Taking the heavy bag from Luke’s hands, my head tilted to the side, and I narrowed my eyes. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“I have all I need right here,” he said.

I weighed the bag in my hands.

“Just trust me,” Luke said and kissed me on the cheek.

“Okay,” I said, bringing it over to the bed.

Luke turned around. I couldn’t figure out why he was acting so strangely. First a mysterious package, and now he didn’t even want to see me open it?

Knowing it was from him, I gently unzipped the bag and moved aside the pink and purple tissue paper. It wasn’t until the silky, white fabric moved under my fingers that I knew exactly what Luke had done for me.

“Luke!” I gasped, pulling away the rest of the tissue paper. I couldn’t believe it! It was the dress from the shop in England. “How did you do this? When did you do this?”

Luke didn’t move from his spot, and I understood why. I didn’t realize how superstitious he was. “I have my ways.”

I rushed across the room and into his arms. He was still facing the door, and I had the urge to bring him over to the bed to show him. But if he wanted to keep that tradition alive with our wedding, I wasn’t going to ruin it. “I can’t believe you did this for me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Your face is thanks enough.”

“You need to tell me how you pulled this off,” I said, then put my hand on my hip. “Did you follow me that day when we were in England?”

“No,” he said, his expression darkening. “I trust you completely. The other day when you were out on a walk with Mother, your phone rang. I wanted to be sure that you didn’t leave anything at the hotel in England, so I picked up. Marie was a very persuasive woman. She convinced me that this was the dress you wanted to get married in.”

“She’s right,” I said, glancing over his shoulder to see the dress on the bed. Remembering that day in the shop, I couldn’t wait to put it on again.

“So, I made the arrangements and had Maddox pick it up before he came here.”

“I’m in shock.” I had no idea that he’d done this for me. In some ways, Luke could be a locked vault. I wondered if there were any more surprises up his sleeve. Though, I would have to be on my game in the future. Even though I didn’t have as many connections as he did, I would make us even somehow for this amazing gesture.

“That’s a good thing,” he said, cupping my face in his hands.

The alarm on my phone trilled from the desk across the room. “Oh! I need to go pick up Matt at the airport. Do you want to come?”

Luke shook his head, and a frown curled his lips. “I can’t. I have a meeting with the council in fifteen minutes.”

I blinked. “Fifteen minutes? Where did that come from?”

He sighed and took my hands in his. Worry lines creased his forehead, and I had the urge to smooth them out for him. “I’ve decided to inform the council of the wedding.”

“I thought you wanted to wait?” I asked. “Until afterward so they couldn’t fight it.”

He shook his head once. “I don’t feel right about doing that. My whole life, I’ve made decisions with my gut. This time is the same as any other. Going behind their backs will make all of this worse.”

“All of what?” I asked. Was this the decision that Luke hid from me over the last week?

A pained look crossed his face. “The council wants me to either give up the throne or give up you.”

“What?” I asked, stepping away from him. This was bigger than I thought, but somehow, deep down, I knew it had to do with me. “I can’t believe they would force you to make that choice.”

“Me neither,” he said. “But they did. It’s been on my mind for a while now.”

“I know,” I said. “I’ve been trying to get it out of you.”

“I know,” he said. “But I didn’t want you to run away again.”

“Why would I run away?” I held up my left hand, wiggling my ring finger. “I made a promise to you.”

“I know,” he said. “And I trust you to keep that promise. But I wanted to figure out a solution before telling you. If you knew that I was faced with this choice, would you have given me the option to give you up?”

Of course, I would have. I knew Erol wanted Luke to be king, even when Luke didn’t see it in the cards for himself. It was why I didn’t put up a fight the second time I left. Luke had to be the king.

“I would have,” I admitted.

“Exactly. So, now that we have Mother on board with our relationship, I think that will help.”

“Can they remove you from the throne?” I asked.

“The way that they interpret the law, they’d probably try,” he said. “But I know I can turn two of them to my favor. With them knowing that there is a union and an heir in the works, they might concede.”

I wasn’t going to get on the topic of an heir. Gia had told me the council pressured her enough that she ended up adopting. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for them.

“I can’t believe this is happening now,” I said. “Do you want me to send a car for Matt?”

“No,” he said, drawing me closer to him. “Be there for your friend. I don’t want you pacing the room while I’m in there. I have no idea how long it’s going to take.”

“Okay,” I said and lifted onto my toes to kiss him. I pushed all of my love into that kiss. Luke’s arms tightened around me as if he were pulling strength from me.

As a king, he was the face of the royal family. But I knew him best. He was still a man and had feelings. The council telling him he couldn’t have the woman he loved in his life was preposterous and disgusting. While I didn’t know the politics of the country well, I knew that Luke would always do the right thing.

When I pulled away from him, I said, “Good luck in there. I’ll be back here as soon as possible.”

His finger traced the line of my jaw. “I’ll look forward to that. And to see you in that dress tomorrow.”

He brushed past me, and when the door closed, I let go of the breath I’d been holding. Walking over to the bed, the dress mocked me. It was a symbol of something that might not happen. What if the council refused to have Luke as king because he wanted to marry me? What would we do then?

A sharp rap on the door shattered my thoughts into a million pieces. Did Luke need to tell me something else before he went in to see the council?

I raced over to the door and flung it open. A female servant bowed her head to me. “M’lady, the car is ready to take you to the airport.”

I sighed. “Thank you. I’ll be right down.”

She nodded and shuffled away from me.

I went over to the bed and brought the dress to the armoire. I made sure that after hanging it up that I replaced the tissue paper to cover the white material as much as I could. Luke wouldn’t peek, but I didn’t want to give him one single detail of the dress until the day of our wedding. I wanted him to be as excited about the dress as I had been.

After I was sure it was all covered, I zipped the gown and closed the doors. I said a quick prayer for Luke to come out on top of the situation with the council before heading out to the car.

---

On the way to the private tarmac that Luke and I had been to numerous times together, I couldn’t get my fiancé out of my head. Was I an unsupportive fiancée for not being by her man? Was Luke testing me somehow, or did he really not want me near the council meeting? I supposed since I was the topic of conversation, Luke thought he was saving me from whatever they had to say. I doubted it could be any worse than the things that his Mother said to my face, but I knew he was trying to protect me. I didn’t want to go to my wedding the day after getting berated by a bunch of old men, so going to get Matt was the next best option.

Besides, I missed the hell out of him. He’d been supportive and there for me since the beginning when it came to Luke, but I didn’t feel that I was a good friend to him. Now was my opportunity. Flying him over on a private jet and giving him whatever he needed to enjoy this trip was my present to him for being the best best friend a girl could ask for.

When we arrived at the tarmac, the plane had already landed. Two workers were setting up the stairs next to the plane, and right when I got out of the car, the door opened.

Matt’s mop of brown hair was the first thing I saw as he shaded his eyes from the intense sun beaming down over us. He threw on his sunglasses as if they were the lifeboat to save his vision.

I walked over to the plane and met him at the bottom of the stairs. “A little sunnier than you’re used to?”

“Soph is that you?” he asked, reaching out and pinching my cheeks.

I laughed and swatted him away. The other workers continued whatever they were doing, but I felt their eyes on us. I wondered how many future queens had other men teasing them the way that Matt did.

“Have you been on that plane before?” he asked.

“Yes, of course, I have.”

“I never want to travel any differently,” he said. “I slept. In a bed. On a plane. And had gourmet meals that didn’t come on a microwavable dish.”

“I am with a king, you know,” I said.

“And about to be married to one!” Matt said excitedly. “I can’t believe all of this. It’s like a dream.”

“It is,” I said. “Come on. Let’s get you in the car before you burst into flames.”

“Maybe I could get a tan while I’m here,” he said, glancing around.

“You’ll have plenty of time for that,” I said, getting into the car.

Even though there were more important things to worry about, a question lingered in my mind. I had wanted to ask Matt over the phone, but it was too personal and deserved to be asked in person.

Once we started driving away toward the main road, I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“I have something to ask you,” I said.

“What’s that?” he asked, staring out the window. Matt traveled a lot for work but mostly in the States. I was more surprised than anyone that I had more stamps in my passport than he did.

“Look at me,” I said. When he did, the question burst from my lips. “Will you be my man of honor?”

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug.

Slapping my hand on my leg, I asked, “That’s it? Just ‘yeah’? This is a big moment for me.”

“Who else would you have?” he asked, glancing around the car.

“True, but you could have at least acted surprised,” I said.

“You know I hate lying,” he said with a grin.

I bumped his arm with mine. “You love to lie.”

Matt and I chatted about his travels on the way to the palace. I pointed out some landmarks for him, at least the ones I knew. Luke would have been a better tour guide. Thinking of Luke, my fingers crossed over each other as I hoped that he was all right during the meeting with the council. I wondered what he would tell me when we arrived back at the palace.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and I leaned forward, closer to the driver. “Excuse me, can we get back to the palace as soon as possible?”

He glanced at me in the rearview mirror and nodded his head before accelerating the car.

I had to be there for Luke. As much as I loved Matt, I wanted to be there for one of the most significant decisions in his life. Even if I was late, I was going to try to get to him as soon as I could.