Dancing
Such a lovely promise, although undoubtably empty. While the prince was free in some sense of the word, he held great responsibilities. He was also second in command only, which meant that his father could distribute his time as he saw fit and there was not a single thing the poor prince could do about it.
Evie knew better than to comment on this and only smiled, feeling her heart beat faster as he took one step closer to her. The distance between them slowly but surely evaporated.
She pushed her cheek against the palm of his hand, parting her lips ever so slightly only to allow his thumb the access it appeared to seek.
“Too long.” She said, neglecting to mention how every second without him felt like an eternity and so, the wait was excruciating be it one minute or one hour.
A kiss. How wonderful that would have been. Not to mention how it would have pleased her dear old father who wanted nothing more than for his daughter to marry the future king and give him many, many sons.
“Kissing you would have given me immense pleasure, my prince.” Evie admitted and took another step closer to him. One more and their bodies would touch, a notion which, like the kiss, also brought her immense pleasure.
“But, you see, I have many suitors.” A daughter of Lucian Romano would have suitors lining up to ask for her hand no matter how she looked, but few men would agree to marry a defiled woman, no matter her last name.
“I do not believe that they would approve of me kissing the prince.”
Luca pitied the queen. It was obvious to all that the king did not necessarily love her and thus far she had failed to give him heirs. Why the king felt such a strong urge to sire more children, Luca did not know. His son was a grown man, healthy and sturdy, to say the least. He would soon father children of his own and once grandchildren had been produced; the dynasty was secured.
Luca was lucky to have a father who did not press such matters. A father who was not obsessed with having children and grandchildren. He had settled with one boy and two girls and had not shown any interest in having more. Luca liked to think that it was because Andy had turned out to be such a disaster that Lucian didn’t want another one with the risk of it turning out like her.
“I see.” He smiled and noticed his father laughing, which he rarely did.
“Not to worry, Your Highness. Few women can.” Lucian Romano said and glanced towards the dance floor. “Speaking of. Luca, what is your sister doing?”
“Dancing, father.” Luca answered him wearily. “With a lord.”
His father looked annoyed at this and Luca knew why. Because Andy was supposed to catch the interest of the king, not some stuck-up lord. Nevertheless, Luca had to come to his sister’s defense in this particular regard. After all, she was merely dancing with that man to coax jealousy out of the old king.
“You know how she is.” He continued. “One man can’t keep her interest for long.”
He hoped that his words would serve as a challenge for the king but since he did not want to make his intentions too obvious, he turned to the queen once more.
“I do hope that my father isn’t boring you too much. His talk of politics and economics never end, I’m afraid.” He said, joking a bit to lighten the mood.
