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Falkor entered the parlor and flopped into Jaryk’s favorite chair like he belonged. “What’s new?” he asked with exaggerated casualness.

“You heard.” Jaryk raked his hands through his thick blue hair.

“Secrets are rare in the palace of Kaldor.” Falkor grinned like an annoying idiot.

To be fair, his younger brother wasn’t an idiot. He’d been gifted with crafty intelligence, but annoying? He was every bit of that. “Did you come to rub it in, or do you have a reason for being here?”

“I’m from the government. I’m here to help.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“Seriously. I have a solution to your dilemma.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

Their Majesties King Rullok and Queen Myka had spoken.

When their father and mother put their royal feet down, there was no circumventing the edict.

Nobody could help him, least of all his younger brother.

Any scheme Falkor would come up with would not be a good one.

Scandal dogged him like a shadow. His shenanigans had caused him more trouble than they’d ever gotten him out of.

Jaryk had not been granted the same indulgence.

He and his brother were only two years apart in age, but the difference in their fates was vast. Jaryk’s future had been chiseled into the coronation stone at the moment of birth over thirty-four years ago.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince, heir to the throne of Kaldor, could not engage in frivolous pursuits.

He had to be cautious, dutiful, discreet.

Falkor, the royal spare, could do as he pleased—and did. “You’re not even going to hear me out?”

“I’m doomed. You can’t save me,” he said glumly.

“Well, not with that fatalistic attitude! You’re going to roll over and marry Princess Alia?” Falkor wrinkled his nose and shuddered.

“Why do you do that? It’s disrespectful. Alia would be a fine wife.” For someone else . “I met her twice. She’s quiet, pleasant, well-spoken.”

“Booorrring.” His brother faked a snore. “Besides, she’s not the one you want.” He gave him a sideways look.

“Charday is not a possibility.” It hurt to even speak her name. He’d held out until the end, hoping against hope his parents would relent and grant their permission, if not their blessing, for them to marry. But Charday had not passed the royal parental vetting.

“She is unbefitting a crown prince. You are the future king! Your wife shall be queen,” their father had railed. Now, Jaryk approached his thirty-fifth birth year, the marriage deadline required by a centuries’ old royal decree.

“My duty is to the kingdom. I must marry a pedigreed woman and produce an heir,” he said.

“Duty-smooty. Mother and Father married for love.”

“They were fortunate enough to find love with each other. Their marriage was arranged.”

“So, when’s the unhappy occasion?”

“The wedding date hasn’t been set yet, but the engagement will be announced next month at the royal ball.”

“Then you don’t have any time to waste. We need to get you signed up immediately.”

He was almost afraid to ask. “Signed up for what?”

“Cosmic Mates.”

“What the hekkel is Cosmic Mates?”

“It’s an interplanetary matchmaking service. It pairs Earth women with men needing wives. You can marry a human.”

“You’ve lost your mind. That’s the stupidest idea you’ve ever had. There are so many flaws in that scheme, I can’t begin to count them.”

Falkor remained unfazed. “Hear me out.”

Jaryk folded his arms across his chest. “Marrying a woman I don’t love to avoid marrying another woman I don’t love is not a solution!” He barked a sarcastic laugh.

“But—”

“No but. If Father and Mother were unwilling to accept Charday, a Kaldoran , they’re not going to accept an alien woman from a Podunk planet on the outskirts of nowhere.”

“That’s the whole point!”

He wasn’t making sense. “ Regardless , they’d never give permission for me to marry.”

“They don’t have to. Cosmic Mates performs the marriage ceremony. The marriages are recognized as legal by every planet in the star alliance, of which Kaldor is a member. You will be married, and there will be nothing Father and Mother can do about it.”

“Which would still leave me tied to a wife I don’t want. I may as well marry Alia!”

Falkor’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Except Cosmic Mates marriages have an escape clause. You get to try out your spouse for a year. At the end of the trial period, either spouse can walk away. The union only becomes permanent if you stay together.”

“And how would that help me? It would only delay the inevitable. If I annulled the marriage at the end of a year, I’d still be facing marriage to Alia—not to mention Father’s wrath. He would be apoplectic if I eloped.”

“Or…it would buy you a reprieve! It would signal to Alia, you’re not interested.”

“It would also signal to Charday I’m not interested!”

He was already on shaky ground with her. Two months had passed since he’d seen her. Marriage, even a fake one, would permanently end the relationship. He didn’t want to lose her!

“Not if you explained you were doing it for her.”

“Yeah, because nothing says devotion like jilting the one you love for someone you don’t.”

“You’re not jilting Charday. She dumped you.”

“She didn’t dump me; we agreed to take a break to reconsider our relationship.” Charday had given him an ultimatum: marry her, or she was moving on. Unfortunately, marriage required permission from the king.

“Don’t you understand this is your only chance to marry her?”

He shook his head. “Obviously, I’m not connecting the dots.”

“Father will be so horrified by you marrying a human, Charday will become much more appealing by comparison. He’ll welcome her into the family with open arms.”

“He’d be more apt to kill me.” Their father would never kill him, but he would saddle him with the most tedious royal duties he could devise.

“Gods of Kaldor, I hope not!” Falkor laughed. “If he executed you, I’d be on the hook to marry Alia.”

“Much as you being forced to take responsibility for once in your dissolute life would please me, I must reiterate that your solution will not work. And it wouldn’t be fair to use the human woman like that. Humans have feelings.” He assumed they did. He knew very little about Earthers.

“Everyone who signs up for Cosmic Mates is aware of the provisional terms of the marriages. Look, just give it a try. I’ll coordinate everything. I’ll let the human know what to expect. I have your best interests at heart. You’ll be in good hands. Trust me.”

“Trust you?” He roared with laughter.

“Your mockery wounds me.”

“It’s still a hard no. I’m not joining Cosmic Mates.”