Trip’s visit kept playing over and over in my mind as I got ready for dinner. It was supposed to be a big welcome ceremony for our family, and it wasn’t exactly something I could skip.

Even though I wanted to. Trip was a cocky, arrogant asshole. I couldn’t believe the way he talked to me, but I probably shouldn’t be so surprised. He was royalty after all. Trip was probably so used to having whatever he wanted that he thought he could just have me.

But that wasn’t going to happen, even if he made my stomach do flips. Trip was by far the most handsome man I’d ever seen, and I was sure that didn’t help his insane self-confidence issue at all. The guy probably thought that all he had to do was ask and I’d throw myself at him.

Maybe I would. I sighed, looking at myself in the mirror. I wore a tasteful cocktail dress, blue and slim, hugging my hips. When he asked if I was afraid that he’d find me soaking wet, I had to admit to myself that he was right. I was soaking wet, and I couldn’t stand the thought of him knowing what he did to me.

The man was just too arrogant. I didn’t care that he had a perfect jaw and full, kissable lips. I wasn’t about to throw myself at him like every other woman probably did.

Trip was probably used to women simply falling all over themselves to get involved with him. The guy was royalty in this country after all. Any girl would be lucky to be with the king.

Except for me, of course. I didn’t want Trip. I wanted to stay far, far away from him.

A knock at my door pulled me in that direction. I walked over and peeked through the eyehole instead of just opening the door.

Dad was standing there. I opened the door and he smiled at me.

“You look great,” he said. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Dad was wearing his nice suit and tie. He usually wore a suit and tie every day to work, but this was his fancy outfit. He looked so dapper when he decided to dress up.

“You’ll fit right in with the other royalty,” I said to him as we left my room, the door shutting behind me.

He laughed. “I doubt it.”

“Really, Dad. Isn’t it weird being here?”

“A little bit, but it’s also been nice so far. Everyone is so kind.”

“Despite the fact that I hit the king.”

He laughed and shrugged. “Well, kings, you know? That’s why we kicked them out of America.”

“It just seems so crazy. I mean, it’s the twenty-first century, and this country still has a king.”

He nodded, frowning. “I’ve been reading about that. Apparently there are a lot of people who want that to change.”

“I read about that, too.”

“But I don’t know. This country has a lower crime rate and a higher literacy rate than America does. They seem to be doing okay.”

“That’s a good point.” I frowned at him and he just smiled.

“Don’t worry too much about it. It’s not like we can change anything.”

Just then, Lucy stepped out of their room. She was wearing a floor-length gown with her hair in a complicated updo. She looked like she was going to prom.

“You look great,” Dad said to her, kissing her on the cheek.

“Thanks, Robert.” She gave me a look. “Are you going to behave?”

I glared at her. “I don’t plan on hitting anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.”

She smiled. “Good. Let’s go enjoy ourselves, shall we?”

As we moved down the hall, a servant appeared out of nowhere. It was like he materialized from the wall.

“This way, please,” he said. He was wearing the same outfit all of the servants wore, a black jacket over white dress pants. Even the women wore a version of this outfit, which was strange, but no stranger than everything else we’d seen so far.

He led us down a series of twisting hallways. I was too busy staring at the art on the walls to really notice exactly where we were walking. The place was just so overwhelmingly beautiful, and every inch of it was decorated like an art gallery. Twisting sculptures depicting famous battles and myths from their history dotted the place, and I didn’t recognize a single thing.

As we came up to an ornate set of double doors, I realized how little I knew about this place. Starkland seemed very familiar on the surface, since it was another European country, but I didn’t know a thing about their nation, about what the people liked, about their history. It was completely and utterly foreign to me, a total mystery.

The servant pushed open the double doors. “Announcing Robert, Lucy, and Bryce Koch of America,” he called out, and music began to play.

If I thought walking through the quiet, empty halls was overwhelming, then stepping into an enormous banquet room packed with people was even worse. Live music played as people clapped and we were ushered inside. As we went, I recognized a few faces in the crowd from my time researching Starkland on Wikipedia. These were famous men and women, the upper levels of the upper levels, the best of the best. Some of them were ministers in the cabinet, and some of them were prominent business people, but all of them were powerful.

We were taken to a long table at the very front of the room. Sitting at the middle of the table was Trip, grinning down at me like he knew what I was thinking. He was wearing more formal clothing this time, and I couldn’t help but think how incredibly handsome he looked.

Finally, once we were seated with my father on my right and my stepmother on my left, Trip raised his hands and stood. The room went absolutely quiet for him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, ministers and citizens, welcome to this important dinner,” he said in a loud, clear voice. “For tonight, we welcome a piece of our history. Hundreds of years ago, in a dispute over succession, my family took over as the royal family of Starkland, ousting the old rulers. Well, everyone, those old rulers are back, but they’re not here to toss me on my ass.”

The room laughed at his joke, and he just smiled at them.

“No, they’re here to visit and to see our country. Hopefully we can give them a taste of what their family once ruled over. Now, Robert, Lucy, and Bryce, I offer you this as a gift of friendship from the Brunhild family. Maximillian?”

The old servant who showed us to our rooms earlier stepped toward Dad, who stood up. They shook hands and Maximillian handed him a thick cylinder covered in wax at both ends.

“Robert Koch, this is a very, very old scroll that we found in our libraries only a couple of weeks ago. When you get a chance to open it, you’ll find that it’s a family tree of your ancestors up until the final rulers, hand drawn by some scholar of their time. It’s priceless, and I hope you enjoy it.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Dad said.

“Now, everyone, enough of me talking. Let’s eat and celebrate, Starkland style!”

Everyone clapped and began to sit down. The servants immediately stepped up from behind us and began to fill our glasses with beer and wine. Soon food began to arrive, and in huge quantities.

I quickly understood how people in Starkland liked to celebrate. Basically, they drank a ton of their beer, a thick and delicious brew that I couldn’t pronounce the name of, and they ate a ton of meat. It was like we were back in medieval times again, as we were served hunks of game and fresh fish and other amazing food.

As I sat up at that table, eating as much as I could, the whole meal felt absolutely surreal. These were some of the most powerful people in the country, and yet they were all assembled for this dinner, presumably just to welcome us to their country.

It didn’t really make any sense. There was no media in the room, so it wasn’t like this was just another photo op for the king. Maybe people in Starkland took these sorts of things really seriously, and any excuse to get together and drink tons of beer was good enough for them.

But it still felt strange. I couldn’t understand most of the conversation going on around me, since it was in another language, but I did catch my name every once in awhile. People kept glancing over at us, too, and I got the distinct feeling that they were looking at me in particular.

I couldn’t make any sense of it. I wasn’t all that interesting, and it was really my father that people should have been interested in. Maybe it was because I had slapped the king earlier that day, and everyone was talking about that.

As the dinner wore on, I suddenly felt a presence behind me and noticed a few people glancing up at me. I turned and Trip was standing there, smiling down at me.

“How are you liking our beer?” he asked.

I smiled. “It’s good.”

“I’m glad you think so. We take it pretty seriously in Starkland.”

“I can tell. You all drink enough of it.”

He laughed. “We can’t drink nearly enough, and that’s the problem. We always find ourselves wanting more. Do you have that problem, Bryce?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t had much of the beer yet.”

“Well, I hope we can leave you wanting more.”

I couldn’t help but hear something else behind his words, but his smile was innocent enough. He reached out a hand for me and I took it, shaking. When he pulled his hand back, I felt something in my palm, a piece of paper.

I quickly closed my hand, swallowing up the paper, and I could have sworn he winked at me. He quickly turned away and began to make the rounds of the room, shaking hands and smiling.

My cheeks felt hot as I glanced down at the tiny piece of paper he’d left for me. Written in neat, concise letters was a note.

It read: “Meet me in ten. Back door, turn left.”

I bit my lip, staring at the note. He wanted us to ditch out on this dinner, but I had no clue for what.

Trip was a mystery, a very difficult mystery, but I could already tell that I didn’t want to solve him. He was dangerous and cocky, not the kind of man I’d ever really wanted before.

I crumpled up the note and slipped it into my little clutch. No, I wasn’t going to meet the king for some secret rendezvous. I was going to stay right here and eat this nice dinner and enjoy myself.

There just wasn’t anything tempting about this bad boy king. At least, I had to keep telling myself that if I was going to be able to resist him.