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“What’s that?” asked Graham.
“He’s not truly a noble,” I said. “Do you remember what I once told you about my parents?” I asked.
Graham’s brows furrowed. “You said your father climbed the wall, impersonated a noble, and met your mother at a noble’s ball. I believed you at the time, but later I figured it was just a story you’d invented back when . . . well, when almost everything you told me was a lie.”
“It’s true,” I said. “He was born as Orrin Yarrow and was granted a new life by his dying friend who gave his rank card and identity to him. Then, when he married my mother, he took on the Immovable family name and became a Stroud. Secrets were the reason I was born. That’s why I have to protect my father. He could be killed if our secret’s discovered.”
“Does Cael know?” asked Graham.
“Yes,” I said. “His father has known mine since before he became Evander Stroud, so he and Lady Ruskin know, too, but they’ve always kept it secret. We’re lucky Cael likes my father.”
Graham reached for my hands. “Well, that does complicate things, but I’ll keep it secret, I swear. And if he’s been able to hide it for your entire life, chances are likely the Academy will never know, even if you tell them what he did.”
“Are you saying you still think I should testify against him?” I asked.
“I do,” said Graham, “because if you don’t, you’ll have no way to explain why you abducted me, and you could spend your life in prison.”
“Then you could use your kingly powers to banish me instead.”
“I don’t want you banished,” he said, leaning in to kiss me. “I want you here with me.”
“Graham, even if we take down Cael, I won’t be blameless. We have no future together. I destroyed any chance of being with you before I even met you.”
“Well, I’m not giving up hope.” He wrapped his arms around me. “Will you please tell the truth?”
I rested my head on his shoulder, relishing every moment I had left to feel him, breathe in his scent, and hear his voice. “I won’t hold back the truth when it comes to Cael. Only when it comes to my father.” I looked at him with pleading eyes. “You have to understand.”
“I understand that you’re still being controlled by him,” said Graham. “You want his approval so badly that you don’t dare to stand up to him.”
“It’s not that! I’m not being controlled. I just don’t want him dead.” I choked on my words, my voice catching with emotion.
“I see how much you care about him, but he’s dangerous too,” said Graham sternly.
I was afraid to speak, knowing my tears would flow further and become unstoppable. I didn’t know how to condemn my father and keep my world from falling apart at the same time.
“I’ll testify with as much truth as my heart can bear,” I finally said.
“That might not be enough.” Graham pulled his gold watch from his pocket. “But it’s time to go.”
I wiped a tear from my eye, wishing I could comply with what he wanted me to say, but the pain threatened to wrench me intwo. I knew my father wasn’t good, or kind, or honest, but that didn’t stop me from loving him with my whole defective heart.
I stoodat the glossy wooden doors of the Assembly Hall, trying to slow my breath while my heart pounded beneath my ribs.
Graham stood by my side in his best suit—or, more accurately, one as nice as all his suits, but to me, he’d never looked so kingly. He reached over and gave my hand a comforting squeeze, even with the guards standing several feet behind us.
“You know, this could be your last day as heir,” I said quietly. “If you’re cleared of suspicion, you’ll be moving onward and upward to coronation day.”
“Is there any chance you'll be there to see it? Or”—he lowered his voice—“do you still intend to leave if your testimony is well received?”
I sighed. “Yes. I can’t envision a place for me here, even if I’m not banished.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” he said with a sad smile.
The doors before us swept inward, pulled open in synchrony from inside the Assembly Hall.
Graham distanced himself from me, reminding me that he still had to pretend we didn’t care for each other. He stepped through the doorway first, then the guards flanked my sides and escorted me inside and under a grand archway.
My gaze traveled to the soaring domed ceiling propped up by ornate Corinthian columns decorated with gilded letters. We were apparently in the center of the Academy under thedome itself—one I’d spent a lifetime looking up at through my windows, but only from the outside.
