When her parents had left for their leisurely afternoon on the sea, Lucia made herself comfortable on the patio and picked out a book to read. She had kicked off her slippers and curled her legs beneath her and her lean torso slightly leaning to the side. She was completely oblivious to the world. In fact, its calm ambience made her more relaxed and easier to sink into her book.
When Prince Michael came outside, that is how he found her. The patio door opening startled her and she looked up. She put her feet on the ground self-consciously and rightened her sundress.
"No need to get up," Prince Michael said as she made to stand up like protocol demanded.
"Thank you, Your Highness," she said hesitantly.
Should I put away my reader and entertain him? She wondered as her gaze darted from the e-reader on her lap to the prince.
"What are you reading?" he asked as he leaned forward.
It was as if he was attempting to read the words written on the lit matte screen. Knowing that there was no way he could read the screen from where he sat, she fought the urge to close the screen. She could not fight the blood rushing to her face and making it red with embarrassment. She was on a rather spicy part of a book. She was not going to bring attention to it. If she acted normal, he would dismiss it as nothing interesting.
"Nothing educational," she said.
Although the way the Scottish hunk bent over his lass is new to me, she thought with an internal smirk.
"Oh?" He noted her beet-red face and darting eyes and smirked.
She blushed even more.
"I never thought you to be the type, Lucia," he said with a knowing chuckle.
"The type?" Lucia asked with a shy smile.
"You know what I mean," the prince said with humour in his eyes.
Lucia kept the smile on her face and said nothing. She did know what he meant but it would take torture to make her admit that.
"Why did you never come back for the holidays?" Prince Michael asked her abruptly.
Lucia was not expecting that question and it showed on her face. How did he know? She never thought she was worth anything beyond a partner in crime when they were hiding away from everyone during social events.
"I got tired of my mother," she told him honestly.
It was no secret how her mother was. It seemed mild to everyone out looking in but even the mild bits were frustrating to her.
"So, you cut off everyone?" he asked her.
"She had started to look in my direction," Lucia looked him in the eye as she said this.
"I was sixteen," her voice was mild but he could see the storm in her dark eyes, "I had spent sixteen years watching the way she treated my sisters."
"I knew how it affected them," her voice trembled a little, "I did not want that for myself. I did not want approval based on who I could convince to marry me."
And she did not want her sister to hate her. Her mother had a target that would surely put a wedge between her and Adela. Not that leaving did anything. She had no relationship with Dela. Her mother had ruined that. She was sure Adela hated her. She did not blame her for that. She felt guilty for that.
"I understand that choice," Prince Michael responded and looked away.
Lucia watched him lose himself in the scenery. His dark eyes looked troubled. She did not dare ask him what he was thinking. If she had not left, if their relationship was like when she had left, he would have told her. She did not know why or how but oddly, they had become each other's shoulders to lean on.
She might not have understood everything he said, but she was always there to listen to him. He listened to her too. There were topics that they stayed away from. She did not talk about everything in her family and neither did he. Some things were for them to suffer alone. Sometimes all they had needed was each other's company and sitting in silence had been enough.
Lucia realised that she was staring at him and she looked down at the screen of her e-reader. The words written there pulled her into the book. She was immediately back to being oblivious to her surroundings. Oblivions to him. But he was not oblivious to her. He did not think he had the ability to be oblivious to her. He could sense her presence in a full room with his eyes closed. And she never took advantage of that. That's what made him comfortable around her.
She did not seek his attention like everyone else in his life did. She just let him be. He felt like he could breathe with her in his space. Even when she was a child, she had always understood what he needed. Now that he thought of it, she had become a friend to him. One that was there when he didn't know he needed. They always strayed into the same spot and helped each other. When her sister had been throwing herself at him, she had been hiding away from the attention being around his family called for. And so, whenever he needed a break, he would always find her.
It was when she had left that he had realised how much he relied on her friendship. She had become someone he unloaded to. He told her things he would never tell anyone else. Not even his parents.
He had looked forward to all the social events where she would be allowed to go. And then she stopped coming. When he had asked, Adela had told him that she had gone away to school. That was a reminder of how young she was. He had thought he would see her during the holidays. But she had never come back not until now.
"I missed you," the words spilt out of his mouth unprompted.
Lucia's eyes jerked up. They were wide with shock.
He what? She wondered with disbelief. Did he say what I think he said?
"You are the one friend I can rely on," he said with a gentle smile.
Lucia felt the disappointment replace the shock. Of course, she was just a friend to him. He was the future king of this kingdom. She was an exiled daughter of an ambitious court lady. She was also the younger sister of a woman who had shamelessly chased him once. She would nourish nothing more than friendship between them. She dared not dream of anything more between them.