Page 7 of The Heart of the King

“The coronation is Saturday. I don’t know that it’s possible to do both.”

Jasmine groaned. “Well, I guess if we’re going to stay married, and I’m going to help you with this whole thing, then I probably need to be at the coronation.”

“Most likely. It would be hard for me to explain how my wife isn’t at the coronation. I do have a wedding to attend in a couple of weeks in New Sargasso. I would imagine you’d accompany me to that.” The new king of New Sargasso had been engaged for a few months and the wedding had finally arrived.

“Isn’t that where that Trilunium series was written?”

NotCharles shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s in the Southern Hemisphere, near New Zealand and Australia.”

“Regardless, I still need to go home. I need to pack up my things. I need to get clothes. I need to talk to my parents.” She took a longer drink of her coffee now that it had cooled off.

“I’ll talk to my team and see what we can work out. We may be able to make a quick stop for you to pack some things, then leave again. I need to be home in the morning. It’s about a nine-hour flight from here.”

“Springfield is about two hours, I think. The airport is about half an hour from my house.”

NotCharles picked up his phone. “I’ll talk to my team and see what we can do. Maybe we can leave shortly and stop for a couple of hours.”

She groaned. “I need to charge my phone. I bet I’ve got a million text messages and phone calls by now.”

“There’s a cord on the other side of the bed. If it doesn’t fit, let me know.”

He watched her walk to the bed and pick up her phone off the side table. Her hair had been wrapped around itself and held together in a bun by a scrap of bright purple fabric.

Not exactly a normal hairdo for someone about to be queen.

At least he didn’t think so.

And the glittering jewel in her nose was sure to raise a lot of eyebrows back home.

But NotCharles found himself not caring. He’d been talking with his brother on a more regular basis, even if it was fairly clandestine. Gabe had reiterated several times that everything happened for a reason. That God had a plan for it all.

Maybe Jasmine was part of God’s plan for NotCharles.

Maybe she’d even help him pick out his regnal name.

“Jasmine?” he called as she plugged her phone into his cord.

She looked over but didn’t say anything.

“I haven’t chosen what name I’m going to use as king,” he told her. “My full name is Steven Charles David Chauncey. What do you think?”

With a shrug, she sat cross-legged on the bed. “What name did you grow up using?”

“Steven, but there are reasons I’d rather not continue to use it. There are things in my past as Steven I’m not terribly proud of.” Things he’d need to tell her about eventually.

“And you don’t want to use Charles because of that other Charles?” She stared at her phone while it started to charge.

“Exactly.”

“So that leaves David and Chauncey. I can see why you’re not sure about Chauncey, so that leaves David.”

“And the inevitable comparisons to King David?”

She gave another shrug. “David did some really awful things in his lifetime, but in the end, he was a man after God’s own heart. I’m not saying do awful things, but in the end the most important part is that you seek Him and His guidance, not that you’re perfect.”

Maybe she had a point.

He would be King David the First of Auverignon.

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