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The footmen couldn’t understand us since we were speaking Terran Universal. Nadir was the only non-royal at the palace with that language on his translator—hence, he’d been tasked with taking care of the humans when they’d first arrived.
“Mother uses her power judiciously, but when she puts her foot down, yes.” My father ruled the kingdom, but my mother governed him.
“Did you tell your mother you asked me to be your bond-mate?”
“Yes, and I swore her to secrecy until after the dinner,” I said. “I don’t want to hit him with too much all at once.” My father needed time to adjust to new ideas, new people. Once he discovered how wonderful she was—and how well suited we were, he’d accept the big announcement better.
“Don’t wait too long. I’m guessing the news of our bond-mating won’t go over well if he hears it from the LOP,” she said.
I drew my brows together. “Why would he find out from the League of Planets?”
“Because I told Special Agent Judika Ospra. I had to give her a reason why I wasn’t leaving on the spaceship that arrived today to take me and Jessie home. She came on the ship so she could interview Millie and Nadir again. It’s possible your parents could encounter her at some point.”
Given that royals and nonroyals occupied different sections of the palace, and my father never ventured into the commoner section, it seemed unlikely he would run into Ospra. However, it would not be good if he learned about our bond-mating from the LOP. “The ship leaves tonight, right?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “In a few hours.”
No problem, then. By the time dinner ended, the ship and Ospra would be gone. Potential crisis averted. Although confident my father would warm up to Kat, I wished to avoid a bad first impression that could sour him on her. I loved and respected my father, but he had to be handled with care.
“Did you tell anyone besides Ospra?”
“Only Jessie, Holly, and Millie. They told Aeon and Nadir.”
I stifled a groan. Practically half the palace.
“I’m sorry. Should I not have told my friends? They promised not to tell. I was just…excited. And Jessie will be leaving tonight.” She twisted her hands.
“It’s okay.” Of course, I was eager to share the news, too. “Just don’t mention it to anyone else until I can speak to my father.” I was pretty sure Aeon, Nadir, and the women would keep our secret.
“I won’t. Promise. Holly and I said our goodbyes to Jessie this afternoon. Jessie is thrilled to be going home—but then, she didn’t meet her Prince Charming like I did.” She slipped her arm through mine. She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Let’s go inside.”
I nodded at the footmen. With flourish, they waved at the doors to open them.
She gasped. “You said this was a little family gathering! There must be fifty people here!”
“Fifty-six, counting us,” I said. “It’s just my parents, my brothers, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and their bond-mates, and their offspring who are of sufficient age and comportment.”
“I don’t think I’m of a sufficient age and comportment.” She twisted her hands and eyed my relatives gathered around a smallish U-shaped dining table. At a riser crossing the top of the U sat my immediate family—the king, queen, and my four brothers.
Everyone was seated and waiting for me. Clasping Kat’s hand, I guided her around the U to the vacant places next to Aeon and Holly.
The makings of a scowl started to creep across my father’s face, but then he jerked and adopted a bland expression, and I guessed my mother must have kicked him under the table. She smiled at us, and I felt a surge of gratitude for her support. She’d always been such a steady, loving, supportive presence. I had no idea what my brothers and I would do without her—what my father would do without her. She loved him unconditionally and softened his rough edges.
He had adored her from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. As the young crown prince, he’d spotted her in the crowd during a parade. She’d been a commoner, but he’d fallen horns over heels and defied his father to take her as his bond-mate. He knew what a treasure he had found, and he denied her nothing, which probably explained her ability to influence him.
I glanced at Kat. When everyone had believed the worst of me and kept their distance as if I’d contracted a contagion, she’d stood by me like my mother did for my father. I vowed to make her life easier than my father had for my mother. Kat should not have to clean up my messes.
I shouldn’t have subjected her to this dinner. I’d brushed over her nervousness, not giving her feelings the weight I should have. While the dinner would be celebratory for me, it intimidated her. These people were relatives I’d grown up with, but they were strangers to Kat. She hadn’t even met my mother in person, and she was the friendly one. Everyone stared, but pretended not to, and in the murmur of conversation, I could hear the speculation.
I whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry. If you still wish to leave, we can.”
She widened her eyes. “Leave? You’re the guest of honor. You can’t leave.”
I shrugged. “I’d rather you were comfortable.”
“No, this is important. You getting unbrainwashed is huge, and your family is right to celebrate it. I’m letting nerves get the better of me when I should be happy to be here. This will be my life. I would rather be with you at this dinner than on a ship to New Terra.”
Aeon twisted in his chair. “Stop whispering, you two, and sit down already,” he said in Ara-Cope. “I’m hungry.”
