“Yeah! We totally should!” Josie squealed.
“And I’d love to,” I lied. “But now that I’m queen, I’m afraid my free time will be very limited.”
Mom smiled knowingly behind her friend. I could tell she realized exactly what I was trying to do.
Miss Marlee frowned. “True. Oh, I know! Why don’t you have Josie shadow you for a few days? She’s always had a deep interest in the life of a princess. Now she can study a queen!”
“That. Would be. Amazing!” Josie grabbed my hand, and to my credit, I didn’t jerk it away.
With everyone waiting for me to speak and my mother’s eyes warning me that, queen or not, I’d better not disappoint her closest friend, I didn’t have a choice.
“Sure. Josie can shadow me. That will be … great.”
Josie danced back to her spot, and I eyed Kile, who was doing his best not to laugh at my newest predicament. His amusement made me smile, and I felt confident that I’d at least look happy in the pictures.
Finally it was time for the individual portraits with the Elite. I stood in my coronation gown as they were each cycled onto the set.
Fox was first, and he looked sharp in his dark-gray suit. “Okay, so what do I do?” he asked. “In the family picture, I put my arms by my side; but I feel like I should, I don’t know, hold your hand or something.”
The photographer called out, “Yes, that’s good,” as Fox took my hand in his. He stepped a little closer, and we smiled as clicks flashed through in quick succession.
Ean sauntered over next, looking quite pleased. “Stunning, Eadlyn. Absolutely stunning.”
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“True,” he said, smirking. “Very true.”
He positioned himself behind me. “I haven’t gotten to thank you yet. Both for your pardon and your discretion.”
“You and I always got by on minimal communication. I knew you were thankful.”
“I’d been preparing myself for a life of disappointment,” he admitted, his tone the closest to nervousness I’d ever heard it. “To consider that anything else is possible feels unreal. I’m not quite sure how to move forward.”
“Just live.”
Ean smiled at me, kissed my forehead, and moved to the side.
After Ean it was Kile’s turn, and he barreled across the set, making me scream when he scooped me up and spun me around.
“Put me down!”
“Why? Because you’re queen? I’ll need a better reason than that.”
He finally stopped, facing the camera, and I knew we were both grinning like idiots. These pictures would be a completely different kind of spectacular.
“I nearly killed myself stepping on that cape,” he said. “Fashion is deadly.”
“Don’t say that to Hale,” I commented.
“Say what to me?” Hale said as they switched places.
“That fashion can kill.” Kile straightened his suit as he walked.
“Hers could. You look amazing,” he said, embracing me.
“Thanks so much for your help this morning. Everything held together.”
“Of course it did. Did you doubt my skills?” he teased.
“Never.”
I stood back so we could take a few pictures with our faces showing, though I couldn’t wait to see the ones of us embracing.
Finally it was Henri’s turn, and his smile alone was enough to make this long day feel short. He stopped a few steps away from me and took a deep breath.
“You are look very beautiful. I am happy for you.”
My hand flew to my mouth, so moved. “Henri. Thank you! Thank you so much!”
He shrugged. “I trying.”
“You’re doing great. Really.”
He nodded and came over to me, gently turning me away from him. Then he walked around to move my cape so it fluttered around from behind me, and he came to the other side, placing his hands on my waist, standing proudly just over my shoulder.
It was clear he had put a lot of thought into how he wanted to be perceived in this portrait, and I admired that. When the photographer was done, Henri began to walk away, then paused.
“Umm, ent? Erik?” he said, pointing to his friend.
Kile caught on and was in full agreement. “Yeah, Erik’s been through this, too. He needs to get up there.”
Erik simply shook his head. “No, I’m fine. It’s fine.”
“Go on, man, it’s just a picture.” Kile pushed him a little, but he still didn’t move.
Part of me worried that somehow, everyone would be able to hear my pulse beating out his name if he got any closer. But as hard as I’d worked to avoid him the last few days, it was just as challenging not to run to him now.
I walked over to him. And when he realized I was on my way, his gaze flew up to mine. In an instant, everything in the room came alive. Like the sunshine had a melody and the sounds of footsteps had a texture I could feel in my fingertips each time anyone moved.
The world woke up when I looked at him.