Is this a good time to pat your shoulder?

Great. Now the queen thought I was a misfit, too.

Live your life. Be happy as you can be, let go of the things that don't matter, and fight.

Mom was bossy. Even in print I could hear her tone, smugly congratulating me on already earning the prince's affections and telling me firmly to keep up whatever I was doing. Yeah, Mom, I'll just keep telling the prince that he has absolutely no shot with me and offend him as often as I can. Great plan.

I pranced around the room like a blind moose, but what I lacked in grace I made up for in effort.

Maybe this isn't the right thing to say, but I want you to know: When you ran for the stage, I've never been so proud of you in all my life. You've always been beautiful; you've always been talented. And now I know that your moral compass is perfectly aligned, that you see clearly when things are wrong, and you do everything you can to stop it. As a father, I can't ask for more. I love you America. And I'm so so proud.

That was my great ambition. Not to be Illea's princess. To be Aspen's.