“Isadora, you enjoy your honeymoon, and I will happily run the housekeeping detail and any other affairs you deem for the palace while you’re gone.” I couldn’t believe she’d asked such a large task of me, but when Isadora asks me to do something, I’ll do it.

“Elinor, thank you.” Isadora reaches out to hug me, and I squeeze her back. “And when I get back…we’re having breakfast, and we’re talking about Marius, please?!” Isadora, the queen of our nation, is asking me if I talk about boys with her. Such a strange thing, considering that I am her handmaiden.

I was just a handmaiden for all my life, until I got a job in the Brevintos palace. Isadora Brevintos was a delicate but precocious child when I started working with her and she grew into a wise and beautiful adult in the time I cared for her.

I am really basically her age, both of us in our twenties. One thing we had in common is that we never dated. I preferred, like Isadora, to read rather than the mess about with dumb men.

Because so many men our age? They are just boys, you know what I mean?

I never thought that a princess would be my friend. Isadora never treated me like a servant girl, however, and always treated me like a friend.

When she asked me to be her maid of honor, I thought, certainly, there is no greater honor that her gracious request. My heart will always be warm when I think about how kind that was. Isadora bought me a beautiful dress and had me stand during the ceremony. Has any handmaiden ever had so high an honor?

I think I must be the only one.

So I really didn’t think there would be two surprises that night. But, oh, yeah, there was. Marius, Nathan’s friend, was there to function as the best man. Vincent and Nathan, apparently agreed to having just one person and Marius was on his way for the wedding anyway. They agreed to one person because Isadora doesn’t have many friends. But it isn’t like she took pity on me. And I wasn’t taking pity on Isadora. It was just the fact that we’ve both always been busy with other things.

But I never expected that old wedding cliche of the maid of honor and the best man to hook up, well, happen!

“Are you still with me, Elinor?” Isadora says with a gentle smile. There’s a laugh behind her eyes and we both know that I am thinking about Marius.

“Yes, yes I think we should.” I touch my hand on hers. “I will handle everything, Joanne even offered to help with everything she could, and I know that I can handle this. Now, don’t delay your honeymoon any longer. The Isles are supposed to be a delightful escape this time of year, so go enjoy it!” I make a shooing motion with my hands. She really shouldn’t delay celebrating her nuptials any longer. It isn’t every day that you become queen and are married two other heads of state. She needs to be allowed to celebrate, and based on the lowering number of times that their Majesties’ phones go off at breakfast today, they’ve managed to calm things on all fronts. Their marriage has been seen the world around for what it is. A move to a brighter future. War averted, economies boosting, and more people have food, have jobs, and can even afford to go to schools or get job training than ever before.

So they deserve this little getaway.

“I can’t wait to share all my details when you get back, and you’ll do the same!” That’s a brazen request of a queen’s handmaiden, but she’s also my friend.

“Of course!” Isadora hugs me one last time, and then I watch her walk away. The click of her heels against the palace floors is a comforting sound. I have always felt happy with my life exactly the way that it is.

So I’m very afraid that all of that is about to change.

Things run smoothly while the queen is away, and I know this not just from instinct but because the chief of staff in the palace asks me to take on more duties even when Isadora has returned and I should be her handmaiden. “You’ve actually been more of a friend to Isadora all these years, and someone else can clean her sheets. I hope you don’t mind me speaking so frankly, but I think you would do well to be groomed as my replacement,” the chief of staff, Lara Start says.

“Ms. Start, I…I don’t mind your frankness at all. I admit with full awareness of how naïve it makes me sound, but I never thought that I would be anything more than a handmaiden. And I was fine with that. But I do have a taste for more…and, honestly, I think I might need more,” I speak frankly now, too, and Lara and I share a knowing glance. We’re women, we understand these things…and she knows that I have been following updates on Marius’s latest endeavors. Nathan’s billionaire best friend has been working on the private sector elements of the jobs initiative that Isadora spearheaded before leaving for her honeymoon, so he hasn’t been back yet.

But Isadora is back now! She busts through the door.

“No matter your role, this palace has a place for you – several – if you want any of them,” Lara says, and she looks at me like an equal. I have only to think about how the highest in this world have treated me to know that Isadora and her husbands are all going to do a fantastic job making the world a better place for everyone.

Isadora rushes up to me, pulling me off to that breakfast we promised to share.

“Twins!” Isadora is always radiant, but she really does that special glow. “Well, two men, two babies, that seems to have worked out rather nicely,” I say, narrowing my eyes to look at Isadora like I’m dead serious.

We both make it all of three seconds before we burst out in laughter.

“Yes, yes it is,” Isadora says. Her hand smooths over her stomach that, despite how early in the pregnancy she is, shows that little swell. A swell of two babies. I hope she has girls – someone like Isadora needs to bring more strong women like her into the world.

More women who aren’t like her mother, Ileana, was.

Good riddance.

Her news is fantastic, and I’m so happy that she asked me to breakfast to discuss it.

Vincent and Nathan walk into the dining room now and both come to kiss her cheeks. I want stop the furious blushing on my face when I see them but I’m starting to think about Marius.

Marius and I had sex at Isadora’s wedding, and now Isadora probably got pregnant that night…and I think I did too!

“If I’m going to tell you all of the dirty details,” I say, my face heating up because her husbands are there, “Do you really want me to do it right now, in front of them?”

“Elinor,” Isadora pours me a cup of tea. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with, but I intend to share my own details no matter who is around!” Isadora gets this wicked grin on her face. I’m honestly just so thrilled that she’s so happy.

“I don’t mind sharing.” That’s true. I noticed that since Isadora got betrothed, she’d been downright frisky in public. When Marius dropped his hand beneath the table at the wedding during the first dance and fingered me…well, I realized I sorta have an exhibitionist streak, two. Who’d have thought?

Nathan passes me the sugar bowl. I take some tea with my sugar, and I find it so kind and thoughtful that he’s noticed this. “Marius tells me that he’s going to push off all engagements and appearances tonight because he needs to see you,” Nathan says with a smile. “He’s quite taken with you…do you think we’ll have another palace wedding again soon?”

Vincent laughs, but not at Nathan, instead with him. They seemed to have ironed out their differences quite nicely. “I had no idea you would be the pushy girl here, Nathan, but it suits you to be happy.” Vincent pours a cup of tea for Nathan. They are definitely getting along better.

Vincent adds a splash of milk and then stirs his own tea cup now, takes a quick sip, and he’s got this devious smile. “Elinor, we’ll have to steal Isadora’s other thunder and tell you how Nathan and I got caught inside the queen on the beach. The authorities didn’t recognize our details because they were in swimsuits, ‘plain clothes’ can be barely anything then, and they were so embarrassed to have interrupted the queen’s orgasm.” Vincent drinks his tea and dodges a playful swat from Isadora.

“You get that I suppose if I get to blurt out about the twins,” Isadora says, returning her hand to her lap. “Yes, I was sandwiched between their laps and up in the air a little so as to avoid sand, and I fear that I couldn’t be bothered to be quiet when Nathan and Vincent started to put both their hands on my clit. The overwhelming sensation was totally worth a royal scream or two,” Isadora says, drinking her tea with a wide grin on her face.

“Yes, Marius fingered me at the table during your first wedding dance,” I say. I feel so bold, and to the credit of both Vincent and Nathan, though their eyes widen, they aren’t rude. Haha, it feels good to surprise the royal triad like this! “I couldn’t be all that quiet either, but it is hard to notice anything when you’re so happy and in love. You three are so great together.”

“Thank you,” Isadora says. Vincent and Nathan nod. “Marius and I snuck off and had sex in the royal ballroom since everyone was dancing in the garden.” I go ahead and lay it all out there. I have nothing to hide.

“Isadora, we must fuck in the ballroom some more. Really, we can’t enough,” Vincent says, laughing.

“Good sex room,” Nathan agree with a nod.

“Think of the echoing sounds when you come in there, Isadora, you don’t need to worry about hiding anything there,” I say, but my voice takes a serious turn toward the end.

“Nathan, I know it is unfair to ask you this, but honestly I’m shocked and I need to ask it,” I say, putting down my tea.

Nathan leans forward. “Anything, you’re practically Isadora’s sister and that makes you like ours,” he says kindly.

I might cry on the spot, that is so sweet. “I think…I think I’m pregnant. What are the odds? I was a virgin before Marius and now…wow, that’s a safe sex commercial there,” I say, tears welling up in my eyes. “I’ve never been ashamed to have a low status in the kingdom until a wealthy man from another might have entangled himself to me. I don’t want him to think that I planned to-”

“Nonsense,” Nathan cuts me off. His voice is firm but kind. “You have to know that Marius and I are two of the most conniving people in the world. That means we know that you aren’t. And I think you’ll be pleased to share your news with Marius.”

“Yes!” I look up and who should interrupt breakfast but Marius himself. I stand when I see him, and he rushes up to me and kisses me, holding me tight.

Isadora and Vincent start cheering, and Nathan laughs and playfully tells them to stop.

“When you two are quite done,” Nathan says with a laugh. “I think you should sneak off in the ballroom and get reacquainted. It is closed for maintenance, but I already gave Marius a key. There’s no actual maintenance,” Nathan says, spilling out the beans of his plan now.

“Cards on the table, huh?” I say in a mock serious voice, teasing Nathan about the conniving ways he admits to. Nathan has a good heart, and he seems so much less troubled than he was before.

“I think queen on the table,” Nathan says, and he pulls Isadora onto his lap and starts kissing her. Vincent walks beside them and stars to kiss her neck, going right for the dainty little straps of her dress, ready to bare her right there. Marius is still holding me, I realize, but when I look back to him, he’s not getting an eyeful of the queen’s kings getting ready to fuck her, or her breasts. He’s only looking at me.

“When you told me you were a virgin that night, it made me feel like such a bastard. I had to have you. To think that I came here to ask you to marry me, and I felt like I was moving too quickly. Looks like biology decided that moving too quickly is kind of our thing.” Marius wraps his hand around the back of my neck and holds the small of my back, cradling me even though I’m standing, and pulls me back into his arms. “I want to be your husband, I want you as the wife and mother of my children.” He sounds so assured, but then exhales and I can tell that he’s worried about his coming question. “Do you want that too?”

“I do, of course!” I cup his face and kiss him hard. Tears of joy streak down my cheeks. I didn’t want him to think I was a gold digger, to not want our baby. This is all too perfect. When I stop kissing him because we have to come up for air, I remember Lara. “I have been asked to start training to become Isadora’s chief of staff. I can’t move…I want the job.” I hope this doesn’t put a wrench in our plans.

Marius holds my hand. “If Vincent and Nathan could keep up with running entire nations while they reside in the palace here, then I can run a few corporations from here as well. Anything for my future wife and mother of my children.” Marius looks at me with such adoration, I might burst. “And I meant to congratulate you, Isadora…”

Marius and I burst into laughter. Isadora heard her name but couldn’t quite answer, because Vincent’s cock was so deep in her mouth you could see the outline in her throat.

That’s not what happens at every royal breakfast, I suppose, but it has me anxious to get reacquainted with Marius in that ballroom.

“Enjoy!” I say, and Marius laughs with me.

We head toward the ballroom, the service detail outside of breakfast maintaining their same professional disposition as some very clear words come from the dining room. “I love when you both fuck me at the same time!” Isadora’s not worrying about anyone hearing those words.

Like, get it girl. I’m all for it.

I can’t believe that Marius and I are about to fuck in the ballroom…again.

I guess even a handmaiden can live in a filthy fairy tale…happily ever after.