Page 89 of American Royals II: Majesty
“Himari. What’s going on?” Daphne slipped outside, quickly pulling the door shut behind her.
Himari lifted an eyebrow. “You aren’t going to invite mein?”
“Not when I have no idea what you’re planning,” she said bluntly.
Himari shrugged and started toward the edge of the driveway. A cherry tree—one of a vast number in Herald Oaks, planted a hundred years ago in a burst of patriotism—spread its branches overhead, casting their faces in shade. A few stray blossoms had fallen onto the pavement around them.
“You might have seen last week’s announcement,” Himari began, alert for Daphne’s reaction. “Her Majesty appointed my parents as the new ambassadors to the Imperial Court at Kyoto.”
“Congratulations. They must be really excited.”
“We’re moving to Japan intwo days.”
Himari turned to face her, arms crossed. “My parents are ecstatic, obviously. Everyone thought the appointment would go to Leanna Santos. I don’t know how we managed to get it instead.” She hesitated, her dark eyes locked on Daphne’s. “I keep thinking you had something to do with it, except it makes no sense. Your specialty is hurting me, not fulfilling my parents’ wildest dreams.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Daphne said stiffly. But her heart wasn’t in the lie, and Himari clearly saw through it.
“So itwasyou. Color me impressed.” Himari lifted her hands and brought them together, once, twice, in a sarcastic mockery of a slow clap. “Well played, Daphne. You must really hate me, to make the queen send me thousands of miles away. How did you convince her?”
“I don’thateyou, okay? I only did it because you kept threatening me! Because you were going to blow my cover and ruin mylife!”
A hint of pain, or maybe regret, flickered behind the immutable mask of Himari’s expression. “I threatened you? What are you talking about?”
“That text you sent, that I was going to get what I deserved!” Daphne drew in a shaky breath. “I thought you were planning something awful, some kind of massive revenge scheme that would destroy me forever.”
“Of course you would think that.” Himari rolled her eyes. “I guess I should be grateful that you did something nice this time, instead of pushing me down a staircase!”
“I never pushed you!”
A sharp, uncertain silence succeeded her words. Daphne glanced around the street. She heard the low hum of a lawn mower from a few blocks away, but here everything was still.
“I never pushed you,” she repeated, more quietly this time. “I did put a sleeping pill in your drink—only because I hoped you would drop your guard and do something stupid. You were threatening to tell Jefferson about me and Ethan, and I wanted some kind of leverage over you, like what you had on me. I never thought you would actually gethurt.”
“I know,” Himari said quietly. With those words, all the fight seemed to drain from her.
“I’m sorry,” Daphne said again. “I wish I had justtalkedto you. But, Himari, I was terrified of what you might do. You wanted to date Jefferson so desperately—”
“It was never about the prince; it was aboutus!”
Daphne blinked in surprise. Himari pulled her hair over one shoulder, twirling the ends of it.
“Daphne, when I saw you with Ethan, I wasn’t thinking about Jeff at all. I was just…shocked that you could betray someone you claimed to love, without a shred of remorse.” Himari sighed. “After it happened, I kept waiting for you to break up with Jeff, but you clearly had no intention of telling him. And it made me realize—your relationship wasn’t sacred to you.Nothing at allis sacred to you. The only reason you get close to people is because you can use them as stepping-stones on your upward climb!”
A strange, brittle emotion carved through Daphne like a shard of ice. “That’s not true,” she whispered. “At least, not with you.”
Light filtered through the branches overhead, casting lacelike shadows over Himari’s face.
“I didn’t have many friends before you,” Himari said softly. At Daphne’s surprised look she clarified, “I was popular, sure, but only because of my parents’ title. You were the first girl I didn’t have topretendto like.”
Daphne nodded; she’d felt the same.
“But once you and Jeff started dating, I immediately got bumped down to second place. You were suddenly too busy for me. And whenever wedidhang out, it was still about Jeff—we were going to a palace event to see Jeff, or shoppingfor something you would wear with Jeff, ortalkingabout Jeff.”
Daphne’s next words were a defensive reflex. “You didn’t act like you hated it. Parties at the palace, free designer clothes—”
“I can buy myowndesigner clothes!” Himari burst out. “I didn’t care about the perks that came with being in your entourage; I just wanted time with you. I missed my best friend.”
Daphne wrapped her arms around herself, feeling suddenly cold. “I always thought you were jealous.”
