Page 74 of Redemption of a Prince

“When’s the wedding?”

“What do the king and queen think about you starting to date someone new while his life hangs in the balance?”

They both ignored all of the questions shouted at them.

Once inside, they were taken upstairs. His father remained in the critical care portion of the hospital, though the number of wires and tubes had decreased significantly.

In fact, Zeke’s father was sitting up with Zeke’s mum at his bedside.

Zeke bowed as Nikki curtsied. “Good morning. How are you feeling, Papa?”

“Much better,” his father said, acknowledging them with a nod. “But we have a number of things to discuss. I’ve left word that we are not to be disturbed for routine checks.”

Zeke shared a look with Nikki. “What’s going on?”

“There will be a press conference this afternoon.” His father sat silent for a moment, likely unable to take the deep breath he wanted to take. “Effective midnight tonight, I will be stepping down as king. At midnight, you will be taking over for me.”

Zeke stared, slack-jawed, at his father. “What?”

“With the heart episodes, this recovery is going to be much longer and more intensive than we originally thought it would be. I can’t effectively govern my people and take care of my health. It’s not fair to them, myself, your mother, or you to pretend I can do both.”

Zeke shook his head. “I’m not ready to be king.”

“No one is. If you thought you were, I’d be concerned. But you don’t, which tells me you’ll be conscientious about doing the job to the best of your ability.” His father gave him a weak smile. “Plus, you’ll still have me around to help if you need it. Many kings and queens don’t have that luxury.”

Zeke sank into the empty chair. “Are you sure?”

His father nodded. “I already spoke with the chairman. Your mother will read the statement my office is putting together at the press conference. We don’t think you need to be there, but you will need to hold your own press conference in the next few days, and you will need to take questions.”

“I’m not ready,” he reiterated.

“Yes. You are. You were born for this, even if the plan did get derailed for a bit.” His father glanced at Nikki. “Which brings us to the other topic of conversation. Why you’re eligible again.”

Zeke reached for Nikki’s hand. “We’ve talked about it a lot the last few days. I understand why she didn’t think it was even possible that anyone else is the father. We still don’t know how you came to that conclusion though.”

His mother spoke up. “I started wondering years ago. I even wondered aloud once.” She sighed. “I think Rosie may have overheard me talking to myself about it, and that’s why she ended things with Caleb the first time.”

“What made you suspect?” Nikki asked quietly.

“Lydia has brown eyes,” his mother explained. “You both have blue eyes. It’s uncommon but not impossible for two blue-eyed parents to have a brown-eyed child. But it wasn’t until I saw a report about the testing for kidney donors that I knew for sure.”

“How?” Zeke pressed.

“Ezekiel is blood type A negative. Nikki is O negative. The two of you cannot have a child who is B positive,” his mother explained gently. “I doubt I would have noticed if I hadn’t already thought about eye color.”

“Do you know who it is?” his father asked.

Nikki started to say something, but his father stopped her with a slightly raised hand.

“I don’t mean to imply anything, but we don’t know what the circumstances of her conception were. Do you know who he is? Or where?”

Nikki swiped at a lone tear on her cheek. “He was from my neighborhood and joined the military a few days later. He was killed in the helicopter crash in Eyjania.”

His parents both sighed heavily. “Does he have any family?” Zeke’s father asked.

“A brother, but no one knows where he is, as far as I can tell anyway,” Nikki told them.

His parents exchanged a look that communicated far more than the look between Zeke and Nikki had. “That’s probably for the best,” his father said.

---