Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Arthur lunged for him, but I pulled him back. “No.”
“I’ll help you.” Arthur threw his champagne glass to the floor, causing more people to scream and run, perfect. “Let me just think.”
“No.” I shook my head. “No. I’ll do this on my own.”
“But Frederick.” He pointed to the door Frederick was calmly walking out of. “He betrayed you.”
“No. He’s testing me. Because he loved her, he just didn’t realize he’d given his heart up until recently.” I let out a sigh. “And catching him does nothing. He’s smart, he left clues, he’s been planning this since their kiss. He wants to be sure she wants me, not him, and she made him question everything, damn her.”
“And you?”
I felt my throat close up. “I love her.”
Arthur grinned. “I’d say I’m happy for you, but she just got kidnapped by the smartest guy I know, so maybe just… run?”
“Yup.”
“Good on you.”
I bolted toward the foyer then upstairs, did he leave any clues? Was there a way to find her? I searched her room first, nothing, then ran into mine.
The journal was open on my bed.
It was my father’s writing.
“Choose.”
“What the hell?” I said out loud and flipped the page.
“Choose.”
It repeated for a few pages.
And then finally.
“When love chooses it has to choose with its whole heart, I would never give anyone this task other than him, to make sure you know where your heart lies… follow the clues. My last gift to you, the first of the Three Kings, was an adventure and a test. It was a gift of the twelve days of Christmas. I hope you enjoy your wedding, you’re a smart boy, you’re mine, so prove it, and you’ll feel more confident, less like an imposter, when you earn what is most precious to you. Your Christmas gift. Her.”
I hadn’t read this journal yet, it was the next for me. How did they know? Was Arthur in on this too?
I turned the next page.
“Snow falls as do leaves, find where they fall heavy around the castle, and you’ll see the next page, since this is the end.”
I turned the page. it was gone.
Was this some sort of game? What was wrong with these royals!?
I wracked my brain. The only place I could think of was past the rose garden. I grabbed my coat, and I ran outside with Rupert shouting after me. When I got to the tree past the rose garden, there was another journal entry on the tree.
“Son, I wish I could be there with you, if you’ve found this, well done, this is where the best snow and the best leaves fall in the Kingdom. Make it strong. Keep it strong. Earn this, not through the rules, but through your passion. Your next clue. Find where the army is most brave.”
I grabbed the paper from the tree and looked around me, only Rupert stayed by my side, heaving out air like he’d never ran a day in his life, and I still had more clues in order to find her.
They wouldn’t hurt her, right?
No, it wasn’t about that.
It was about proving me right.
I finally understood the point of his journals.
My dad, in his death, did what he couldn’t do in his life.
He was teaching me, guiding me.
My God.
I crumbled to the ground and wept for a few minutes. I didn’t need to run, or rush, this wasn’t Frederick trying to take the throne, this was him trying to give it to me in the most honorable way possible without my father here.
We three kings.
We three kings.
And one over all.
I had to earn her like I had to earn the kingdoms and I had nobody to guide me, nobody to show me because the one who would do it was gone, so I had his journal, I had his teachings and I had this.
I stood to my feet.
“Sire?” Rupert asked. “Maybe you should go inside?”
“No.” In my head it was a roar, in my speech it was calm, because a king must always be calm on the outside “You.” I turned and jabbed a gloved finger at him. “You go inside.” Chest heaving, I felt like I was dealt the final blow of my existence.
I couldn’t lose her.
And I couldn’t lose the crown or the three countries.
I had a responsibility to both her and the people.
I looked up at the tree. “Rupert, are the training grounds, to the left or right, the snow’s falling very hard right now.”
“L-left sire.”
Left it was.
I turned on my heel and walked until I hit the hunting grounds, a place next to the castle, the barracks for the soldiers if need be, though they all had homes on property.
And then I thought about it, stopping in the snow, making a crunching noise as I really thought about it, where was the army the most strong? Not the barracks, not even at home, it was when they were together.