Page 59 of A Royal Obligation
Barrett swallowed back the lump of emotion that had gathered in his throat. He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach at her formality in the letter.Since when did she go back to calling me by my title?And the way she signed the letter caused another chink in his already fragile heart.
“Is she already gone?” Barrett asked Wadsworth, not able to look him in the eyes.
“Yes. She left late this afternoon, Your Highness.”
Barrett inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out through his nose. “Does anyone else know she left?”
“Her lady’s maid, Rory, helped her to get packed, and I know that she left a message for Lady Charlotte. She also asked me to give her deepest thanks and apologies to the king for leaving so suddenly.” Wadsworth’s words held a fatherly tone as he gave Barrett a sympathetic look.
Barrett stood and trudged his way over to the bay window in the room. He leaned against a side of it, staring outside at the winter landscape before him. He tried to think about anything other than the fact that the only place he would now see the woman who held his heart was only in his dreams.
8 weeks later
Barrett breathed in the harsh, cold air, signaling that the peak of winter was upon them. He ambled through the gardens and tugged at the sleeves of his gray, wool-blend peacoat, trying to cover his hands more as another brisk breeze hit him, sending a shiver up his spine.
The gardens had always been a favorite place of his, but they had become even more special to him over the last two months. The frigid air helped him to think.
He thought about his duty to Wistonia and his responsibilities. He thought about what it would take for him to become king and how much he still wanted to learn from his father. But, most of all, he thought about Jules. Every single day. No matter how hard he tried not to.
His stomach filled with butterflies and a dull pain tugged at his heart every time he thought about her. He had typed a text message to her so many times only to delete it. He had started writing so many letters only to tear them up and throw them away. He wanted to respect her wishes to not contact her. But the time away from her had only made him realize how much he missed talking to her—how much he missedher.
And how much he was in love with her.
In the time Jules had been gone, he had tried to live his life as normal—tried to move on. Yet, he was caught up in daydreams when he attended the King’s Council meetings. He had hit the snooze button most mornings, making him late for morning meetings with his father due to staying up late binge-watchingTangleduntil all hours of the night. He had even skipped out on some events he was supposed to appear at to do random, unplanned activities like archery with Liam.
The one thing he hadn’t slacked on was overseeing the construction being done at Brookside Primary School with Lady Charlotte. Barrett had spent many afternoons with Charlotte trying to get to know her—trying to muster up the feelings needed to propose—so that he could fulfill his duty. She truly was a lovely person. She was kind and graceful and the perfect candidate for a queen. But no matter how much time he spent with her, he couldn’t get rid of the ache in his chest, his yearning for Jules.
He had tried so hard to deny his feelings for her. But he could no longer hide them. Even though he had tried to live his life like normal, he didn’t really feel like he was living. Not without Jules.
“Barrett,” Liam called from a distance, jogging lightly to catch up to him. “Father is summoning us to his office again.”
“Both of us?” Barrett’s face paled, and his heart began to race. He turned on his heels and followed Liam back inside.
“Yes, Wadsworth wouldn’t tell me why. You didn’t answer your phone, so I said that I’d come get you. I figured I may as well apologize to you in advance because father has obviously come to his senses and finally is ready to announce that he is choosing me to become king.” Liam waggled his eyebrows.
“Yeah, yeah, in your dreams, little brother.” Barrett winked at him and then opened the door to his father’s study.
He allowed Liam to walk in first, pausing to take a deep breath before he entered the room. The last time all three of them were in here, his father told them he was sick. Barrett hoped that there wouldn’t be more bad news.What could be worse than his health declining?He didn’t want to think about that. Barrett readjusted his tie as he sat down in the chair next to Liam. His father sat across from them behind his oak desk, and Dr. West stood in the corner of the room, leaning against a bookshelf.
“Thank you both for coming so quickly. Dr. West has some findings he wanted to share with all of us.” The king gestured for the doctor to proceed.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I wish I had called you all here with better news.” His eyes met each of those in the room and then dropped to his feet as he continued. “I spoke with a doctor at a large hospital in Findorra and she brought something to my attention that I hadn’t considered.”
“What is it?” Liam inquired.
Pity shone in Dr. West’s eyes. “There is much testing still going on with this inflammatory disease, but findings have shown the cause of it is typically environmental or genetic risk factors.” His eyes dropped to the floor again. “There’s a risk you both may have Sarcoidosis as well.”
Liam shoved back from the desk, causing it to shake and his chair to fall as he stood. He paced the room and ran his fingers through his hair, making it ruffled.
Barrett stayed seated, his eyes glazed over as he stared at nothing. “If we have it, are we able to get treatment or something to cure it?”
Dr. West’s mouth pulled to one side. “We may be able to provide some medication, depending upon what we find. However, there is no cure for Sarcoidosis. We can only do our best to continually run tests and have you evaluated to make sure it hasn’t worsened. Plenty of people can live long and healthy lives with it, though.”
“How soon can we be tested to see if we have it?” Barrett asked.
“We want to test you both as soon as possible. Whenever you are ready.”
“Thank you, Dr. West. I will personally see to it that they get tested. I would like a word with both of my sons now.” King Henry excused the doctor with a wave of his hand. He waited until the door clicked shut before he focused his attention back on his sons. “I expect both of you to get tested this week.”