Page 125 of Rivals
She should have known that Gabriella was right—Daphne wasn’t capable of a true friendship.
“Let’s get started,” Anju said, with a nod toward the man Nina didn’t recognize. “In the absence of a Supreme Court justice, a senior peer can swear you in. Lord Orange is here to read you the oath.”
That must be Stephen Davis, the Duke of Orange, Marshall’s grandfather. He stepped forward and bowed. “It’s a great honor, Your Highness.”
Jeff looked at the people around him, eyes pleading. “Shouldn’t this be Samantha?”
“We still can’t find her,” Anju said gruffly.
Lord Orange cleared his throat. “Given what she wrote in that note, Samantha and my grandson may not want to be found. Some people would interpret her message as a renunciation of her title,” he added, his tone unreadable.
“Jefferson,” Anju added, “in her Declaration of Regency, Beatrice namedyouas her contingent heir. Should anything befall her during the period of regency, which it has, then you become Acting King.” Nina could practically hear the capitalization in those words.
Finally, her mind caught up to the scene unfolding before her. Jeff was about to take the Oath of Accession to the Crown.
She thought dazedly of what he’d said just last month, when he’d explained that Beatrice had named him as her Regent.It’s just a bunch of parties and ribbon-cuttings,he’d joked.Hey, at least I have more excuses to wear my ceremonial sword.
He hadn’t anticipated this, but then, no one could have.
Once or twice over the years, Nina had wondered whatmight happen if Beatrice abdicated her position and Samantha became queen, for no real reason except that Sam was her best friend and she wondered what kind of queen her friend would make. But never had any of her what-ifs or imaginings brought her here, to a situation whereJeffwould be the one in the Imperial State Crown.
Daphne put a hand on Jeff’s arm in reassurance. “You can do this, Jefferson. You’re ready.”
From the way she touched him, Nina saw that Daphne was in full control of herself—and of Jeff—once more. It was like his moment in the garden with Nina had never even happened.
Stunned, Jeff nodded. Nina watched as Anju handed a book to Marshall’s grandfather. A Bible, she realized. The tattered, paperback kind that you could always find in a hospital somewhere.
The duke held it before the prince, his face grave. Jeff placed his right hand atop it.
“Your Highness. Do you solemnly swear to govern the United States of America according to its laws and principles?”
Jeff’s voice was surprisingly steady as he replied, “I do.”
“Will you faithfully execute the Office of King, for as long or as short a time as you may need to hold such office, on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Beatrice, long may she reign?”
Long may she reign,Nina thought with a pang. She glanced back toward the hospital bed, where Beatrice lay still.
“I will,” Jeff promised.
Nina felt Daphne’s gaze on her again. For a moment Daphne’s perfect mask dropped, and her face was alive with greed and ambition.
Of course Daphne would be thrilled at this turn of events. As long as her fate was tied to Jeff’s, then his swearing-in meant her triumph. If Daphne had anything to say aboutit, she would ascend to greater heights than even she had dreamed of.
Forget trying to become a princess—now Daphne had set her sights on being queen.
“And will you preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States?” the duke finally asked.
Jeff nodded. “All of this I promise to do, so help me God.”
The Jeff that Nina knew was so very unkingly, with his boyish humor and easy charm. But as he lowered his hand from the Bible, she saw that there was something different about the set of his shoulders, the firmness of his jaw. Already he was more distant, more regal—not like her playful Jeff at all, but a figure from one of the glossy postcards sold in the palace gift shop. Too distant and high-ranking to touch.
Here he was, the boy Nina had loved for more than half her life. Maybe he loved her too, or maybe he loved Daphne, or maybe he loved them both at once—this was Jeff, after all, who had a bigger heart than anyone Nina had ever met, except maybe Samantha.
But in the end, Nina’s love for him wasn’t enough, not when so many forces were tearing them apart: Jeff’s position, and Nina’s aversion to the spotlight, and Daphne’s ruthless determination to have Jeff for herself.
A sense of weary, stifling defeat settled over her.
If Nina couldn’t handle being with Jeff the prince, there was no chance she belonged with Jefferson the Acting King. She’d be subjected to a thousand times as much scrutiny, would be picked apart and judged and found wanting by the entire world. Her family would be thrust under a microscope, her past raked through. Nina couldn’t go through that again. She couldn’t go up againstDaphneagain, not when it kept ending in such heartache.
