Dinner had come and gone and we were still doing damage control for the discovery of General Leger having a secret relationship with Mom. My mom. And General Leger. I was dizzy just thinking about the fact that she and General Leger dated. Of course I knew that he was from Carolina and that they knew each other before she entered the Selection. In truth, I felt a bit like an idiot for not putting it together when she told me that she had been in a relationship prior to the Selection. It didn't change anything though. She should have told me sooner that she used to date the man that I looked to as a second father.

Brice had any meetings that could be pushed back get delayed a few days and then pushed all of our more pressing things on to some of our advisers so that we could focus our energy on damage control. Palace secretaries were on their phones, speaking with reporters and journalists and repeating the same statement Georgean had provided them: "The palace is aware of the situation and the king and queen will make a public statement this evening."

Mom and Dad were quickly whisked away with George and Raelynn and there were whispers of Gavril possibly coming to the palace, seeing as this was a public relations disaster and he had handled a few of those in his lifetime of work at the palace. Unfortunately, Gavril was in Europe on vacation and no one had been able to reach him.

I stayed far away from the studio as Mom and Dad got ready to make their statement. Brice admonished me for choosing not to be supportive of my parents in such a difficult time but I couldn't reconcile their troubles with the fact that they had lied to me for over eighteen years about their relationship with General Leger. I stood in the conference room, trying to eat my whole thumbnail as an adviser did an introduction on screen for my parents.

"You should get to bed soon," Eikko said gently to me.

"I'm fine," I insisted, not meeting his eyes or even looking in his direction.

"Eadlyn, you need rest. You barely touched your lunch or dinner—"

"I've been busy." He sighed but he knew better than to argue with me when I was acting to snappy. His only response was to go pour himself another cup of coffee, a sure sign of surrender to the fact that we would be up well into the night working on our plan of response.

Kaden joined me in front of the television, looking a bit too much like Dad with the worry lines in his forehead. "I can't believe this, Eads."

"I know."

"Did you have any idea?" he asked quietly. I shook my head. "I always thought that he was strangely close to them. But maybe that's just me imparting retrospective wisdom."

My head swam at his words, not being able to keep up with such sophisticated language with such little sleep in me. "Doesn't matter. We know now."

"Ahren called. Apparently it headlined their afternoon news. He found out the same way as us."

I rolled my eyes. "That really doesn't make me feel any better about being lied to."

Kaden nodded. "Yeah, me neither."

The door burst open, making all of us jump. We didn't have time to react much further though because Gavril was yelling, "Get the king and queen out of the studio immediately!" No one moved, too stunned to see our long lost PR-extraordinaire in the room. "Did you hear me? If you want to save the family from this mess, you will get them off of TV right now."

A guard – one of the guards who worked closest with General Leger – called into his radio and relayed Gavril's message to the guards downstairs in the studio. We watched the television in anticipation to see if the message would be conveyed in time. Sure enough, the adviser speaking on screen segued smoothly into another matter of state and glossed over Mom and Dad's appearance completely.

Gavril nodded in approval and shrugged out of his jacket. He rolled up his sleeves as he asked, "So what do we have?"

"We were planning on having the queen explain the entire situation," one of the secretaries stammered.

"So you're back to square one, now that they're not doing that?" Gavril clarified.

"Yes, sir."

He nodded and took a seat at the head of the table, in total command of the room. "Can anyone tell me why we're not having Queen America explain her actions on live television?" he asked, folding his hands in front of him casually as if he was waiting for the weather report.

"Um, because it would be admitting to treason?" one of the younger secretaries guessed. "And she's queen so she can't exactly admit to treason?"

Gavril raised his eyebrows. "You're not wrong. That would be very bad, indeed. At this point though, there's really nothing that the people can do about a queen's history with treason. Not when she's been married to the king for over two decades. No, we're not having her tell her story on live television because that would be admitting defeat."

"With all respect, sir," the secretary said, "the evidence is pretty damning. I'm not sure there is a way to recover from this one without releasing an official statement defending her actions."

"But there is," Gavril said, standing up again and going to a whiteboard. He erased all of the notes they had written on there throughout the day and uncapped a purple marker – his go-to marker color. The doors swung open again and Mom and Dad joined us. "Ah, welcome. Lots of people are talking about you two," he said conversationally.

"Gavril," Mom breathed out, putting a hand over her heart. Dad's arm was wound tightly around her waist, as tight as it could be without him actually carrying her. "How did you know to come?"

"I saw the news as I was sitting down for my wine tasting with the Italian ambassador. Luckily, he was not too heartbroken to hear that I needed to go rescue my favorite monarchs immediately. No offense, Queen Eadlyn." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "He's a fine gentleman, that ambassador. His vineyard is marvelous. Anyway, back to the matter at hand, we are not having the king or queen admit to anything. In fact, the best way to get past this is to show that the palace is unfazed by this news. It's not the first time the palace has withheld information from the public – they'll get over it eventually."

"A distraction?" Raelynn repeated. "It would have to a hell of a distraction to take away from King Maxon and Queen America. They are two of the most popular monarchs to ever live – a possible cheating scandal is pretty big."

"Not as big as an heir," I said under my breath so that only Eikko heard me.

He looked down at me, aggression in his eyes. "Eadlyn, no."

"It's a big deal," I insisted.

"No. We're not using this as a ploy to ease some scandal. I refuse to use this like a chess piece," he growled back, his jaw clenched in determination. "Besides, it's too early. You know the plan."

I shook my head. "Plans sometimes get rearranged." I met Dad's eyes and I could see disapproval there too. Mom looked like she just wanted any excuse to leave the room. A silent war began between myself and my parents. Once I told the advisers that I was pregnant, there would be no going back. I would have to announce it to the country. Too many people would know and we could never keep it a secret if the advisers knew. At the end of the day, I was the one with child so I was the one could call the shots. I took a deep breath and shut Eikko out, not even facing him in the slightest. "I'm pregnant."

Gasps could be heard around the room as Eikko released a breath in frustration. Dad shook his head and looked down at his feet. Brice nodded to herself, seeming to resign herself to this new turn in events and how things would be playing out.

Since no one was moving, I repeated, "I'm pregnant with the next heir of Illéa. What now?" There certainly needed to be some time to absorb this development but time wasn't something we had a lot of.

"How far along are you?" Gavril asked placidly, trying not to smile.

I halted. Maybe Eikko was right about needing to discuss plans before acting rashly. Luckily, Brice was there to rescue me. "Nine weeks," she lied. I thanked my lucky stars that my blazer covered my midsection well enough because my bump would definitely be noticeable to anyone scrutinizing me closely. This was going to be the worst kept secret in the world. There was no way that anyone would believe that I was only nine weeks or ten weeks along if I was already showing clearly.

"It's not…horribly early to tell the people," Georgean said slowly.

"It still seems too early to say that it's a coincidence for us to announce it," Gavril argued. "Can't we lie and say she's eleven weeks?" Right, lie about the lie meant to cover up the truth. That made total sense.

"She's only been married ten weeks," said a secretary who was bent over a calendar, apparently counting the weeks since my wedding day. I rolled my eyes. "Unless you want an even bigger scandal, she has to be nine weeks along at the most."

"The public will be suspicious enough with how close to her wedding the conception is," Georgean agreed.

Dad huffed. "Enough! What's the matter with her being more than nine weeks along? She married Eikko and he is the father of the baby. Kings used to have illegitimate children all the time as heirs. What's the big deal now?" he asked the room angrily. I was taken aback by him sticking up for me. It had been radio silence from him since Mom told him that I was pregnant and now he was defending me?

Brice was the only one to challenge him. "Maxon, we can't let illegitimate children pass. Not right now." There was something meaningful in her gaze as she stared him down, her warm blue eyes meeting his warm brown eyes. "If we legitimize children born outside of wedded monarchs, it opens the doors for the Illéas to come in and stake their claim for the crown," she elaborated.

"Do we have a lead on Marid?" Gavril asked, looking to General Leger. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as everyone noticed for the first time that the man of the hour happened to be in the room.

General Leger lifted his chin. "No. We're interviewing the news station that first broke the story to get info on how they got it. We sent the local law enforcement a notice that he's wanted by the queen and king."

"Why can't we expose him?" Kaden asked, bouncing on his toes. Every inch of him seemed tense and ready to spring at someone.

"Exposing him will only turn more people against us," Gavril answered. "He's always advocated for transparency from the throne. Even if we announce to the people that he's behind this leak, people will take his side because it's only further supporting him."

"He's a genius," General Leger mumbled.

Dad sighed. "Just like his father."

"We might have to announce the pregnancy," Gavril said slowly. "We don't have any other options. Not only do we need a big distraction, we need a big distraction that will sway the people, get them back on your side. Only an heir can accomplish that." He faced Eikko and me. "Can you two be in the studio tomorrow morning?"

"Yes," I answered quickly so that Eikko couldn't say anything.

"Good. I'll conduct the interview since the people love me. Your Majesties," he said, facing Mom and Dad, "you'll need to be there as well to show your support."

"Of course," Mom said softly. She looked at ruefully but I quickly turned away.

Gavril took a deep breath. "Anyone with a royal title should be off to bed so that you all are well rested and don't look like zombies in the morning."

I was hoping to be up all night simply to avoid having to be alone in a room with Eikko. I knew that we weren't about to have a pretty conversation. Kaden couldn't seem to get out of there fast enough. Dad placed his hand on my shoulder and walked me out of the conference room. As we left, General Leger seemed to be fighting the urge to say something to Mom but his survival instincts probably told him to hold back.

Eikko shut the door softly behind us. I sat down on the edge of our bed, my back to him, waiting for him to speak. He was making me wait though. He went to his closet and changed and did his full nighttime routine before rejoining me in our bedroom.

"It was our secret," he said in a quiet, angry voice.

"I know," I whispered back.

"It was our news to share with people. It is our news to be happy about and to share with the country when we were ready. What about our friends, Eadlyn? Are we just going to let them find out tomorrow morning as they're eating breakfast—"

I stood up and faced him. "What was I supposed to do? I'm doing this to protect our baby so that they don't become ruler of a nation who thinks their ancestors are all infidels."

"You made that decision on your own! It's my baby too, Eadlyn. You don't get to make those decisions by yourself."

"I was being a queen, not a mother," I snarled.

He drew back, standing at his full height and clenching his jaw. "So you can't be both?" he asked in a cool voice. "I don't get you sometimes, Eadlyn. One minute you're wonderful and I think that you can't be a much better person than you are but then other times…"

"What?"

He shook his head. "Other times I feel you're that girl that made boys cry on the first day of her Selection." If he didn't sound so exasperated, I would be offended. There was the smallest, most infinitesimal note of a smile in his voice though. "And why do you make it so damn difficult for me to be angry at you?" he asked, starting to smile.

I picked up a pillow and threw it across the bed at him. "Because I am just that enchanting."

"Don't push it," he warned, throwing the pillow back at me.

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening your queen?" I stepped up onto our bed, pillow clutched in my hands. "Because I will start a civil war with you."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Well then we'll have to call you Helena, won't we? The woman who started wars simply for being beautiful." I bopped him on the head with the pillow. "Are we really doing this?" he asked, reaching for his own pillow.

"Hm," I hummed, pretending to be deciding. Then I sprang at him and pulled him down on his face by my feet. I lept off our bed before he could grab me but he quickly recovered and chased me to our balcony and back through the doors of his adjoining room, both of us yelling and getting hits in with our pillows where we could. I backed into our room, my arms up. "Okay, okay, white flag!"

"Give up so quickly?" he asked, laughing and slightly out of breath.

I nodded and shook my head simultaneously. "I'm just out of shape."

"You're pregnant, Eadlyn."

"Hey! Want to sleep out there on that balcony?"

"Only if you're there with me," he said in a low voice, coming toward me slowly with his arms outstretched. I met him halfway, embracing him tightly. We kissed and he slowly made his way over to our bed, dragging me with him.

I curled up in his arms, staring toward the door that linked his room to mine. "You don't use your bedroom," I said thoughtfully, stroking the arm he had wrapped around my waist.

"Why would I when you're sleeping in here?"

"I'd like to redo your room then," I told him. "I've been thinking about it and I want the nursery there. That way it's close by and we won't have to go running down the hall in the middle of the night whenever the baby cries."

"Okay."

"But for the first few months, I want the baby in here with us in a bassinet. I don't want to be too far."

"Okay."

"And I want Brice to be the godmother," I concluded.

He chuckled quietly. "You've really given this some thought, haven't you?"

I snuggled closer to him. "Tonight is the last night that this is our business. I'm just trying to flesh some things out before everyone starts asking questions. I'm trying to enjoy these last few hours of peace and quiet."

"You consider the biggest royal scandal on the century peace and quiet?"

"Maybe not," I giggled. I tilted my chin so that I could look up at him. "I'm really happy that I married you."

He smiled at me. "Yeah?"

"I wouldn't want anyone else by my side for all of this craziness."

"I wouldn't want to be by anyone else's side," he said as kissed my forehead tenderly. I slithered down further in bed but paid extra care to making sure that my hand was still linked to his as I drifted off.

In the morning, we ate breakfast privately in my room. Eloise dressed me in a flowy dress that helped to both hide my bump and give the illusion that I had a baby bump. Eikko and I didn't talk as we walked down to the television studio, our hands held tightly together. I started shaking as we walked in. I was mad at my parents, furious even. That didn't mean I wanted to see everything they had built in the last twenty years come crashing down. Especially because of Marid. Dad had suffered enough at the hands of the Illéas – he didn't need anymore.

If there was ever a time I really wanted to talk to my mom though, it was then. She had done this before. She and Dad and sat in the very same studio and announced to the world that they were expecting an heir. She had faced the fear of not being able to give her a children a normal childhood, of having to give something so sacred over to the people so that they could dissect every moment of her pregnancy.

"Remember that time you proposed to me in this studio?" Eikko asked, sensing my nerves.

"If I could go back to that moment right now, I would."

He shook his head. "I'm so thankful for Henri. Think of what would have happened if he hadn't been so perceptive and called us out."

"We should have him over for a day some time. And Ean and Hale. Even Fox. I miss all of them." It was weird, talking about inviting my ex-boyfriends to the palace with my husband but they were more than just my exes. They were my friends.

"You're trying to distract yourself."

"It's not working," I groaned. He started rubbing my back as Gavril approached us, looking dapper and wide-awake despite the early hour of the morning.

"Good morning, Your Majesties," he greeted. Standing right in front of us, I could see the dark circles beneath his eyes that makeup only just barely covered up. "You both look refreshed and ready to take on the day."

"We are," Eikko said. I think it was the first night in a long time that he had slept straight through the night.

Gavril nodded, jotting something down on a notepad. "We are going to open with you two. I'm just going to ask you some questions and you'll know when it's time to announce the news. After that, we'll invite your parents on stage and we'll have some wonderful reminiscing time from when they announced that they were pregnant with you and Ahren. I hope to have this interview cut and edited by afternoon so that it can air on primetime television."

"Sounds good, Gavril. Thank you so much."

He strode over to the seat he usually occupied when he was hosting Reports. Mom and Dad were getting the final touches of their makeup. There definitely seemed to be something between the two of them with the way that Dad kept brushing his free hands over Mom, almost obsessively. Mom would just shake her head and bump her elbow against him. They definitely had their own language. Sometimes it seemed like they lived in their own world entirely.

The cameramen counted down for Gavril and suddenly, he was doing the introduction and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I knew what angle to play, then. I knew why we could be announcing the pregnancy so soon.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Illéa, I am here for a very special interview with Queen Eadlyn and King Eikko. They called me from my vacation to have me do this interview, isn't that right?" he asked, pretending to be put out by our fake demands.

"We wouldn't want to share this interview with anyone else, Gavril," Eikko said. "You've been such an integral part of our lives together. We want you to stay here."

"Alas, Tuscany simply has better wine," Gavril said, sounding devastated.

Eikko laughed. "Maybe someday I could get to Tuscany so that I would know if you're telling the truth." The two really had a gift for playing off of each other.

"Now, Your Majesties, we really haven't heard much from either of you since your wedding. How is married life?" Gavril asked, leaning in dramatically.

I put my hand on Eikko's shoulder to stop him from answering. "I couldn't be happier with anyone else, Gavril. Aside from being a wonderful husband, seeing him thrive in his new role as king is satisfying and makes me more proud of him every day."

There was applause from the camera crew and Gavril waved to them to quiet down. "Okay, okay. High praises from your wife, King Eikko. Anything you would like to add?"

"Only that if the rest of my life is as blissful as these last few months have been, I will have very little to complain about. It truly is something special to find someone that you not only have a connection with as a spouse but who you can also work with everyday and not get tired of it," Eikko answered.

"I think it's safe to say that the honeymoon period is still going," Gavril joked, winking at the camera. "Anymore news for the country?"

This was it. My stomach clenched but I swallowed my nerves and leaned in closer to Eikko, scandalously close to him. "Actually, Gavril, we do have news." I looked at Eikko expectantly. We had planned this out in the morning as we got dressed. I just hoped that his nerves wouldn't get the better of him.

"Yes, we found out a couple months ago and it's early—"

"—but we really want to share it with everyone," I cut in, starting to improvise. "We are very please to announce that we are expecting a baby."

Gavril's eyes widened as if he had never heard of such a thing. "A baby? As in an heir?"

"Yes," Eikko confirmed.

"We're announcing it a tad earlier than usual because I have been having some difficulties with morning sickness. Any appearances or events that I've backed out of, I'm sorry, but I've spent the majority of the last four weeks feeling rather under the weather," I confessed dramatically. It was only partially true. At eleven weeks, my morning sickness was waning but around week eight I could barely make it out of bed without the room spinning.

Gavril sputtered, as if at a loss for words. "Well, how far along are you, Queen Eadlyn?"

"Nine weeks," Eikko answered, cutting me off. We shared a fond smile. "Sorry, I just can't curb my excitement. I adore children and this is a little earlier than I think either of us planned on starting a family but we couldn't be more overjoyed with the thought of having a baby for the summer."

Gavril nodded. "Of course! It's only natural for you to want to share it with everyone. Thank you so much for the news, Your Majesties, we can't wait to share more of this journey with you both." The lights dimmed on the sofa as Gavril went into introducing my parents.

I walked with him to the side of the stage and stopped behind the line of cameras. "Do you think it'll work?" I asked Georgean and Brice.

Brice's face was grim but her eyes had that glint that Dad's would get when he was facing a dangerous challenge. "I don't know but it's all we have."