"Me? Bitter? I wouldn't dream of it." But really, knowing him, how else would he feel?

A laugh escapes him before David manages to smother it and take a drag of the cigarette without choking. "Hope springs eternal. Perhaps it's the insanity talking."

He must be mad. No one wants to be a monarch without being a little crazy. And no one stays as a monarch no one wants without being completely cracked.

He was clearly cracked. But they'd been clear enough about their opinions this time. He wouldn't step up where he was unwanted.