Fallen Crown by W Million

Author:W Million [Million, W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: needs an amazon review
Publisher: 978-1-7775723-8-9
Published: 2022-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

The funeral passes in a blur of speeches, mournful songs, and my attention glued to Brice, who appears to be holding himself together in a way only someone royal can. All eyes are on them in the country and in many parts of the world. Nick looks awful, as though it’s physically impossible for him to pretend right now.

Afterward, there’s a reception for invited guests only. Desmond was clear that our pins would get us into the palace for the small gathering.

We enter the formal hall, which is decked out in black, white, and gray with a splash of Bellerive Blue for accents at various places.

Paxton whistles long and low. “This is small?”

“When you’ve been king of a country, I suppose it is,” Wren says, glancing around at the lavish cocktail party.

You’d never know we came from a funeral, and I can’t even imagine how exhausting it must be for all of them to keep up appearances. Across the ballroom, Brice is flanked by Brent and Posey, but the rest of his family is spread out around the room doing their royal duty of socializing.

InterFlix sent a camera crew to film pieces of the funeral and this. They must intend to lay pretty heavily into Brice’s narrative this coming season. They’ll be under intense scrutiny on the course, but as their race support, I shouldn’t get too much airtime.

“Should we go talk to him?” Wren asks at my side as Paxton and Riker wander off together to mingle with people they recognize from another charity they’re part of.

I follow her toward Brice, but there’s a knot in my stomach at the idea of speaking to him. Whereas I didn’t know what to say the other night, and that felt okay, I’m aware of all the people milling around us, as well as the camera crew circling.

“It was a nice service,” Wren says to Brice as we approach. The two of them exchange a brief hug.

My stomach clenches at the realization it’ll be weird if I don’t hug Brice too, but he’s already one step ahead of me, drawing me into a loose embrace as though the physical contact means nothing. His hug with Wren was tighter and longer. He is way too good at compartmentalizing and switching himself off and on.

“I appreciate all of you coming,” Brice says. “It’s wonderful to have my teammates support during this difficult time.”

We’ve rarely spoken under the glare of a camera, but everything about him, from his countenance to his word choices don’t feel like him. For some reason, it makes me sad.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Brice says, touching Wren on the upper arm, “I see someone I need to speak to about a possible donation.”

And then he’s gone, the camera shadowing him to his next conversation.

“It must be weird,” Wren says, “to spend most of your life pretending to be someone you’re not.”

Brice is still an enigma, even to me. Is he the genuine, heart-on-his-sleeve guy or the incorrigible flirt who takes nothing seriously? It’s almost impossible to believe both can be true.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.