Sander stared down at his son’s prone, vulnerable body. The cast looked garish and heavy, the bandages around Elias’s head almost too white against his skin. A sickly pallor had crept across Elias’s flesh during the final flight of stairs, alerting him to trouble.

At least Elias hadn’t shaken him off or been irate at the aid. Sander supposed Elias’s condition prevented too much protest.

He drew a light blanket up over Elias’s legs and spent a moment making the pillow a little more comfortable.

If he could have absorbed all the sickness and pain for his son, he would have. All he could do at the moment was try to make Elias’s transition as smooth as possible and be near if Elias needed him. He was tempted to simply draw up a chair next to the bed and hold a vigil, as he’d done in the hospital, but there were other things to see to.

At the risk of waking Elias, he bent to touch a light kiss to his son’s brow and retreated from the room.

Leander waited in the hallway, a phone to his ear.

“How’d it go?” Leander asked after ending the call.

“Rough, but he made it. He passed out almost as soon as he got into bed.” Sander glanced up and down the hallway. It was empty of anyone except himself and Leander, as he’d ordered. There were multiple reasons he’d wanted everyone out of the way for Elias’s arrival, the primary being they were still hiding Elias’s condition until the following day, when the official announcement would be made. He hadn’t wanted Elias to feel overwhelmed either, with too many pairs of staring eyes.

“Do you still want me, Jeremiah, and Erick on guard up here?” Leander asked.

“Yes. I’ve got extra guards on the grounds surrounding the castle and I’ll be increasing the guard count at the gate. I have no idea what Elias will do once he wakes up and feels better. If he decides he’s too uncomfortable to stay, then I want us ready to shadow him wherever he goes.” Sander reached up to remove the skullcap from his head. He tucked the cap into his back pocket.

“I checked in with Mattias. They’re ready for Emily’s ceremony tomorrow. He corralled everyone into the throne room while you were bringing Elias in so no one knows he’s here yet. The media, staff, and advisors are still in the dark,” Leander said.

“Good, that’s the way I want it. I’ll make Elias’s food myself so we don’t have people questioning the extra plates.”

“All right. What about Inari? I put her in the north wing for now.”

Sander spent a moment to think about Elias’s girlfriend. He didn’t want to alienate her, yet he wasn’t ready to throw the two together again until he felt Elias was more stable and comfortable.

“We’ll let her do whatever work she needs to from her suite until I feel like Elias is ready to have another meeting with her. He needs some time to adjust to being here before people bombard him with their presence,” Sander said.

“Sounds good.”

“I’m going to go catch up with Chey and Emily and see how the plans are coming along for her ceremony tomorrow.” Sander clapped Leander on the shoulder and stepped past.

In less than twenty-four hours, the world would finally know their secret.

There was no way to hide the inevitable.