“You going to see Tati now?” he asked, the room gaining a much more casual air now the meeting was officially ended.
“I had been planning on it, but given the time I thought she might prefer me to go to my own bed.”
Max smiled fondly. “If you don’t know that is exactly the opposite of what she’d want, then maybe I should renege my blessing.”
I chuckled. “Not that you gave it, but yes I do know that. She would no doubt tell me to stop being thoughtful to the detriment of what people actually want.”
Max grinned at me. “Less eloquently, but yes she would.” He paused, the humour being replaced by a more serious glance. “You know you have it, Mitya,” he said softly. “My blessing or my permission or whatever else you might want or need.”
“Thank you, Uncle Max. That means a lot.”
He nodded. “I just wish I’d even known it was a possibility.”
“I don’t think Tati or I even knew it was a possibility until the last minute.”
“I don’t doubt that. I saw your Good Morning Show interview.” He shook his head. “I never thought my little girl would be in a position to consider what the whole of Gallyr thought of her and it actually matter.”
“She did well, no?”
We shared a smile as Max nodded. “It’s like she was born to this life. Lia has the bearing, but Tati…” He tapped the side of his head. “She has the mind and the confidence.”
“Natalia is perfect in her own way, Max.”
Max sighed. “She is. I thought, having her here for a few years by herself, she’d step into the light more. You know, she’d feel less in Tati’s shadow and be more outgoing, more assertive.”
“She is like me. Her politeness errs on the side of caution and often comes across the wrong way.”
“Well, when you put it like that. I hadn’t though of it that way, actually.”
“She has seemed more outgoing since Tati arrived.”
“She has. I’m starting to wonder if it was the wrong choice to split them up. Annie, of course, tells me to stop worrying and that they’re fine.”
“She’s wise. Every parent second guesses their actions. Just because, years later, you think another way might have been better, doesn’t mean you didn’t make the right choice with the right intentions at the time.”
“You’re not even a parent. What would you know?” Max teased.
I grinned. “I see many parallels between ruling a nation and parenting. The nuances are just a little different.”
“Just a little.” Max laughed. “If Tati’s awake, say hi to her for me.”
I nodded. “I will.”
Max left me to go and talk to my father, who was still talking with Arnell. I nodded to them both, picked up my folders and headed out.
“Good meeting, sir?” Samson asked, taking the folders off me as he met me at the door.
“Good is relative, is it not, Samson?”
“I believe that’s the general feel, sir. Yes. Would you say it was relatively good or relatively bad?”
As we walked back to our offices, I undid my tie. “I’d award us a small victory in the grand scheme of things.”
“But not on the Bronkala front, I gather.”
“Or on the wedding front, if I’m honest.”
“Really? How so?” he asked as he held the door to his office open for me
“Half the council have taken after Mother, only with slightly less maternal excitement, and want all the plans finalised last week. And the other half keep reminding me they want to placate mine and Lady Tatiana’s wishes but are just not sure they’ll be able to.”
“I’m not surprised nothing was settled on the Bronkala issue then.”
I nodded as he put the folders down on my desk and I threw my tie down. “Whoever thought men don’t gossip as well as women clearly hasn’t been paying attention.” I stretched my neck. “What does tomorrow look like?”
“Not too busy, sir. A meeting with Arnell in the morning although as per the request we’ve scheduled Prince Dominic in before that so it will be one of your earlier starts.”
“I thought my afternoon was free for him?”
“Ah, not so much now, sir.”
I nodded. “All right. I’m going to see if Lady Tatiana is still awake. If I’m not in my suite in the morning, it means I fell asleep.”
“Shall I bring you a change to her room then?”
I shook my head. “No. She’ll sleep better if I change in mine. Just give me a call if I oversleep.”
Samson nodded. “Very good, will do. Anything else for tonight, sir?”
“No. For the love of God, no. I should have sent you home hours ago. Apologies. Remind me to give you some time off in lieu soon, yes?”
Samson was grinning when I looked up at him. “You can rely on me to do so, sir.”
I smiled. “Thank you. Now, go. It’s time we were all abed.”
“Very good. Good night, sir.”
“Good night, Samson.”
He left and I checked my email quickly before shutting the computer and turning the lights off for the night.
By the time I got to Tati’s room, she was asleep. But she half woke as I was turning off her bedside light and putting away her book.
“Come to bed, Mitya,” she mumbled, patting the other side of the bed.
“I need to be up early and I don’t want to wake you.”
She groaned in annoyance. “That’s Future Anya’s problem. Just get into bed.”
I chuckled, undressed quickly and climbed in beside her.
“Damn, you’re cold,” she muttered and snuggled up against me.
I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “You could warm me up.”
She laughed, but it was slurred and I knew she was falling asleep again. I slid my arm under her head and it wasn’t long before I was asleep too.
Chapter Fourteen
On Wednesday night, we were expected at the Marquise de Ronique’s city home for a last-minute cocktail party.
“We could call in sick,” I told her. “That’s something that people do, isn’t it?”
Tati smiled as she put on her earring. “Why is it the uncouth foreigner seems to understand the dos and don’ts here and the crown prince is willing to wag his obligations.”
“Wag? And what exactly am I wagging? My white flag of surrender in the hopes someone will let me stay home?”
She snorted. “No. Wag. Like skive or skip or miss.”
“How is wag similar to any of those things?”
“Is this one of those things only Australians say?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I could not say for sure. But I’m going to guess yes.”
Tati sighed. “Okay, so you wag stuff when you skip it, right? Like wagging school is skipping school.”
“Okay. Why?”
Tati frowned as she thought. “I don’t know. Why is it called skipping?”
I inclined my head. “Fair point. But skipping at least makes sense in the greater use of the word. Wagging suggests moving about from one side to the other.”
“Well, maybe it’s like…you move from being at school…to not being at school…?” she said slowly, her face scrunched in contemplation.
We looked at each other for a few moments. I waited to see if that was all she was going to come up as she seemed to be waiting if I agreed or not. At the same time, our expectant smiles became laughter and she shook her head.
“Okay. Okay,” she conceded. “It’s not that.”
“At least it is consistent,” I said and she looked at me in surprise.
“At least what’s consistent?”
“Australian slang.”
“In what way?”
“None of it makes sense.”
Tati burst into laughter. “I don’t even know what is and isn’t slang to be honest. It all makes sense to me.”
I nodded. “
Of course. If you hear something everyday of your life, how are you to know if other countries use it or not.”
“Huh.” She slipped on her shoes. “I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense. Of course, if I wanted to know what slang was particular to Australia then I’m sure Buzzfeed has me covered.”
“Do they now?”
“Yes! Don’t tell me you haven’t spent hours on Buzzfeed. I’ll bet there are heaps of ‘sixty million times Australians confused the world’ posts on there.”
“Sixty million would make for a long post.”
She snorted again and smiled at me as she picked up her coat. “That it would. No one in Australia could read it anyway. I defy Australian internet to load a post with sixty million entries.”
There came a knock on the door.
“Yes?” Tati called and I smiled at what I was starting to think of as her Lady voice.
Nikolai stuck his head in and nodded. “Your Highness. My lady. The car is ready when you are.”
“And Lady Malmont?” Tati asked, wrinkling her nose at me.
“Her maids assure me she is almost ready.”
Tati nodded. “We’ll be out in a moment.”
Nikolai nodded again and closed the door.
I got up from the couch and put my arms around her. As I leant down to kiss her, she turned her face so my lips brushed her cheek.
“Am I not allowed to kiss you now?”
“When I have lipstick on? No. This stuff is awful. It’s meant to be amazing, but it’s not. I wanted to wear my Burt’s Bees, but Shelly said the shade wasn’t right for this top.”
I stepped back and looked her over.
She was wearing a dark green top with a black skirt and dark mulberry lipstick. I thought it did indeed look complimentary, but I didn’t have much patience for it if it meant I couldn’t kiss her.
“And why does that mean I can’t kiss you?”
“Because it rubs off really easily. Trust me, first bite of food or first sip of drink and it’ll be like I was never wearing it.”
“So why put it on in the first place?”
She struck a ridiculous pose. “Because it’s all about the look, darling,” she said, fighting a smile.
“Do you need me to outlaw lipstick then?”
She snorted, doubling up for a moment. “No. Thanks, though. I do like the way it looks, but I’m bad at it. What I need to do is get some Burt’s Bees in Shelly-approved shades.”
“You like these Burt’s Bees?”
She nodded. “I do. Instant colour, no run, and easy enough that I don’t need a lipstick brush, a surgical robot and a magnifying mirror to put on properly.”
I blinked and tried to work out half of what she meant. If the gist was that it was difficult to put on other lipstick, then I think I understood.
“I see.” I cleared my throat and her smile told me she knew I was covering poorly. “If you have trouble finding these Shelly-approved shades, then Shelly can always go and get them for you.”
“Oh! Brilliant idea.” Tati picked up her phone as a knock preceded Lia walking into the room.
“Dmitri.” She gave me a nod in greeting. I was pleased we had dispensed with the ‘your highness’ bit behind closed doors at least.
“Natalia. How are you?”
“Fine, thanks. You?”
“Well, thank you.”
She smiled politely then turned a look of annoyance on her sister. “Hello? I thought you were going to be ready first today?”
Tati held up a hand as she typed something on her phone. “I was! But then Mitya had the great idea about getting Shelly to get the things so I have to make a note.”
Natalia looked at me in confusion.
“Something about Burt’s Bees?” I offered.
“Oh,” Natalia said. “Yep. Sure.”
I could have said the words, but Natalia at least obviously actually knew what they meant.
“Lip Smackers, too,” she added to Tati. “See if they have Lip Smackers here.”
“Yes!” Tati said, sparing a moment to point at Natalia, then went back to her phone. “I am almost out…” She put her phone in her bag and grinned. “All good. Let’s go and mingle with the masses.”
Natalia rolled her eyes, but the two linked arms as they walked down stairs. I followed them down and out to the car, where Kostin was already waiting for us.
“Oh, Kostin…” Natalia said, pulling up short so Tati ran into the back of her.
Tati’s feet went out from under her and I caught her just before her arse hit the snowy steps.
“Woo!” Tati chuckled. “That was a close one. Thanks.”
“Are you okay?” I asked as I helped her to standing again.
She nodded. “Yep. All good. Saw my life flash before my eyes for a moment. But all good.”
Natalia rolled her eyes at her sister then jumped as Kostin said, “Good to hear. Now, can we get into the car and close the cold back out again, please?”
I watched with interest as Natalia hesitantly took Kostin’s hand to get into the car and the way he was far more rigid than usual with her. But then he was just as rigid helping Tati into the car as well.
It was honesty no wonder people thought we were as unapproachable as they did. In my case, it didn’t seem to have hurt my chances of finding someone to love me. But I wondered if, in Kostin’s, it would. Being notoriously grumpy and rude was perhaps not as detrimental as being notoriously pre-programmed to act a certain way.
Then again, perhaps I’d just been incredibly lucky.
The car pulled up outside the Marquise’s house and I helped the girls out before Kostin climbed out. Natalia and Tati headed for the door while Kostin and I did up our jacket buttons.
“Sometimes I’d rather wear a dress than have to deal with a button every time I sit or stand up,” Kostin muttered and I nodded.
“I too. Though I doubt we would be as graceful in the accompanying heels.”
“It’s not like they’re born with the ability. Surely we could learn?”
I laughed. “Maybe. Although I had enough blisters from new boots back in training.”
Kostin shuddered as we started after the girls. “I take it back.”
“You could always follow Tati’s lead and wear a dress long enough to hide sneakers underneath?”
“Now there’s a thought…”
“What’s a thought?” Tati asked as we caught up to them in the hall as the Marquise’s butler took care of their coats.
“Kostin’s going start wearing dresses, but only if they’re long enough to hide his sneakers.”
Tati looked between us with a smile. “Do I want to know what conversation led up to you deciding that?”
“Jacket buttons,” Kostin answered.
Tati looked at our buttons. “Seriously? Fine. I’ll trade you. I’ll do the suit and you can do the dress. I would so take a button over…” She waved her hand over her body. “All of this.”
“You look beautiful,” I told her.
She smiled. “Beauty is fleeting, comfort is forever.”
Natalia tried and failed to contain a bark of laughter, which she covered by coughing. “Confucius, eat your heart out.”
Tati grinned. “Confucius say–”
“No!” Natalia pointed at her sister. “No! This is not an appropriate setting for any ‘Confucius says’ jokes,” she hissed.
I put my hand on Tati’s back as we all headed into the party. “Confucius says jokes?”
Tati grinned up at me. “I’ll fill you in later.”
“Excellent.”
“There you are!” the Marquise cried when she saw us. “So wonderful you could make it.”
“It looks great,” Tati said in her Lady voice. “Thank you for having us.”
The Marquise smiled as she looked around. “Not bad for something I just threw together, is it?”
Tati and
Natalia shared a look as Tati said, “Not at all.”
“Oh, excuse me,” the Marquise said then hurried off.
“Your highness. My lady.”
I looked over and saw Amanda in a shallow curtsey. In a moment of very un-princely decorum, I panicked. But it wasn’t me she was intently staring at.
“Miss Schuller, pleasure to see you again,” Tati said.
“Likewise,” Amanda replied. “Lady Malmont.” She inclined her head, then her pointed gaze was focussed back onto my brother. “Prince Kostin, how are you?”
“Well, thank you. And you?”
“Much better for dancing, I should think.”
“Oh.” Kostin nodded and somehow seemed to become more relaxed and more rigid all at the same time. “Would you like to dance?”
Amanda batted her eyes at him and smiled. “I would love to. How kind of you to ask.”
Kostin offered her his elbow and they made their way through the guests and out of sight.
“If I’m going to get through this without making a tit out of myself, I’m going to need a drink,” Tati said, looking at me apologetically.
“I am sure a tit is a much better impression than bored or angry,” I replied.
Her smile softened. “But you’re the crown prince so people will pretend to like you anyway,” she teased.
I nodded. “True.”
“Okay. Beer, Lia?”
Lia blinked and jumped guiltily, almost as though she’d been staring at something she thought she wasn’t supposed to.
“What?” she asked. “Beer. Yes, please.”
I turned to see what she might have been looking at, but all I saw were people talking and dancing. Nothing interesting or scandalous at all.
Before I turned back, I saw my brother smiling at something Amanda was saying as they danced and I felt bad for being glad it was him and not me. The amount of times I’d danced with her and–
“Mitya?” Tati said again and I looked back to her.
“Apologies. What were you saying?”
Tati rolled her eyes and laid her hand on my arm for a moment. “Whiskey?”
I nodded. “Yes. Though I will get them.”
“No. No.” Tati patted my arm. “I’m good. Besides I have to find out what beer they have before I settle on one.”
Royally Unprepared: Prince of Pout (Part 1) (Royal Misadventures Book 5) Page 11
