Page 74 of The Heart of the King

Jasmine took a bite of one and closed her eyes as she chewed. “These are fantastic.”

David shared a high five with Hazel. “We did it!” The three of them ate several before Hazel ran off again, giggling, to wait for her cue.

“What’s all that about?” Jasmine asked as they took a seat in the enclosed porch, but not in the hammock.

He simply shrugged and handed her a manila folder.

“What’s this?” She stared at him but didn’t open it.

“Look,” was all he said.

Jasmine opened the folder and took out the parchment filled with fancy writing. He could see her eyes scanning the page.

“I’m not sure what this means.”

“The Council has what’s called the King’s Seat. It’s usually held by the previous or future king, but the appointment is automatically terminated when a reign ends for any reason. When my father was king, my grandfather held the seat. It’s been vacant since the moment the verdict came down. Before my grandfather abdicated, my father held the seat. Before him, it was my great-grandfather.”

She flipped the sheet of paper over to see the blank back side. “So what does this mean?”

“It means, I’m appointingyouto the King’s Seat, if you want it. You’ll be the first woman on the council, at least as far as we can find. I think it could be an amazing way for you to help effect some of the changes we’ve talked about, a way to shake things up. But also, I think you deserve the spot. I think you’ll look at issues fairly then help make the best decision you can.” He hoped she would accept the offer.

“Is it legal to appoint me?” She continued to try to read the paper, but it was full of legalese. “Do you expect me to always side with you?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while, so I asked Stewart to look into it, just to make sure. The law simply says the previous or former king is preferable, but there are no legal restrictions on who I put in the seat, with one exception. The person has to be an Auverignonian citizen.” He blew out a breath. “As for simply being ayes woman? I don’t want that, but I would prefer if we keep our disagreements private. I’m not saying never to vote against me, but arguments in front of the Council wouldn’t be the best thing. It also means we could talk about what happens there, since you’ll be privy to the discussions anyway.”

“I think I can work with that.” She looked over at him. “But am I an Auverignonian citizen? How do I become one? Can I keep my American citizenship as well?”

“You can,” he confirmed. “And simply by marrying me, you became a de facto Auverignonian citizen. The spouse of a member of the royal family is automatically a citizen.”

Jasmine stared at the paper again. “Then I’m honored to accept the appointment.”

David grinned. “I hoped you’d say that.” He opened an app on his phone and used it to turn the lights off in the enclosed patio.

That was Hazel’s cue to flip a different switch.

Twinkle lights appeared outside, illuminating a sign that he and Hazel had made together, asking Jasmine to marry him again.

Jasmine gasped as she turned back to him.

By then, David was down on one knee. “Jasmine, will you do me the honor of marrying me all over again? Being my wife and my queen and the mother of my children?”

She nodded through tears. “Of course,” she managed to whisper.

He took the ring out of the box. “I looked through all of the rings available and decided we needed something new. There’s been too many bad relationships in my family, and I want to break that mold. Both of our countries’ flags are red, white, and blue, so I chose a sapphire for the center stone and circled it with smaller diamonds and rubies, but added four emeralds to the mix, to go with your hair.”

That made her laugh. “I love that.”

He sobered. “If you’d rather have something else, we can go find something or design something or whatever you want.”

Jasmine shook her head and held out her hand. “It’s perfect.”

After he slipped it on her finger, he leaned up and kissed her.

Little girl giggles were followed by footsteps as Hazel ran into the room. “Did she say yes, Davey?”

David stood and pulled Jasmine into his arms. “She said yes.” Their hug expanded to include Hazel.

This wasn’t how he’d planned to start a family, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

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