Page 66 of The Rejected King
She also enjoyed the “wonder game.”
I wonder why Davin hasn’t come after me.
I wonder what Davin’s doing now.
I wonder if Davin will be forced to marry Patrice if he wins the vote.
The “wonder game” got old quickly. Especially since Emree didn’t have any way to get answers.
Today was different though. Today was voting day. Emree could still remember the shock when she had overheard an innkeeper talking about the revote. Couldn’t Fennish Kemp have done something? Couldn’t he have convinced the other high rulers not to force a revote? Emree had done what the queen mother had asked. She had left, removed herself from the situation. She tried not to be angry with Queen Arillia, but it was hard. She had been forced to give up so much.
Davin needed more than fifty percent of the votes to keep him in office. If he didn’t get them, he would be out. The entire situation gave Emree anxiety. Her stomach churned.
When she had first left Enderlin castle, she had bought a newswriter, thinking she wanted to know the headlines.
Oh, how wrong she was.
The newswriters had ripped Davin apart for his stunt at the ball, and then they had lain into her, saying she had planned this all along to try and become queen. It had taken Emree an entire day of crying to get over that article, written by none other than Fiona Rudd. After that, Emree decided she wouldn’t read the papers anymore. She would move on completely. Voting for Davin would be the last thing she did before she completely shut the door on that chapter of her life.
She waited in the long line of people outside the province building in Dakotaland. Around her, murmurs of conversation discussed King Davin and whether or not he was fit to be king.
“I like King Davin even more now,” the woman in front of Emree said to her friends. She had a gray headband tied at the top of her head that matched her gray eyes. “I like that he chose a working-class woman. It makes me think he’s the type of king that would fight for us working-class people, and maybe we’d get some more essentials.”
Emree bit her lip, hoping this woman wasn’t in the minority.
Her friend shook her head. “Nah, I don’t like him. His choice shows how immature he is. I don’t think I can trust him as king.”
“Yeah, if he’s going to make stupid decisions like the one he made at the Promenade ball, then I don’t want anything to do with him,” the other friend said.
Emree swallowed.
Davin was definitely going to lose, and there was nothing Emree could do about it. She questioned herself. Had she made the right decision to leave? Should she have tried to fight to get back to him? The way her entire body hurt from missing him made her feel like she had made an awful mistake.
32
Davin
It had been three days since the vote. The final count from each province had arrived at the castle that morning. Davin sat on his throne on top of the dais in the grand hall. The six high rulers sat at a long table facing him. Behind the high rulers, a large group of newswriters sat in rows of chairs. The moment reminded Davin of that first Promenade briefing. He could still see Emree’s smile and the confident way she had portrayed herself. He missed her so much; no matter what happened with the vote, he was going after her, and soon.
Davin had been living under a microscope the last month. Several of the high rulers had stayed in New Montana as if they couldn’t trust him to run the kingdom anymore. Every morning he had an exclusive interview with different province newswriters. He tried to take Emree’s plan, the one she had implemented for Fennish Kemp when he was in the king’s election, and use it for himself. Davin had really opened up in the interviews, trying to be himself. Nothing was off-limits. He told the newswriters fun stories from his life, future plans he had for the kingdom, and when they asked about Emree, he was honest. Enderlin wasn’t only voting for Davin. If he won, Emree would become the first working-class queen their kingdom had ever had, assuming Emree would still have him. In a way, they were voting for or against that possibility.
There had been so many times over the past month that he had wished he could talk to Emree. It had taken Davin two weeks to figure out where she even was. Once he’d traced the arrangements his mother had made, he had fought every urge to drop everything and run after her, but it would have taken him at least a week to get to her and then another week to travel back. He couldn’t afford to lose that time campaigning right before the election. So he’d stayed put. He had thought about writing her. He had wanted to tell her that he loved her, tell her that he’d reread her fairytale book, tell her that he needed her like he needed food, water, and shelter. Instead, he’d decided to wait. When Emree heard from him again, he wanted her to know exactly who Davin was. Was he confessing his love to her as the king of Enderlin or as a regular man? In his heart, their relationship wasn’t over. It was all about timing, and then he could be with her again.
His mother squeezed his hand next to him. Their relationship had improved since the night of the ball. Davin had forgiven her for her part in sending Emree away. He understood why she had done it; she had wanted to protect him and protect her own security. He couldn’t approve of her deceit, but he had been laser-focused over the past few weeks, as much motivated by a desire to get back to Emree as to win the revote.
His mother had been pleased with the amount of effort he’d put into gaining votes over the last month. Davin could only hope it would all pay off, and that the projections in the headlines were wrong. They reported Davin only having thirty percent of the population in favor of him remaining king.
High Ruler Uttmay stood, clearing his throat. “Each high ruler will read the votes from their province. I’ll start.” He unfolded the envelope in his hand. “In the province of Mero, forty-nine percent in favor of the king and fifty-one against.”
Whispers filtered through the room, and Davin cringed. He had hoped to win Mero, especially since the new Mero dam was up and running, providing more power and energy for the people that lived there.
Barry Kenson stood up next. Patrice’s father had been actively campaigning against Davin. It hadn’t surprised him. His daughter was supposed to be the next queen. Instead, she’d been left humiliated. High Ruler Kenson looked down at his paper then back up at Davin. His smug expression told Davin everything. “In the province of Carrington, twenty-seven percent in favor of the king and seventy-three against.”
Davin pursed his lips together as sweat formed at the top of his brow. He was behind in the vote...way behind.
Fennish Kemp pushed his chair back, standing. Davin needed this province desperately if he had any chance of winning. “In the province of Kenmare,” High Ruler Kemp said, his lips rolling into a small smile, “Eighty-three percent in favor of King Davin and seventeen against.”
Davin’s heart pounded with relief. That was Emree’s province. The people there had supported her. He closed his eyes, trying to ease a little bit of his worry. He was still in this.
