Regal Games

Lucia took her seat at the dinner table and smiled at Caroline who was next to her. She looked up as Prince Michael took the chair opposite her. He drew back the chair and slid into it. When he pushed himself in, he glanced up and their eyes met. He smiled at her and she smiled back before looking away. Why did he have to look at her at that moment? Why had she been looking at him? What if he thought she staring? How embarrassing.

Her gaze landed on her mother who was being helped into her seat by their father. She watched as her mother settled in and then looked into her husband gratefully. He in response bent down and kissed her cheek, whispered something as per their tradition and then went off to sit opposite her. Lucia realised she was smiling.

Despite her mother's faults, Lucia looked up to the relationship she had with her father. She hoped she could match it or be better. They loved each other. It was obvious to anyone who saw them.

Her gaze flickered to Prince Michael and their gazes met again. She gave him a small smile and transferred her gaze to the surface of the table in front of her. Was he looking at her? That was impossible.

She looked down at her lap. She was not looking for a fairytale. She knew those were rare. She just wanted someone who would adore her as her father adored her mother. She wanted someone she could love like her mother loved her father. Someone who could stand by her come what may. Like her parents had done through their hardships. Her mother had not considered leaving her father when he had gotten exiled. She had always loved him. She never blamed him and had always been his fiercest defender.

Lucia wished her mother had that kind of passion for all of her daughters. She wished that her love for her children was not measured by the husbands and connections they could bring to the table. She wished that her mother loved them all equally. She wished her mother saw her as a person.

A maid placed a plate in front of her and effectively snapped back into reality. She smiled up at the young woman in thanks and then waited a beat before picking up her utensils. She looked down at her plate and fought down a grimace. She hated grilled potatoes. She let out the smallest of sighs and dug in.

"So, Alex," her mother said to her future son-in-law, "What have you planned for the honeymoon? Where are you two going?"

"I am keeping it a surprise for now," Prince Alex said with a smile towards Caroline.

Lucia looked at him and then at Caroline. They were smiling at each other. A little heat in their gazes. She looked back down at her plate.

"I hope it's somewhere you will both love," Lucia heard her mother say, "But it does not really matter, does it?"

"As long as Line is with me," Prince Alex responded, "It does not."

Lucia looked at her sister whose gaze had turned passionate and was locked on her future husband. It was no secret what Prince Alex and her sister planned to do. Did they have to talk about it at the dinner table with their parents in attendance though? Was she being a prude by being shy right now? Was this the consequence of being single or was it just she did not want to know about her sister's life behind the bedroom doors?

Her gaze unconsciously lifted to Prince Michael. He was looking at the couple. His gaze shifted to hers and their eyes locked on each other. His lips twitched and then he looked down at his plate. Lucia lowered her gaze to her plate too. Why was she looking at him as much as she was?

"Where did you and dad go, mum?" Caroline asked her mother after a brief moment of verbal silence.

Lucia intently listened while she dispassionately sliced into a potato. This part would be about before they were exiled. Anything before they were exiled was usually a sore topic for both her parents so she never asked.

"We toured the world," Lucia heard her mother say.

There was a dreamy and wistful note in her voice.

"Your father anticipated that he would be too busy to take me anywhere after marriage. We had forty-five days of moving from country to country. It was beautiful."

"That sounds lovely," Caroline sighed.

Lucia thought it would be exhausting. She preferred to be in one place and not have to move around. Just being alone and in solitude was relaxing enough. Wasn't a honeymoon a time for them to bond without the stresses of everyday life? Then again, she was not her sister. Caroline liked to be out with the people. She loved constant human interaction. She would die of misery if she was isolated.

"It was," Josephine replied.

Lucia was reminded that of all of them, Caroline was the most like their mother.

"It was exhausting too," their father chipped, "We almost lost our luggage more than once."

Lucia smiled in amusement.

"That too with all the help," Josephine sighed.

"I hope nothing like that happens to us," Caroline had a brief hint of worry in her voice.

"Don't worry," Prince Alex comforted his fiancée with a gentle smile, "I have the honeymoon sorted. You just have to deal with the wedding remember?"

Lucia looked up to note that he was smiling at Caroline with reassurance. She smiled at that and went back to her food.

"Yes," Caroline said gratefully.

"By the way," she turned her head to her future bother-in-law, "Michael, you have to go to the tux fitting in the next weeks. When are you free?"

"I will have my PA forward you my schedule and you can slot it in," Prince Michael told the future Princess.

"Okay," Caroline then turned to Lucia, "You are coming with me to the dress fitting next Friday. Do not make plans for that day."

Lucia wondered what plans she could possibly make. She had just gotten home and had no friends in this country.

"I'll be there," she told her sister indulgingly.

"This sounds a lot like business at the dinner table," Lucia's father noted, "No wedding talk at the dinner table."

"Agreed," Lucia responded with uncapped enthusiasm and she felt her sister kick her under the table.

"Ow," she voiced as she glared at her sister who did not spare her a glance but deliberately put a forkful of Potatoes into her mouth.

"What about taking the boat out to the sea tomorrow?" her father proposed.

"The yacht?" Caroline's voice held some excitement.

"The one," her father agreed.

"That sounds lovely," Josephine said then turned to the princes, "You boys can fish and we ladies can enjoy the breeze. What do you think?"

"I think that would be good," Prince Alex responded as he put down his utensils.

"Good," Josephine's voice was awash with pleasure, "We are going sailing tomorrow."

"I can get my tan on," Caroline said and then inspected her sister as she put down her utensils.

"Try not to burn, please," was eyeballing Lucia's pale skin, "Lobster skin would not look good with the dress."

"I am not going," Lucia responded as she put her fork down, "I will stay here. I might even dent my reading list."

She got terrible motion sickness and did not want to spend the better part of her day bent over a toilet bowl and losing the contents of her stomach.

"Are you sure?" Josephine asked her daughter with a concerned frown.

"Yes," Lucia said with determination.

She did not want to be on that boat. She would not subject herself to that blend of misery.

"I have work to do," Prince Michael said and everyone looked at him, "So I will stay too."

He then looked at Lucia and added, "If you don't mind."

"I…" Lucia was taken aback, "That would be fine."

Why would I mind? She wondered with a slight frown as maids walked in and began collecting their plates.

Her confusion was clear in her eyes.

Prince Michael smiled at her and said, "Great. I have some calls to make. Please excuse me."

He got up and left the table. Lucia found her eyes following him until he was out of sight. She forced her gaze away from him and onto her lap.

You're not a teenager anymore, she told herself. You cannot go back to having a crush on him. You're older, so be wiser.