NOLAN

“The party tomorrow is very important,” Luna said.

Nolan nodded.

“You can use some good publicity,” she continued. “And not any more of that secret altruism nonsense. We need an image of you looking like a proper prince, and we need it in the minds of the public as soon as possible.”

“I understand,” Nolan said.

“Do you?” Luna arched one of her dark, thick eyebrows at him.

That was a question that did not invite an answer. Nolan scooted to the edge of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees, putting his hands in a lazy sort of prayer position.

“I have invited some associates of your father to the party,” she continued. “People that you could stand to get on your side.”

Nolan nodded again.

“The time is now to establish allies. Everywhere that you can.”

“I agree,” Nolan said, feeling some relief. Finally, she was acknowledging the impending conflict.

“These associates…?” Nolan asked, letting Luna fill in the blank.

“Not politicians,” she said. “More like mercenaries.”

Nolan gave his mother a look of gratitude and said, “Great.”

“And tell me, now.” Luna rose from her seat. “Have you talked with Yena about her options, as far as her education goes?”

Nolan said, “Yes.”

“And?” The queen paced over to the window.

“And she needs time to think about it.”

“What is there to think about?” Luna snapped.

Nolan sighed. He leaned back and let his body fall into the back cushions of the plush white velvet couch.

“I can’t push her too much about it,” he said. “Yena has ambitions, and if I tell her she can’t do something to pursue her dreams…”

Luna looked at Nolan expectantly.

“If you tell her she can’t,” she asked, “then what? Then we move forward with the arrangement she already agreed upon?”

The arrangement. That was a nice way to talk about Nolan and Yena’s relationship.

“I don’t want her to feel like I’m forcing her to stay here,” he told his mother. “She’s very independent. And I want her to be happy.”

Luna stood at the window and gazed out into the distance. Then she looked down at her hands and started fidgeting with her engagement ring, twisting it in slow circles around the knuckles of her ring finger. It was a delicate gold band with a big, shiny diamond in the center, surrounded by a circle of gleaming emeralds.

Of course, Nolan was not telling his mother the whole truth.

Yena did not need more time to think. She had made her decision.

The one that needed more time was Nolan. He was not ready to come to terms with Yena’s decision yet.

The first thing he needed to do was tell Yena. Tell her the real consequences of this decision and see if she still wanted to do it anyway.

I’d really like to come to your party, Gina’s text said.

Then another one came in with another ding.

I just want to drop off a gift.

He hated how she did that. Sent a separate message for every sentence. It was why every time she reached out, it completely blew up his phone with nonstop notifications.

He was really close to blocking her. But that would be a short-term solution. She would just start calling him from a new number.

Calling Gina and trying to argue with her, though, was not getting Nolan anywhere.

He deleted her texts without responding. Put his phone away and went back to work.

His birthday party was going to be held in one of the grand ballrooms on the ground floor of the palace. There would be a huge crowd, but also tightly controlled security, of course.

Nolan tried to imagine a way that Gina could crash the party without an invitation.

The palace was probably the one place in the world that he did not have to worry about her getting away with something like that.

YENA

I underestimated how long it would take to make a man’s suit.

And, of course, it was not just any suit.

It was a unique design. One that was going to look amazing on Nolan, but which I kept re-designing constantly, trying to make it perfect.

The cut of the suit had a retro feel, but not in an outdated way. It was a reinvention, with a touch of nostalgia.

The jacket was dark gray with a black silk lining. It was finished first.

I tried it on and looked in the mirror.

Of course, it was huge. I laughed so hard I actually shed a couple tears and had to run away from my reflection before falling into another fit of giggles.

It looked great, though. Just not on me.

The pants were trickier. I lost track of time while working on them, and looked up in surprise when I suddenly realized that the world beyond the yellow lamplight surrounding my sewing machine had fallen into darkness.

Nolan came by to see if I would go to bed with him. I shooed him away, telling him what I was doing, and that I didn’t want him to see the suit until it was done.

It was after I closed the door behind him that Lily came to mind, speaking in a clear voice.

You believe it now, she said.

You know that he loves you. He adores you. No matter what.

I did feel like that was true.

Nolan still had not ever said it to me in so many words, though.

It doesn’t matter, Lily insisted.

You should know by now, that I’ve been right all along.

And another thing I’m right about…

This man is your destiny.

There was no argument for that. The wolf was right. I knew I belonged with Nolan.

That it was our fate to be together.

I sighed, thinking again about being away from him for a whole semester. But it was just something I had to do for myself.

Lily wasn’t happy when I thought about that.

I put my mind back on my work, and shut her out. I needed to focus anyway.

The hours flew by as I cut, sewed, pieced together, overthought, re-worked, re-cut, and re-sewed Nolan’s suit pants.

But then, finally, they were finished. And absolutely perfect.

I had about a half hour, then, till sunrise.

This was the first all-nighter I’d pulled since final exam week my first semester at school. I didn’t even feel tired, though.

I felt proud. The suit looked incredible.

The final touches were the last thing I made. A black satin vest, an emerald green tie and a matching pocket square.

With all the finished pieces hanging neatly on a garment rack, I stood back and admired my work. Picturing what Nolan would look like wearing it all.

I left the studio with a strange, jittery feeling. Like little birds or butterflies were batting around inside my veins, trying to find their way out.

I chalked it up to the lack of sleep. But a whining little voice in my head said it had to do with being hopelessly in love.

I was shaking my head and trying to deny that, when I entered our bedroom and saw Nolan’s large body sprawled out on the bed.

And then I was just shedding my clothes. And climbing up on top of Nolan, who was sleeping naked.

His eyes fluttered halfway open when he felt my touch, and his hot hands went right to my thighs.