Page 67 of Royal Reluctance

They didn’t know. And they have no idea why Bo never told them.

I never really believed Bo didn’t tell his brothers about our wedding. I knew how close they were and while I thought he’d be able to keep it from his father, I expected Bo to confess to the princes.

I assumed he would, and when there was still no word over the years… well, I didn’t feel all that friendly toward the family. But if they didn’t know, if he really didn’t tell anyone…

Bo stands solid at my side as they greet Abigail, Kalle handing us glasses of wine filled almost to the brim. They are just as friendly to her and she responds with casual reverence.

“You didn’t tell them?” I ask Bo in a low voice.

“No,” he says out of the corner of his mouth.

“I thought you would have.”

“No.” His gaze meets mine, still a little wary. “I wanted to do it together, but after you left…” He shrugs.

There was no point, I finish silently.

Edie takes the lead, asking me questions that could be polite conversation if the situation were different.

They want to know everything about me, including why I left, and what’s going to happen now that I’m back.

I’d like to know that too.

Magnus joins us with Duncan, still carrying Tema. The two men both have hearts in their eyes when they look at Tema, who must already know the power she has over them. “These are your uncles,” Magnus tells her.

“Prince Kalle, Prince Odin, and Gunnar,” Tema recites like she’s learned their names in school.

“I’m a prince too,” Gunnar points out.

“Can you still be a prince if you race cars?” Tema asks him.

“You can be anything you want if you’re a prince,” he says with a grin.

Kalle snorts again. “She reminds me of Lyra,” he says to Bo.

“I see Mabel,” Edie corrects, smiling at Tema.

“I remind me of me,” Tema tells them.

“Tema,” I hiss. King Magnus chuckles.

“I don’t know these people so I have no idea if I’m like them or not,” Tema says without an ounce of apology in her voice.

“They’re your aunties,” Magnus says.

“Aunties,” Gunnar guffaws. I know what he means—Mabel would hate to be called auntie.

“You remember when Aunt Mabel came to visit. I mean,” I stammer, not knowing if I should admit that. “You were pretty young.”

“I still don’t know them,” Tema says.

“We’ll change that,” Bo promises. “You hungry?”

24

Bo

Family dinners are theone time we can all relax within the castle walls. It’s just family, no foreign leaders or celebrity friends. And now that we’ve opened it to include Edie and Stella, Gunnar’s girlfriend—who rushes in with Spencer just before the meal is served—it’s even a little more comfortable. There’s the usual teasing and roasting, but the competitiveness that inevitably comes when the four of us are together subsides. Unless, of course, Lyra is home, and then we all have to pay homage to her. She likes to think we’re all her minions.

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