King of My Heart

21. Lucy Saves the Day

Since there was no chance she would sleep after what transpired between her and Tim, Lucy stayed up to read through the drafted agreement with Daroon.

"They're evil," she muttered when she read quite an interesting hidden clause. With a few flourishes of a pen, she made some changes, because two can play at their game. By the time the sun rose, she had reviewed the large document. Then, she went to Grey to present her changes to him.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" Grey asked when he noticed the look on the queen's face.

"No, but I really can't talk about it."

"Because it has to do with Tim."

Her mouth opened in surprise; she thought they had been subtle and secretive.

"I'm old, not stupid. I see how you two are together," Grey smiled.

"Look, Grey..."

"Do you wonder why I haven't said anything before?"

"Before?"

"From what I can tell, you two have been getting closer for months, but your relationship has been...more...passionate for the last month, and in that time, I haven't said anything, because I don't know what to say. Under any other circumstances, I would like the idea of you two, but the law makes things tricky."

"You don't have to worry about it anymore. It's not...we..." she searched for an appropriate word that she was comfortable saying, but the wound was incredibly fresh.

"You can't be mine, so I can't be yours," Tim's voice echoed in her mind loudly, and she shut her eyes.

"I see," he took mercy on her clear struggle with discussing the topic. "I'm really sorry, Lucy. I'm sure you two will work it out."

"We...we can't," she tried not to cry again. "Look, I really don't want to get into it right now...can you look at the amendment the Sanfords tried to slip in and thought I wouldn't notice?"

"An amendment?"

"They're trying to take my country away from me."

"Excuse me?" Grey asked, his voice was a mixture of anger and concern.

Lucy easily flipped to the page where the change was added last minute. "This wording wasn't here the last time I read it, but it basically says that once Chris and I get married, Wilshira will be swallowed by Daroon, and he'll become the king of the new country."

"They wouldn't seriously try to pull that stunt on you!"

"Clearly, Chris doesn't know me very well. That's why he was so eager to get this signed, and why he's been so against every change I've made. He's trying to make it easier to unite our countries."

"But, Daroon is weaker. They have a smaller army, less resources, less allies, a worse economy..."

"Which is why they're trying to take us and claim our land and people as their own."

"Evil," Grey shook his head.

"That's what I said! It all makes sense why he was willing to opt for a short engagement, why we dated for as long as we did despite how terrible our relationship was, and when he went home to pick up the engagement ring, I bet he really went back to tell his parents about all of the changes I've been making."

"Didn't he break up with you momentarily? Before you ask, Angela tells me all the gossip whether I want to hear it or not. Except, I figured out about you and Tim all on my own."

"He did end things...during that fight, Chris told me he read my universal healthcare bill on my DESK. I never showed it to him, which means that he LOOKED for it. He was probably worried he couldn't find a way to dismantle the bill."