The next morning, I woke alone, but there was a small piece of paper on the pillow next to my face. An invitation to a private breakfast with specific instructions.

I dressed quickly and hurried to the sunroom at the back of the house on the second floor. I didn't know who I was meeting, but they suggested I not tell anyone I was coming. That made me nervous. Was it the queen? Would she kill me off? Or worse, was it Alex who wanted to do some sort of “sorry I keep making plays for your man” bullshit?

It was never dull here, that was for sure.

A maid I’d never seen before opened the sunroom door for me, saying nothing.

I was surprised by the occupant of the room; the king, Aiden’s father. Though I supposed he wasn't king anymore. What did I call him?

I curtseyed. “Your Highness.”

“Fin, enough with the formality, come in.” He smiled kindly. He was the nicer parent, for sure. Though I suspected Aiden got his temper from his father. “Come and sit.” He stood as I sat, pushing in my chair. He looked better, weirdly better. The last time I’d seen him, he was on his deathbed and now seemed much revived.

“You and I haven’t had chance to spend any time together. I had hoped we would speak privately when you were here last, but I ended up in treatment again. Over Christmas I was at the tail end of one of my worst chemo treatments, one I hadn’t expected, but the program came available as I arrived back home in Andorra. I was terribly weakened by it. My doctors were able to provide it to me here, living in the house with me. It was one of those ‘it will kill or cure you’ moments so I didn't tell the family we were doing it.” He laughed, but obviously the cure part had worked. “During that time, I was made aware of a plot that had been executed against you. It had already come to pass when it reached my ears. There was nothing I could do about it, and I was so ill that my responses might not have been as effective as they needed to be. For a while I thought perhaps I’d dreamt it, but then I saw the news. I am sorry for that and any hardship you have faced.”

“You knew about it all? Before the queen and Aiden?” I asked, placing the napkin on my lap.

“Of course. I know everything that goes on in this house. I have spies everywhere.” His eyes twinkled. “I waited to see when you, Mary, and Johan would come forward. I watched your actions to gauge you as a human being, to see what kind of person you are.”

My stomach fell into a pit I didn't know existed in me.

“I am very proud of you all. Particularly you. You were raised differently than my children, an American who puts themselves first, shall we say.” He smiled as he insulted me.

“That’s fair,” I squeaked out, lifting my orange juice and taking a sip.

“But you have proven you are more than you appear at first glance. Even second or third. You are a strong and kind young woman. I recently read your paper on the injustices young women face throughout the world and was stunned that while you were facing your own hardship, you wrote something telling of other people’s pain. As though your own was nothing.”

“Well, let’s not saint me just yet. I was trying to make myself feel better,” I admitted.

“Of course.” He laughed again. “But that was not all that impressed me. The way you protected my son, the way you put him and this kingdom first, shocked me. Shocked and awed me at the same time. You are exactly the sort of queen my country needs. And maybe you don't see it right now, that’s okay. You will see it, one day. And my son loves you dearly, he will wait until you do.”

My entire body went pins and needles. He likes me?

“I am proud of the woman you are becoming.”

Tears filled my eyes.

“You are exactly the sort of girl my son needs in his life, someone to slow him down. He gets ahead of himself a lot. He likes to check things off on the list. Traveled the world, check. Crowned king, check. Married, check. Kids, check. Happy country, check. He likes control.”

We laughed together for the first time.

“Which brings me to my next point. I know you broke off the engagement, which was intelligent; you’re too young to be married and he is a silly boy at times, but please give him a chance. His romantic heart might be the death of us all, but I have never met a more loyal person in all my years. He is truly the king I hoped for.” He paused, hurting himself with his own words, “When Geoff was a boy, I knew he wouldn’t make a good king. He was a smart boy. An obedient boy. That doesn’t make a king.” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “But Aiden, he always had the makings of a worthy king. And I had hoped he would help his brother be a noble king. Aiden and Mary are shrewd, intelligent, and strong. They fight for what they believe in, and they are disobedient in every way.” He chuckled and wiped a tear from his cheek. “And in you I see the makings of a great queen; you take nothing off him. You put him in his place. You slow him down. And you fight him on every decision he makes. And that is what makes a great partnership. The greatest ruler in the world surrounds himself with his opponents, not his friends. Our opposition is what makes us stronger, not having like-minded people agreeing with us on everything.”

“Maybe you should tell Aiden this.” I laughed and wiped my own damp cheek. “He hates it when I argue with him.”

“He’s stubborn and I wish I could say he got it from his mother.” He winked. “I have made this for you.” He lifted his placemat and slid a piece of paper out from under it. “When you come in the summer to visit, please take this map and visit the sites I have marked out for you. I want you to know the country and the people.”

It was just like Aiden’s little sightseeing trips. “I promise I will.”

“And you will stay your decision to end things with Aiden until you have done everything on that map?”

“I will.” I smiled wide and folded the paper neatly, placing it in my pocket. I reached a hand across to him and placed it over his large hand. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For seeing me.” I blinked another tear down my cheek.

“That is the job of parents, Fin. Seeing their children when they cannot see themselves.” He lifted my hand and kissed the back of it. “Now wipe your eyes, everyone else is coming for breakfast. Act like you arrived early by mistake.” He winked.

I wiped my eyes as the doors opened and everyone came bustling in. Mary and Johan were arguing and the queen hurried to her husband. Only Aiden eyed me suspiciously. “You all right?” he mouthed.

I nodded as he took his seat next to me. The breakfast table was round. I wondered if this was a private space where they were just a family and no one had the burden of being the head.

Aiden slipped his fingers into mine and squeezed lightly.

It was weird, but I felt like I belonged with them, for the first time. I was part of this family.

Even with Alex at breakfast, looking like a stupid supermodel.

She smiled at me sheepishly.

I wanted to hate her, but I got it. A lifetime of Sheila had taught me a lot of things. One of them being that not everyone who was a hateful bitch got there on her own. Sometimes people were what they were made to be. And maybe, just maybe, Alex was an all-right girl away from her mother and out from under her thumb.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

Time would tell.

Either way, she was never going to steal Aiden from me.

He leaned in and whispered as if reading my mind, “I love you,” and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

I leaned into it, savoring his lips against my skin.

I could get used to a lifetime of this.