Chapter 19 - ONE VOTE
Green.
For several seconds, no one reacted.
Then the board displayed the final count.
151 - YES.
149 - NO.
Marriage consent approved.
The chamber erupted.
Adrian struck Daniel on the back so hard he nearly stumbled.
Helena simply stood still.
Her eyes filled.
Daniel crossed the chamber.
Protocol officers immediately moved.
Helena raised one hand.
They stopped.
For eleven months, she had hidden who she was.
For three weeks, the world had debated whether she deserved to marry the man she loved.
Now she wanted one moment without protocol.
Daniel stopped in front of her.
“So.”
Helena smiled.
“So.”
“Apparently we’re legally allowed to get married.”
“By two votes.”
“One.”
She laughed.
Daniel pulled a small object from his pocket.
Her original engagement ring.
Not royal.
Not historic.
Not especially expensive.
He had bought it before he knew she owned crowns.
Daniel dropped to one knee.
The entire parliament gasped.
Helena covered her mouth.
“Last time I asked Nora Ellis to marry me.”
Daniel looked up.
“This time I want to ask Helena.”
Her eyes filled.
“Not the Queen.”
“Not the crown.”
“Not the woman my mother feared.”
“The woman who alphabetizes books incorrectly because she insists genre matters more than author.”
Helena laughed through tears.
Daniel continued.
“I cannot promise your life will ever be ordinary.”
“It definitely won’t.”
“But I can promise I will never again make you stand alone because something more important called.”
The room was silent.
“Helena Adelaide Elise von Arden, will you marry me?”
She looked at Adrian.
Her brother was openly crying and pretending not to.
Then she looked at Daniel.
“Yes.”
Applause exploded through the chamber.
Three weeks later, they returned to New York.
Not to Hawthorne Hall.
They married inside the bookstore where they had first met.
Only forty people attended.
Sophie stood beside Helena.
Adrian stood beside Daniel.
Charles sat quietly in the second row.
No billionaires received special seats.
No senators received invitations because they were senators.
No one cared what the champagne cost.
Helena wore a simple ivory dress.
Daniel wore a dark suit.
When the officiant pronounced them married, Helena kissed him before protocol allowed.
Adrian complained loudly.
Everyone laughed.
Outside, hundreds waited behind barricades.
Helena and Daniel stepped onto the sidewalk together.
For the first time, Daniel understood something his mother never had.
Power was not having people bow when you entered a room.
Power was knowing you could survive when they stopped.
That evening, Helena and Daniel returned to a small apartment overlooking Central Park.
No palace staff.
No formal dinner.
They ate takeout noodles on the floor.
Daniel lifted his carton.
“To the poorest queen in Manhattan.”
Helena raised hers.
“To the unemployed millionaire.”
May you like
They touched cartons.
Then the doorbell rang.
