Chapter Eighteen

Daniel

The news that Eva is Eldonia’s new Queen has caught faster than the fire in Oak’s Tavern. Everyone came out to the town square to celebrate. Restaurants brought food, musicians played, and people danced, partied, and celebrated in the streets. A lot of the townsfolk kept pulling me aside to ask for my spaghetti recipe…as if I would give up that secret. I did let myself get roped into making the spaghetti celebration an annual thing, though.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eva so happy. She even let Alice pull her into a dance.

I peer through the crowd, and see Madison standing on the sidelines. She’s got a forced smile on her face and laughs as Eva and Alice prance by her. I can see it in her eyes, though. She’s hurting.

My chest thumps. She got her audition. So why is she moping? Because I wouldn’t let her use me for my castle and crown?

I was never good enough for her and I’m still not. Maybe she’ll give me some excuse and a made-up apology, and we could go back to being friends.

But I can never stop loving her.

So the only way to keep my heart from tearing in two is to let her go.

Eva runs up to me and pulls me from my thoughts. She forgot her purse—and some important lipstick—at the church. I volunteer to go get it.

I need a break from all this chaos, a chance to clear my head. Eldredge offers to take me in his car.

Our car ride is silent, but not awkward, and within a few minutes, we’re back at the small church on the hill. I run inside and grab Eva’s little white purse. When I get out, Eldredge stands with his back to me, looking over the whole town. I stand beside him.

“Ready to go back down, Prince Daniel?”

“Not quite yet.” I flop down on the soft green grass. Eldredge takes off his jacket then spreads it out on the grass before sitting down beside me.

I give a little smile and tilt my head back, letting the sun warm my face. From up here, I can still hear the music in the square, happy and alive and vibrant.

This morning I was a king.

Is that what my father would have wanted for me? Is that who he wanted me to become?

I stare down at the fields and houses. Eldonia. Maybe it’s not my destiny to be its king. But maybe it was my destiny to come here again, for all of this to happen.

“I think I finally know,” I say, “where I belong in all this.”

“And where is that, Prince Daniel?”

“I used to pretend that Eldonia was nothing to me. I thought everyone was ashamed of me…but maybe I was just scared of who I was here. The thing is, I think I’m starting to like Prince Daniel.”

“Well, welcome to the club.” Eldy smiles.

“People in Eldonia Who Like Daniel Sacachelli.” I laugh. “Member count: three. Eva, you, and me.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he says, and his gaze drifts back to the view of Eldonia. “I think you’ve made quite the impression on us this summer.”

“A part of me will always belong in Chicago, with the Falcons, with Ma,” I say, and think, With Madison. “But a part of me belongs here, too. And I think I’ve learned I don’t have to leave one behind. I can be both Daniel Sacachelli and Prince Daniel Harwell.” I lean back on my palms and watch the celebration in the town square. “I think…Eldonia’s made quite the impression on me.”

There’s no line down the middle that separates number 77 of the Falcons and Prince Daniel of Eldonia. Maybe I was the only one who saw that line in the first place. But for the first time in a long time, I feel whole.

This morning I was a king.

But tonight…tonight, I’m Daniel Sacachelli. Prince of Eldonia.