My mother, the Queen Magritte Leitner, gives me a big, warm hug.

“It feels like ages since you’ve been here,” she says to me.

I smile at her. “I visit once a year.”

“Yes, but you don’t stay.” She smiles back at me. “It’s nice to have you here.”

I grin as she leads me over to the couch in her office. My mother is the foreign secretary and the minister of agriculture, among other things, and she’s a very important person. I come to the castle to visit with her when I can, though mostly we meet out in the real world, away from politics. She’s always supported me, even when my father has made it clear that she shouldn’t in the past.

“I’m sorry about this thing with Julian,” she says to me, frowning deeply.

“That’s a mild way of putting it,” I answer.

“What can I say, Nolan?” she asks. “You’ve been pushing your father for years. He’s finally breaking.”

“I never imagined he’d actually pass me over,” I admit.

“I never did, either. I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how he can be.”

I clench my jaw. “Yes, I’m aware.”

“But you’re back. And you want to do the right thing.”

I nod. “That’s right. Though it feels like it’s too late.”

“It may be,” she admits, sighing. “Julian has been slowly gaining favor with your father for years. I’m afraid you won’t be able to undo the damage he’s done.”

“What sort of damage?” I ask her.

She glances away. “Backwards policies. Just whispers, right now. But it doesn’t matter.”

I hesitate but decide not to press. While I’m technically part of the government, I know she can’t tell me everything that’s happening for security reasons. But this thing with Julian is even more worrying than I thought, apparently.

“I have a plan,” I say to her.

“That sounds ominous,” she says, smiling. “Is it your usual kind of plan?”

“You mean daring and ingenious? Then yes.”

“I meant reckless and borderline insane.”

I grin and stand. I walk over to her little drink cabinet and pour myself a vodka. I offer her one, but she shakes her head.

I sip my drink and turn to face her. “I’m going to get married and have a kid,” I announce.

She doesn’t react. “That’s nice, dear,” she says.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“What else can I say?” She shrugs and sighs. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“There’s a maid here, an American girl named Hazel. I offered her the standard dowry if she’ll agree to marry me and have my kid.”

That gets her attention. “A marriage dowry?”

“Mistress dowry,” I correct with a grin. “We’ll marry, but the terms will be more like a mistress.”

She hesitates for a second. “Interesting,” she admits. “You want to have a political marriage. Honestly, Nolan, I didn’t think you were capable of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“That sort of thing is a classic example of castle politics.” She smiles and gestures for me to sit. I join her back on the couch reluctantly. “You haven’t exactly been interested in playing ball at court for a long time.”

“I may be late, but you now I’m capable.”

“Oh, I know,” she says. “Truthfully, I like your plan. It’ll show your father that you’re serious.”

I look at her, a little surprised. I expected her to disagree with me, try and get me to find a woman that I really love to marry. She’s always supported me that way, always wanted what’s best for me. But if she’s accepting this political gambit, things must be pretty bad right now.

“But why an American girl?” she asks me. “Why not a good Polovian girl?”

I laugh and grin at her. “She’s great, mother. You’ll like her.”

“Did she agree?”

“Not yet,” I admit. “But she will.”

“Careful, Nolan. American girls aren’t like girls from around here. They’re not impressed by fancy titles.”

“I think you’re right about that,” I say, smiling to myself. “But maybe I like that about her.”

“Don’t get too attached,” my mother warns. “You’re in for a war. You can’t afford distractions.”

I nod and drink my vodka. “You’re right about that.” I stand up and put the glass back on the tray.

“I’m glad you’re back,” she says. “Things haven’t been the same at court since you left. And I’m sure your father is happy about it, too.”

“Is he?” I ask her. “I doubt it.”

“Your father loves you,” she says, a little exasperated. She’s been in the middle of our relationship for a very long time, and I’m sure she’s sick of it. “Even if he loves you in his own way. He wants what’s best for you, like I do.”

“I’m sure,” I say, and turn toward the door. “I’ll come visit again soon. I want to go see Andrew about drawing up some papers.”

She smiles and nods, standing. “Good luck with the girl,” she says.

“Thanks, mother.”

I open the door and leave. That went better than expected. I honestly thought she would try and talk me out of it.

I have an ominous feeling as I pass through the halls. My mother clearly thinks something is going on with Julian, something she doesn’t like, and she’s willing to let me make a political marriage if that means I can combat whatever it is he’s doing. It must be bad if she wouldn’t even talk about it to me. I’m going to have to do some research and get to the bottom of it.

I stop outside of Andrew’s door and knock loudly. I don’t wait for him to respond before pushing open the door and stepping inside.

He looks up from his desk with a frown. “I have no privacy in this place,” he mutters.

“I need your help,” I say to him.

“Of course you do.” He sighs and leans back. “What’s up, Nolan?”

“I need you to draw up a marriage contract for me.”

He stares at me for a second before laughing loudly. He shakes his head and stretches. “Okay, good one,” he says. “I needed a good laugh. What’s up, really?”

“I’m serious,” I say, sitting down in the chair across from his desk. “I need you to set up a marriage contract. Standard mistress terms, but we’ll actually marry.”

The smile on his face slowly falls. “You’re not joking?”

“Not at all. I’m going to marry that cute American maid, Hazel.”

“Do you even know her last name?” he asks me.

I hesitate. “No,” I admit.

“What are you up to?”

I grin at him. “I’m playing the political game.”

He sighs and strokes his chin. “You think getting a wife will help?”

“And an heir,” I say.

“A wife and a kid.” He shakes his head again. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I’m growing up, I guess,” I say, grinning huge.

“Okay then. I can write up the contract. But did the girl agree?”

“Not yet,” I say. “But she will soon.”

“Right, of course. Since women can’t resist you.”

“Exactly.” I cock my head at him. “By the way. I heard some whispering about Julian and his creepy agenda.”

Andrew’s frown deepens. “Who told you?”

“My mother,” I say, though I don’t tell him that she didn’t go into details.

“It’s some bad shit,” Andrew says. “It’s all rumor and hearsay at this point, but man, I know guys in Julian’s office. And I think the rumors are true.”

“How can he do it?” I ask him, hedging a little bit.”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “There haven’t been social purity laws since… hell, the fucking dark ages.”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Purity laws?” I ask him, a slight whisper.

He hesitates. “Shit,” he says. “You didn’t know.”

“My mother mentioned something dark, but fucking hell, Andrew.”

He groans. “Nobody is supposed to know. It’s not even real yet.”

“But if it could possibly be real, this can’t stand.”

Andrew eyes me for a second without saying anything. “You’ve been gone a while,” he says slowly. “You’ve lost the feel for court. People may be getting more liberal out there, but in here, the nobles are getting more entrenched in their ways. They don’t want things to change, Nolan. Julian is just going to give them what they want.”

I shake my head, at a total fucking loss. Every kid learns about the social purity laws in high school. They were a group of draconian, awful fucking things designed to keep everybody in check. They banned jokes, types of music, sex outside of marriage, alcohol, and basically anything fun in life.

The punishments for breaking a social purity law were about as inhuman as possible, such as stoning, hanging, dismemberment, and death. You could get killed for making an off-color joke. You could get your genitals mutilated for touching yourself. You could have your tongue cut out and your eyes removed for impure thoughts. It was a very dark time in Polovian history, and nobody thinks kindly about the social purity laws.

But the fact that the nobles would even consider reinstating them in any form just speaks to how incredibly out of touch they must be. Only a sick fucking person would want that again. Even if they do some watered down version, calling them “social purity laws” sends a clear message.

They want to control every part of every person’s life. And I’m not having that.

“You can’t speak of this,” Andrew says seriously. “You’ll give Julian ammunition to come after you.”

“How is my father in favor of purity laws?” I ask Andrew.

“I don’t think he is. But many of the nobles are. My understanding is that Julian’s laws are more about keeping the people in their rightful place than about punishing masturbation.”

“That sounds almost worse,” I say to him.

“It could be,” he admits. “But nothing is real. So please, don’t stir the pot and make things worse.”

“Me, stir the pot?” I grin at him. “Well, I never.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll write up the contract for you. Just forget we had this conversation, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.” I stand up and nod at him. “Thanks for the help. I owe you one.”

“Just doing my job,” he grunts.

I turn and head out, my mind spinning in fast circles.

Now I see why my mother wasn’t trying to talk me out of this marriage. She likely fears these purity laws as much as anyone else. I can stop them, but I have to win my father’s favor again. I have to show him that I can lead.

And I have to show him that my vision of Polovia’s future is better than Julian’s. I don’t want to hold people back. I want to give them better lives, which will make what the nobles have worth even more. I know I can show them how freedom, equality, and openness will benefit everyone. Instituting some horrible draconian laws will only hurt this country.

For now though, I need to get Hazel to agree. Once she signs on the dotted line, she’ll be all mine. And the fun part of this can get started.