Maia gulped as she gazed at the tall ornate door, the deep, glossy mahogany wood glistening from the light of the iron scones on the white stone walls of the palace.
She took a breath and squeezed Mateo's hand as they walked up the steps to the door. "Wait."
"Everything's going to be fine, liefje," Mateo said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "I promise."
"I-I know, but," she bit her lip. "Do I...do I bow or curtsey when I meet your parents?"
"No, that's not necessary," he said, shaking his head. "This isn't a formal engagement. You're just meeting the family."
"Yes, a royal family," she hissed. "God, I'm so nervous."
"Don't be." He chuckled, turning to her and sliding his hands to her cheeks. "You can be yourself, here. I promise my family is just like anyone else's. We just have titles."
"You say that," she said, looking away from him to the ominous door. "But I've never met someone's family in a palace before."
"It's just an obnoxiously big house. The people inside aren't any different than you or me."
Maia took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Okay," he said, taking her hand. "Are you good now?"
She squeezed his hand and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good," she said as they continued up the steps and the glossy mahogany door slid open.
"Welcome home, Your Grace," an elderly man with black graying hair dressed in a black suit said, bowing to Mateo. "And welcome to Oost den Burg Palace, Miss Jefferies."
"Thank you," she said as they stepped inside on to the intricately woven rich navy blue and gold lined rug over the swirling marble floor of the foyer. Maia's eyes grew wide at the sweeping grand mahogany staircases that led up to an open walkway with a portrait of the royal family hanging on the wall in an ornate golden frame as the centerpiece of the palace.
"Maia, this is Ruben," Mateo said, pulling her out of her stupor and awe at the exuberant home around her. "He's been with my family since I was a kid and was an integral part of my escapes from the palace as a teen."
"Oh?" Maia laughed softly. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, Ruben," she said, holding out her hand to the elderly gentlemen. "I'm so sorry you had to be Mateo's accomplice in his escapes."
"Thank you, Miss Jefferies," Ruben laughed. "But there's no need to say sorry. Prince Hendrik kept me young doing all that," he said, taking her hand. "And it's lovely to meet you too. Congratulations on your engagement."
"Thank you, but maybe you and I should have a little chat. I'd love to hear some stories about this one," Maia said, squeezing Mateo's arm. "I bet you have plenty."
"Oh I do, but I'm sure you'll hear a few tonight," he said, chuckling. "May I take your coat for you?"
"Yes please, thank you," she said, as Mateo helped her shrug off her jacket.
"Is everyone in the dining room already?" Mateo said as he handed Ruben her coat.
"Yes, they're all waiting for you. Dinner will be served in the conservatory this evening," Ruben said, folding Maia's coat over his arm and nodding down the hallway. "I'm sure you remember the way."
"I do," Mateo said, slipping his arm around Maia's waist. "You ready?"
Maia nodded, smoothing a hand over her sculpted curls. "I'm ready," she said as he led her down the long swirling marble floored hallway toward a set of double stained glass doors. She could hear the rumbling of chatter behind them and the prickling of anxiety trickled down her spine wondering what his family was going to think of her. How would they react to them and what the hell was Jorien going to say about them?
"You're going to be fine, liefje," Mateo said, pressing a kiss to her head. "Just be yourself."
"I know and I will," she whispered. "But I might grab your hand for reassurance."
Mateo chuckled softly. "You do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I'll be right here for you."
"Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek before she took another deep breath. "Let's meet your family then."
Maia had only ever imagined what it would be like to have dinner at a royal palace and sitting in a conservatory with the evening sun cascading into the windows of the room bursting with tall leafy green plants and a view of the sprawling immaculate gardens as a backdrop was better than what she'd weaves on the pages of her novels.
And for the most part, Mateo's family was as he said, quite normal. His father, Harald, was the spitting image of Mateo – save for his graying blonde hair but they had the same warm brown eyes and he was overjoyed that she and Mateo were engaged while his step mother, Anna, was a tall bubbly blonde who was was all too happy to plan their wedding after his sister Adrie's, of course.
Adrie was the quiet one out of Mateo's siblings, she spoke in hushed tones and pikes at her plate of food while her fiancé, Levi, was a boisterous and portly man who had no shame clearing his plate and hers while he spoke of his many business accounts.
"Enough, Levi." Jorien smirked. "Just because you're marrying my sister doesn't automatically get you a seat in the council. You don't need to pitch your business every time we get together."
"Oh leave him alone," Anna said, waving Jorien off. "He's proud of what he's accomplished and I think you could do more to support your brother-in-law in council."
"I agree," Mateo said, nodding as he topped up Maia's glass of wine. "What's so wrong with his conglomerate of local small businesses having a seat in the council?"
A strained smile curled over Jorien's face as he cut his gaze at Mateo. "Is that why you've come home? To tell me how I should conduct myself in the council?"
"Oh, here we go," Eline, Mateo's youngest sister, murmured beside Maia.
"No, I wanted everyone to meet my fiancée," Mateo said, shrugging as he took a drink of wine. "I have no intention of telling you how to run this country or the council."
"Right, so tell us again how you and Maia met?" Jorien said, sliding his blue eyed gaze at Maia. "Better yet, Maia, I'd love to know why you'd rather be with my brother who can't seem to keep his dick in his pants over that upstanding actor you were with?"
"Jorien!" Harald said, slapping his napkin on the table. "That is uncalled for young man."
"Agreed," Mateo said through gritted teeth as he slid his hand over Maia's thigh. "You don't need to answer my brother's disrespectful question."
"I'm so sorry for Jorien's rude behavior this evening, Maia," Anna said, shaking her head. "Please just ignore him. Why don't you tell us about the next book you're writing?"
Maia smiled, keeping her eyes on Jorien's sinister blue eyed gaze as she slid her hand over Mateo's. "I don't mind answering Jorien's question. I'll be honest, I've been waiting for that question and I'm sure you're all wondering why someone like me would want to marry Mateo."
"If we're being honest, I'm pretty curious too," Eline said. "No offense, Mateo. You know I love you, but Maia's way too amazing to be with you."
"None taken, Eline." Mateo chuckled, curling his fingers around Maia's. "If you're comfortable answering my brother, then I won't stop you, liefje."
"Alright, well Eline, I'm honored that you think I'm too amazing for Mateo, but I don't feel that way," she said, looking up at Mateo. "I think we compliment each other." She smiled, looking back at Jorien. "And as for the reason why I'd rather be with your brother over my ex, who I'm sure you and Gesina are well acquainted with, it's because Mateo, for all his flaws, has the genuine audacity to love me for who I am instead of wanting to mold me into someone I'm not or use me for his career. That's why I chose Mateo and why I love him."
"En ik hou van je, mijn prinses," Mateo whispered, kissing her ear.
"Oh, that's so beautiful." Eline sighed while Gesina looked nervously at Jorien who clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Well," Jorien scoffed. "I hope you still feel that way when the press digs up Mateo's seedy past."
"That's enough, Jorien," Harald said. "I think we should all celebrate Hendrik and Maia finding each other," he said, smiling at them as he raised his glass. "I'm happy for you both and wish you all the happiness."
"Here, here!" Levi said, raising his glass to them. "May your engagement be as joyous as mine and Adrie's."
"Well said, darling." Adrie said with a bright grin on her meek face. "I'm so happy for you, Hendrik. You deserve this after everything that's happened and I'm glad to welcome you into our family, Maia."
"Thank you," Mateo said, bringing Maia's hand to his lips. "I'm glad I left or I never would've found the love of my life."
Maia blushed, laughing softly. "And I wouldn't have had the honor of being part of your family, so thank you for welcoming me here."
"We wouldn't have it any other way, Maia. You're absolutely lovely, my dear," Anna said. "And I'll try not to get too excited filling up your schedule with meetings and fundraising events. I'm sure Mateo will want to show you around as much as he can while you're here."
"About that," Jorien said, raising an eyebrow. "How long will you be staying, brother?"
Mateo shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maia and I haven't decided yet."
"I hope you'll be around for a little while?" Harald said with his eyes full of worry. "You've been gone for so long. I was hoping you'd be staying for at least a few months. You and I have a lot of catching up to do."
"Oh, of course we'll be staying long enough for you two to do that, don't worry Harald," Maia said, squeezing Mateo's hand. "I don't have anything to rush back to Amsterdam for. I'm looking forward to getting to know Oost den Burg and what my duties would be as part of the royal family."
Anna clapped her hands together with glee. "I love the sound of that," she said, nudging her husband's shoulder. "You see, you'll have plenty of time with Hendrik."
"I'm happy to hear that," Harald said, grinning. "Actually, if we're finished with dinner, I wouldn't mind having a chat with you, Hendrik before you go back to Vijverwoud. If that's alright with you, Maia?"
"That's fine with me." She nodded. "I think Eline wanted me to sign some of her novels anyway, right?"
Eline's blue eyes grew wide as she nodded. "Oh my goodness yes. I'll give you a tour of the palace too, if Mateo hasn't already?"
"Nope, I haven't." Mateo grinned. "Maia's all yours, but don't have her signing your whole collection. She isn't here for that."
"Oh, it's alright," Maia said, pushing his shoulder. "I don't mind."
"You say that until you see Eline's collection." Mateo chuckled. "She's worse than I am."
Eline pursed her lips. "I'm not that bad and I promise I won't make you sign them all. Just my favorites," she said, grasping Maia's hand. "Come on, I'll take you on a tour first. Adrie, do you want to come with us?"
"No, you two go ahead," Adrie said, shaking her head. "Levi and I have an early start tomorrow, but it was lovely to meet you tonight, Maia. I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of each other."
"It was lovely to meet you too," Maia said, standing from the table with Eline. "It was lovely meeting you all, thank you so much for having me."
Jorien grunted and nodded while Gesina smiled sheepishly, giving her a small wave.
"We'll see you before you leave, dear." Anna smiled. "Enjoy your tour and please don't let Eline steal you away for too long."
"I'll make sure Hendrik saves you," Harald said, laughing as he stood from the table. "I won't keep him for too long. Just want to schedule a few things."
"See you soon, liefje" Mateo said, standing from the table and pressing a kiss to her head before he glared at Eline. "Stay out of my old room."
Maia let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, now that's where we're going first."
Eline joined in her laughter. "You and I are going to be the best of friends."
Mateo shook his head. "Dear lord, help me," he said grinning. "Well, have fun then."
"We will!" Eline said, tugging Maia out of the conservatory into the long cream marbled hallway of the palace.
Once the french doors closed behind them, Eline let out a heavy sigh as her bubbly facade faded. "You did really well in there, you know."
"What do you mean?" Maia said, frowning as Eline pushed open a door in the hallway that led to a deep mahogany staircase.
"Jorien can be pretty terrible to Mateo," she said, dragging a hand through her blonde locks as they walked up the steps. "And I know you two are faking this engagement, but his ex never stuck up for him like you did, so thank you for doing that. I know it means a lot to him."
Maia nodded, twisting the ring around her finger. "I do love Mateo, though. I wasn't faking that."
Eline looked over her shoulder at Maia and grinned. "Oh I know. You've been in love with my brother for a while. It's all over your Insta."
Maia burst out laughing as she shook her head. "Well, you knew before I did. I was just luring in my readers."
"Pshh, Miss Maia Jefferies, you cannot fool the fandom. Those posts were too genuine."
Maia blushed, biting her lip. "Yeah, maybe they were," she said, following Eline through a set of double doors to a plush cream carpeted hallway lit up by golden scones on the walls and more plumes of leafy green plants in tall pots.
Eline stopped in front of a cherry wood door with H.M.K carved into the woodwork. She pressed her hand against the door and a wide smile curled over her lips. "Would you like to see what my big brother was into when he was a child?"
Yes I would," Maia said, rubbing her hands together. "I'm really hoping he was into something really cheesy."
"Well, you can see for yourself," Eline said, twisting the golden handle and pushing the door open.
Maia's heart was beating in excited anticipation at what she might find in Mateo's childhood room. It would be a nice reprieve from that awkward yet empowering speech she made about her feelings for him.
A soft laugh choked from her lips as she looked around the enormous bedroom with a panoramic view of the city skyline and marina. She trailed her fingers over the posters on the wall and the figurines sitting on the bookshelves full of comics and thick Master guide books.
Her scandalous Prince Charming was a Dungeons and Dragons nerd and her heart swelled at the thought of him sneaking out of the palace with the help of Ruben to roleplay a campaign with his friends.
And honestly, that just made her love him even more.
A/N: That would've been me freaking out on the steps of the palace before going to dinner with a royal family. My stomach was in knots writing that 😅 Also, tell 'em Maia! I'm glad she set the record straight with Jorien, but curious what that nervous look was from Gesina. I'm glad the family is accepting Maia, but I don't know about Mateo's step mom, Anna. I'm not sure how oblivious she is to everything....🤔 I like Eline's energy, though. She seems fun 😈 And I was giggling to myself that Mateo was - or still is - into D&D! I love it!
En ik hou van je, mijn prinses - And I love you, my princess