Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Right,” I said. “Right. Okay. Into the car.”
In another minute we were strapped in, and I started heading back up toward the mountain. Henry was mostly silent.
“You’re not even going to ask where we’re going and why?”
He smiled softly at me. “Based on the direction, I’m pretty sure we’re heading to the castle.”
“But you’re not curious why?”
“No, I’m massively fucking curious,” he said. “But I also know you’re not going to tell me, even if I asked.”
I puffed out a laugh. “You know me.”
“I do,” he said. “And also, I trust you.”
I reached over, squeezing his thigh.
It took us no time to work our way back up the mountain. I pulled up in front of the castle.
There was no reason to hide or sneak or try to get in the back door without my mother knowing. For once, I felt like I was coming to a place that I was welcome. A place that would slowly become mine. Even with Henry by my side.
“Alright,” I said. “I’m going to show you something, and I don’t want you to be alarmed.”
“Oh dear,” Henry said.
I led him inside, up the first curved, sweeping stone staircase.
“Ooh, I’ve never been to this side of the castle before,” Henry said, leaning his head back and looking up at the stained glass and chandeliers that covered the walls and ceilings.
“I used to avoid this wing of the castle entirely,” I said. “Hang on.”
Before we continued down the corridor, I stopped in a storage room tucked to the side in the hallway. I searched around and finally grabbed a sturdy hammer, a giant metal wrench, and something that looked like a crowbar. I emerged back into the corridor and handed the crowbar to Henry.
“Um,” he said, looking down at it. “Should I be… worried right now?”
“No. You should be elated. Come on.”
We kept walking. I led him down until we entered a part of the castle I hadn’t been in a very long time. No one had been here in a very long time, actually.
It was a room filled with mirrors. The outer walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, some of the most beautiful views in the entire castle, looking out onto the rolling hills. But the only other thing in the room were tall mirrors, lining the stone walls, reflecting the outside views.
“This is… very creepy,” Henry said, looking around.
“Agreed,” I said. I swung the hammer around once in my hand as I walked over to the center mirror. I looked at my own reflection. “The last time I was in here I was a teenager. When my mother first took me back to the castle, she would make me come in here as punishment.”
“Jesus, she is weirder than I knew,” Henry said. “I didn’t know she made you do the whole weird mirror thing more than once.”
I pulled in a deep breath. “Oh yes. She’d make me recite things, over and over. Like she was trying to drill it into my head, or cast a spell on me. Recite that I’d be king one day, like I told you. Recite that I’d marry a princess. All sorts of things.”
“Wow.”
“I felt emptier in here than anywhere else in the world,” I said. I raised the heavy hammer in my hand, feeling its weight and power.
And then I raised my arms up and swung.
The mirror didn’t immediately shatter on impact. The hammer hit and cracked it, and a series of cracks jutted out from the center.
“And I never want to see myself in these again.”
“Your mother isn’t going to hear us, is she?” Henry asked.
I turned to him. “Considering she’s already on a plane to Denmark… nope.”
I swung the hammer again, and this time part of the mirror shattered off, collapsing to the floor.
“Sebastian, watch your eyes,” Henry said, stepping behind me and grabbing my arm. “The queen is gone?”
I hurled the hammer at the mirror one last time and it broke off from its frame, cascading down to the floor in a pile of broken, crystalline fragments.
“You told her you’re not going to take the throne, and now you get to destroy castle property?” Henry asked.
I took a deep breath, looking to Henry again.
“I didn’t,” I said simply. “She abdicated her throne.”
Realization slowly passed over Henry’s face.
“Does… does that mean…”
I nodded once.
“I’m looking at the King of Frostmonte,” Henry said, shock settling over him. “Oh my God.”
“Oh my God is right,” I said. “Now smash that mirror on the right side. The king orders it.”
I got to work destroying the left side mirror while Henry stood motionless watching me. When I’d dismantled the second mirror I turned to him again. I was catching my breath, sucking down air.
Henry was slowly smiling.
“You’re the king,” he said. “You… you are my king.”
“No, I’m your boyfriend,” I said. “I hope?”