My heart is pounding in my ears, and I’m sure I didn’t hear Andrew right when he made his little speech at the microphone.

He thinks I’m worthy of being a future queen. His future queen.

I know he proposed—I suppose I knew all along that he must have believed I was worthy of him. But there’s something about hearing him say the words out loud that makes my heart thrash in my chest and my stomach twist with something that isn’t guilt for once. It feels a lot more like…hope.

Until I hear Reginald’s voice a second later and remember why my relationship with Andrew can never happen.

I head for the door—if I can somehow manage to get away, maybe Andrew will let this all go. He might think our relationship is worth fighting for, but it definitely isn’t worth going to war for. Why can’t he understand that?

For some reason, the crowd parts for Andrew and he rushes toward me. I’m not quite to the door before his hand is on my elbow, and he spins me to face him.

“Victoria.”

I stare at him for a few moments before shaking my head slowly at him. “Andrew. Go have your words with Reginald. Remind yourself of why—”

“Andrew.” Reginald is nearly singing Andrew’s name into the microphone. “You aren’t afraid of what I have to say, are you? If you’re truly a man of the people, as you’ve stated since your birth, you’ll come up here and finish this. Explain to the good people of Montovia exactly why you won’t be marrying your precious Victoria.” He clucks his tongue. “Though, I imagine you aren’t half the man you think you are. Perhaps I could show Victoria exactly what she’s missing.”

His crass comments draw gasps from the crowd, and the partygoers seem to be turning their attention back and forth between Andrew and me at the back of the room and Reginald, who still stands on the stage.

Andrew’s voice is a low growl. “I will kill him.”

I reach out and grab him by the forearm, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Andrew.” I shake my head. “Don’t. It isn’t worth it. He isn’t worth it.”

“No, but you’re worth it.” He gazes into my eyes for a long moment. “Don’t you see, Victoria? We cannot allow him to bully us into not following our hearts. We cannot allow him to threaten our relationship or our country.”

The crowd around us has heard every word and starts chiming in their opinions.

“Prince Andrew is right. No one interferes with Montovia.”

“He’s right. We cannot let Prince Reginald have his way.”

“We should all stand up for what is right. We can take back the Amhurst Valley on our own.”

“Montovia! Montovia forever!”

Several people start singing the national anthem of Montovia and after a few moments, nearly the entire ballroom has broken into song.

People are taking off their masks and crowding toward the stage as the song comes to an end. They begin jeering at Prince Reginald. “We’ll fight for Montovia! We’ll not stand for this!”

“War it is then, people of Montovia.” Reginald laughs into the microphone. “Unless, of course, Prince Andrew would like to come fight this battle on his own.” He grins in our direction again. “What do you say, Andrew?”

Andrew doesn’t even glance at me this time. I reach out to try to grab his arm, but it’s too late. He’s already charging toward the stage, though the crowd doesn’t part for him nearly as easily on his way back as they did before.

He hasn’t quite reached the stage when a masked woman, dressed all in white, comes out of nowhere and places a hand on Reginald’s arm. She probably doesn’t intend it, but her voice is audible through the microphone, and I recognize it immediately as Justine’s. “Brother. We cannot do this. There has to be another way.”

Reginald growls his response. “I’m going to see that Andrew and Montovia get exactly what they deserve. And it’s going to start with me beating the hell out of Andrew, just like I should have done years ago.”

“Reginald.” The warning in Justine’s voice is clear as day, but it doesn’t seem to reach his ears at all.

Instead, Reginald charges toward Andrew, nearly jumping into the crowd to reach him before he gets to the stage. He pounces on top of Andrew, knocking him to the ground before he slams a fist into his jaw.

“Prince Reginald. Princess Justine.” A new voice comes from the microphone, and this time I recognize it as William’s. He pulls off his mask and looks over at the woman standing near the edge of the stage. “I believe I have worked out a different solution with your father.”

Justine turns to him slowly and narrows her gaze, but says nothing.

The two men on the ground seem to freeze, waiting for William to finish his statement.

“You see,” William continues. “After the events of the past few days, I’ve been in discussions with your father, King Maximilian.” He clears his throat, almost like he’s trying to hide his disgust at saying the man’s name. “And I believe we have come up with a solution where everyone benefits.”

Andrew rises to his feet, straightening his clothing, and Reginald does the same. Both men turn to the stage to listen to William.

The crowd goes silent as well, and everyone in the room is listening in rapt attention, waiting to hear the solution William and King Max have come up with.

William is silent for far too long, glancing over at Justine a little too often. He finally clears his throat again. “Right. Well, we have reached an agreement that will satisfy both our countries. In exchange for the scepter and the rights to the valley, I will be marrying the Princess Justine. Her father requests that the marriage take place in three weeks. It will be a celebration, uniting our two countries for the first time in more than a century.”

Justine’s mouth falls open, and her hands ball into fists. She looks like Andrew just did, ready to throw a punch.

Andrew shakes his head at his brother. “William…” He shakes his head again. “You can’t. You just…can’t.”

William nods. “But I can. It’s already arranged. And this leaves you and Victoria free to pursue whatever it is you wish to pursue.” He smiles, but I can see it’s forced. “You’re free, Andrew. You’re finally free.”