"My queen," Jonas whispers, pulling me close. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, his around my waist, and kiss him, the butterflies as excited as always. If you told me five years ago that I would be married to Preeminence Jonas Blackwood, I would have called you crazy. And then probably fought you. But I did, and I love him, and he's mine.

"You did it," I say.

"No. You did. That bill never would have passed before you came along. Just think about the Digamma." I laugh, before attempting to raise an eyebrow. I fail.

"And your vote?"

"Would have been a yes. Always." Jonas raises his lips into a smirk. "I never would have risked facing my sister's wrath."

"Mhmm. That's the reason." I tug on the locks of his wavy black hair, staring playfully into his sapphire blue eyes. "Definitely not cause you're a bunny." He tilts his head back, stifling a laugh.

"I'm never getting over that, am I?"

"Nope. Plus, now I want chocolate. And pancakes." Jonas shakes his head.

"Blondies too?" I smile, nodding.

"I will have chocolate chip pancakes and a plate of blondies sent up to our room immediately, my love." He kisses me, before nodding over my shoulder when we separate. I turn to find where Z stands, running a hand through his hair, before tucking his hands into the front pockets of his dress pants.

"Iris, can I talk to you?" He asks, a hint of nerve on his voice. In both forms of the word. I turn back to Jonas, who nods, adding a kiss to my cheek.

"Gwen wanted to have a word with me. I'll make sure the food is ready within a half-hour. Zeta." Jonas nods, turns his attention back to me, before stepping away. "I love you."

"Preeminence," Z adds.

"I love you too," I say. Jonas nods, turns, then walks towards his siblings and Vienna. I face the second-worst Blackwood cousin. "What?"

"I wanted to talk."

"The last time we talked, you shoved a baby in my arms and forced me to watch her." I cross my arms.

"And you have another playdate with Cassia tomorrow at three. She is requesting a tea party."

"Deal." I shake my head. "What did you want." He pauses a second, staring at the floor. "You voted yes," I remember.

"I did. Plus, I wanted to apologize. For what I did to you. Not the betrayal. I will never be sorry for that." I shake my head, waving that version of the past away.

"I get that. Bently did a similar thing in France. You were helping your family. Our family," I cringe.

"I am sorry for all the shit I did to you. For the..." Z struggles to get the words out. So I help him.

"Forcing me to kiss you. Slamming my skull into every possible surface whenever I rejected you. Making my life miserable for three years, until it was finally over, and I still had nightmares of worse." He closes his eyes, nodding. "And that was just back then. Should I start when I got to the Estate?"

He opens them. "No. I'm good." I smile, my point across. "I'm sorry. For that. I never understood just how wrong it was until my daughter. And if I knew you were going to be the Queen..."

"Stop! Are you kidding me? It shouldn't take having a daughter to have some basic human empathy! And I have to be queen to be worth consent? Even..."

"No, you're right." He runs another hand through his hair, nodding. "Even if, when, you were some homeless rebel who was going to die in the next few years, you didn't deserve that. It wasn't right." I cross my arms.

"I wasn't homeless. I had an apartment."

"Mmhmm. You want to go back to that for a weekend?" I shake my head. It was better than the Catacombs, but I'm used to the Estate.

"I'll stick to my silk sheets."

"Iris, I am sorry. I was an entitled little Society brat and I thought you were mine to take because... I don't know. I was a monster. You didn't deserve that, and I am sorry."

"I... I accept your apology. But you are not forgiven. You will never be forgiven."

"I know." He slips his hands back into his pockets, saying one last thing before walking away. "And I'm sorry for keeping you from those pancakes."