up with my father last year, but he wasn’t receptive. He’s trying to modernise, but he felt that was a bridge too far. That the suits would revolt and accuse him of trying to make BP into an amusement park.”
He starts walking again, and I fall into step with him.
“I always saw your father as more progressive,” I say.
Xander sighs. “He is, to a point. My father is always one to keep an even keel, to find a balance between modernising and hanging on to the past. Sometimes, his acquiescence to the suits hurts him. We need to do more. And doing more will come with criticism, but I believe it has to be done. Even more so now.”
“Why is that?”
“Because of you. I see how brave and strong you are, and I want to be that kind of king one day,” Xander says. “I want to be bold in my decision making. To shake things up. To make people see that sometimes, you may take a dramatic step that makes people uncomfortable, but that can be a good thing. But my father? It’s slowly dawned on me that he doesn’t like to be uncomfortable. But I know you have to be uncomfortable to create positive change.”
“You are going to be a tremendous king,” I say proudly.
“Well, thank God that’s going to be a long way off,” Xander says, winking at me.
We enter into a private entrance, and goosebumps sweep over my skin the second we’re inside. I see household staff dressed in different uniforms walking about, and it’s surreal.
I’m inside Buckingham Palace.
Not the tourist part, but the private part, where monarchs have lived their lives since Queen Victoria took up residence in 1837.
Lord, my family will freak out when I share this adventure with them! I can’t wait to tell Eva all about this.
Xander escorts me through the halls, and I’m silent, agog, soaking in every magical detail like a sponge. Finally, he comes to a stop in front of a lift.
“We’re meeting everyone in my father’s private apartment for cocktails before dinner,” Xander explains, pressing a button.
“This is so other world. Your family has a cocktail hour before dinner. I can tell you that never happened at my house growing up,” I say, grinning.
A crease forms in Xander’s brow. “Well, now that you’ve met my mother, you know why cocktail hour is a necessity before dinner.”
I can’t help but laugh, and he does, too.
The lift chimes, and the doors open. We step inside, and the doors close. Xander presses another button, and the lift begins to go up.
“So tonight I’m meeting Prince Henry and Duchess Arabella,” I say, remembering who was on the guest list. “And your grandmother.”
I frown. Xander warned me the dowager queen was closely aligned with his mother, and she was likely to hate me and be rude to me on the first introduction. He said she was a nightmare to both Clementine and Roman, so at least I will be in good company.
Xander rubs his jaw. “I asked for this to be a small dinner, just you, me, and my parents, but after our rebellion, she expanded the party so she can ignore us. Which works in our favour, if you ask me.”
I sigh. I hate that my presence is causing such an upheaval in his family life, but I know this is a pattern with anyone who doesn’t fit into her idea of an ideal royal family member.
“I’m glad Clementine and Roman are here tonight. I have an outsider support team,” I say.
“You have all of us,” Xander says, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “And Helene will go scorched earth on anyone who dares to attack you tonight. You have become a favourite of hers, you know.”
I smile as the lift doors open. “The feeling is mutual.”
Xander leads me down another hallway, and soon, I can hear laughter and conversation coming from a room.
“These are my father’s apartments,” Xander says. He stops just short of the door. “Are you ready?”
I gulp. This dinner is critical for one reason only.
I’m meeting his father.
I know how much Xander loves his father. That’s why it’s so important that King Arthur likes me, after all the upheaval I’ve caused this week. Xander has assured me he’s on my side with the whole Queen Antonia affair, but I’m still nervous. That’s his wife, even if they don’t get along. And the interview given to the News surely couldn’t have pleased him as a man who doesn’t like