Securing a Wife

Luke

“Don’t be out too late,” Mother said, hardly disguising her stamp of approval.

For the rest of the conversation, I asked Abir about Alda and how they met. It all seemed to have occurred naturally enough, but I kept an eye on Mother’s reaction. I didn’t know why I cared so much, maybe because she had tried to set me up every single time I came to visit the palace. There wasn’t one time before a month ago, when I brought Sophia as my fake girlfriend, that she hadn’t set me up on at least two dates during whatever short time I’d been home. And she wondered why I stayed in England for most of the year.

Abir didn’t want to be late for his date with Alda, so he left soon after shoveling his breakfast in his mouth.

I wanted him to stay, but I knew I would have to face Mother alone sooner or later. After discussing Abir’s love life, I knew what was coming before she said the first word.

“With all this talk of girls and women in my boy’s life, I wanted to tell you that I’ve arranged a dat