My heart is hammering as I follow Nolan through the castle. After our meeting with his father, we spent the rest of the afternoon discussing what we should do.

I was in favor of waiting, but Nolan wouldn’t be persuaded. I wanted to take our time and make sure that this all happened the right way, but Nolan couldn’t wait.

And so we’re marching down the hallway, his phone clutched between his hands, a stony look on his face.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask him, trying one last time to change his mind.

He grins at me but I know he’s unsure. “It’ll be fine,” he says to me. “Just trust me.”

I sigh and nod. There’s not much else I can do.

We’re going to confront Julian. I wanted to wait a little bit longer, but Nolan says that this is the time. He thinks that we have momentum on our side, and if we can just show Julian the position that he’s in, he just might crumble.

From a side hallway, several figures appear, walking quickly toward us. I pull on Nolan’s hand and nod toward the people.

He stops in his tracks. I watch as the queen, flanked by several guards and stewards, heads right toward us. She isn’t smiling, but she doesn’t look angry, either. Honestly, she just looks tired.

“Mother,” Nolan says as she arrives.

“Son. Daughter.”

Nolan kisses her cheek first and I embrace her after. She sighs and motions for her entourage to back off a little bit. They step away, giving us relative privacy.

Queen Magritte sighs and looks at her son. “You shouldn’t have approached your father like that.”

“I’m finished with him,” Nolan says.

“I can’t blame you. He was raging for hours after you left. He thinks you’re going to usurp him.”

Nolan doesn’t blink. “I am.”

His mother sighs and shakes her head. “I didn’t want it to come to this.”

Suddenly, I have a bad feeling. I glance at the stewards and the armed guard, and I suddenly don’t know why they’re there. Talk of taking over the kingship like this is dangerous, and I don’t know where the queen stands. I don’t know if she supports her son more than she supports her husband, but I suspect we’re about to find out.

“I gave him a chance,” Nolan says. “And he spat in my face.”

“He needs time.”

“He needs to understand that the old way is gone.” Nolan isn’t backing down, and I’m proud of that.

“I know,” she says slowly, making me feel slightly more at ease. “The old ways are dying, as they should. But Nolan, your father made his career in the old way. He sees Julian as an extension of his legacy.”

“I’m that extension,” Nolan says. “I’m his son.”

“No, you’re the man that might undo everything he’s done. You must see that.”

“I’m going to fix this country,” Nolan says simply.

“I know you are.” His mother smiles sadly. “But your father can’t see that.”

I glance at the guards one more time. “We’re on our way to see Julian right now,” I say to the queen.

“Good.” She nods at the guards. “Bring them with you.”

I let out a breath. So she’s here to support him, not to stop him.

“I don’t need guards,” he says.

“Yes, you do. Julian is a snake, fangs and all. Take the men.”

Nolan hesitates before finally nodding. “Very well. They can come.”

The queen gestures and the guards step forward. There are four men in full combat gear holding assault rifles.

“Follow the prince, obey his orders into death,” the queen says.

“Yes, my queen,” the men say in unison.

It’s like something from a movie and I can’t help but smile a little as nervous jitters roll through me. Nolan glances at me and smiles reassuringly.

“We’ll be back,” he says to my mother before we start off again. The soldiers follow us but the queen stays behind with her stewards, a sad look on her face, almost like she’s seeing her son finally becoming a man.

I have to hurry to keep up with Nolan. He’s walking with a grim look on his face, and he’s not slowing down. I glance back at the guards, and for the first time since we decided to confront Julian, I start to feel a little afraid.

“Are you sure this is smart?” I ask Nolan. “He might know we’re coming.”

“He knows,” Nolan says simply. “And I want him to know.”

“Nolan,” I say. “Wait a second. We should talk about this.”

“We’re done talking,” he says. “If I tell you to stay behind, will you?”

“No,” I say. “Of course not.”

“Then let’s do this together, Hazel. You and me, let’s finish this.”

I look at him for a second before grabbing his hand. “Let’s do it together.”

He grins and pulls me up against him. We walk side by side, the soldiers following up behind us, and I’m scared as hell. My heart is beating fast in my chest, but I have to trust Nolan. I have to believe that he knows what he’s doing.

We reach Julian’s office door and Nolan knocks. Nothing happens. Nolan knocks again, and again, and finally, the door swings out.

A steward gazes at us. “Lord Eder is busy,” he says.

“The prince is here and he will see us,” Nolan says.

“The lord is—“

Nolan doesn’t let the guy finish. He pushes him aside and storms into Julian’s office. I hurry after him as the surprised stewards yells for us to stop, but he doesn’t get very far, because one of the guards pushes him aside, knocking him back against a wall.

We rush into the place like we’re storming a beach. It looks like any other office building in America with a reception waiting room up front and offices in the back. We head straight toward the end of the hall, and people are poking their heads out of doors, looking confused as we walk past.

Nolan reaches Julian’s door and decides just to throw it open instead of knocking. We might as well go all the way, I figure, as we push into the room.

Julian is sitting behind his desk and looks startled when we burst into his office. He quickly clicks out of something and adjusts his pants as Nolan looks back at the guards.

“Protect the door,” he says, and the guards form up at the entrance to the office.

Julian stands and I realize that he’s buckling his belt. “What are you doing here?” he says, shocked. “I’m not seeing anyone right now.”

“Busy stroking one out to underage girls, Julian?” Nolan asks him.

“What?” he sputters, turning red. “What are you suggesting?”

Nolan is silent for a second before holding up his phone. He unlocks the screen and pushes the play button.

Renee’s face appears on screen. She launches into the story of how she met Julian, complete with her age at the time.

“Turn that shit off,” Juliann hisses.

“Are you sure?” Nolan asks. “We’re getting to the good part.”

“Turn it off,” he says again.

Nolan hits the pause button and lowers the phone. “Concede,” he says.

Julian sits back down and crosses his arms. He watches Nolan for a second quietly before shaking his head. “I don’t think so.”

“The nobles are backing me. When this becomes public, your wife will leave you, and you’ll be finished.”

“I don’t think so.” Julian grins at him. “See, nobody will believe that. And the nobles know they can’t betray me.”

“Your blackmail won’t work,” Nolan says to him. “Not after we ruin you. Nobody will believe a thing you release.”

He smiles, an insane glint in his eyes. “Bullshit. You don’t know anything.”

“Concede and I won’t make this public. Choose now.”

Julian slowly rises again, eyes locked on Nolan, hate seething through him. “You fucking bastard,” he says. “You think you can just come back here and take everything away from me? I’ve built so much, and you think you can destroy it?”

“Yes,” Nolan says simply.

That pushes Julian over the edge. He leaps over the desk, diving for Nolan, his hands reaching for his throat.

Nolan moves faster. He slams his elbow down, knocking Julian away. Julian collapses onto his desk, groaning, as two guards appear, their guns raised at Julian’s face.

Slowly, Julian rolls over onto his back, breathing heavily. Nolan nods at the soldiers and they lower their guns, though they don’t move away.

“Concede,” Nolan says again.

“I won’t just go away,” Julian says, his voice hoarse. “I’ll come for you again. I won’t stop.”

“Good,” Nolan says, grinning wildly. “I look forward to it.”

He turns to me and smiles. I smile back, and the two of us leave Julian’s office. The guards follow, bringing up the rear. People are standing in the halls, staring at the group of us, and I grin at them as we pass.

I feel so fucking alive. I can’t believe Nolan just stormed in there and took what he wanted from Julian. He showed Julian who the real man is, and now he’s destroyed. Julian is going to concede, and Nolan is going to become the crown prince, and one day he’ll be the king.

We leave Julian’s offices and as soon as the door shuts, Nolan waves off the guards. Once they head back toward the queen, Nolan pulls me against him and kisses me deep and hard.

Passion floods through me, but so do questions. I don’t know what this means for the two of us. We were married to make his father happy, but now that we know his father doesn’t care, Nolan has no use for me. He doesn’t need to get me pregnant anymore. He doesn’t need to keep me around.

He pulls back from the kiss and looks into my eyes. “I have one more thing to do today,” he says softly.

“What’s that?”

“I love you,” he says. “You’re stronger than I ever imagined. You make me a better man, I need you to know that.”

I bite my lip. “I love you too,” I say, realizing, that it’s true. “But you don’t need me anymore.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “I need you more than you even realize.”

“How?” I ask. “Your father doesn’t care that you’re married. Julian is stepping down. What else do you need?”

“I wouldn’t have done any of this if it weren’t for you,” he says softly. “You have to realize that. I was floating through my life, making the best of things. I planned on coming here and doing what I could, but I never really imagined… I never thought I could do it.”

I watch him, my eyes wide, and I think I see the truth in what he’s saying. I don’t think I really did anything special, but because he had me, he felt like he could push forward.

“It’s true,” he says. “You helped me win this. And now I want to offer you one more thing.”

“You’ve given me enough,” I say softly.

“Become my true wife. None of this Wife Consort shit. Let’s make it real.”

I hesitate, and my heart starts hammering. I thought I was going to go home, live my life back in America, become the person I thought I would become. But now I realize that I was fooling myself.

I’m already the person I should become. With Nolan, I’m so much more than myself. We bring out the best in each other, and I can’t imagine walking away.

“Okay,” I say to him. “Yes, of course.”

He grins and kisses me again, and I realize that this is my husband, my real husband. And I’m actually a princess.

“Now we have one more thing to do,” he says after we break off the kiss.

“What’s that?” I ask.

A grin slowly spreads across his face and I feel it, deep down inside of me. “We have to get you pregnant,” he says.

And he kisses me again.