Every single different scenario flashed through my mind as I sprinted down to the hospital wing. Mom was dead or in emergency surgery again. She had a stroke or something else wrong with her. My mom could have been dying and all I could think was Please, God, not before my wedding. It seemed selfish and wrong but if she died, I would not be able to go through with this wedding. Not without her there to walk me down the aisle with Dad. I should have asked the guard what was happening but I took off before I even thought about it.

Unlike last time, the hallway outside the hospital wing was deserted. No sign of Dad or General Leger or Miss Marlee. I didn't know if that was a good sign or not.

My hand had just closed around the handle of the door to enter when Eikko came streaking around the corner. My bones melted at the sight of him. I was seconds from falling on the floor as he reached me and enveloped me in the sanctuary of his arms. Was it possible that I had been so ecstatic not even a half hour ago? Everything finally seemed like it was coming together. I should have known that it was all too good to be true.

"What's going on?" Eikko asked into my hair. "Is she okay? I came down before anyone could explain anything to me."

"I don't know," I whispered to him. "I don't know what's going on."

He waited for me to be the one to pull away, knowing not to push me into going inside before I was ready. I would have stayed out in that hallway for years, procrastinating, but that wasn't what queens did. Queens took charge of the situation and went headfirst into battle, chin lifted and crown held high.

My parents were inside the same room Mom was in last time. I didn't know just how tense I was until my eyes landed on Mom, sitting in bed, still wearing her silky nightgown and robe, wide awake and looking slightly annoyed. "Wait, what is this?" I asked, my eyes darting between her, my dad and Dr. Cleary.

"This is your father overreacting to just a little bit of heartburn," Mom grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"How was I supposed to know that it's heartburn?" Dad complained.

Dr. Cleary coughed, trying to get the conversation back on track. "I was just explaining to your parents that what Queen America experienced this morning was some mild heartburn. Nothing to worry about, really. I'd like to keep you here for some tests and try to diagnose the cause of it to make sure that it's not gastroesophageal reflux disease. I am almost positive it's not, as we would have found it in our other tests we've been doing in the last couple months."

"So she's okay?" I ask Dr. Cleary. I was still holding my breath. Eikko's fingers brushed my lower back, making me shiver slightly. A sick part of me was thankful for the fact that this happened so that they would be focused on each other and not Eikko and me. Mom was way too smart and too observant to not see that there was a difference between Eikko and me this morning.

Dr. Cleary gave me a tense but hopeful smile. "Yes, I think so."

We all exhaled. Dad still seemed to be slightly unconvinced though. He rubbed Mom's knee. "I know this may be a bit much, but I just want to be sure you're okay. Especially if we're going abroad in a few weeks."

"Um, going abroad? A few weeks?" Dr. Cleary squeaked out, her eyes wide.

"Is that a problem?" Mom asked.

"Your Majesty, I cannot advise that you are safe to travel. With your health still not being perfectly cleared yet, I don't feel comfortable with you traveling abroad."

Dad and Mom were quiet as they took that in. Clearly the former king and queen were thinking that they no longer needed permission to travel anywhere. "But you said that I'm healthy," Mom protested.

"You are healthy for having just had a heart attack and undergone bypass surgery, America. But you're not in the safe zone yet. I understand your desire for peace and quiet but until I'm sure that your heart can handle the stress of everyday life, I'm afraid you're confined to the palace and Angeles."

"How long will that be?" she asked, starting to sound angry.

"You need to make it six months after your heart surgery with no scares for me to feel comfortable clearing you. If you do have a scare, that six months will start again."

"Six months?" Dad repeated.

Mom's lip trembled as she tried to control her emotions. Eikko shifted his feet and I knew that we should have left but I was still trying to process everything. I felt sad for my parents as well. No one deserved a vacation more than they did. "Max, your birthday…I'm so sorry," she apologized quietly to Dad.

He stood to sit by her side in the bed, facing her, and squeezed her hand. "Hey, it's fine. We can go somewhere next year for my birthday. I'm okay with having a quiet birthday here at home. As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy," he assured her.

I really did feel like I was intruding at that point so I turned and left with Eikko right behind me, both of us trying to be discreet. Once out in the hallway, he studied me closely. "You okay?"

I nodded. "What are you doing today?"

"Last-minute preparations with Raelynn, concerning room assignments for next week," he informed me.

"You don't think you could do that in my study, could you?" He agreed but a befuddled frown lingered on his beautiful face. "I just need you close." That seemed to explain it to him. He didn't need to think twice to understand. He just knew that I was scared because of the false alarm with my mom and I needed him with me.

Brice was in my study when we arrived, reading an update from one of our diplomats. Her greeting was forced and her smile was tentative at best. Not that I was surprised what with our argument the day before. I didn't have the energy to harbor any aggravation toward her though so I embraced her before proceeding to my desk. "I appreciate everything you do for us, you know that, right?" I asked her as I squeezed her shoulders.

"I do. Sometimes I worry that I overstep though. Like I cross the line from being an adviser to being an aunt."

"You are my aunt, you can cross that line. How many times have you seen my father cross the line between leader and father with me? You both want what's best for me and have more experience than me. I need all the help I can get." She smiled at that, this time more confidently. "Speaking of, will I have to be on the lookout for any tension between nations next week?"

Brice picked up the report and placed it in the folder on my desk for papers I didn't have to read but could choose to if I had the time. "The Italians are not getting along with North Africa right now," she reported.

"Is anyone ever getting along with North Africa?" Eikko asked, looking over the notes he had for Raelynn as he waited for her to arrive.

"Things were better after the war with New Asia ended and North Africa got new leaders. They've had some rebel activity though and those rebels are trying to overthrow their leaders while also threatening the EU."

I rolled my eyes. "Great."

"We have more pressing matters right now, Eadlyn. Illéa doesn't have any reason to get involved in a war with North Africa, especially while we're still recuperating from the war with New Asia. I suggest we stay on course and focus on this summit next week."

"What first?" I asked her, expecting her to lay down a list of people I should meet with privately for various matters of state.

Imagine my surprise when she asked me, "Have you thought about your music selections for the welcome dinner?"

Ahren was the first to arrive for the summit, a full day early. Camille would be coming later but she couldn't spare the time away from France with her already staying the extra few days afterward for Dad's birthday. Ahren arrived completely without my knowing in the early hours of the morning. He arrived so early, in fact, that I didn't have any warning whatsoever for him barging into my bedroom. More importantly, Eikko didn't have any warning to run and hide.

"Wake up, Your Majesty! The French are invading and are taking you hostage for a day of riding and movie-watching and…holy crap, there's a guy in your bed," Ahren stammered, pointing at Eikko.

My poor fiancé looked utterly terrified at being caught in my bed with no visible clothing on. What was worse was that I was very clearly naked as well under my blankets. "Ahren, out!" I demanded, pointing to my door.

He didn't need to be told twice. He simply retreated with a knowing smirk. I knew he would be waiting in the hallway for me all morning if I didn't go talk to him then. I ruffled Eikko's hair and slowly climbed over him to get out of bed. My nightgown was lying on the floor on his side of the bed after being deposited there hastily the night before. I grabbed my fluffy robe as a last-minute cover-up to allow myself just a bit more modesty before slipping into the hallway where sure enough, my twin was waiting for me.

He seemed to be cool as a cucumber, sitting on a plush bench and inspecting his fingernails. His somewhat prone position gave me the ultimate opportunity for attack so I swooped in, pushing him off the bench and onto the floor. "Hey!" he protested, jumping right back up to his feet. "What is he doing in your bed?" he demanded in the next breath.

"He just so happens to be my fiancé. I can do what I want with him," I said angrily.

"Jesus, Eadlyn, you couldn't have let me meet the guy before I knew you were sleeping together? Now how am I supposed to intimidate him?"

"What does our physical relationship have to do with whether or not you can intimidating Eikko?"

"He officially has a better relationship with you. He's locked into this." He narrows his eyes thoughtfully, an idea clearly popping into his head. "I could tell Mom and Dad and use it as blackmail."

I jabbed my finger into his sternum and stared down his big brown eyes. "Not. A. Word. Got it?"

"Mom and Dad don't know about that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows dubiously.

"Yeah, but Mom and Dad don't know about that."

"What? What's that?"

"Ahren, don't make me say it…"

"Oh, that?" He made a crude hand gesture, making me slap his arm to make him stop. I heard one of the guards near us chuckle quietly.

"Grow up," I growled.

He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "You're the older twin. And you're a queen while I'm a lowly prince consort. I think you're the one who should grow up since you're the one sneaking prince consorts into your bedroom every night."

"He's not a prince consort yet, you know."

"Oh, forgive me. I meant to say commoners. Or do you prefer peasants?" Ahren was clearly getting a kick out of this whole situation. This conversation was going absolutely nowhere.

"I'm going back to bed so that I don't look like a zombie today. Do me a favor and forget that you ever saw anything in my bedroom this morning, okay? I would really like to live long enough to get married."

"Please, Dad wouldn't hurt a fly."

I laughed. "It's not Dad I'm worried about," I muttered. "Go get a couple hours of sleep, take the morning to relax and hang out with Kaden and Osten. Then I have a surprise for the family tonight. You'll like it."

"Sure thing." He left me to start walking down toward his old bedroom. "You may want to start brainstorming a better escape plan for Erik though. I can't promise that I won't tell Osten."

I groaned, walking back inside my bedroom. Eikko was wide awake and stretching his arms across our pillows, a sheepish smile on his lips. "Would you think less of me if I told you how terrified I am of your brother knowing about us sleeping together?"

"No, I think you're very smart to be scared of him," I said. "He won't say anything though. He really doesn't have any room to speak. He did elope and subsequently gave my mother a heart attack."

"Good." He pulled me close and kissed my shoulder. "Because I have no intention of letting you go anytime soon."

The door cracked open again and Neena's voice filtered through. "Your Majesty, sorry to wake you but there's been some confusion with the decorating for the welcome dinner that we need you to resolve."

Eikko and I both sighed. "Never mind," he mumbled, kissing my shoulder again.

I dressed in comfy capri slacks and a simple summer blouse, knowing that I'd have to change again for the surprise. It turned out that the decorating issue was part of a larger issue with the seating arrangements, requiring Eikko and I to redraw our seating chart because the Italians could not be seated by Governor Tailor of Clermont, one of the most conservative governors we had in Illéa. Eikko handled it calmly, patiently going through the chart with me and getting my input on who could sit with who. After that was sorted he was called away for final approval on the menu and our day had officially begun.

Due to the impending influx of guests and the Great Hall being decorated for the first night's dinner festivities, we were all sort of left to our own devices for meals. Mom was resting – per Dr. Cleary's orders – so she and Dad were obviously eating breakfast in their room. With Ahren being back in the country for the first time in weeks and Eikko being temporarily indisposed, I took the opportunity to arrange a breakfast just for us Schreave kids.

We ate in Ahren's room since it was the cleanest. Kaden and Osten were already there, piling fruit and chocolate and whipped cream onto their waffles. At least it meant that I could avoid meeting Ahren's eyes and didn't have to really acknowledge him until after I fixed my plate and sat down with them. Kaden was telling Osten about some new gun he wanted to get for hunting. I sighed, not knowing how much I missed having all three of my little brothers together until then.

"How're things in France, Ahren?" Kaden suddenly asked, his eyes wide as he waited for the status report from another country. Somebody get that kid a crown already.

"Fine," he said vaguely. He pretended to be nonchalant but I could see the way his eyes hardened. "How's Josie?"

"Josie?" I asked before Kaden could answer. "What about Josie?"

Kaden narrowed his eyes at Ahren. "Don't try to change the subject. Are things still tense with North Africa? You should consider sitting down with their leaders, seeing if you can lend them aid."

"Forget North Africa. I want to know all about how Eadlyn's domestic aid initiative is coming," Ahren said. He sipped his coffee coyly.

"Can we please go back to Josie?" I asked, holding my hands up to both of them. And then the three of us were talking over each other, trying to deflect the attention and questions that we didn't want to answer, our voices gradually rising until we were practically shouting.

Osten finally called out, making us stop, "North African leaders have no interest in meeting with the French for aid, Kaden has a crush on Josie and wants to ask her out, and Eadlyn's aid initiative is moving forward on a temporary basis until they can find a way to fund it permanently. There. Everyone happy now?"

"That's great news, Eadlyn!" Kaden exclaimed.

I held up my hand to him, staring down my twin brother. "What's this about North Africa?" He was quiet, avoiding looking at any of us. He simply focused on his bacon. "Ahren?"

"We've been keeping it from the press as best as we could. Lord knows how you found out," he said pointedly to Osten. "They're just harmless threats so far. There's nothing we can do but tighten security in and around the country."

"Threats?" Kaden repeated.

"From the rebels there. They're threatening most of the countries in Europe, primarily the ones on the Mediterranean. Italy should be the most worried since they're closest to where the rebels are based. They basically just want to seize control of Europe and conquer everyone there. These rebels are a whole new breed of insane, thinking that they can actually rule the world."

"That doesn't make them any less real, Ahren. If anything it makes them even more lethal," I told him. "If they're crazy enough to believe that they can take over the world, what would stop them from seeking extreme measures to ensure that they can do it?"

"Eadlyn's right," Kaden agreed, making me raise my eyebrows. "They may be threats from what seems to be an unstable group of people, but their instability makes them terrifying. This isn't something to be taken lightly—"

"Jesus, I know!" Ahren exploded, slamming a hand down on the table. We all jumped. Anger wasn't something typically expressed so blatantly in our home. Not around each other or directed at each other. We grew up in peace and were taught to always strive to maintain that peace. "I'm sorry. I was just hoping to come here and not have to worry about any impending invasions."

I reached a hand over to hold his, giving it a little squeeze. Our hands looked different with my hand sporting my signet ring and his sporting a wedding band. The significance held in the little symbols on our fingers should have made us seem older than we were but we were still only teenagers. Teenagers and already responsible for entire nations. "Then let's not worry about it, okay? You and Camille can discuss it with General Leger once she gets here but for now, let's just be a family."

"That sounds like a great idea." Dad's voice floated across the room to us from where he was lingering in the doorway. He was smiling at the sight of his four children all together under one roof but there was a rigidity to his smile. "I hope you don't mind that I need to steal Kaden and Osten. I just want to talk to them about some stuff before our surprise." His face was drawn and I could detect some nerves in the way his voice slightly shook. "What do you say? You boys want to go for a quick ride around the grounds?"

Kaden and Osten practically ran out of the room, breakfasts abandoned on the table. Ahren and I stacked our plates and at least tried to make some sense of the table before leaving it to the maids to clean up. "What was that about?" I asked Ahren.

"I'm assuming it's to do with his back," Ahren said in a level tone. "Sorry, I told him about your surprise but I figured he would need to talk to them ahead of time. To explain, you know."

I nodded, feeling my stomach turn to a bundle of knots. "When did you find out?"

"Our seventeenth birthday. We were out hunting and we both got really dirty and he knew Mom would freak if she saw us so dirty so we changed in the stables."

"I feel bad. He has to keep sharing that story over and over again. It's not fair to him to have to keep living with this."

Ahren smiled sadly. "But it's what makes Dad him. It's just another part of him. Like the massacre or Mom, it is what shaped him into the man we know as Dad."

"Did you know that the world used to celebrate mothers and fathers? Like, they would have a Mother's Day and Father's Day each year and on those days, people would celebrate their parents. We should bring that back," I mused.

"One reform at a time, okay?" Ahren joked, throwing his arm around my shoulders as we walked down the hallway toward my room.

Eikko opened the door before we were even halfway to my room, his face surprised to see my brother and I there together. They both stood still, frozen, taking the other in. I could see them assessing who had more possession of me and who needed to respect whom. Eikko was a few years older than him but Ahren had known me for my entire life. Finally, Ahren nodded and seemed to come to a decision in his head. He stepped forward, extending his hand to my fiancé. "At our palace in France, we have this huge race through the city for New Year's. You should come."

With an urgent nod from me, he gave Ahren a reluctant smile. "Okay. Yeah, sounds good."

Ahren hugged me one last time and then said, "I'll leave you two alone. Surprise is still on for one, right?"

"Yup. Do not be late." He just chuckled and walked away, his hands dug deep in his pockets as he headed back toward his bedroom.

Eikko grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. "What?" I asked breathily, giggling as his fingers played with the hem of my shirt. "Eikko, no, I need to get ready for the surprise. I need to change."

"I can help you with that," he said in a husky voice. His lips were on my neck, tickling me in the spot behind my ear.

I couldn't stop giggling. "What's gotten into you?"

He pulled his face away but kept his arms around me. "I haven't kissed you in approximately two and a half hours. Is that a good enough reason for me to devour you now? We can spare five minutes."

Every logical part of me urged me to say no, to push him away and insist that we get ready for the surprise. But that part was easily silenced by the swimming blue eyes of my fiancé, pouting slightly as he saw me weighing the pros and cons of taking five minutes of alone time with him. "Fine. Five minutes."

Mom was smiling more than I had seen her smile lately. The last couple days since her hospital visit had apparently been taxing on her. Her shoulders had been slightly hunched every time I had seen her and her smiles were forced. Today, though, as she watched Daddy and her children (and Eikko) play volleyball in the new pool, she couldn't keep her smile from being anything but dazzling. I had wanted to invite Lady Marlee and her husband but I also wanted this to be a fun family afternoon.

There was something significant about the way my father wasn't even batting an eye about being shirtless and exposing his scars in front of us. Ahren said that Kaden and Osten ran to him after their talk with Dad, pale and scared and dumbfounded. Osten had a harder time understanding exactly what Dad was talking about. As the baby of a loving and nurturing family where he was constantly spoiled, it was only natural for him to be unable to comprehend living in a much colder and more violent household. It seemed even more impossible that it was the kind of place where his father grew up.

Kaden took it all as only Kaden could: calmly and factually. He looked at the facts and analyzed the situation and immediately interpreted both sides of the story, informing Ahren that he wasn't the least bit surprised to see that our paternal grandfather had been so harsh to his heir with what we knew about how he ran his country. He said that he knew the late king had needed control in every aspect of his life and wasn't scared of resorting to violence in his own family to make that happen, just like he had with the war in New Asia.

Apparently Ahren was able to reassure them that their father was still the same and that if anything, he should have been more honorable in their eyes. Eikko asked me if I felt left out by not being included in this Schreave kid meeting but I quickly told him no. It was a conversation that Ahren had to have with them. As boys and non-heirs, they saw this ugly history of my family differently than I did.

The volleyball splashed into the pool next to me once again, giving the opposing team their winning point. I huffed. It turned out that I was no better at volleyball than baseball. I was a relatively competent swimmer, swimming lessons being something that Mom insisted we had as kids. "You're the heir of Illéa. I'd hate for you to be the most powerful woman in the world and not be able to swim," she had once claimed. Those swimming skills were definitely paying off since my team was housed in the deeper end of the pool where our toes just skimmed the bottom of the pool.

"Think you can manage without me?" I asked Ahren and Osten, my two teammates.

Osten raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure you've noticed, Eadlyn, but we've kind of been playing without you this whole time." Ahren reached over and mussed up Osten's dripping red hair.

I rolled my eyes, slowly making my way out of the pool. The space was even better than I had imagined it. We had kept some elements of the conservatory and done landscaping on the outer limits of the glass walls, giving it an outdoor feel even though we were completely closed in by glass. The pool was shaped like a bean with one half plunging down to be twelve feet deep. There was a waterfall built in on that end with rocks rising eight feet up to give a bit of a thrill for jumping off.

Mom was taking advantage of the sun streaming through the ceiling and was lounging in the gauzy light of the tented lounge bed. I picked up a mojito from a tray of beverages and joined her after wrapping a towel around myself. "Someone seems pretty happy," I told her.

"It's like I'm living in a dream. A dream that your father and I have had since you were little but we were too scared of fulfilling. To see him playing in the water with you all and not a care in the world…it makes me wish we had been honest with you all sooner," she admitted.

I shook my head. "No. It was a secret you could have harbored forever. You were trying to protect Brice and you were trying to spare Dad's feelings."

Mom smiled slightly again and kept watching the boys splash around in the water. "You made a good choice, Eadlyn."

"Yeah?"

She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. "You two have been acting differently lately."

I bristled immediately. We had been careful in the last week to try to be casual around each other but we knew we were toeing a thin line of intimacy we had before we had sex and the new, burning desire to constantly be touching. I took a careful sip of my mojito. "We're just excited for our wedding," I told her.

"And the honeymoon, I'm assuming?" How did my mother know everything? How was it possible for one person to have so much knowledge and not be bursting at the seams to share it? "It will probably be nice to have more privacy than you have here at the palace."

"Oh, yeah," I agreed, thinking that maybe she didn't know. How could I figure out how much she knew without confessing to anything?

Finally, she started laughing. "Jeez, Eadlyn, you're as red as a tomato. If your indifference to your own honeymoon wasn't a giveaway, your face right now definitely would be."

My heart was pounding against my ribs as I negotiated my choices for a response. "Mom, I'm sorry. I know that you wanted me to wait but everything was just so crazy and we didn't want to wait so we—"

Mom held up a hand to stop me. "Just be careful." She was still watching Dad but her eyes slid over to the side to meet mine every few seconds. "You know that any baby conceived before you're married will be considered a bastard and not fit to inherit the throne, right?"

"We're being careful," I said quickly. Mom had already given me this talk, back when she and Dad explained to me how sex worked. They both told me how serious it was that I wait to have sex until I was married because a bastard child would be a disastrous scandal that I could never recover from. It was a conversation I wasn't soon to forget.

"Does he know that?"

"We've discussed it. I've given him the whole rundown on the laws of inheritance, Mom. We're being careful," I repeated. "It's not like I want that kind of scandal following me around for the next thirty years or so."

"Oh, it would be much longer," Mom muttered, something strange hiding in her voice.

I ignored her. "It's something that will change anyway with this constitution. My kids and grandkids will never have to worry about that. Children of unmarried parents will no longer be punished."

"Oh, honey, you of all people should know that a few amendments aren't enough to change something that the people have believed in and enforced for the last century. That reform isn't something that will be accepted over night."

"Am I a fool, Mom? Am I an idiot for thinking that this is all even possible?" I asked her quietly. Dad had Osten on his shoulders and Eikko had Kaden on his as they did a chicken fight. I couldn't bring myself to smile though. Not while my heart was so heavy with worry.

"There's never a wrong time for revolution, Eadlyn. It's the only way we can progress as a society and as a species." She finally looked at me fully, placing her hand on my knee. "You're going to worry that you're on the cusp of utter failure for the rest of your life but I can assure you that it's always when you think you're failing that it's the opposite. It's when you're most afraid of failing that you are on the verge of absolute greatness."