My father’s butler is standing outside the library, so I know he is inside having a glass of cognac. It’s a long tradition for him to retire to his library for cognac and a Cuban cigar. I nod to the old man as he opens the door for me. The disagreeable scent of the cigar slaps me in the face.

My father looks up from the paper he is reading and our eyes meet.

“So the cub comes into the lion’s den,” my father says.

“No, the lion tamer visits the aging, toothless lion.”

“I am as strong as I ever was,” he boasts hollowly.

“Then why does your hand tremble?”

His brow creases.

“You think I didn’t notice that at the dinner table. You taught me to always closely observe my opponents,” I say eyeing his right hand.

“So I am your opponent now?”

“Weren’t you always, Father?”

The emphasis on the word father is not lost on him. He flinches. “No. Never.”

I nod toward his right hand. “Parkinson’s?”

For a moment, he looks as though he isn’t going to answer. “Early stages,” he admits with a sigh.

“You will have to abdicate when it progresses.”

“It will be many years before that happens. There are medications to keep it under control. Why do you care? You’ve renounced the throne.”

I smile. “Not officially. Only verbally to you.”

He cocks his head. “What does that mean?”

“It means I am the rightful heir to the throne, and I plan on becoming the king when your disease gets so bad you’ll be forced to abdicate.”

“I could fight you,” he says feebly.

I smile. “You won’t. You wouldn’t want to air the royal dirty laundry.”

“We have none,” he snaps.

“Your daughter-in-law deliberately injured my fiancée in an effort to make her miscarry so that when she gets herself pregnant her child will become the heir to the throne,” I accuse.

My father sags in his seat. He starts to speak, but stops, shakes his head, then tries again. “If that’s true, whose fault is it? You told me you didn’t want the throne and stormed out. Then you stayed away from Avanti for two years. If you hadn’t done that, the conflict of who’s child is going to become king wouldn’t have arisen.”

“Are you excusing her criminal behavior? She wanted to kill your grandson! Doesn’t that concern you?”

He pauses like he’s in deep thought. “How can you be sure it was not an accident, Dante?”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” I roar furiously.

“You can’t prove it though.”

“No, but the fact is she did, and I can see it in your eyes that you know she did,” I say sternly.

“I knew she was ambitious, but I didn’t see this coming,” he mutters.

I point my finger at my father. “She and my brother are going to pay for this. You are going to ban them from the palace. You will order them to move to the summer cottage by the lake.”

He drops his face into his hands. “I can’t do that to Linnea’s son. It will kill her.”

“But, Father, I am going to be king soon. If you don’t banish them from the palace, I will exile my brother and Cassandra from Avanti with a pension barely large enough to buy milk and groceries. Would you rather I do that to your favorite son, Father?”

He lifts his head at looks at me with tortured eyes. “All these years you never figured it out. He was never my favorite. You were. Why do you think I sent you away? I wanted to protect you. It was you I loved more.”

I bark with laughter. “Protect me. You sent me away so you could play happy families with Linnea and Linnus. It was Oncle who took me and protected me. He is my protector. Not you.”

He looks at me sadly. “What do you think would have happened to you if I had let you remain in the palace?”

I stare at him with narrowed eyes.

“You would have never made it past childhood, I was convinced of it.”

“Why didn’t you get rid of her then?”

“I was obsessed with her. It was as if I was under a spell. I knew what she was, but I could not let her go. The only thing I could do for you was send you away from her presence.”

“Do you want me to thank you for that?”

“You will never understand me because you are not a weak man. You don’t know what it is like to be so utterly bewitched by a cruel and vile woman. You think Cassandra is dangerous. You have no idea.”

I shake my head. “I don’t care why you sent me away. The time for you to declare your love for me is long past. I don’t need your love anymore. I have survived all these years without it! I’m looking forward to being the kind of father to my child that you never were to me. Now all I want from you is the promise that you will send them away and give me the power to rule. You’re not interested in ruling anyway.”

He sighs heavily. “And if I agree, you will see that your brother receives the revenue he deserves and can remain in Avanti?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll do as you demand, but it’s a very hard thing you ask me to do, Dante.”

“Your loyalty to her makes me sick,” I say.

Our conversation is interrupted by a light knock on the door. A moment later my father’s butler enters.

“Your Majesty, you wanted to know when the Queen returns. She has just arrived.” he announces in his booming voice.

Something makes me whirl around to face him. “Where did she go?”

“The hospital, Your Highness.”

“The hospital?” I shout before my father can speak.

The butler looks startled. “Yes, I believe Her Majesty went to visit Miss Winchester.”

I glance at my father to see if he knows what’s going on, but he looks as surprised as me.

I run out of my father’s study and I get to meet Linnea as she comes into the house.”

“Hello Dante,” she says in a friendly voice.

I stride up to her, my face so menacing she shrinks back in fear.

“What are you doing?”

I catch her wrist in my hand. “Why did you go to see Rosa?”

“Let go of me this instant. I am your queen.”

“You are not my queen. You never were and you never will be. If you don’t talk fast I will break your hand.”

“How dare you threaten me?”

I squeeze her pampered flesh viciously and she pales. “Let go of me and I’ll tell you. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve only tried to help.”

I throw her wrist away from me, and she rubs the area where I grasped it. I feel no remorse for having caused her pain.

“You should be thanking me. I helped her. I knew that she would not be safe here so I put her on a plane back to England.”

“You did what?” I bellow.

“Don’t worry. I sent Elsa with her.”

For a full second I stare at her in disbelief. At the audacity of this woman. Then something clicks in my head. It is not audacity. Oh my god. No. I turn away from her. I might still be able to make it. I run outside. The driver who brought Linnea is just about to get into his car and drive off. I push him out of the way and get into the car. I drive through the streets of Avanti like a mad man. I speed through red lights and have two near crashes. I drive right past the security guards. Fortunately, I’m driving the royal car so there is no big commotion. I can see the plane taking off as I approach the tarmac.

“Fuck,” I yell. I put my foot on the gas and try to chase the plane. If the pilot sees my car he will not take off, but I am too late. The plane becomes airborne. I get of the car and scream with frustration.

Five seconds after the plane is airborne it explodes and becomes a fireball. I stand there slack-jawed. My brain stops working. I just stare at the trail of black smoke as the fireball falls into the woodlands by the airport.

My legs buckle and I fall on the tarmac. My hands scratch the rough surface until they begin to bleed, but I feel no pain.