Page 28 of The Royally Broke Billionaire
When Piper tilted her head to the side and scrunched her face, Tess added, “I hope you aren’t ruling him out because of my brothers’ opinions of him. They occasionally take their business rivalries a tad too far. Besides, I have the feeling that there is more to Cole than initially meets the eye. He can’t possibly be as arrogant as he seems, right?”
The queen chuckled and Piper smiled back at her. The woman had perfectly described Piper’s own feelings about Cole. She suspected that he used the cocky façade as a front for his own insecurities, but she wasn’t sure if he would ever get around to showing her his more sensitive, down-to-earth side––if he even had one.
Seesawing her hands in the other direction, like an old-fashioned weight scale, the queen said, “On the other hand, there is the palace’s royal steward, Finn. I can vouch that he is hardworking and kind. I might be biased, since he works for us, but I think he would make an excellent suitor.”
Piper started to deny Finn’s feelings for her. It was obvious by his quick accusation of her that he didn’t trust or like her in the slightest, but it felt too disrespectful to openly disagree with the queen.
Seeming lost in her own thoughts and unaware of Piper’s internal battle, Tess’s eyes took on a dreamy expression as she went on, “In fact, I once dated a handsome royal steward, who made me feel like a queen, before he turned me into an actual queen.”
Their girl-talk was interrupted when Geoffrey barged out to the pool. Since the butler normally displayed impeccable manners and a cool, calm demeanor, the wild, harried look in his concerned eyes and his overly-pale complexion made it obvious that something was terribly wrong.
“Geoffrey, what is it?” The queen asked, with her gaze already shadowed by worry and alarm over what was coming.
The butler spoke with uncharacteristic speed when he said, “Your Highness, you better come with me. It’s the king.”
27
The blood drained from the queen’s face, leaving her complexion with the pale bluish tint of skim milk. Her voice sounded on the verge of panic when she asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
The butler’s eyes darted warily in Piper’s direction. Quickly realizing that he didn’t feel comfortable sharing the royal family’s personal business in front of her, Piper moved to stand up with Liam cradled in her arms.
Tess reached out to stop her, taking her hand within her clammy one. “Stay,” she ordered before turning to the butler. “You can say what you need to in front of Piper. What is wrong with my husband?”
“Your Highness, the High Council held an emergency meeting in the wake of the announcement about Liam. They have proclaimed that King Sebastian’s irresponsible actions make him unworthy of being the island’s monarch.”
“What?!?” The queen’s eyes and mouth were wide open as she stared up at the butler. Her hand released its clasp on Piper’s as if the other woman had jolted her. She was shaking her head with disbelief.
“This can’t be right,” Piper weighed in logically. “He was only a royal steward when Liam was conceived.”
In a grave voice, Geoffrey answered Piper’s objection, but his gaze remained locked on the queen. “I’m afraid they are taking a firm, unmerciful stance on this matter. They are demanding that King Sebastian be ousted from the throne. A referendum has been scheduled for tomorrow. If it passes, a new king will be selected as the stand-in until Liam is old enough to accept the crown.”
The blood rushed into Piper’s ears and pounded as she pondered the repercussions of this turn of events. The last thing she intended was to cause the downfall of King Sebastian. She had known Liam’s existence would cause a bit of a salacious scandal, but she had never dreamed that this would be the fallout from her son’s birthright.
“This isn’t fair,” Piper sputtered, dumbfounded. “The Council can’t be this extreme in their rulings. King Sebastian hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“I’m afraid they have every right to make this decision, and they are exerting that right,” Geoffrey told the women solemnly.
When Tess turned her eyes towards Piper, her gaze looked right past her as if the other woman wasn’t there. Her voice sounded faraway as she said, “We can’t let this happen.”
Piper was getting ready to answer that she was in full agreement, and that she would do anything in her power to make sure that King Sebastian wasn’t dethroned when the queen suddenly bolted into action.
Standing and speaking crisply to the butler, Queen Tess said, “Take me to my husband, our island’s rightful and benevolent king.”
“As you wish,” Geoffrey gave the queen a curt nod before whirling around and leading the near-frantic woman inside the castle.
Piper was left alone with Liam, whose kicking feet were splashing happily in the pool. Her innocent baby had no idea about the havoc he was wreaking by merely existing. As much as Piper wanted to defend King Sebastian’s right to the throne, she knew her top priority was protecting her son. She just hoped that didn’t put her in opposition with the ruling royals.
Feeling at a loss for what to do to help, Piper remained at the edge of the pool as she attempted to regroup her thoughts and wrap her mind around this latest development.
Finally, realizing that the scuttlebutt surrounding the king’s removal from power would make it impossible to learn anything further about the leak, she stood, used the large towel to dry Liam’s pudgy legs, and turned to head back to her comforting cottage at the edge of the woods. The quiet little retreat had already turned into her place of solace. She would be able to do her best thinking there.
She wasn’t sure whether to be happy or disappointed when she saw Finn sitting at the wooden picnic table in front of their new homes. From the blank, sad look in his eyes, she deduced that he had already heard about the Council’s accusation about the king.
Knowing that Finn probably blamed her for their monarch’s troubles made it difficult for Piper to approach. Her feet wanted to turn in the other direction and hide from the unavoidable, upcoming confrontation with the loyal royal steward. Taking a deep, fortifying breath and steeling her resolve, she forced herself to continue walking in his direction.
She had fully expected him to glare at her or yell about the injustice of it all. She was prepared for him to blame her for her part in it. She knew he would consider her responsible for the king’s current predicament, and she was prepared for him to lash out at her.
The one reaction she wasn’t prepared for was for him to completely ignore her as he stood up and stalked into his tiny hut. She hugged Liam closer to her as she watched the royal steward disappear behind his closing door. For some reason, having him act like she didn’t even exist hurt so much more than an angry reaction would have.
