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I’m shocked. “You’re really okay with what happened last night?”
“I am. There might be better ways to do it in the future, for your liver’s sake if nothing else. But perhaps you’ll start doing pub talks with the people regularly. Hearing their concerns and questions in person over a glass of soda seems like a great idea. Perhaps you’ll address people in the town square. Perhaps you’ll continue hosting markets. The message is the important thing. And letting people see your sincerity and enthusiasm.”
I have so many things I want to say. But most importantly I need to ask a follow-up question. “You really won’t be upset if I get on a plane today and leave Cara again?”
“If you are going after your wife, then of course not. You have to do that.”
“Cara doesn’t come first?”
He nods. “But Cara needs Abi. So you going after her would be a good thing for the country too.”
I feel shock and…relief—yes, I’m pretty sure that’s relief—wash over me. “You’re calling her Abi,” I say, not missing that detail despite the emotions coursing through me.
He smiles. “She said I should.”
I feel the corner of my mouth curl. “You like her.”
“I do. So much that if you didn’t get on the plane to go after her, I would probably do it myself.”
My eyes widen. “Is she getting on a plane?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “She is not. At least, not today. And not without you, I would imagine. I believe she’s planning to come to the market, as a matter of fact.”
Again a mix of emotions hits me. Surprise, relief, worry, protectiveness, love. “She shouldn’t,” I say. “Everyone will notice. The crowd will overwhelm her.”
“She’ll be okay.”
“She throws up when she’s up in front of crowds.”
“So, she’ll maybe throw up. I’m sure she knows how to handle that by now. She’ll be here for the right reason, Torin. She’ll be okay.”
I take a breath. He seems so sure of her.
He regards me for a moment, then says, “You got what you wanted, you realize.”
“What do you mean?”
“I realize this isn’t a true democracy, but Cara can be a type of representative government. If you let the people have input, if you listen to their needs and wants, if you answer their questions, if you consider what they need not only on a large scale like feeding everyone and improving the overall economy with indoor farms, but on smaller levels like what hours the farm needs to be open, what the people actually want inside the farm, and who would be best to staff it, and then you make that happen, that is still giving people a say in how their country runs.”
I nod. “I love getting out, talking to people, discussing their needs and what we can do. Even talking through what we can’t do and asking for patience, or for new ideas on things that I don’t know how to solve.”
My grandfather gives me a warm, genuine smile and for a moment I can’t remember the last time I saw that. And then I remember that it was in his office when he first met Abigail.
“I’m proud of you,” he says.
My heart bangs against my rib cage. “Oh,” is all I’m able to manage.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for, Torin," he tells me. "Not for some big idea or amazing plan written out or on a projection screen. I wanted you to get out amongst people and see what leading is really about. Being in charge isn't about coming up with all of the ideas. It’s about understanding the problems, finding the right people with the right ideas, and pulling together the resources to get things done.”
I take that all in and it hits me—when I was most truly, fully myself, up on a table in a simple pub in the heart of my country, just letting the words spill out, was when my grandfather finally saw what he needed to. When I was just me, I finally showed him the king I would be. And that’s the king he wants to give his throne to.
I take a deep breath and nod. "You're right," I say. Those are words that he didn't expect to hear from me either. "But Abigail and Linnea have done a lot of this.”
“You have wonderful people around you. People who will always be there for you. You’re learning you don’t have to do this alone. The job is to ask questions, listen to the answers, and give the right people the resources, time, and space to make things happen.”
I nod. Then take a breath and admit something I almost can’t believe I’m saying. "But I'm not quite ready for the throne.”
My grandfather nods. “I know. But you will be. And you have a lot of people to help you. A monarch, at least a good one, is the least lonely person in the country."
