Page 1 of Royal Reluctance

Prologue

Eight Years Ago…

Once upon a time, a prince went to talk to his queen.

But this isn’t a fairy tale. At least it doesn’t start out as one. Because if this was a fairy tale, I shouldn’t be so nervous about talking to my mother.

All the happiness of the last two days disappears as soon as I enter the castle.

The last place I want to be is here, but if my father taught us anything, it was duty. And to take responsibility for your actions.

That was what I was here to do. To confess and take responsibility.

Standing in front of the door of her sitting room, I lift my hand to knock, then pause. This is my mother, I tell myself. But she’s also the queen of Laandia. And I am Prince Bowden Eugene Jerome Leif Erickson—third son of King Magnus and Queen Selene.

And mother or queen, I know she’s going to be pissed off with what I’m about to tell her.

I don’t have the dumb luck or blind faith of Gunnar or Lyra, the certainty that whatever they try, it’ll all work out. I lack the intelligent rationale of Odin that helps with the knowledge that mistakes can always be fixed. I especially don’t have the straight-upcourage of Kalle, because knowing you’re going to be king someday takes a special kind of bravery.

I may not have the traits my siblings do, but still, not a lot scares me.

My mother does.

And I know that if anyone else was about to tell her what I have to tell her, they would be terrified too.

I steel my nerves, fist my hand and knock twice on the door. “Come in,” Queen Selene calls.

Deep breath… and go.

My mother sits on one of the delicate wing chairs that flank one of the fifteen huge fireplaces in the castle. The chairs are a cause for concern for me and my brothers because they really don’t look strong enough to hold a male of our height and weight.

They birth them big here in Laandia.

My mother smiles as I enter; smiles with her eyes and her mouth and looks like I am her very favourite person. I’m not—Mom loves me as much as she loves my brothers and Lyra, but it’s just the way she smiles at everyone, from Duncan, Dad’s right-hand man, to the castle chef and even that obnoxious buffoon of a man running America.

She smiles at my father a little differently. And my father still looks at her like she’s the only woman in the world. It’s nice to see; together for twenty-five years and more in love than when they met.

Which isn’t hard since it was kind of an arranged marriage. Magnus needed a wife; Selene wasn’t thrilled about the coupling but didn’t have much choice in the matter.

It all worked out and quickly turned into a love match, one that is celebrated all over Laandia. It’s the kind of marriage I want. The love match, not the arranged marriage.

“Bowden,” my mother says in that way she has that makes you believe everything is going to be okay. My little sister Lyra has the same gift. “What’s up?”

Mom is the only one who calls me Bowden. To the rest of the family, Laandia, and even the world, I’m Prince Bo.

Newly anointed People Magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year.

I bring that up because the magazine is right there on the table beside Mom’s chair, as if she was perusing it and put it down when I knocked.

My face heatsagain, like it’s been doing since the stupid issue came out. Nobody should want their mom to see pictures like that. Plus, I have no clue why they pickedmeover my brothers. Or anyone else in the world. “You can throw that out, you know,” I mutter.

“Oh, no.” Mom laughs as she taps the glossy cover. “I’m going to frame it. ‘Sweet, Stoic and Sexy—What Really Goes on in the Forests of Laandia?’” Her blue eyes twinkle with delight as she recites the copy from memory. “Your brothers are never going to let you live this down.”

“I know.”

“Poor Bo.” And she laughs again.

But the headline on the magazine brings back a wave of unease. Things do go on in the forest, and I’m here to tell my mother about them.

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