Josephine looked over the table at her third child with satisfaction. Caroline had done it. She had secured her future. Now if she could get the other two girls to cooperate before she set her sights on Leroy. She looked in the direction of her youngest girl and saw that she had her head bowed and her gaze firmly on her plate. Josephine also noted that the Crown Prince of Vershia was next to her and kept glancing at her. Her brow furrowed as she noticed that Adela her oldest daughter kept shooting looks at the Crown Prince and Lucia.
One of those girls would become the Crown Princess of Vershia. She would keep an eye on them to make sure that no part of this battle would give their family a bad name. She did not think that there would be a lot of bloodshed. Adela had always been calmer and Lucia had always been good at keeping her composure. She was sure one of her daughters had a fair chance.
Lucia, she thought to herself as the Crown Prince glanced in the girl's direction one more time.
Lucia had always had a way of unintentionally drawing Prince Michael to her side. She had a greater chance of being the Crown Princess.
"What are you thinking about?" Dominique asked his wife and she snapped out of her thoughts.
"I'm just happy," Josephine said as she turned her gaze to her husband and beamed.
"It's good to have them all in one place," Dominique said with a soft smile as he looked at his children.
They had grown up fast. It was not the life he had not imagined for them but it was a good life. They were responsible and intelligent young people. Even Caroline, who liked to pretend that she had cotton fluff for a brain.
He looked over to his youngest and saw that she was trying to be invisible. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his oldest child and only son, Leroy was with her. She was the quietest of his children and the least demanding. She was also the most observant.
As if sensing his scrutiny, Lucia lifted her head and looked in his direction. She smiled at him when their eyes met. Of all his children, she had the sweetest and purest smiles. That smile reminded him of his mother. It reminded him of home. Sadness filled him as he remembered that he could never go back. It was no longer home. He had been banished. Exiled like a common criminal.
"What is it, Mique?" his wife's voice chased the smoke of sadness away.
"Nothing," he said and then glanced at Lucia, "She looks more and more like my mother."
"Queen Dominga was a remarkable woman," Josephine said softly.
She had admired the woman for as long as she had known her. It was Queen Dominga's memory that had kept them from being imprisoned or killed. Josephine had no love for the Royal family of Rhodes but she respected the late Queen Dominga.
Dominique nodded and went back to his food. He glanced one last time to his daughter who had her head bent over her food.
She was avoiding her sister's gaze. She was not comfortable with the way that Adela kept looking at her from across the table. She did not feel that her heart could handle looking at Prince Michael in the eye when he was sitting right next to her so she avoided him too. All she had left was Leroy who was sitting conveniently on her other side. She had to look away from Prince Michael to look at him. But they did not have much to talk about. Nothing that their parents would allow on the dinner table though.
"What are the plans for tomorrow?" Leroy asked.
"I'm staying in," Lucia told him.
"It's going to rain tomorrow," Adela informed the table, "So I will stay in too."
"We can have a day of board games!" Caroline suggested with glee.
"I'm in!" Leroy spoke as he used a fork to point at his sister.
"Manners, Lee!" Lucia hissed from the corner of her mouth.
She had noticed that their mother was glaring at him. It was bad manners to use the cutlery to point or gesture at anyone. If it wasn't moving from the plate to the mouth and back, it should not be in your hand. Those were Josephine's rules.
"What about you, Lucy?" Caroline asked.
"I will join," Lucia decided.
She liked playing board games with her siblings. She looked at Adela hopefully wondering if she should ask her.
"What about you, Dela?" Caroline saved Lucia from asking.
Adela looked like she was thinking about it and then shook her head.
"No thank you," she said slowly, "I have work to do."
"You have to join us, Alex," Caroline told her husband-to-be, "It'll be fun."
"I have been known to be very good at scrabble," Prince Alexander said with a smirk.
The Crown Prince snorted and Prince Alexander narrowed his eyes at him.
"You cheat," Prince Michael informed the room.
Lucia bit back a giggle. Caroline grinned and peered at her fiancé.
"You cheat?" she asked with a grin.
"You sound delighted," Adela accused with a playful glare.
Lucia bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop herself from grinning.
"You cheat too," Leroy said drily, "That's why you're so pleased."
Lucia dared not put food in her mouth for fear of choking.
"I do not!" Caroline defended herself, "You are just a bad loser!"
"I would never lose if you didn't resort to cheating," Leroy told her, "Maybe with Prince Alexander around, you might be motivated to not cheat."
"Or they will become the ultimate cheating duo," Prince Michael said with a grin and Lucia let the giggle out.
"Are you joining us, Mike?" Prince Alexander asked his older brother.
"I will be there," Prince Michael surprised Lucia by saying.
Didn't the Crown Prince have better things to do than play board games with her family? She did not voice or show her surprise. The man was deserving of a moment of carefreeness. He spent a lot of time being stiff and adhering to protocol. She realised that she was looking forward to seeing him with his hair down.
"Good," Prince Alexander had a competitive smile on his face, "I can't wait to wipe the floor with you."
Lucia saw the stern look her mother tried to wipe from her face and let out an involuntary giggle. Prince Michael looked at her with a smile on his face. This was the happiest he'd seen her since he'd arrived at the holiday house. His smile dissolved as he realised how beautiful she looked. She'd always been beautiful but her smile was like the sun coming out after a long winter. She turned her head and her smile died. An uncertain look entered her eyes and she turned her head away from him.
Across from the table, Adela felt like she had been stabbed. She knew that look in Prince Michael's eyes. He was taken with Lucia. She had come back and, in a few days, he was under her spell again. She hated that Lucia had that effect on him. She hated Lucia for having that effect on him. And she felt like the biggest villain for hating her little sister for something that was not under her control.