With Sophia’s hand in mine, I felt like I could take over the world. Her small hand offered me the reassurance that I wasn’t going into this weekend alone. From the window, I saw Mother already had her passive expression on, the one that silently judged. She never thought I could make a decision when it came to my personal life. Yet none of her setups in the past had panned out.

“Do I need a headscarf?” Sophia asked when we were near the door.

I hesitated. It would give Mother a good impression.

I opened my mouth to say something when one of the flight attendants, a woman, came forward holding two scarves in her hands. “These are mine. Pick one.”

She wasn’t from my country, but she probably visited quite often if she was a frequent flier on Father’s private jet.

I picked the light blue one and thanked her as I quickly wrapped it around Sophia’s head. “There.”

“How do I look?” Sophia asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Perfect,” I said, tracing my thumb down her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered, and I lost myself in their depths for a moment before I realized we were in front of the staff. At the very least, they would be able to vouch for the relationship if anyone asked. Sleeping in separate chambers was normal for unmarried couples, but sitting next to her the whole flight would at least give some hint to us being together.

“Here we go,” I said under my breath.

Stepping off the plane, the warmth of the day rushed over me. It was early, but the sun was brilliant and strong.

Sophia squeezed my hand again and pressed her body against mine as we navigated down the narrow steps.

I kept my chin high. Through my sunglasses, I checked on Father first. He was as impassive and unreadable as ever. And Mother didn’t look very happy at all.

My gut clenched, but I didn’t want to give any of this away to Sophia. She had to make her own first impression. Pointing out Mother’s disapproval wouldn’t help keep her spirits high.

We crossed the tarmac much quicker than I wanted to, but when we were finally facing my family, I plastered on a smile for them.

“Ms. Sophia Holmes, meet my family. This is my father, King Erol Shamon.”

“Your Majesty,” she said to my Father.

Father reached out for Sophia’s hand and shook it.

“This is my mother,” I said. “Queen Gia Shamon.”

Sophia reached her hand out to my mother, but she only stared at it without moving a muscle. Well, unless the twitch in her cheek counted as movement. She wore an expression like bugs were crawling over Sophia’s offered hand.

I cleared my throat and moved on. “My little brother, Prince Abir.”

“Prince Abir,” Sophia said, moving her hand toward him. He shook her hand warmly. She didn’t seem affected by the rudeness from my Mother, but I was.

I glared at Mother, but she knew better than to look me in the eye at that moment.

“It’s so lovely to meet all of you,” Sophia said with a broad smile.

“You too,” Abir said. If it weren’t so bright outside, I’d think there were stars in his eyes.

“Shall we?” Father asked, pushing his robe aside and indicating the car behind them.

It was big enough for all of us, but I wasn’t sure if it could fit Mother’s attitude. If Father noticed, he didn’t say anything.

Her obvious disapproval of Sophia only gave me the extra energy to prove that Sophia was the one for me. At least in front of my family. She hated to be disappointed, but I’d show her what it really felt like.

* * *

The conversation was light on the way to the palace. Father was polite enough, asking Sophia questions about how we met and why I never mentioned her to the family.

“That was my fault,” Sophia said with a giggle. “I wanted to make sure that we were serious before Luke took me home to meet the parents.”

“Have you ever been inside of a palace before?” Abir sat on the other side of Sophia, and it was as if he’d never seen a woman before.

His attempt at flirtation distracted me enough from thinking about Mother and her jaw-clenched expression. What had she expected? I’d told her over the weekend that I was bringing Sophia. Did she think that I was lying?

Granted, I was, but she didn’t need to know that. Ever. I didn’t think about much past the weekend when it came to Sophia and me. I hoped that it would give me a little reprieve from her match-making attempts.

We pulled up to the palace, and I glanced at Sophia. We hadn’t stopped holding hands since the plane. It was as if we both were each other’s anchors.

Sophia looked out the window, her eyes widening as the palace came into view. I’d asked her to turn down her surprise at everything, but as her jaw dropped open, I figured I’d let it slide. Seeing my childhood home from her perspective made me feel a little more grateful for the opportunities in life that I’d been given.

“You didn’t tell me how beautiful it was,” she said, nudging my arm.

She kept her cool, though I could feel her practically vibrating on the inside with excitement. The truth was, I had the same feeling. Coming to the palace with Sophia made it that much more exciting, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t mind being home.

Father and Mother were the first out of the car, followed by Abir, Sophia, and myself. Mother went off into the palace on her own while Father and Abir stood by the car.

Father watched Mother enter the palace before he turned to Sophia. “Abir will get you acquainted with the palace. Son, please come with me.”

Sophia and I detached, and I felt like a piece of me went missing at that moment. Abir offered his arm, and Sophia took it without hesitation.

“I want to show you the gardens,” Abir said, tugging Sophia along with him. She didn’t appear helpless with my brother, but I wanted to get back to her as soon as possible.

“Let’s talk in my study,” Father said and turned on his heel.

Not wanting to appear like a little boy following his father’s footsteps, I kept up with his stride.

I already knew what he wanted to discuss before one of the servants closed the study doors behind us.

I waited for him to bring it up. Just as Sophia and I talked about before arriving, we weren’t going to offer any information before it was asked. That would keep our stories and lies to a minimum. At that moment, I didn’t want to be the first to bring up the point of contention between Father and me. He might think that I took the time to think about it. In fact, I kept my thinking of the kingdom to a minimum when I could.

“Have you made a decision?” Father asked after sitting down on the chair behind his desk.

“Is the month over already?” I asked.

Father pressed his fingertips together in front of his face, almost like he held an invisible ball between them. A ball and chain was more like it. If he could chain me to his desk, he would.

“Is this because of Sophia?” Father asked.

“Not at all,” I said.

“Why is this the first time we’re hearing of her?” Father asked. “If you’ve been dating for a while, there was no mention of her the last time you were here, which wasn’t very long ago.”

“I’m in love with her,” I said. “I knew you and Mother wouldn’t approve, so I kept her a secret. Until Mother forced me to mention it. If she wasn’t so meddling, then I might have kept Sophia a secret longer.”

Father’s eyes narrowed as if he could find the lies in my words.

“I knew it would bother you,” I said, pacing the length of the room. Peering out of the windows, I saw the top of Sophia’s head in the distance, a stark contrast to Abir’s dark hair bobbing along next to her.

I smiled, thinking that I’d see her again very soon.

“But you love her,” Father said. Not a question.

I drew in a breath. “I really do.”

“Does she know everything?” Father asked.

I swallowed. There was one important detail that had stayed out of the press for some time. Unless I told Sophia, she would never know. Underneath the question, there was a warning. If I didn’t share it, someone else would. It didn’t matter with respect to ruling the kingdom, but Father knew that I would only tell her if things were serious between us.

Father raised his bushy eyebrows and placed his hands on the desk before standing up from his chair. “I can’t stand in the way of my son’s happiness. But you must take care of Sophia. And take heed where your mother is concerned. She won’t be as easily persuaded.”

“I know,” I said. “I wish she hadn’t been so rude with Sophia earlier.”

“You know she wants you to marry within our culture. You and Sophia will have a lifelong fight with her.”

I gritted my teeth. I knew there was no way that Mother would ever be fully happy for us, but at the very least, I thought Father would have some sway. I supposed he had bigger things to worry about than her approval. It was a good thing our visit was only for a few days instead of weeks. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep up the charade for that long.