Everything is chaos around me.

I should have known my speech would cause quite a stir. Should have anticipated that there would be consequences for my brash words. But I didn’t let myself think about the mess I’d have to deal with after declaring my feelings. I thought only about the truth. About finally standing up and showing the world my true self. About being the man Victoria deserves—one who will proudly declare his feelings for her.

Now? I’m not so sure it was the right decision.

The moment my speech was done, my family crowded around me. Several reporters rushed forward, even though they knew such behavior would have them quickly removed—this story, apparently, is worth the risk. By the time I was able to part the crowd, Victoria was gone.

She ran. I laid my heart on the line, and she ran.

But what did I expect? I gave her no warning. I made a public announcement about my feelings for her with little thought to what came next. I’ve thrown her into the public eye without her consent.

I need to find her. Speak with her.

Someone is tugging on my arm, pulling me away from the sea of reporters. It’s William—and he’s slowly dragging me toward the door.

“Come on,” he says. “Don’t be an idiot.”

But it’s too late for that. I am an idiot. I was blinded by my feelings and didn’t think about the consequences. I thought this would be a grand romantic gesture—instead, I can see I’ve just complicated everything.

I let William pull me out of the room, back into the privacy of the corridor on the other side. My mother and Nicholas follow—but I suddenly realize that Princess Justine is nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Justine?” I ask. “She’s not still out there, is she?” The last thing I want is to leave her to those vultures back there.

Nicholas shakes his head. “I didn’t see where she went.”

I frown. Another thing I didn’t think about—Justine.

I look up at my mother, who’s watching me closely with an expression I can’t identify.

“What is it?” I ask her. “Isn’t this what you wanted? For me to make my own decisions about my life?”

Something softens in her eyes. “Of course it is.” She reaches up and puts a hand on my cheek. “And I’m very proud of you for taking a stand. But I suspect there might have been better ways of handling this situation.”

She doesn’t have to tell me that. I pull away from her, shaking my head. “I need to go find Victoria.”

“Andrew,” my mother says, reaching after me.

“Go back to Father’s room,” I tell her gently. “I’ll return there after I’ve found her.”

I don’t wait to hear what William or Nicholas have to say—I already know I’ve royally fucked up. I turn and stride down the corridor, desperate to find her—and to avoid the members of the press in the meantime.

She couldn’t have gone far. It’s only been a matter of minutes. Perhaps it’s not as bad as I feared—perhaps she only sneaked away to somewhere private to avoid the press, and she intends to come and find me as soon as the reporters and photographers have dispersed. As I turn down a corridor, I notice members of the Royal Guard ushering a couple of reporters back out of the hospital. Good—that situation is being handled, at least.

That doesn’t leave me any closer to discovering where Victoria has gone, however.

I walk down the corridor, glancing into the rooms on my left. On my right are large windows overlooking a small courtyard.

A small movement through the window catches my eye. There—the flash of sunlight off of dark hair. She’s out there.

I run to the door and burst out into the courtyard. “Victoria.”

But it’s not Victoria who rises from the bench in front of me—it’s Princess Justine. She straightens her shoulders and raises her chin, but I can tell immediately that she was crying not so very long ago. There’s a redness about her eyes that causes a stab of guilt in my gut.

“Princess,” I say, stepping toward her. “I have to apologize for—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she says.

I stop. I certainly can’t blame her for this response—I treated her carelessly. If I’d actually thought about what I was doing, I would have spoken to her privately before the announcement. But that’s the problem—I didn’t think. And now I’ve let everyone down.

“There’s no excuse for my behavior,” I say slowly. “This is not what…” I run a hand through my hair. “I never meant to—”

“You were thoughtless,” she says. “Selfish. Some would even say cruel.”

Her words are harsh, but I cannot deny their truth. “I truly am sorry—”

“I don’t want your apology,” she says, crossing her arms. “You’ve already humiliated me publicly. An apology won’t change that.”

No, it won’t—and like everything else in my life, I’m not sure how to fix this.

“Part of me is furious with you,” she says, her eyes bright with that very emotion. “Another part of me is hurt. I’ve done everything I was supposed to do…and it wasn’t enough. I was rejected in front of the entire world.”

I start to respond, but she holds up a hand, stopping me.

“Another part of me is…relieved,” she continues quietly. “So relieved I feel like I might be sick.” She looks up, her eyes meeting mine again. “I thought… There was a time I thought you and I would have been a good match. That we could have been happy. Even found love in each other. It was more than I’d ever allowed myself to hope.”

I take a careful step toward her. “If circumstances had been different…I think we could have found some sort of happiness together. But love…”

“I know,” she says quickly, nodding. “I’m still…processing everything, but I’m starting to see. You love her, this Victoria. I mean you truly love her. The sort of love that only comes around once in a lifetime, I suspect. And only for those who are very lucky.”

I regard her soberly. “I love Victoria with all my heart.” With all my soul. With my very being.

She nods. “I can see that, truly. And I’m beginning to understand that it’s better this way—that you never could have loved me the way I’d hoped. That’s why I feel so relieved. I allowed myself to believe in a fantasy for moment, but now I’m realizing that I’ve narrowly escaped what would have been my own personal hell. We never could have had that love. I was an idiot to believe it, even for a moment. But for now, I’m free. At least for a little while.”

There’s a profound sadness in her eyes, something that goes beyond my terrible behavior toward her.

“You can still find love,” I tell her gently.

She gives a short, bitter laugh and waves her hand. “Not all of us are so lucky. No—I suspect my father will try and marry me off again fairly quickly. He’ll have our press secretary spin some story about how we actually rejected your suit in favor of a better offer.” One side of her mouth curls up in a wry half-smile. “I suppose I could always publicly reject him and turn everything on its head, but I don’t have the bargaining power you do.” Her smile grows sadder. “And I don’t have any better alternative. I’m not in love with someone else. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m jealous—jealous that you’ve realized what would make you happy and that you were brave enough to go after it.”

“Justine—”

“I’ve accepted my lot in life,” she says. “I suspect I’ll end up marrying some bore of a nobleman and we’ll have the required number of children and be perfectly civil to each other for the rest of our lives. A lot of people in this world have it far worse.”

I frown—mostly because, not even a couple of months ago, I had a similar view of my own future.

“She loves you,” Justine goes on. “But she’s scared. And understandably so.” She steps closer to me, looking up at me. “Don’t let her slip through your fingers.”

“Wait—was she here? Did you see her?”

“She was here briefly. But she ran off.”

“Which way? Where did she go?”

She indicates a door on the far side of the courtyard. “She didn’t say where she was going. But if I were you, I’d hurry. I didn’t get the impression she was going to look for you.”

Oh, God. She’s run again.

I hurry across the courtyard. I must find her. Quickly.

At the door I pause and glance back at Justine. She’s leaning over the fountain at the center of the courtyard, trailing her fingers in the water. She must sense me looking at her because she lifts her head.

“Thank you,” I tell her. “For being so understanding. It’s more than I deserve.”

That sad smile is back. “Thank you for giving me a few more days of freedom. It’s more than I could have hoped for at this point.”

My heart is heavy as I leave the courtyard. It feels like the more I reach for happiness, the more people I hurt. I’ve left Princess Justine in an unenviable situation. The rights to Montovia’s royal scepter will probably never return to us now. And because of the stress I’ve caused, my own father lies unconscious in a hospital bed, barely clinging to life. I’ve destroyed everything.

But Victoria is still my light. Still my beacon of hope at the end of a long, dark road. I have to find her.

And I have a feeling I know exactly where she is heading.