I lift my chin a little as my gaze flicks beyond him to the other people in the room. Amongst them is Marco; guess he survived the hospital melee. Shame.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“The Resistance is blackmailing you,” the king says.

My throat catches. “How bad is the situation?”

Montes lets out a breath. “People’s opinion of you was already shaky since we were still at war with you only months ago. But you also participated in this terrorist group.”

I don’t deny it. I don’t even try to.

“The Resistance is capitalizing on that. Over the last week they’ve begun a smear campaign, and they’re targeting you.”

I’m preoccupied with another portion of his statement. “A week?” I say. “Is that how long I’ve been unconscious?” I can’t keep the accusation out of my voice.

“Yes.” He’s remorseless. Seems neither of us feel the need to defend our actions. I can respect that.

I turn my attention back to the situation at hand. The Resistance followed through with their threat; they’d already begun to disclose the incriminating files they had on me.

“How are people reacting?” I ask.

“Exactly how you’d think they might—they’re getting worked up. Our statistics suggest that there’s been a surge of new recruits in the Resistance.”

All because of some audio files from when the king and I stood on opposite ends of the war. It’s the ugly elephant in the room, this volatile history of ours. When we were more likely to kill than kiss. There will always be that looming shadow, and now it might mean more battles and more violence on the horizon.

I saunter towards the conference table. The rest of the room’s been quietly watching the king and me up until now. I can tell by the glares of some of the king’s men—and they’re all men—that my presence isn’t welcome. They could go screw themselves for all I care.

“I’m going to need to make a statement,” I say, swiveling back to face the king.

He shakes his head, following me to the table. “They’re waiting for that. As soon as you do so, they’ll release the footage of your bloody arrival into the WUN. It’ll undermine your credibility.”

“We could release the footage first,” I say. It would still be a shitshow, but at least we’d control the chaos somewhat.

Again the king shakes his head. “Better to let my team attempt to delete it from the Internet before it catches on.”