Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Meg glanced at Galen, but he was too busy watching the seven to notice her. It reinforced her feeling of being embattled, though no one had said anything particularly vicious yet. She pressed her lips together to stifle her questions. If they made it out of this the way Theo obviously had planned, then she’d have time for her questions later.
The door swung open and a man walked into the room. He was like a smaller, diminished version of Theo. Narrower in both shoulders and face, his hair thinning on top, his eyes so cold Meg doubted they ever warmed. His step hitched when he realized who occupied the room, but the surprise didn’t show in his expression. “Interesting gathering, Theodore.”
This had to be Phillip, Theo’s uncle. There was no one else it could be.
Theo pivoted easily to meet Phillip without ever actually offering the rest of the people his back. “Uncle. I bring glad tidings.” His smile lit up the room, and she would never know by looking at him that he loathed his uncle, or that the man had attempted to have him murdered.
A born politician.
But then, you knew that. It’s just another facet of Theo.
He turned back to the gathered people. “You see, there’s been a mistake. Let me explain.”
Theo didn’t give Phillip a chance to take control of the conversation, and he didn’t give himself a chance to react to seeing his uncle after all these months. They had never been close, not when Phillip always had his eye on the throne, but family should have meant something. He knew better. Of course he knew better.
The bastard didn’t even wait a week after his brother—Theo’s father—died to make his move. That was what Theo couldn’t, wouldn’t, forgive.
Then there’s the rumors of poisoning…
He turned with a practiced smile to the nobles gathered. “It seems my uncle was a little too trigger happy about declaring my parents’ marriage a fraud.”
Pierce Huxley pulled at the edge of his mustache and raised his eyebrows. “We examined the evidence provided, and I don’t see how that’s possible. The dates speak for themselves.”
“That would be true if my mother’s first marriage was legal.”
Phillip finally recovered and moved forward, attempting to inject himself between Theo and the nobles. “It seems my nephew has taken the loss of this throne a little too hard and has brought you here to spin his conspiracy theories. I apologize for the inconvenience of you making a trip for nothing, but I will see him suitably dealt with.” He flashed a look at Theo over his shoulder that promised the kind of pain that could break a man.
If he didn’t win this, Theo wouldn’t be walking out of this palace alive.
Neither would Galen or Meg.
“Let the boy speak.” Yael Nibley, rose. At five foot-nothing with a cloud of white curls around her head and a jeweled cane she used to get around, she was still an imposing presence that silenced everyone in the room. Likely because she had been head of the Nibley Family longer than any of them had been alive. She turned dark brown eyes on Phillip, the force of her personality snapping at him. “I, for one, would like to know what new evidence he’s brought.”
Theo didn’t hesitate. “Of course, Lady Nibley.” He pulled out the documents he’d kept on his person since Meg discovered the truth. “If you’ll allow me.” Theo moved to lay them on the table in front of her. He went through what Meg had found, and the legalities behind it.
Pierce frowned. “You’re sure the birth certificate is legitimate? I was under the impression that something had happened to make it irretrievable.”
“A fire,” Phillip cut in smoothly, all honeyed words and false sympathy. “The clinic where Mary Mortimore was born was a small one in Germany and hadn’t had a chance to move their full backlist of paper documents to a digital format. The records were lost.”
Oh, no you don’t. Theo kept his smile firmly in place. “That’s true. This didn’t come from the clinic. This was a family-owned copy that I retrieved from my aunt, Alexis Mortimore.”
Phillip blanched. “I was informed that no such copy existed.”
“I’m afraid my aunt doesn’t hold much love for Thalania or the Fitzcharles family name. She wasn’t inclined to do you any favors.” If she had, Theo held no doubt that the birth certificate would have conveniently disappeared somewhere on the trip back to Thalania. He turned back to the gathered lords and ladies. “As you can see, because my mother was underage when the marriage certificate to her first husband was issued, that marriage wasn’t legal and is null and void. As such, her marriage to my father stands as her one and only marriage.”
“On the contrary—”
Theo spun on his uncle, his control slipping. “I realize this is not a convenient realization for you, uncle, and I’m dreadfully sorry for that, but the fact remains you declared me illegitimate in error.” He should have left it there, but long-banked fury got the best of him. “You should have hired more efficient assassins if you wanted to remain the right hand of the future king.”