smile faded though when I saw the crease between Lady Brice's brows as she read a tabloid. She wasn't the magazine type; she didn't exactly have the time for pleasure reading. This was not a good sign. From where I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the office, I could see a picture of me and Eikko at the concert in Kent with the angry yellow letters of the tabloid announcing, "Queen Eadlyn's Shocking Affair!"

"Please tell me that you're reading that article for giggles and not because it has something bad in it that we need to do damage control for," I groaned, sitting behind my desk.

"Did you know you're pregnant?"

I almost spit out the coffee I had just picked up. "I'm what?"

"That's why you chose Eikko. You two had a passionate affair on the side and you got pregnant. That's why you chose him."

"The Selection only started, what, five or six weeks ago? I would've had to have sex with him on his first day for me to know I am pregnant!"

Lady Brice sighed and put the tabloid down. "You can read all about your forbidden love story on page 27." She collapsed into the chair across from me, clearly exhausted. "At least this one is easy to disprove."

"I'll just drink lots of champagne and eat as much salmon as I can at my next public event," I told her.

"It's not just that though," she said, shaking her head. "Yes, we can shoot this rumor down easily but the message is pretty clear here. People are crazy enough to believe a story like this because they still have no idea why you chose him. We have no choice. You two must do an interview with Gavril tonight."

"But I took the morning off. I don't have the time to do an interview this afternoon."

"Doesn't matter," she snapped, jumping to her feet to head out in search of Gavril. "Your reign is at a standstill until you can get back into the good graces of your people."

I peeked at my schedule on my desk, trying to find anything I could bump to Sunday but came up short. A meeting with advisers was being pushed to the next day for the interview and the rest of my commitments were with foreign affairs and they absolutely could not be rescheduled. It was going to have to be a late night.

Eikko was visibly shaking that night as we got ready for the interview. "You have nothing to worry about. This isn't live; anything major can be cut later before it airs," I told him, smoothing his suit jacket. He really did look impeccable now that all of his suits were custom tailored for him.

"What if I do something really stupid though and forget your name? What if I forget my name?"

I smiled, trying not to laugh and seem insensitive to his worries but the idea did sound preposterous. "Should I tell them to get the teleprompter booted up?" I asked him, only half-kidding.

He straightened his sleeves one last time and stood up tall in front of me. "At least I know that no one will be looking at me. Not with you sitting next to me."

"Please, there will be tons of women gawking at you. Especially if you smile."

"I'll smile."

"You better. Even if it isn't genuine. You have to at least pretend that you kinda sorta like me."

He smirked. "I can manage that."

"Two minutes, Your Majesty," a producer called to me.

I dragged Eikko onto the stage and we sat down on the little loveseat that was only really used for joint interviews with Mom and Dad. They hadn't done one of those in a while though. If it was an interview about policy or diplomacy, they would field those questions from their podiums. This loveseat was reserved for things like announcing babies, checking in on married life, and other interviews that would fuel the gossip monster.

Eikko straightened his tie, tugging at it uncomfortably. I put my hand on his and waited for his eyes to meet mine to speak. "You'll be fine. If you start freaking out, just look at me. Do you want your ring back?" I asked him.

"Honestly, yes, but you need a ring on your finger. If the people are speculating about us being together you should have a ring."

I couldn't argue with his logic so I just nodded and squeezed his hand. We had been given special permission to be holding hands on camera as a sign of unity and intimacy between us. "How about this? If I want to answer a question, I'll squeeze your hand and vice versa," I proposed.

He nodded, looking relieved. "Okay."

Some maids did a last-minute makeup check on us as a cameraman started doing a countdown. Gavril winked at us before he went on. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, Gavril Fadaye here and I am bringing you a very special treat for your evenings. I have with me Queen Eadlyn and Sir Eikko, her new fiancé." Eikko and I shared a warm smile. "Sir, I hope I said your name properly," Gavril joked.

"You did great, Gavril," Eikko forced out. His jaw was stiff but at least he didn't sound tense. "This one even struggled with my name at first." He nudged me lightly, making me laugh at the memory.

"I thought my name was complicated," I added.

"I can't argue with being the one to change my last name if it means getting an easier one. Plus, everyone in the world knows how to pronounce your last name."

"It does come with the territory."

Gavril cut in. "You two seem very close and familiar with each other. I think what a lot of us want to know is how this all started? Sir Eikko, you obviously spent a lot of time with the Selected, giving you access to Queen Eadlyn but how did you come to the realization that there was something more?"

I squeezed Eikko's hand. "I just want to be clear that though my choice may be shocking, I mean no will to any of the Selected. I understand that some of them may be upset with my choosing someone who was not officially a suitor but I do believe that the majority of them would agree that by the third week or so, Eikko was one of them. That being said, I had a soft spot in my heart for Sir Henri early on, allowing me to spend a large portion of time with Eikko since he was Henri's translator. I don't know about him, but I think it really started after the incident in the kitchens. Eikko was the one who rescued me and took care of me in the aftermath."

"What a gentleman!" Gavril exclaimed theatrically. Of course he already knew all of this. As the palace press secretary, he was privy to our love story. "Sir Eikko, did you know what you were starting in that moment?"

Eikko smiled kindly at Gavril. "Honestly Gavril? No. The fight all happened fast and I didn't have time to process it. I just knew that the last week or so had been hard on Eadlyn and to see her having another difficult night was terrible. It was all I could do to get her out of there as fast as I could."

"So then when did you two realize that it was real? That you were, in fact, in love?"

"For me, it was the week of my coronation actually," I answered. "I definitely knew that there was something different about him from the moment we met but it was during that week of chaos that it really hit me how much I love him. It couldn't have been a more overwhelming time. I was flipping between suitors because I knew that soon after my coronation I would need to make a choice in my future husband and we shared a sort of genuine moment just the two of us and it was then that I truly knew."

Eikko nodded, his blue eyes watching me. "Yeah, I knew a bit sooner than that but because I wasn't a suitor I didn't pursue her It was only in that moment that she just mentioned that I saw there was something mutual between us and that I could push her a little."

"Push the queen of Illéa?" Gavril teased.

"She needed it," Eikko said, holding his free hand up in defense.

I laughed. "I really did. There were so many changes happening in my life at the time and I suddenly had so much responsibility that it was nice for someone to take the reins and guide me."

"Would you say then that this was a bit of a forbidden romance?" Gavril asked conspiratorially, nearly salivating at the idea.

I laughed nervously and looked to Eikko, waiting for him to answer. "I respect Eadlyn and I respect the duties she must fulfill in life as the queen. I knew going into things that we would need something short of a miracle in order for us to get our happily ever after. I mean, she was prepared to end it in marrying a guy who was not her soul mate if it meant pleasing her people because she cares so much about her citizens and makes nearly every decision in her life based off them, and I knew that. The forbidden element actually made it even more heartbreaking, I think for both of us, because we both knew how it was most likely going to end."

"Now we saw you choose him, Queen Eadlyn. How did you propose, when the time came?"

"It was actually there on television last week," I said to him. "Neither of us was expecting to get engaged that night but I think it worked for the best."

"Absolutely," Eikko agreed. "We had talked extensively about it being essentially impossible for her to pick me because I wasn't a member of the Selected but she definitely had a change of heart that night and decided to cash in on love."

Gavril sighed and clapped his hands together lightly. "Obviously we need to discuss the hardware. What is that ring you're wearing, Your Majesty?"

"It's an heirloom of Eikko's family." I fanned out my fingers for the cameras to get a better look. "He actually gave it to me before for luck a couple weeks ago, before we were engaged or even thought we would really get to be married."

"We'll see how long it takes for her to decide she wants a diamond ring," Eikko teased and I playfully swatted him.

Gavril held my hand to inspect the ring closely and then squeezed my fingers before releasing it. "So, Sir Eikko, perhaps you could tell us a bit more about your background growing up? You're first generation Swendish, correct?"

"I am, yeah. My parents moved here shortly before I was born and we lived in a Swendish community in Kent while I grew up. My parents both have done a lot of good work for immigrants that have come over and need help adjusting to the new culture."

"Would you say you'd like to carry on some of that work as prince consort?"

He nodded and shrugged slightly. "If the opportunity presents itself, absolutely. With the world being largely at peace right now, I think now would be a great time to interpose some of my experience, growing up as a first generation Illéan, to help Eadlyn with some of her foreign policy. Even being able to expand job opportunities and government assistance to immigrants, refugees, and orphans would be enough for me to be satisfied. I'm happy assisting Eadlyn in whatever way possible though. Even if it means massaging her hands every night before bed." We had spent a solid hour practicing that one little speech in my bedroom after we had decided to do the interview. I had actually told Gavril to ask him that so that the people would be able to hear a bit about where Eikko was coming from as a future prince consort.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to do," I said cheekily, placing my free hand on his knee for a moment.

"Looking into the future, you come from a large family Queen Eadlyn with three siblings and then multiple aunts and uncles from your mother's side. Have you two discussed at all what the future holds for you two as parents?"

I blanched. Not because I didn't want to air how many kids I wanted on television but because we hadn't actually discussed it. Thankfully, Eikko squeezed my hand. "I think we're just going to take things one step at a time. We'll get used to marriage first and then really evaluate what we would like in a family. Right now, Eadlyn has her constitution and countless other projects that are her babies and I'm okay with supporting her with them for the time being." I nodded to show my agreement.

"Going into this big phase of life, you know, marriage is a big deal and big adjustment for anyone. How are you two preparing for it, knowing that it will be so much more public?"

"I think, again, we're just taking it one step at a time," I said.

Eikko jumped in. "Yeah. I have a lot to learn still and I'm looking forward to learning so that I can start helping her and acting as her partner in ruling. Her family has been helping me with the adjustment; obviously it's something that her mother has gone through and she was a confident ruler so if she can do it, I think I can."

I patted his knee again. "You'll be fine. You're doing great so far." He beamed at me, our eyes locked for a moment slightly longer than it needed to be.

Gavril smiled at us and then looked straight into one of the cameras. "There you have it folks, an exclusive interview with the happy couple. We look forward to seeing them continue to work together as Queen Eadlyn fulfills her reign. Thank you both for your time tonight; we know you're a very busy girl, Your Majesty." I waved him off as if it was nothing and I wasn't about to spend the remainder of my night reading reports on damage to infrastructure in Panama from a hurricane. "Congratulations, once again, and I wish you both all the best."

"Thank you," we both said graciously before the cameras cut out.

"How was that?" Eikko immediately asked, his voice anxious.

I put both of my hands on his face and pulled his face to mine, knowing that words could never express how proud I was of him in that moment. His eyes were still wide and bewildered when we separated. "You were amazing. You were everything a prince consort ought to be and I didn't even have to really tell you what to say or do. I don't even know what you were nervous about to begin with!"

He let out a long breath, clearly relieved to hear this. "I love you," he whispered to me reverently.

"I love you," I said. "I wish I could celebrate this with you but I have a mountain of work waiting in my office for me."

"You know, I meant what I said about wanting to support you in whatever way I could," he said slowly, contemplating something. "If that means sitting up until the wee hours of the morning with you, reading those reports with you…"

"Seriously?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "You're not obligated to help me. Especially not now when you're not even officially my prince consort."

He shrugged and held both of my hands tightly in his. "I want to spend some time with my fiancée. Like it or not, my fiancée has some other people she needs to look after. I'll help you."

I smiled even wider and nodded. We both went to our rooms to change into more comfortable clothes, which essentially meant changing into our respective pajamas. We ordered a small feast of any junk food the kitchens could make for us: mac-n-cheese, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, popcorn, and small pizzas. We barely made a dent but it carried us through until two in the morning, when we were still sitting on the floor of my study with reports surrounding us, laughing and nowhere near finished but nowhere near tired. Looking across our pile of junk food, past where our bare feet were brushing together, at Eikko's smiling face as he read through a report in a hilarious impression of Gavril, I knew that I was seeing my future then. This man was indeed my soul mate, my best friend, and my absolute favorite person on the planet. With him by my side, everything seemed just a little less scary.