“Have you heard of these monarch runner up rankings?"

Ed looked at her.

"Of course. I've got money riding on you, by the way, so don't let me down, but wait until you're twenty-five to try."

"Why didn't you tell me? I don't want to be monarch. I haven't written my first book or play or screenplay or anything!"

"Don't panic," Ed said, getting a chuckle out of his sister hyperventilating.

"It's just odds. It's not like if you get to the number one spot that you HAVE to challenge." He cocked his head.

"You do realize that Mom pretty much always thought you'd try, don't you?"

"Since when?"

"I'm not sure. I think she started talking to Samantha about it when you were ten."

“SHE TALKED TO THE QUEEN?!" Heda yelped. She dropped and put her head between her knees and started to breathe hard.

Edgar had never seen his sister like this. He had seen her quick- witted, snarky, funny, and he had seen her in a rage. She had scared him a bit when she had gone after a serial killer in his own lair like the fires of hell were on her side.

“Heda, it's just a list.

Like ‘Maxim's 100 Hottest Women’ or the short list to be vice president. It really doesn't matter all that much. It's a bunch of people who have nothing else to do but listen to rumors and sit in front of their computers."

Heda looked up at her brother.

"I never realized I was under that kind of microscope. I . . . don't know why it's freaking me out, but it is."

“Sucks when you're actually expected to be perfect after achieving it by accident for so long.”

Heda kicked her brother in the knee, albeit lightly.

"I'm not perfect.

I don't know how they do it. You know what Queen Brown is like, and Reichert walks a lot narrower of a tight-rope than I thought. I'm an English major, dammit! I'm not used to needing definitive answers or being held accountable!"

Ed grinned.

“You could always drop out and go into hiding as a hermit."

“Nuh unh, I saw Mom's expression when you told her you weren't going to college. I'm not going to have her come looking for me."

“Then get used to being in the public eye. You're the prodigal daughter, and you wreak havoc. People notice."

Heda smiled.