“Oh, darling! What are you doing?” The queen asked the rotund, obviously tipsy king.

“I’m having a meal in my dining room,” he answered, ruffling his white, unruly eyebrows together as if the question was completely uncalled for.

Realizing that she needed to clarify, the queen said, “Why aren’t you dressed for dinner? We have guests.” She lifted a gloved palm to indicate Tess and Mo.

“Oh right, where are my manners?” the king asked as he sauntered over to where the women were sitting. When he presented the back of his hand to Mo, she bugged her eyes out at Pierce, wondering what the man expected her to do.

“Kiss it,” Tess whispered near her ear, trying to save the awkward moment.

The prince jumped in to formally introduce the women to his father. Once they had both kissed his presented hand, he took his place at the head of the table, which had sat empty since the women had arrived.

Since the table was so long and the monarchs were at opposite ends, the queen practically had to shout for him to hear her. “I was referring to your lack of pants, darling.”

The man looked down at his lap and seemed stunned to see his bright red and white striped silk boxers. “Oh, Heavens to Betsy, you’re right. I seem to have forgotten my trousers.” His already red face turned a shade just shy of purple.

He spent a moment twisting the ends of his bushy white moustache before lifting his shoulders as if it was out of his control. Turning to the wide-eyed women he said, “If you sit at this table, you’re family.” As if the matter were settled, he turned his attention to the salad plate that had been presented to him.

The pinched, unhappy expression had returned to the queen’s face. She obviously didn’t approve of her husband’s decision to ignore the fact that he hadn’t worn pants to dinner, but she chose not to challenge him in front of their guests.

“So, is this the one you’re going to marry?” The king pointed to Tess as he asked the question of his son. He didn’t seem to realize that his voice was way too loud, or that he had just asked an incredibly awkward question.

“Actually, Maureen is the woman of my dreams.” The prince indicated Mo and smoothly shifted the king’s attention to the correct woman without directly addressing the marriage part of the question. Although he and Mo were gaga for each other, it felt too soon to be discussing anything of that magnitude.

The king lifted his head from shoveling salad into his mouth. Peering through his thick glasses that made his eyes appear to be enormous, he asked, “The ginger?”

Mo lifted a nervous hand to brush a stray piece of her thick, red locks behind her ear. Her hair formed a gorgeous halo around her head, but Tess knew that she hated being referred to by that somewhat disparaging word.

It was Pierce that jumped in to stick up for her. “Father, that’s not a nice way to refer to someone with red hair,” he lightly chastised the king.

Looking up again as if he were confused by the problem with it, he said, “Well, she is a ginger, isn’t she?” He turned back to Mo as if trying to confirm that her hair was indeed red.

Evidently trying to dig himself out of the awkward hole he had dug, the king sized up Mo and said, “Nice, sturdy-looking woman. She has the kind of hips that are perfect for childbearing.”

Pierce shook his head and covered his hands with his face, obviously distraught by his father’s feeble attempt at being complimentary.

Choosing to take the high road, Mo said, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

At that, Pierce lowered his hands and darted his gaze in her direction. “Just because he’s the monarch, doesn’t mean you have to accept that kind of treatment from him.”

Turning to his father, he said, “Sturdy isn’t a nice adjective for a lady, Father. You owe Maureen an apology.”

The king looked completely taken aback that his son had dared to stand up to him like this. He blinked and made scoffing noises in his throat as he tried to process what had just happened. Evidently deciding not to make a scene, the king turned to Mo and said, “My apologies, young lady, if anything I said was offensive in any way. I can assure you that was not my intent.”

“It’s okay,” Mo said, trying not to stare at the orange salad dressing in the king’s moustache.

“No, it isn’t.” Pierce slammed his fist on the table. Everyone jumped at his uncharacteristic outburst. Ignoring their startled looks, he went on, “Mo is a beautiful, smart, funny, kind, loving, and wonderful woman, and she deserves to be treated as such by all of us.” He gave his father a pointed stare before turning his head to the opposite end of the long table and giving his mother the same look.

Both of his parents bugged their eyes out at Pierce as if truly seeing him for the first time. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, the four of us need some fresh air.”

His mother had endured all she could take. “Young man,” she chastised Pierce when he scooted his chair back from the table and stood to leave. “Your father isn’t finished eating.”

She obviously expected him to sit back down, like an obedient little boy. Instead, Pierce said, “If he would like the respect owed to a monarch, then he needs to start acting like one.”

With that, he turned to leave, calling out for Sebastian, Mo, and Tess to follow his lead. Sebastian was the first to stand to follow the prince. The ladies stared at each other as they tried to figure out what to do.

It only took them a moment to stand and follow Pierce out of the room. Even though they knew that he was right for standing up to his drunkard father, they both fervently hoped that they hadn’t just made vicious enemies out of the kingdom’s rulers.