Page 3 of Twins for the Secret Prince
“Sweetheart!” his mother called out, gliding over to him like she was dancing on ice. “Come and dance with us!”
“I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, Mother, but I’m not seven anymore.”
“And the world’s a sadder place for it,” his mother said, frowning. “Your father and I used to love it when you would dance with us.”
Pieter shot a look at his father, whose own face showed every sign of being disappointed in his son rather than nostalgic about old times.
“You wanted to speak to me?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of his father.
“We do,” his father said. His strong, clear voice hinted at his past as one of the most sought-after stage actors of his generation — up until he’d met and fallen in love with the queen of Laagestein. “Sit.”
Pieter waited as his parents sat together on a plush loveseat, and then he sat in a tall armchair opposite them.
“Are you enjoying the ball, dear?” the queen asked, still beaming.
“I am. It’s my favorite night of the year.”
“We know, dear. It’s the night when all of the creatures of the forest come out to play. We’ve noticed several hopping around quite close to wherever you happen to be. And, of course, there’s dear, sweet Tilda.”
“Yes, she is dear and sweet,” Pieter agreed.
“That’s what we want to talk about,” his father said, voice booming. “We think it’s time you settled down. If not with Tilda, then with someone very like her.”
“We think she’s perfect for you, dear,” his mother added. “I know you’ve said you didn’t fall head over heels in love with her, but it’s clear that you love her as a friend. Strong marriages have been built on much less.”
Pieter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Tilda deserves to be married to someone whodoesfall head over heels in love with her,” he said. “I do love her, but not in the way that would lead to her ultimate happiness. And anyway,” he added, his voice rising, “why is my love life any of your business?”
“Don’t pretend to be naïve,” his father said. “You know that with all of the privileges you enjoy as a member of this family, there are obligations too. Marriage is one of them. You’re almost in your mid-thirties now, and it’s time you settled down.”
Pieter’s brother Jan, the heir to the Laagestein throne, had himself married at the age of thirty-three, three years earlier, and already had two small children. “Look, I know my life istaking a different path than Jan’s and the one you seem to hope I would take. But Ibelongin the military. It’s where I can make a real difference.”
“A difference?” his father thundered. “You’re deluded if you think you’re making any difference there.”
“Oh really?” Pieter countered. “I have a feeling my superior officers — the ones who keep promoting me — would disagree with you. Unless of course you think that they’re promoting me because of who my parents are.”
“Of course we don’t think that,” his mother said, while his father glared, the look on his face evidence that he thoughtexactlythat.
“I know you’re both disappointed in me for choosing a life that doesn’t revolve around this palace, but I’ve found my calling. Some people live their entire lives without finding what they’re good at. I’ve found it, and I don’t want to give it up. Not yet, anyway.”
“You have a duty as a member of this family,” his father insisted.
“To do what, exactly?” Pieter asked, unable to hide his frustration. “To wait around here like a spare part until somebody finds an event for me to attend? Which, by the way, I would only be attending because none of the three of you could go.”
As the wordsspare partcame out of his mouth, Pieter saw his mother flinch. She’d spent most of his life trying to convince him that he wasn’t inferior to his brother in any way, that she loved him just as much, and that he had as much worth not just in her eyes but in the eyes of the public.
Except that wasn’t the case. He’d known it from the time he was a boy. It was no way to spend one’s life, he’d always thought, living in someone else’s shadow. No, Pieter had carved his own path, and he was thriving.
“Would it really be so bad coming back to live with us?” his mother asked, sounding on the verge of tears.
The prince held his mother’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “No, Mother, of course it wouldn’t. It’s not that at all. It’s that Ibelongin the military. Like I’ve said, I can do important work there.”
“Unlike the trivial work that the rest of the family does you mean?” his father asked angrily. Pieter didn’t answer, just stared back at his father defiantly. “Look, Pieter, this isn’t really up for discussion. You’re coming back to the royal family full-time, and that’s all there is to it.”
Pieter released his mother’s hand and stood up to face his father. “Or what?”
“There is no ‘or what’here. These are our orders.”
“And if I refuse?”
