“She’s not my date. This is Bernadette Hamilton. She’s a suitor for Prince Oliver.”
Renata’s eyes narrowed in on me like a heat-seeking missile. “You’rethe American?” she asked, sounding as if her mouth was suddenly full of bile.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I said as sweetly as I could muster. I started to offer my hand but quickly thought twice about it. No handshaking tonight.
“You have to be kidding me. I knew it had to be some sort of joke when I heard they were bringing in an American suitor, but I didn’t think she’d look so plain.”
It took everything in me not to make a face at Renata. Instead, I plastered on a smile and gave myself a pep talk.You’re not plain, you’re just not royal-court fancy. You’re proud to be an American, damnit. USA! USA! USA!When I told this story to my future grandchildren, this woman was clearly going to be the villain.
“I guess it only makes sense that the two of you would be buddy-buddy, then,” Renata said, looking down her nose at Knox and me as she took a sip of her champagne. She lowered her voice, leaning toward me. “Look, Bernadette. I don’t know what you thought would happen coming here, but what I do know is that I am the next queen and I will do anything to make it happen. Do you understand?”
I mimicked her movement, whispering conspiratorially, “You have a bit of strawberry stuck in your teeth.”
Renata’s face turned about ten shades of red as she huffed back and almost ran out of the ballroom.
Suppressing a laugh, I turned back to Knox. “Please tell me the other suitors aren’t as bad as her.”
Knox stared at me, dumbfounded. “That was the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
“What? Really?”
“No one ever stands up to her. They’re all too afraid.” He smiled broadly, one of the first true smiles I had seen from him. My stomach gave a small flip. “I think you’re going to do well here.”
“Oh, that was nothing,” I said, waving my hand. “She’s just a mean girl.”
“That she is. She’s been a pain in my ass ever since I can remember.”
“Has her family always been a part of the court?”
“For centuries. They were pretty much a breeding house for royal suitors, which is why she thinks she’s a shoo-in. Little does she realize, Oliver can’t stand her. He’s nice to her because he has to be, but he has always seen right through her fake smile and pleasantries.”
His words made a small part of me relax a bit. I had gotten the impression in New York that Prince Oliver was more than just a pretty face, but the confirmation that he seemed to be a good judge of character as well was reassuring.
“Any chance you could give me the inside scoop on the family before I meet them?” I asked. “Vince went over a bit of their history with me, but I bet you can tell me more than that since you know them so well.”
Knox observed me as he sipped his drink. I wondered if he was trying to decide how much he could or should divulge; he was protective of his family, I knew that much already.
He cleared his throat. “Well. You’ve met Oliver. He was second in line behind his brother, Xavier. When he abdicated,Oliver became the Crown Prince. So, you know, here we are.” He gestured around us. “Then there’s Rosalind. She’s eleven and hates these types of events. People tend to either overlook her since she’s so young, or they baby talk to her and ask asinine questions.”
“And Xavier abdicated because he didn’t want to settle down?” I asked, clarifying.
Knox had such a stoic look on his face at all times. There were times when emotion would flash across it, but you had to watch because it was always quick to disappear. This was one of those moments. I saw a flash of anger, maybe annoyance, cross his eyes, there and gone within a second.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Hmm.” I took a drink of champagne. “Can you tell me anything about his parents? Typically when I’ve dated someone, I have a little more background about their family and it’s not as formal. I feel like I’m in over my head here.” I didn’t want to sound desperate, but that was exactly how I was beginning to feel.
“The Courtwrights have sat on the throne for hundreds of years. They take being sovereign very seriously and want someone for Oliver who will take it just as seriously. They love their country and the people they rule and want to make sure Oliver is set up for success.”
“No pressure.”
Knox let a smile roll across his face. “No pressure. They are nice people who care. If you also care and show interest in their country and their son, I think you’ll do just fine.”
“Sounds easy enough.” I hoped that was true.
As the words left my mouth, the string quartet stopped playing. I looked around, searching for the reason why.
Knox leaned down. “Here we go,” he whispered in my earas he left my side, disappearing across the room. Guests gathered toward the center of the space, leaving a wide path on either side of the ornately carved golden doors. Vince walked into my line of sight and nodded his head for me to follow him. I made my way to where everyone was gathered and took my place between Vince and Bronson.
