Eikko hadn't been sleeping well lately. It wasn't anything new – he went through phases where he didn't sleep and they would pass within two weeks. It had been a month though. A month where almost every night he would wake up with a nightmare and he tried to hide it from me but each time he woke up, he would either leave our bed or hold me as close as possible. The nightmares started a week or so after we found out that I was pregnant and they seemed to be lingering. He really tried to hide it but he was clearly struggling. He was quieter and more resigned. He barely made it through the Halloween ball – the day after, he stayed in his office all day and refused to take any meetings. I waited for him to open up to me but he stayed silent.
On one morning in particular, I could tell that he hadn't stayed in bed because when I woke up he was next to me with his shoes on under his pajama pants. "Good morning," I moaned, curling up on my side. I did a quick self-assessment and found that for the second morning that week, I didn't wake up with my stomach in knots. Mom told me that my morning sickness would start to wane as I got closer to my second trimester, which seemed to be holding true since I was eleven weeks along and already seeing a decrease in my nausea. It was just terrifying to think that I was already approaching my second trimester, the small bump that was starting to form only making it scarier. We couldn't hide this forever.
"Good morning," Eikko said dully, not looking at me. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. What about you? Where've you been this morning?"
He shrugged. "Just took a walk through the gardens."
I huffed. Clearly he wasn't going to offer me anymore of an answer than that. "Okay. You're going to need to tell me what's bothering you at some point. Otherwise, I'm just going to assume that you're purposely keeping secrets."
"I'm not purposely keeping secrets from you, Eadlyn. It's just something that you don't need to be bothered with."
"Maybe, except we're married. Your problems are my problems, remember?"
"You shouldn't stress too much with the baby," he fought, his fingers just barely ghosting over my hip.
I rolled my eyes. "Believe me, Neena and Brice are watching me like a hawk to make sure that I'm not stressing. For once, I think I've been getting more sleep than them. That's excluding my afternoon naps."
Eikko smiled appreciatively. "You really want to know? I don't want to upset you."
"You're not part vampire, are you?"
His smile grew as he slid an envelope from the drawer in his bedside table. The front of it simply had the address for his personal mail and his name, Eikko Koshinen, scrawled in classic cursive. "What is this?" I asked, balancing it in my hands.
"Open it," he said, not looking at me. "Read it."
I slid the flap open and withdrew a folded piece of lined paper. The handwriting on the paper matched the handwriting on the envelope. "Poikani," I began, stammering slightly with the Finnish. I squinted at the word, trying to remember some of the Finnish Eikko had drilled into me over the last several months. "My son? This is from your parents?"
"My mother," he clarified.
"When did you get it?"
"A few weeks ago." He shifted so that he faced me. "It really isn't anything so special. There really wasn't anything warm or comforting in it. Really, all she talked about was the business and how my sister is doing and that she and Dad are set to leave in July."
I raised my eyebrows. "July? That's good though. Maybe you can reconcile with them before they leave. That's a long time from now." He frowned. "Do you want to reconcile with them?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't know. They're my parents, they always will be, but my life feels so complete here that it wouldn't be so bad—"
"Eikko, stop." I paused and he waited for me to continue. "You're right, they're your parents. Do you know how long I can let my parents be mad at me? Maybe an hour. You are their son, their only son. This is the first time she's contacted you, right?" He nodded. "It's obviously an olive branch."
"Or an attempt to make nice because I'm the king of Illéa," he offered.
I rolled my eyes. "I doubt that's it. They hate me because I'm queen, remember?"
"They hate you because they're hard-working people who don't believe that you do anything of merit each day," he corrected. "I'm just not interested in an olive branch right now, okay?"
I could have come up with dozens of reasons for why an olive branch would be ideal, starting with the fact that he was about to have a baby and keeping his child from its grandparents would only be cruel. He was set though and arguing with him would only make him more worried and stressed about it. I had to let this one go and support him. I offered an olive branch of my own by setting the letter aside, throwing my legs over his, and positioning myself in his lap.
His fingers skimmed down over my belly, the bump slightly more pronounced with me slouching over, and he smiled slightly. "I can't believe your dad hasn't said anything to you yet."
I flinched. "He's said enough with his silence."
"He's not angry," Eikko told me.
"How do you know?"
"Because he talked to me."
My head snapped up and I met his gaze. "No he didn't."
"He did," he said with an amused smile. "Made sure to tell me that we were lucky that it happened so close to our wedding and that we deserve to have a baby so soon since we were fooling around."
"He told you that?" I asked, still in disbelief.
"Eadlyn, you really think he's going to talk to you about your lack of responsibility in your sex life? With you, you're still his little girl. With me, he can be the protective father." He paused. "He's not disappointed though."
"How are you so sure? He'll barely look at me at breakfast or dinner, he's maybe spoken ten words to me since Mom said she told him."
He smiled slightly. "He asks me about how you're doing. He makes sure I'm taking care of you, which is sweet in a way. Maybe he's just uncomfortable with the fact that you are still very much his little girl and you're about to become a mom. He's in shock, I think, but he does ask me how you've been feeling and we've started thinking about nursery ideas."
I shook my head and settled into his arms a bit more. "We really do have some good parental issues between us, don't we?"
"He'll come around," he assured me, kissing my forehead. "Now, I need to get you two fed so let's get dressed, alright?"
"Oh, yes, let's get dressed!" I said with mock enthusiasm. Getting dressed had become my least favorite part of my day.
I had definitely gained weight and was starting to need maternity clothes but the ones Eloise had ordered to bring to the palace all made me look frumpy and heavier than I really was. None of them were really good at hiding the fact that I was pregnant – they all seemed to showcase it. I had never considered designing clothes for pregnancy and didn't really know where to start. Luckily, I had found a prodigy in my maid.
Eloise presented me with a pair of jeans altered with a small band of elastic on both sides of the hip that were fashionable and wouldn't make it obvious that I was wearing maternity clothes. "How'd you think of this?" I asked, running my hands over the denim. I hadn't worn jeans in almost two weeks because they didn't fit. I actually cried on the day that I couldn't button them.
"I spoke with your mother and Miss Marlee, as well as some of the older maids that served your mother when she was pregnant. You know how fond of jeans your mother is," she said, her eyes sparkling knowingly.
I laughed and nodded. Mom wore jeans every Saturday and any other day she didn't have to attend to her responsibilities in meeting with foreign dignitaries. "You're a genius, Eloise," I gushed. I slipped them on, admiring how comfortably they were and just how wonderful it felt to be wearing jeans again instead of dress pants or loose dresses.
"Ma'am, may I remind you that you do have a meeting with your advisers today," she said, subtly informing me that I couldn't wear jeans. Except I was Eadlyn Schreave de Koshinen.
"The advisers will just have to see me in jeans today. Perhaps it's time they learn that a queen can wear jeans and still be a queen." Eloise shook her head but ventured further into my closet anyway, retrieving a loose blouse and blazer.
Breakfast was a quiet affair, with Dad chewing pensively on his omelet as he read over the morning headlines. Eikko offered me a small smile as I took my seat beside him in front of my full plate. Unlike everyone else at the table, my breakfasts were prepared especially for me since the palace chef was officially in charge of my diet. Breakfast always felt like a strange kind of limbo for the day. It was early enough in the day that we only had the headlines from news the night before. Twelve hours was a long time and Illéa was a big country. A lot could happen. I at least would be somewhat comforted if we hadn't been woken up in the middle of the night by some urgent matter. A full, uninterrupted night was an accomplishment and I secretly applauded my people for keeping it together long enough for me to sleep.
Kaden joined us, dressed in his hunting clothes. Osten was being obnoxious, drawing pictures in his leftover syrup to show Mom proudly. "Osten, eat your food," she admonished but she was smiling as she said it.
"Kaden, are you looking for a hunting partner today?" Dad asked.
His eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Can I come?" Mom chimed in. "You said yourself, I'm an excellent shot."
Dad shook his head. "My dear, you are a fantastic shot but I don't think Dr. Cleary would be too fond of you riding through the grounds with a gun on your back just a few weeks after heart surgery." Mom pouted slightly, prompting Dad to continue, "Don't worry, we'll find something to occupy your time." I looked down at my plate but not before seeing Dad tug on his ear slightly.
I arrived in my office with a light itinerary waiting for me on my desk, showing that I had some breaks here and there and an entire two-hour window around lunchtime that I could work on whatever I wanted. Brice came in, looking exhausted. "Not sleep well last night?" I asked her.
"I slept in and the coffee hasn't set in yet," she answered. "I don't even know what the morning news hour has to report. It seems I've failed you." She sat by the computer in the corner of the study, perusing the morning news that way.
"Brice, you wouldn't be deloading my schedule, would you?"
She looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Just, over the last few weeks, my schedule has been significantly lighter and I know for a fact that the last few months of the year are the busiest. You're not keeping my schedule light because I'm pregnant, are you?"
"Absolutely not," she said but she nodded as she said it.
"Oh." I slid down in my seat. "It seems silly really. I feel fine and I don't need you all doing extra work for me just so that I can sleep more. Besides, I want to work extra had now so that I can have a more worry-free maternity leave—"
"Oh my god," Brice whispered, her eyes glued to the computer screen. I stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate but she was sitting stock-still. A few moments passed before she suddenly sprung from her seat. "Turn the TV on. I'll call the advisers," she said urgently as she walked to my desk and picked up my phone.
"Why? What's going on?"
"We know what Marid was waiting to spill," she said shortly, phone pressed to her ear. "He save it for the morning news. Yes, Marlee," she answered as someone picked up the phone on the other line. "Can you send American and Maxon up here? They need to be here now."
I walked over to the TV and turned it on, holding my breath as I waited for it to load. I tried to process things quickly as I finally got to the image of a news anchor and headlines scrawling beneath her. Selection affair exposed read angrily next to the news station logo. My heart clenched. Ean and Hale…Marid found out about it. But it didn't add up. They were showing pictures of Mom and Dad. Old pictures of Mom and Dad. Pictures that had to have been from his Selection because Mom wasn't wearing a crown or tiara in any of them.
"Turn the volume on," Brice said. I reached for the remote and took it off of mute as General Leger entered, his face full of fear.
"…a transcript of King Maxon speaking with another man in the palace who allegedly had a secret relationship with Queen America during King Maxon's Selection. Again, we'll play the shocking recording here," the news anchor said.
General Leger groaned and rubbed his face with his hand as his voice played over the TV. "There are worse things that could happen beside her marrying her translator, you know," he had said. The words being spoken scrawled across the screen, just to ensure that people would get the picture.
"I'm not upset about that. It's what could have happened if anyone found out that they had been sneaking around," a new voice answered. Dad's voice.
"That is true," General Leger agreed. "But there are worse things than that as well. At least they're getting married, as opposed to if they had just been sneaking around. And my, it could have been one of her men sneaking around with someone else in the palace. That would be a disaster."
"You wouldn't be talking about the time that you were a guard and had dates with America during my Selection, would you?" Dad had asked but there was a smile in his voice. I drew in a breath and spun to look at General Leger. He wasn't meeting anyone's eyes though. The doors to the study opened again and Mom and Dad entered.
The recording was still going. "I never did truly thank you for pardoning me."
In what I assumed was the worst part of the conversation, the recording cut out and the news anchor was back on screen. "There you have it folks. An official leak describing what seems to be an affair that occurred between our own Queen America and a guard in the palace, during King Maxon's Selection. An unnamed source has confirmed that the guard in question is General Aspen Leger, who has – get this – worked closely with the royal family as a personal guard for the last twenty years." They showed the picture from my coronation day that was of me and the Legers, focusing in on General Leger and his proximity to me.
As if things couldn't get any worse, the news anchor went on. "Here with us to discuss this latest news is Baden Trains, one of the Selected from Queen Eadlyn's Selection. Baden, you've spoken to the press before about the royal family but you only spoke of Queen Eadlyn. Is this news surprising to you at all?"
The camera switched angles to reveal Baden sitting at the desk next to the news anchor. "I can't say I am surprised by this news. Now, I'm not royalty and I wasn't raised in a royal family, Allyna, but I can say that our royal family's behavior behind the scenes is anything but normal."
"Why do you say that?" Allyna asked, leaning in with curiosity.
"First off, this General Leger guy is constantly around. If Queen America was in the room, he was there with her—"
"He was only here for what, five minutes?" I exclaimed.
Eikko entered then, the news of this finally reaching him. Advisers trickled in behind him. Raelynn and George followed, both looking ready to tackle the biggest scandal to hit the royal family since…well, ever.
Baden was still talking in the background. "—is only strange, if not inappropriate. One of the other guys told me that one night, all of the kids slept in a bed together. Eadlyn and her four brothers, one bed. I wouldn't be surprised if her parents were there too. All of them are weirdly close. And as for this General Leger character? He probably is just a third person for King Maxon and Queen America to have fun with. Seriously, who does Eadlyn resemble more? King Maxon or this baboon?"
"Are you insinuating that Eadlyn Schreave is not the daughter of King Maxon, therefore not the rightful heir to the throne?" Allyna asked, practically falling out of her chair with excitement.
Baden nodded and gave the camera a slight smile. "That's exactly what I'm insinuating. Why else do you think he's around all the time?"
"That's bullshit!" Brice yelled, pointing at the TV. "Who's going to believe that? Eadlyn is a twin and her twin brother just so happens to be the spitting image of his father."
Mom had her hands clutched closely to her chest, her eyes meeting mine with horror. Anger burned in my chest, forcing me to look away from her. Somewhere in all of the madness, Kaden had slipped into my study and he left Josie's side to turn the TV off suddenly. "We don't need to watch that anymore. Now we need to get a plan together," he said decisively.
There was a beat of silence and then George was ordering for everyone to get to the conference room down the hall where we would assemble a team for damage control and maybe get a handle on this story. Advisers trickled out again, talking loudly and trying to come up with ideas of how to spin the scandal. Eventually it was just myself, Eikko, Mom, Dad, Kaden, and General Leger left.
Mom's shoulders were shaking and I could see that she was seconds from bursting into tears. After all, she had just watched her reputation get blown to bits on live television. And not just her reputation but also our whole family's reputation. Dad put an arm around Mom's shoulders and addressed General Leger. "Call Lucy. You should warn her about this. I want you both staying at the palace until all of this gets smoothed over." General Leger nodded and left abruptly, seeming to be thankful for the excuse to leave.
Mom's eyes met mine again. "Eadlyn, I'm sorry."
"You didn't care to tell me that it was General Leger?" I asked her. "He's been a second father to me this whole time and you didn't think it was important for me to know that he's your ex?"
"It was complicated," she tried to explain.
"No, what's complicated is trying to understand all of these secrets you two have kept from me for my entire life. First with Brice and now with General Leger? How many people who work for you are you either related to or have had a relationship with in the past? Ugh, don't even answer that question. I don't want to know," I snapped.
Dad's eyes were apologetic. "Eadlyn, we were trying to protect you."
"I don't need protection!" I yelled, the ferocity of my voice surprising even me. "I'm the queen of Illéa and I am sick and tired of people trying to keep me safe. I'm not supposed to be safe. That's why our approval ratings have been down and why I'm trying so goddamn hard to improve this country. Illéa was built on lies and deceit and I'll be damned if it keeps going that way anymore."
Eikko placed his hand on my shoulder but I shook it off. I turned on my heel and exited my study, heading towards the conference room to reign over my people.