Tezznin slowly descended the stairs, cladded in the coral dress her father had bought for her. Her hands clutched the sides of the dress as she made her way to the dining hall wondering what was going on. As she stepped into the room, her heart dropped at the sight of a fine gentleman seated with her father and her brother and deeply engrossed in a conversation. Their laughter echoed in the room. Her gaze was fixed on the man and in her mind she wondered, what was he doing here? The lines on her forehead engraved deeply. The man's gaze fell on her and flashed a smile her way. Tezznin gulped and looked at her father questioningly.
Vincent upon seeing his daughter come in gestured for her to come sit beside him. The girl obediently did as she was told. A million questions running through her mind a she sat there quietly with her eyes settled on the plate before her. She wondered what her parent were up to- bringing this man here into their house.
"Tezznin, I'm glad you are here. This is Prince Balam. He's come a long way just to honor today's occasion." Vincent announced. Tezznin's gaze travelled from the plate to the Prince seated opposite her and nodded thoughtfully at him.
"You look ravishing Tezznin." A blush crept its way to her cheeks and she bowed her head shyly and said, "Thank you…" She trailed off now registering her father's words. Prince Balam? She whispered to herself with a frown. Just then, Gaia walked in with a tray of grilled chicken, beaming from ear to ear. Once settled, her gaze settled on her daughter, where she took a critical look at the girl.
"Isn't she looking adorable?" She asked wearing a wide smile over face. Both Vincent and Prince Balam nodded in agreement. Tezznin could not help but feel something strange in the pit of her stomach. She was sure her parent were up to something, and this beautiful creature sitting just before her only added to her doubts. She observed as her mother threw strange glances and eye gestures her father's way. It was as though she was silently urging the man to do something. Vincent nodded lightly and turned to the Prince.
"So Prince Balam, why don't you tell us a little something about yourself while my wife here serves us. You know, not everyone on this table know exactly who you are." The laughter from the trio echoed in the room, leaving both Tezznin and Kyle staring blankly at the prince and their parent. The prince turned to Tezznin with a light chuckle over his face.
"Well, as your father introduced, I'm Prince Balam Mammon, son of the great king Mehmed and Queen Mirena. I come from a very ancient royal family that is the third largest in all the other kingdoms. I have a great affinity for music and currently run my father's import and export business." The Prince explained, taking a light sip from a glass of juice.
"Oh interesting." Gaia exclaimed.
"What other things do you do aside running your father's business?" Vincent questioned while Gaia served his plate with some chicken.
"Well, actually being a prince itself comes with tones of responsibilities, especially being a crown prince. I mostly handle the security affairs of our kingdom, plan out strategies and help my father in forming new and strong allies."
"So you have been in a war before?" Tezznin suddenly blurted. Both her father and mother turned to her with a strange look over their faces but the girl only ignored their piercing glares and gestured for the prince to say something. The prince smiled at her and nodded.
"Yes, I have and it's not exactly the best things to be involved in, but I can't say I won't perform my duties. What leader would I be then?" Tezznin's large eyes widened and blinked several times.
"What about you? What do you like doing?" Tezznin's gaze fell on her mother whom only urged her to speak up with an assuring smile that was nothing like the glare she shot her a while ago. The girl shrugged and turned to the prince.
"I mostly enjoy singing. It's my way of letting my emotions loose."
"I see. I would love to hear you though. I trust you have an angelic voice." Gaia instantly burst out with a suggestion.
"My prince why don't Tezznin here sing for us during your next visit?" Gaia beamed; certainly pleased with herself for what she thought was a brilliant idea. Tezznin glared hard at the woman and face palmed in embarrassment. She peeked from the spaces between her fingers covering her eyes and wondered what her mother was up to. It felt to her that the woman wanted to impress the prince. Tezznin dropped her hands and stared from the corners of her eyes at the beautiful creature seated opposite her and thought of how embarrassing it would be for her to sing to a demi god like him. Well, she was sure he had been to a number of formal gatherings judging from his background and had probably heard what she thought of as real talent. What the hell. She, sing? Her voice was nothing special anyway. She shrugged and leaned back into her seat.
Not long after, the driver from earlier walked into the dining room with a crate of eggs in hand. All eyes fell on him. The prince suddenly spoke, breaking the silence that had ensued just now.
"Oh Blake here had a small accident with your beautiful daughter and broke the eggs she bought so he's just replacing them." Gaia grinned at everyone in the room and gestured for the driver to send the carte to the kitchen.
"Oh no worries my boy. It's fine. Vincent, don't you see his highness here is such a sweet heart." She turned to her husband with a wide smile over her face. Vincent nodded.
"He sure is." Tezznin could not help but frown at her parent and everything that was going on in the room. It was as if her mother had suddenly changed overnight. Was it because they had a prince in their mist? Why was she acting so weirdly? She wondered.
….
After the meal, Prince Balam had walked up to Tezznin and requested of her to walk with him in their garden. She hesitantly agreed, knowing fully well her mother would not let her ears rest if she said no. She rolled her eyes at the thought and took his hand that was stretched out to her. In the garden, the girl could not help but settle her gaze to the ground with a dozen thoughts swirling about in her mind. First, she never knew her parent had any relations with anyone from a royal family and now this sinfully alluring creature shows up at breakfast with them. She was walking side by side with a prince and he acted so casually around her as if it was normal. It is not every day you wake up and suddenly become friends with royalties and this…. And her mind was thinking over board now. She shrugged at how mentally paranoid she was being right now. It was not like the prince was planning anything evil against her, was he? They were just having a casual friendly walk. Nothing serious to be worried about. Relax Girl. She whispered to herself but her shoulders felt rigid at how tensed she was.
Prince Balam could not help but listen the girl's thought. He had wanted to know what she was thinking as they made their way to the garden. He could sense her tension and could hear the loud beating of her heart. He wondered if she was afraid of him and thought to listen to her thoughts. He chuckled to himself and halted. "Tezznin." He called, jolting the girl from her train of thoughts.
"You seem lost. Care to share with me what's occupying your mind?" Tezznin turned to him with a light smile.
"I kind of find this overwhelming." She spoke softly and peeled her gaze from him. The prince smiled.
"Is it because I'm a prince?" He raised a brow.
"Sort of. I mean it's not every day you wake up to find someone like you in your dining room."
"Suppose I was just an ordinary guy, what would you have thought?" Tezznin thought for a while at Balam's words and suddenly felt silly at her initial thoughts. She shrugged.
"See, so you could think of me as such and maybe we could be friends." He grinned.
"Friends?"
"Yes. Is there anything wrong with it?" Prince Balam questioned, pretending to be oblivious of the girl's thought.
"You are a prince."
"I don't see why that is a problem." Balam smirked and stared at the sunflower growing a few steps away from where they stood. His gaze fell back on her.
"I guess I don't have a say. You are the prince after all, so you make the rules." The girl shrugged.
"Oh really?" The prince chuckled. "You look very much adorable with that look on your face, you know."
"You are enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Tezznin pouted and settled her gaze on the lawn with folded arms.
"Of course."
Silence reigned shortly after that. Tezznin looked up at the Prince and observed his features critically. She then wore a serious look. "Can I ask you a question?" Balam stared down at her with a quizzical look and nodded.
"Are you from some sort of a different planet?" The prince had already heard her thoughts and knew of what she had wanted to ask him, but hearing her asked him that question with that soft voice of hers made it very funny to him. He burst into laughter. The girl stared blankly at him and as she watched him laugh out his chest at her, she suddenly felt stupid for asking such a question. This god of beauty must certainly think of her as silly. She wanted to suddenly disappear to anywhere but here.
"Tezznin." Balam continued to laugh. "As far as I know, I'm from the same planet as you." The prince upon noticing her expression cleared his throat trying to control himself. "My apologies Tezznin. Well, where I come from we are all very…" He struggled for the right word. "Unique." He added and smiled fondly at her. Tezznin only nodded and requested to go back inside, to which the prince agreed and walked back inside with her.