Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Once we were seated on the sofa, she turned to me with concern.
“I was trying to keep this from you because I didn’t want you to get hurt, but I’m afraid you’re going to find out anyway. Sabine has… ah… been spending time with a gentleman, and I’ve just learned he’ll be at tomorrow’s events.”
I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and I had a hard time holding back a smirk.
“Oh really? Who is it?”
“An American friend of hers named Felix Wilde. She had the audacity to use him as her dance partner in the lessons with Jeanette,” she sniffed. “Ungrateful thing.”
“There’s nothing between them, Mom. Felix is gay,” I said, hoping to put her mind at ease that she could safely put Sabine back on her princess pedestal.
“Oh thank god. You should have seen them dancing together. He’s a very nice-looking young man, you know, but now that you mention it…” She trailed off.
“Now that I mention it…”
“I guess I can see how he’s gay. He’s kind of pretty in a way,” she said.
“Mother, you cannot tell someone is gay just by looking at them. There are plenty of pretty men who are straight as an arrow, believe me.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Is that right, Lior? I don’t even want to know how you know such a thing. I’ve heard the rumors about you and Ignatius. I hope for your sake that nonsense is out of your system now that you have Sabine and are taking the throne. Surely you understand you can’t get away with that playboy act any longer. You need to settle down and consider starting a family for the sake of this monarchy. You’ll need an heir.”
If only she knew how close I was to wanting to dedicate myself to one person and one person only for the rest of my life.
“I understand. It is not my intention to bring more scandal to this house, I can assure you,” I said coldly. “So spare me the lectures, please.”
She sniffed and looked away with a melodramatic sigh. “You know I just want you to be happy, Lior.”
I noticed she was deriving great enjoyment out of using my new moniker.
“Do you, Mom? What if my being happy required something that upset the apple cart? What if it meant I’d have to shake some things up around here?”
She thought for a moment before responding, her pale hands smoothing out the navy wool of her skirt out of habit. “If you’d asked me that six months ago, Lio, I might have given you a different answer. But after trying to keep up appearances since your father announced our divorce and we had to start holding our breath waiting for the dirty secret to come out… well, I can understand how difficult it is to pretend you’re okay while the whole world is watching. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. Surely the people of this country can handle the reality of a royal affair without the world crashing down around us. Maybe we don’t give our citizens enough credit.”
Her words stuck with me long after I kissed her cheek and escorted her back to the residence entrance. I made my way toward the guest wing feeling lighter than I’d felt since leaving Gadleigh.
If even my mother could admit that the people of Liorland could handle scandal, then maybe they could handle a gay king. It wasn’t something I could spring on them right away, of course, but it was something I could at least consider down the road.
I needed to stop stringing Sabine along. It wasn’t fair to offer her half a life. I wasn’t sure it would have ever gotten that far between us, but realizing I couldn’t live my entire life without a true love connection brought home the realization that I couldn’t ask that of her either.
When I got to the Wildes’ suite, a man I hadn’t seen before answered the door.
“May I help you?” he asked.
“You must be Dr. Wilde,” I said, holding out my hand to shake. “I’m Lio. Felix has told me so much about you.”
Doc’s face broke into a pleasant smile as he greeted me.
“Felix,” he called over his shoulder. “Someone here to see you.”
The other Mr. Wilde popped his head out of another room and gave me a wave. “Nice to see you, Lio. Well done on the charity announcement. I just saw it on television. Your foundation seems to be doing good work with children.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m looking forward to getting more involved. Felix encouraged me to use my upcoming role to do good things in the world.”
“That kid is pretty smart,” Doc said with a wink. “We must have done something right.”
“You did quite a few things right,” I said in agreement. “He’s a good man.”