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Ezra was distracted from looking all over his massive room by a knock on the door. “Mr. Bridger,” a servant spoke from the hallway, “Her Majesty is ready to see you.”
“Be right out!” he called back, running over to the mirror to take one last look at himself. The outfit they had provided for him was far more extravagant than anything he had worn before, and a part of him wondered how much it must be worth. Sabine must have been the one to pick it out, since the suit was a dark navy with orange detailing.
She had really put thought into this little con of theirs. When he had originally agreed to pose as her boyfriend for a “family event”, he had thought it would be simply showing up at a barbecue and holding her hand. Now, it felt that every minute that passed gave another piece of evidence that this was a far greater plot than he had first assumed. From the private jet he flew over in, to the note Sabine had given him that revealed she was a fucking princess and gave him a few instructions about how to act, both because of their plan and because he was meeting the Queen of Krownest, everything was saying that maybe he was in too deep.
Eh, too late to back out now.
After giving his hair a final brush and spitting out the gum that hopefully improved his breath, he exited to the hallway. Kanan and Hera were already out of their room, dressed up in a similar fashion to Ezra. They looked far more natural in formal wear; Hera even looked comfortable in the emerald gown that Kanan was definitely appreciating. Meanwhile, Ezra felt like a small child wearing itchy clothes from Kohl’s on Christmas.
“Are you all ready to depart?” the servant asked, directing the question at an unprepared Ezra.
“Uh,” he glanced at his parents, who gave encouraging nods, “yeah, we’re ready.”
The servant nodded. “Follow me then.”
The trio was led through several decadent hallways, all adorned with the same icy blue as the rest of the palace. It seemed like an absolute maze, and any ideas he had about sneaking to wherever Sabine’s room was were tossed away in favor of not getting lost.
They eventually arrived at a large set of doors with two guards, and Ezra gathered that this must be the throne room. With little pomp, the dual wooden doors were opened and their guide motioned them forwards.
The throne room was impressive; a rather large room with half of the walls being entirely glass. The window Ezra was facing overlooked the lake he noticed while arriving, with snow covered mountains in the background. When they proceeded further, the wall they came from revealed a dais, complete with a throne and painting on the wall behind it.
Ezra’s first instinct when he saw the painting was that it was of Sabine. Closer inspection revealed that the portrait’s subject was older than Sabine, had a different nose, and lacked any of her normal flair. But good Lord, if those weren’t the exact eyes he had fallen for a little more every time they looked into his.
It only took a second for the rest of the situation to click into place and realize the woman in the painting was, in fact, Sabine’s mother. She was also seated on the throne in front of them, surrounded by three others and looking rather unimpressed with their guests.
“Your Majesty, I present Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla,” the attendant announced, and Ezra followed his parents' examples and bowed. When he looked back up, the realization of exactly who was there as well crashed over him.
“Sabine?”
She looked almost unrecognizable from the last time he saw her. The yellow gown she wore fit her figure perfectly, dark brown curls fell loosely to nearly her waist, and her usual bold makeup was replaced with a softer look. It felt so wrong, like she wasn’t even herself. Like she was missing half of what made Sabine Sabine. The way she held herself felt forced; obviously she had practiced this exact pose for hours, perfecting it by dawning a mask.
“Ezra.” A real smile cracked through the mask as she walked down to meet him. “It’s so good to see you.” Both of her hands grabbed his, and before he could register anything she gave his cheek a soft kiss. As his brain was desperately trying reboot, she whispered in his ear, “Don’t you dare fuck this up.”
Right. The whole fake dating thing. He could do this.
“It’s good to see you too,” he spoke with every ounce of emotion he felt. She rubbed at his knuckles with a gloved hand, and for a moment the rest of the throne room disappeared as he stared into the golden irises that were the same beauty as always.
“So,” the Queen interrupted their moment, “you are the boy who has managed to win over my daughter?”
He nodded. “And you are the mother of the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
So, flattery it was.
“Hm.” She raised an eyebrow. “What exactly makes you think you are worthy of dating my daughter?”
Sabine glared at her mom, but Ezra squeezed her hand to silently tell her he had this handled. “Nothing, Your Majesty. Our relationship has nothing to do with my worth and everything to do with Sabine’s choice.”
Some of the servants audibly gasped, Kanan and Hera both tensed, and the two men on the dais shot each other a glance. The Queen simply smirked. “Good answer. Perhaps my daughter does have good judgement.”
“Buir,” Sabine hissed.
“K’olar,” her mother responded with firmness.
Sabine rolled her eyes and gave Ezra one last smile before returning to her previous position. She briefly shared a look with who was presumably her brother, who gave her an eyebrow raise accompanied by a smirk.
“Ezra,” her mother returned to a benevolent smile, “I must ask. Is your family prominent in any way? Money, land, title?”
“No ma’am.” He swallowed, trying to not disappoint Sabine. “I don’t know if your daughter told you, but my parents died when I was seven. They just had enough to support us. And now, I have Kanan, and maybe Hera, and they don’t have anything like that.”
The Queen seemed to smirk knowingly at Ezra’s parents, but because of what he had no clue. “Of course. We abolished the title requirements just before I was born, and I personally find no quarrel with your financial standing. Though, the suitors I was considering for Sabine were all more robust in that department.”
“Suitors?” He frowned, finding it a little uncomfortable that someone who was barely a legal adult would have multiple marriage offers.
“A hundred years ago, it was customary for Krownest’s heirs to be betrothed to a suitor of the parent’s choosing by the time they came of age,” she explained, and Ezra felt his stomach drop a little. “Nowadays, of course, our parliament is content if the heir is actively courting once they turn eighteen. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to choose someone for my daughter, and she managed to fulfill the requirement all on her own. None too soon, considering you began dating less than a month before her birthday.”
“I guess it’s meant to be?” He shrugged, trying to keep how freaked out he was on the down low. Sabine’s reasoning for their little con was now very apparent, and he could hardly blame her. If his heart had to break a little to give her freedom, then he would just have to suffer through it.
“I at least hope so,” the Queen commented. “We’ll have to see what the rest of the government thinks.”
“Uh,” Ezra’s brows furrowed, “am I going to be presented to them or something?”
This time, it was Sabine’s dad who spoke. “Did Sabine not tell you why we flew you in?”
“Uh, she just said it was a family event she wanted me to attend. I agreed because she sounded like she really needed me to come,” he answered honestly. “It was also a good excuse to see her.”
The Queen chuckled, and Ezra suddenly got the feeling that he was in over his head. “That’s certainly one way to put it. Next Saturday is our annual ball to celebrate our country’s formation, which means all our officials and high profile figures will be in attendance. For that reason, it is typically where the heir to the kingdom debuts any serious relationship.”
“Oh,” he breathed, everything clicking at once. “Um, I’m only sixteen and we’ve only been dating for a few months, so I’m not sure it can be that serious. And I don’t have any clue how to act at a ball–”
“We’ll spend this week preparing you,” Mr. Wren reassured. “An etiquette crash course, dancing lessons, and fittings have already been arranged.”
Ezra couldn’t get out a response before the Queen added, “Simply asking a princess to be your girlfriend makes it a serious relationship.”
“Right,” he slowly nodded, thinking about the fact that it was actually Sabine who started this whole thing, “I did do that.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you having second thoughts?”
His gaze drifted to Sabine, who was biting a pink glossed lip. Her eyes pleaded with him, something akin to fear hidden within them. “No Your Majesty," he spoke with conviction. “I’ll go to this ball, for Sabine.” He gave her a reassuring smile, at the hope that graced her expression landed right in his chest. “I think I’d do just about anything for her.”