"What. The. Hell?" Phil cried out angrily, setting her empty mug on an end table. "Seriously?"

She wasn't the only one confused and upset as the camera briefly panned to the king, who was still sitting at the desk next to Tag. His once-relaxed posture turned tense and imposing, and his dark eyes tightened into a glare. His big meaty hands remained clasped, but fingers flexed subtly as if they were getting ready to manhandle something or someone.

From the murderous look on his handsome face, I guessed King Bannen had no idea about the surprise visitor sitting comfortably smug in an undisclosed location.

My stomach churned at Mr. Ament's arrogant smile.

"Thank you, Ms. Monaco," he said smoothly, dropping his grin and appearing somber. "King Bannen's announcement comes as no surprise to members of the royal counsel as a select few received the opportunity to meet with Ms. Copeland. I personally met with Ms. Copeland and her friend, Ms. Philomena Cooper, a few days ago to candidly discuss her future with our country."

Candidly discuss my ass, I thought sourly as Phil nudged my arm, obviously disagreeing with the former attorney's statement.

"During the course of the casual conversation, both Ms. Copeland and Ms. Cooper demonstrated entitled attitudes and vulgar language. In addition, they refused to answer our most basic questions about themselves, citing we had no right to ask such personal questions.

"How do we even know Ms. Copeland even pulled the sword from the stone as the police and royal guard refuse to release footage of the awe-inspiring and majestic event? Certainly the people of Moneres Islands have a right to view how the future queen released the legendary sword and turned a long-held myth into reality."

Awe-inspiring? Majestic? Did he write this garbage himself? I thought, feeling my patience run very thin with this dumbass.

"For the past twenty five years, I have proudly served as part of the royal counsel for two kings and eagerly looked forward to guiding the next generation in the royal family. Sadly, myself and a few other colleagues have been recently released from the counsel due to 'inappropriate conduct and corrupt sovereignty' by King Bannen himself. We adamantly deny the allegations and pledge to fight for our innocence.

"With that said and due to the king's actions, I no longer trust the judgment of the king and queen, the director and other high-ranking officers in the royal guard, and members of the local police department. Obviously, Ms. Copeland plays the part of the victim well as she engages in inappropriate relationships with members of her security team."

"What the hell?" Phil yelled furiously as her knee bounced rapidly. "Seriously?"

I scrubbed a hand down my tired face, suspicious the sleazy lawyer's accusation wasn't his ace up his dirty sleeve.

"Due to the chain of events since meeting with Ms. Copeland, I firmly believe she should not represent our country with her predilection for sarcastic and snarky comments and penchant for physical violence. At this time, I am politely asking her to retract her acceptance of the crown. If she proceeds with her decision, I would be forced to release physical evidence that would not only damage her reputation but those around her, and unfortunately, destroy our nation's dignity.

"Ms. Copeland, deep down, even you know you're unfit to properly represent our humble and proud country. Allow the people to choose a more appropriate and experienced leader since the current royal family is more than happy to toss the reins to a complete stranger. Our nation desperately needs a strong, mature, and dependable ruler.

"You have twenty four hours before media outlets will receive copies of the physical evidence. If you are truly a kind and understanding woman as the king described, then you know what you should do. Thank you."

No one said a single word as Tag and River thanked the dumbass lawyer for his courage to speak out against the king.

What evidence? The question repeated itself in my mind as my heart furiously pounded against my chest and my eyes remained glued to the flat screen.

The only thing I could think of was the photo of me kissing the stripper. And, honestly, I'm not embarrassed by it because it simply showed I was a young, single woman having the time of her life at a bachelorette party.

"Win, you okay?" my mom asked quietly, brushing a few loose tendrils of my hair away from my face.

I wasn't sure. As my mind frantically searched for any other embarrassing evidence, the rest of me just sort of shut down. Tears weren't threatening to flood my eyes. Regret or despair weren't lurking around the corner. My confidence or self esteem was a little bruised, but nothing I couldn't handle.

I just felt lost.

And then my stomach grumbled loudly. Without saying a word, I stood up and returned to the kitchen, where I grabbed an empty plate and piled on a nice helping of hash browns. After splitting up two thick biscuits and laying them on top of the shredded potatoes, I carefully ladled a generous amount of sausage gravy over the biscuits.

I sat at the table where I had left my coffee mug and immediately dug into one of my favorite breakfast foods.

With just one bite of the rich and carb heavy meal, I felt better. The richness and creaminess of the gravy melted in my mouth and paired perfectly with the flaky biscuit and crispy hash browns. My mom still knew how to work her magic in the kitchen.

"Do you want some bacon, sweetie?" my mom asked as she, Phil, Montgomery, and Weber strolled into the kitchen.

My ears immediately perked up at the word "bacon," and my head nodded enthusiastically. My mom chuckled and pulled the secret stash from the oven as Phil filled her plate with biscuits and gravy.

After laying two pieces of bacon on the side of my plate, my mom kissed my forehead. "Everything will be okay."

I simply nodded, not trusting my voice, as I took another bite and thought about Mr. Ament's threat.

After eating everything on my plate and an extra slice of bacon, I took a long, hot shower and wandered into the library to be alone with my thoughts and emotions. Except one person stole my simple hope. Montgomery.

Sitting back in a chair at the table with his long legs opened wide, he tapped his fingers rhythmically on the surface.

With an exaggerated huff, I grabbed a throw pillow and flopped down on my favorite chaise lounge. Holding the pillow tight to my chest, I closed my eyes and prayed he would take the hint and just leave.

"Winter."

In the week I have known him, Montgomery never really addressed me in any manner. Definitely not "your majesty," and not even "Ms. Copeland." Hearing my name in his warm, rich tone sounded a little weird, but I kind of liked it.

"Please leave," I said, not bothering to open my eyes. "I just need a few hours to myself."

As a person with some sort of authority, I figured he would obey my directive, but his stupid fingers continued to softly tap in an almost-soothing manner.

"You're not a quitter," he said after a few moments of silence.

"You don't know me," I said shortly.

"I know enough, and I know you can do this."

I whipped my head to the side to glare at him. "How do you know, Tobias?"

He shrugged casually. "I just do."

No sarcastic remarks jumped into my mind so I readjusted my head and stared at the high ceiling.

"Every single person in the royal guard tried to pull the sword," Montgomery explained. "But when Renning explained you did it without breaking a sweat, we basically shit our pants. Because all the questions we had couldn't be answered. For a bunch of guards that are trained to see everything hidden in the shadows, we like facts, logic, and answers."

What he said so far made sense. The unknown scared many people, me included.

I heard him inhale deeply and exhale slowly as if he was unsure he should continue with his explanation.

"Klein and Lawson – "

"Who?" I frowned, not remembering any guards with those names.

"Oh, um, Archer and Keating. Renning posted them outside your hospital door."

I smiled at the memory of Phil yelling at them to let her inside my room.

"Klein, um, Archer had been battling a toothache for days and avoided setting up an appointment with the dentist until he had trouble chewing in that area," Montgomery continued. "His appointment was scheduled a day or two after he first met you at the hospital and escorted you and Phil for the remainder of the day. The next morning during breakfast, Klein noticed the pain disappeared. He still kept his appointment, thinking having a professional examine the area wouldn't hurt. The dentist said everything looked absolutely fine. No inflammation. No indication of anything that would have bothered him."

I rolled my eyes before tilting my head in his direction again.

"So, he thinks I magically fixed his toothache?"

The guard shrugged a shoulder. "Quite the coincidence, don't you think? He and Lawson spend the day with you, and his toothache is gone the day after."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you lying to me?"

"Why would I lie to you?" The serious look on his stupid handsome told me he wasn't.

"To make me look an idiot."

Watching him pull in his lower lip with his teeth, I suspected he didn't want to reply with a snarky comment like, "You really don't need my help with that?" Or something to that extent.

Montgomery shook his head before running a hand through his thick brown hair.

"You picked up on Grayson's agitation with you and his dogs, right?" he asked finally.

I shot straight up in the lounge and stared at him. "Yeah! What's that about? Does he think I'm going to steal his dogs or something?"

"No." He chuckled, looking at his work boots. "But he believes you bewitched them or something."

"Seriously?"

What an idiot, I added silently, suddenly missing the cuddly canines.

"Samson and Marley listen to two people – Grayson and the king. Well, they obey the basic commands from everyone else, but they've been fiercely loyal to Grayson ever since he rescued them as pups. You didn't even need to say a word, and those dogs came running to you in a second."

"Uh, because the doorbell rang," I pointed out, wondering if he knew anything about dogs. Even the slightest movement outside a front door excited most pups.

Scratching the thick scruff on his face, Montgomery sighed.

"Gray had the hardest time corralling them outside, and even then, they wanted to be in the house. As soon as they stepped into this house the other day, nobody could hold them back from racing up the stairs to find you."

I just cocked an eyebrow and remained silent.

"What about Cordy?" he pushed.

I scowled at the mention of the little traitor that prefers my mom's affection. "She doesn't count because she loves my mom more than me."

Montgomery huffed loudly, scrubbing a hand down his face.

"Fine," he said exasperatedly, standing up abruptly and glowering at me. "I know you can do this because you're different from everyone else. Ever since you waved your little devil fingers," he paused, using both hands to gesture toward his package, "my junk became significantly smaller later that night."

My mouth fell wide open in shock and disbelief.

My heart galloped wildly at the idea of having magical powers.

Shit! I jokingly cursed him with a small penis! Should I try to undo it?

"Seriously?" I stammered, eyes wide with bewilderment.

When his stupid lips twitched slightly, my heart stopped its furious race toward fantasy land and halted completely in the realm of dummies.

"No, of course not," Montgomery laughed, shaking his head.

I immediately chucked the throw pillow in hands at him, which he easily deflected with the swat of his hand, as I hurled myself off the lounge and shoved his rock hard chest with my dainty little hands. The big oaf didn't even flinch or move an inch.

"Don't worry." He smirked. "All nine inches are perfectly fine. Okay, fine. All eight inches."

"You're the worst," I yelled as my hands roamed his chest until my fingers landed on his pecs. Just seconds before he realized in horror my cruel intentions, my digits were already twisting his nips.

He yelped in pain, and I smiled deviously, enjoying his physical pain.

His big warm hands clamped down on my wrists, pulling my hands away from his sensitive body parts, as I added a few more hard yanks and squeezes.

"Winter," Montgomery rasped in a throaty, rough tone that made me look at his seriously handsome face.

Shit! Phil was right, I thought nervously, unable to tear my gaze away from his dark blue eyes sweeping over my face. We were on our way to becoming a friends-to-lovers trope. Or was it co-workers-to-lovers? Enemies to lovers?

A loud knock on the door frame and deliberate cough caused Montgomery to quickly drop my wrists as we both jumped back from each other.

"Sorry to interrupt," the guard formerly known to me as Archer said briskly, entering the library and keeping a completely professional composed look. "Got something you might wanna see."

My personal guard nodded, and Klein handed him an open tablet with a video playing on the screen.

Looking over his muscled arm on my tiptoes, I watched a familiar older gentleman in handcuffs, looking down and being escorted into a police vehicle. When my eyes read the big headline in black letters, "Former royal counsel attorney arrested," I gasped. Before I could ask one of the hundreds of questions flashing in my head, I heard Phil shout from downstairs, "What the hell?" as I watched a recognizable butt tumble over a recognizable stone in a color video clip void of sounds.

"So much for twenty four hours," I muttered bitterly, flinging myself onto the lounge again and draping an arm over my face.

I remained in my over-dramatic "woe is me" position with my eyes closed when I heard Phil stomping into the room and stopping abruptly near the chaise. Anyone within a one-mile radius of her could probably feel furious indignation sweeping through her body.

"Winter Morgana Copeland," she started sternly. I imagined her hands curled into fists and planted on her hips and her lips turned upside down into a frown. "You better not be giving up because some stupid man said you should."

"I'm not," I said, with a sigh.

"What?" Her foot swiftly kicked the lounge, causing it to rattle a bit.

With another resigned sigh, I opened my eyes and sat up to see Phil, indeed, standing beside me with her fists on her hips, Montgomery, Weber, and Klein observing us from the doorway, and my mom sitting in one of the plushy chairs with a coffee mug in her hands and Cordy in her lap.

"I'm not quitting," I said, tossing my hair over my shoulders. "Queens don't quit."

"Oh." The frown remaining on my best friend's face confused me.

"What?" I figured my answer was cause for celebration.

Phil raised a shoulder slightly. "Well, I kinda had a speech prepared about how your mom didn't raise a quitter – "

"Uh, she let me quit band in seventh grade," I interrupted, "because I was truly terrible at the clarinet. No amount of practice made me better."

My mom nodded in agreement, attempting to hide her soft smile behind the mug.

"You're missing my point," my best friend said, with a huff, and readjusting her fists on her hips. "My words of wisdom and enlightenment were going to inspire you to rise and be the queen you were always meant to be."

Tucking my legs underneath me and grabbing another throw pillow to hold onto, I smiled. "I'm ready to hear your magical speech. Inspire me."

"No." She scowled, throwing her hands up in the air and throwing herself into the second plushy chair. "The moment is gone."

From the corner of my eye, I watched the security guards either lower or shake their heads to keep themselves from laughing.

"I swear to God, Montgomery," Phil said heatedly, not even looking in their direction. "If you're laughing at me, I will murder you and Winter would be more than happy to help me hide your body."

I nodded solemnly at him, hoping he knew I would do anything for my best friend.

"So, what happens now?" my mom asked, lazily scratching the top of Cordy's tiny head.

"I want to make a statement," I said suddenly, not even sure I was ready to face the nation. "On TV."

Montgomery nodded in approval and murmured a few words to the other guys before Klein disappeared from the library.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

I shrugged. "I really don't know, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let a stupid old white man tell me what to do."

"You go, girl!" Phil hollered, throwing a fist in the air.

The guard smirked with amusement.

"So, do you believe in magic now?" I asked.

Montgomery shook his head and scoffed. "Of course not," he paused and, "but I believe in you."