The Crown (The Selection #5)(57)

“Can I come in?”

He whipped his head up, and a few strands of hair fell into his face. It was getting long again. It didn’t look as bad as I remembered.

“Hey there,” he said, shaking the mess off his hands and coming to greet me. “I was hoping I’d get to see you today.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He put an arm around my waist and pulled me to the back of the room. “I was watching some TV this morning, and I kept seeing all this stuff about Marid.”

I rolled my eyes. “I know. He’s a bit of a problem right now.”

He swept some dust off a chair, and I sat across from him, looking at his little creations. Detailed sketches in blue and black ink, piles of books with papers sticking out, and his miniature buildings scattered around like a tiny town. He’d made a world up here.

“Can he really propose?” He sounded nervous, like he feared Marid might take me instead of the country.

“He can, I suppose, but I won’t say yes.” I sighed. “Turns out Marid is not the ally I thought he was. He’s been threatening to sway public opinion, and at first I wasn’t sure he could do it. Then the way he got himself into everyone’s house today … it’s brilliant, really. Just like Lady Brice said, it’s an instant, battle-free invasion.”

“Invasion? Like what? Is he suddenly vying for the crown?”

I ran my fingers over the lines of one of Kile’s drawings. “I don’t think it’s sudden. I think he and his family have been looking to make a move for quite a while. The inept young queen was a perfect opportunity.

“Now he wants to be my consort and use my name to make his plans happen. My only hope is to get engaged before he can try to propose, because I’m sure the press will just gobble it up if I reject him.”

“So let’s do it.”

“Do what?”

“Get married. Eadlyn, I’d marry you tonight. Between the two of us and our families, there’s no way he’d survive. People have been pulling for us from the start. Marry me, Eadlyn.”

I looked into the sweet and worried face of Kile Woodwork, and for a minute I really thought I could. I’d told myself it would all be easy, to walk down an aisle and find him at the end. He’d always make me laugh. And after the last two months of being on the same side, I knew, without question, that he would support me for life.

“I will confess, I came here just now to make that very proposal. But … I can’t.”

“Why? Is it because I didn’t get down on one knee?” He dropped instantly, gripping my hands. “Or wait, is it because you’re supposed to ask?”

I got down on the floor with him. “No. It’s not because of any of that.”

His face fell. “You don’t love me.”

I shook my head, laughing. “No, it’s not that either. In fact, I might love you a little too much. Maybe not entirely romantically, but I definitely love you.”

“Then why?”

“Because of this,” I said, motioning to the work around me. “Kile, I’ll never be able to tell you how much it means to me that you would take me for life just to save me from one person. Considering what a pain I’ve been, that’s a miracle.”

He chuckled, still holding my hands.

“But all you have ever wanted was to get away from these walls. All you want to do is build. I think that’s a beautiful thing. So many people in the world want to tear things apart. How wonderful is it that you’d do the opposite?”

“But I’d give it up. I wouldn’t mind.”

“I would. I would mind. And eventually, when the scary side of my life dies down, you would, too. You’d die a little from the ache for it. You’d resent me.” Tears pooled in my eyes. “I can’t live in a world where you don’t like me.”

“I’ll stay, Eady. I’m telling you, I want to.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. You just said that you needed to. Who could do this better than me?”

Hot tears streamed down my face. “Please, don’t make me force this on you.”

“You can’t make me leave, Eadlyn.”

I ripped my hands from his and shot to my feet, wiping my face. I looked down on Kile, my sweet, sacrificing friend, and steadied myself.

“Kile Woodwork, you are hereby banished from the palace for the term of one year.”

“What?” he stood, balling his fists.

“As compensation for losing your home, and for services rendered to the royal family, you will have an apartment fully paid for in Bonita.”

“Bonita? That’s on the other side of the country!”

“In addition, funds and materials will be allotted to you to begin a housing project for the homeless in the province’s capital city.”

His face softened. “What?”

“If you find the funds or materials insufficient, you may write the palace and request more, and I will have them sent to you as quickly as possible.”

“Eadlyn …”

“You will always be my family, Kile, but I won’t make you my husband. I can’t do that to you.”

His voice was tender. “But you will make someone your husband. You need to now.”