Page 21 of His Royal Request

He started shaking his head and I realized that if I wanted to play his game, I need to be more specific questions.

“What about the politics? What role do you have?”

“I mostly support my father’s position.”

I nodded slowly. So, he was the son of someone important. Well, his dad could be a mayor or maybe a governor. Did they have those in Lochland?

“Is there anything else I should know about?”

He shook his head a bit too quickly. There was definitely more to his story but he didn’t want to tell me. I was fine not knowing the whole truth yet, but he had better divulge everything to me soon.

“There’s nothing else I need to know before we land? About the wedding or your family?”

His eyes flickered back to where George was sitting before returning to mine.

“No?” His response sounded more like a question. That made me nervous.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else I should know?”

He shrugged. “You’ll just be meeting some of my family, friends, and acquaintances. Things like that.”

I looked around the plane. “Will I fit in with these acquaintances?”

He smiled and nodded. “The most important thing is that you’re kind and you can make me laugh. Just be yourself.”

I smiled as heat crept up my cheeks. A little over an hour later, we landed, anxiety filling my belly as we stepped off the plane. I took in my first glimpse of Lochland. It looked similar to Ireland with rolling hills of emerald green but there was something about the atmosphere. They skies were grey and it was a bit colder, but that wasn’t it. It was somehow calmer which was shocking since Ireland was incredibly calm and peaceful but there was less noise here than Galway.

I waited for Aiden as he got off the plane and placed his hand on my lower back, leading me to the silver car parked a few yards away. George opened our doors and got behind the wheel.

“Where are we going?” I asked, hoping to get any more information.

“Patience, my dear.” He took my hand and it immediately calmed me. I didn’t need to know more than how I felt when he touched me. The rush and peace it brought all at once.

I didn’t know enough about Lochland to know where we were headed. All I knew was that it’s major city, Tarramore, was the capital. Anything more than that was a distant memory from my European history classes.

I looked out the window and caught sight of a black car, I’d spotted it at the airport but hadn’t noticed it leaving with us. George made a turn off to another road and I waited to see if the car would follow. It did. Something didn’t feel right to me.

“George, have you noticed that car following us?”

He looked up at the rear-view mirror then made eye contact with Aiden.

Aiden nodded and looked at me. “That’s just security.”

He didn’t seem at all concerned about someone tailing us. I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of security?”

George gave a slight shake of his head but didn’t speak. Aiden cleared his throat. “My cousin is marrying a baron.”

My jaw dropped. I didn’t know much about the levels of royalty but this wedding sounded important.

“This is a bit more than the average family wedding, isn’t it?” I asked.

Aiden didn’t answer immediately. “I suppose.”

Great. So not only would I be meeting his family, just after meeting him, but this was also a super fancy wedding. One that probably required a hat.

That was the extent of my knowledge of royal weddings. I didn’t own anything worthy of an event like this, and even if I did, I wouldn't have packed it with me.

“I’m going to need a nicer dress,” I said it to myself, but Aiden laughed.