• “Good morning, did you have a nice night with the princess?” Dmitri asked, seeming excited.

    Lucas’ eyes turned cold. “What are you doing here?” Lucas asked coldly.

    “Questions questions questions, always asking questions. Look Lucas, I’m just here for an update. What did the Princess say when you got back from protecting the kingdom? How is she? Has she chosen that Prince to be her one and only or she still breaking the rules with you?” Dmitri said coldly, walking toward Lucas.

    Lucas stepped away. “Look Dmitri, I haven’t said anything to her yet about anything. Give me time,” Lucas said, preoccupying himself with fixing his bed.

    Dmitri scowled. “I’m afraid time isn’t exactly on your side right now Lucas. You may still have 11months and a few weeks but you know what they say, time flies when your having fun,” and with a cunning smile on his face, Dmitri disappeared in a puff of silver smoke. Lucas grumbled and went down to have breakfast.

    Lorien, on the other hand, was still in bed. Mrs. Coldwell was trying hard to wake the Princess up.

    “Lorien, please. Your mother is sure to suspect something if you are late to breakfast. Lorien!” Mrs. Coldwell was getting frustrated but Lorien didn’t want to wake up. She was too tired after her night with Lucas and it was too warm in her bed.

    “Is everything alright Mrs. Coldwell?” a soft smooth voice called from the doorway of Lorien’s bedroom.

    “Oh, your Royal Highness Prince Samuel, I apologize if this is disturbing you. Her Royal Highness Princess Lorien won’t wake and I don’t want her to be late to breakfast. Her Royal Majesty Queen Lucia is never happy when the Princess is late and I don’t want to be held responsible like I always am,” Mrs. Coldwell said softly.

    “Would you like me to inform Her Royal Majesty that the Princess is going to be late due to a few problems then Mrs. Coldwell? I’ll make sure that you don’t get the blame this time then,” Samuel said and chuckled.

    “Thank you Your Highness, that would be very much obliged,” Mrs. Coldwell whispered back as the Prince left the bedroom.

    Lorien shot up from her bed and sat.

    “He’s such a nice boy isn’t he?” Mrs. Coldwell said admiringly.

    Lorien sighed. “Yes, he is, but he’s not very convincing,” Lorien said sternly.

    Mrs. Coldwell shot her a stern look and Lorien smiled at her innocently. The old lady sighed and helped fix the Princess up.

    When Lorien went downstairs for breakfast, she was expecting a disappointed look from her mother. Instead, Queen Lucia turned around and greeted her daughter and Mrs. Coldwell cheerfully. Lorien looked at Samuel, puzzled, but he continued to eat with a smile on his face.

    Breakfast was very quiet apart from Queen Lucia and Prince Samuel conversing. Lorien added in a few questions when she was signaled by her mother. Questions like whether Translutia was a large kingdom or questions about his family. Samuel had one younger brother named Filip and one younger sister named Eve. This raised a few more questions from Queen Lucia. After a long conversation about royalty and power, breakfast was over and Lorien felt relief, but not for very long.

    “Lorien, Prince Samuel would very much like it if you showed him around the palace. We don’t want His Royal Highness losing his way do we now?” Queen Lucia said kindly with a smile.

    Lorien painted on a smile and nodded her head.

    It spent the whole morning showing Samuel the gardens on the castle grounds and the whole afternoon showing Samuel the inside of the castle. He was a big art lover and whenever they came across a painting, Samuel would stand admiring it for a few minutes. After that, he would find something wrong about it. Lorien waited patiently with a smile, as frustrated as she was.

    When they came to a portrait of the Royal family, Samuel stopped again to admire it.

    “Ah, now there is nothing wrong with this painting,” Samuel said smiling.

    “Of course there is, I’m in it,” Lorien said and they both started laughing. Lorien began to feel more comfortable with Samuel while they were walking around the grounds. They continued walking again after they had stopped laughing.

    “I’d been meaning to ask you, what did you say to mother this morning? What excuse did you use about me being late to breakfast?” Lorien asked.

    Samuel chuckled, “So you were awake when I was talking to Mrs. Coldwell,” Samuel said laughing. Lorien smiled at him shyly. “I just told Queen Lucia that you were having trouble with what to wear and that Mrs. Coldwell was helping you. I also told her not to worry, you were in the middle of putting your corset on when I was leaving.” Samuel laughed.

    “And she believed you?” Lorien asked surprised. Samuel nodded and chuckled at Lorien’s face. They spent a moment laughing and continued walking again.

    “Now I have a debt to pay to you,” Lorien said as she walked.

    Samuel smiled at the comment. “No Princess, consider it a favour.” Samuel said and smiled at Lorien.

    Lorien smiled back. “Well then, thank you for the favour.”

    As Queen Lucia sat by her window, she caught sight of her daughter and Prince Samuel smiling at eachother. She smiled to herself.

    “Aren’t they a beautiful couple Lucas,” Queen Lucia said, turning her head to face the soldier who had come to see her that morning.

    Lucas stood by the window and looked at Lorien. “Yes, they are,” Lucas said quietly. The Queen smiled and sipped her tea that Mrs. Potts had poured for her.

    They are, Lucas thought to himself, trying to hide the despair from his face.