Michael had never felt more contented than when he was sitting with Lucia in his arms after they had finished their meal. They were on the couch watching television. They had been watching the local news station when the international news segment switched to Rhodes. He had wanted to change the channel, but Lucia had stopped him with her arm on his hand.
"Are you sure?" he asked her.
He remembered her telling him that they did not watch Vershian news. But she was not at home, where she had to worry about triggering her parents. She was curious about her birth country.
"Yes, it is a little tense here in the capital city of Rhodes," the news reporter was saying.
"The people are not happy with the way their country is being governed," she said to the camera, "They are saying that things have been declining ever since Prince Dominique was exiled, and they feel their royal family does not care for them."
