A Royal Distraction

by Daphne James Huff

  “I want something else now,” he said angrily. “That’s enough for me.”

  Duncan remained unable to speak for several minutes, too numb to allow the shock to begin creeping in. Leo stood up and started pacing the room.

  “I’ve already spoken to father, and he’s agreed to hold off on stepping down for a few more years until you’ve been properly brought up to speed,” he said. Duncan suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

  Leo had been learning everything for the past ten years, since he left school—albeit part time while he worked at the bank. How was Duncan supposed to learn everything in two or three years? Now the prospect of endless tea parties and boring charity galas sounded wonderful, compared with the actual work and responsibilities that he was completely unprepared for.

  “This isn’t fair,” Duncan said, finding his voice. To his ears, he sounded like a whining child, instead of the angry adult he was. “You’re being selfish.”

  “I wish I had a choice,” said Leo.

  “Of course you have a choice!” Duncan protested. “Find someone else!”

  “No, you have choices, Duncan,” Leo retorted with venom. “You’ve had endless choices all these years, and we’ve let you fritter away your time, aimless and without purpose. It’s time for you to grow up.”

  Duncan was struck dumb for the second time that evening. He hadn’t come here to fight with his brother.

  “I’ve chosen to let those wiser than me direct my actions,” Duncan finally said, having thought carefully about his word choices. Leo rolled his eyes, more of a Helena habit.

  “Look,” said Leo, sitting down again and sighing. “I’m sorry. I’ve pictured my life as king for as long as I can remember. But in that picture, the woman of my dreams was always standing next to me. Annabelle is that woman, Duncan, and if she can’t stand next to me, then I can’t do it.”

  Duncan could see on Leo’s face that his feelings were beyond his control. He thought about what this would mean for him. He wouldn’t have to pick one charity or cause to support; he would support all of them. There was no active military, and parliament took care of the actual running of the country. The king’s advisors would tell him what he needed to do, as would his family.

  “I can see that this might not be so bad,” Duncan admitted, hesitantly. “You’ll help me get ready, too, right?”

  His big brother smiled, relieved that the idea was starting to sink in.

  “Of course,” he reassured him. “And you’re at least in a better spot than I am with Alix—she can rule with you.”

  He had pushed thoughts of her aside while grappling with Leo’s news, and now a wave of relief washed over him. Leo had pictured himself ruling with a strong woman next to him, and now Duncan began to do the same.

  “She’d be an amazing queen,” said Leo, trying to sell him even more on the idea of his being king.

  “She would,” agreed Duncan, trying not to let the sadness creep into his voice. “She’s leaving soon, though, to intern in refugee camps,” he explained. “This is just a casual thing for her.”

  Leo raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ve seen the way you are with her,” he said. “It’s not casual for you, is it?”

  Duncan looked thoughtful, but said nothing. He had been sad at the thought of her leaving, but figured that he’d find someone else before long, as she’d predicted. Now, faced with a completely different life than the one he’d always pictured for himself, the thought of Alix at his side both reassured and excited him.

  “You love her?” Leo asked.

  “Yes.” Duncan was surprised at how quickly he replied. He hadn’t let himself consider how deep his feelings for her went until now. But the more he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine anyone else in her place.

  “Well, you’ll just have to figure out a way to get her to stay then, won’t you?” suggested his brother.

  “Will you help me?” asked Duncan.

  “Of course,” said Leo. “With what you’re doing for me, it’s the least I can do.”

  Chapter 19

  Alix was out to dinner with her parents at their favorite restaurant. She didn’t particularly like it. She missed the cheap, little places in New York where she and her college friends would go after studying all night. As she listened to the clink of silverware around her and the pop of champagne bottles being opened, she tried not to dwell on the fact that it might be the last dinner with her parents for the next few years.

  “How is your summer going so far, Alix?” her mother asked. She opened the menu and only glanced at if briefly; she knew it by heart.

  “It’s been nice to attend all of the different events and help the Queen,” said Alix. She played absentmindedly with her fork, distracted by what she was about to tell them.

  ”You mean like the auction for the children’s hospital?” asked her father, with a knowing smile.

  ”Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you,” Alix said, excitedly. “I won a meal for two at this restaurant. I thought you might like it.”

  ”Well isn’t that lovely,” her mother exclaimed happily. ”Thank you, darling, for thinking about us. But wouldn’t you rather go with Duncan?”

  ”What? No, that’s nothing,” said Alix, with a wave of her hand. “We’re just having some fun this summer.”

  Her parents looked disappointed.

  ”I’ll be at school soon, I don’t want to get distracted,” Alix rushed to explain.

  “Well, at least you’ll still be in the city,” said her father. ”Maybe you’ll be able to see him from time to time.”

  Alix felt her heart drop into her stomach. They were more excited than she’d realized about the thought of her going to school here. She had planned on telling them about her plans tonight, but the conversation was not going the way she’d planned.

  “Oh, look!” said her mother suddenly, her eyes shifting from her daughter’s face to the entrance. “Speak of the devil. Here’s Duncan now.”

  Alix turned and saw that Duncan was indeed walking into the restaurant with Helena. Their eyes were grim and their mouths downturned. Alix wondered what they were talking about to make them look so serious. When Duncan spotted Alix and her parents, however, a huge smile spread across his face, and Alix couldn’t help but smile back. He came over immediately and greeted her parents, asking waiters to bring over more chairs. The flurry of activity around their table was closely observed by the other patrons, and twitters of conversation emerged at the sight of a prince and the princess sitting with the Neunesse family.

  Alix was a little annoyed that he had just assumed that they could join them. She was nervous enough as it was, and having them here would make it impossible now to have any serious discussion.

  Helena glanced at Alix’s nervous face and took charge of the conversation.

  ”Alix has been such a help this summer,” she said with a smile. “You must be so proud of your daughter.”

  “Oh yes.” Her mother beamed. It was hard to tell if it was the praise, or the sight of Duncan sitting so close to Alix, that pleased her more.

  “I think we’ve had one of our most successful fundraising seasons ever thanks to her,” Helena continued. Alix shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

  “It must be nice having her so close,” said Duncan, and his sister cast him a warning look.

  “Indeed it is,” said Alix’s father, leaning over to pat her hand.

  The waiter came to take their orders, interrupting the praise Helena started to heap on her.

  “Won’t you miss her next year?” asked Duncan as the waiter walked away. Alix’s eyes quickly shot to his, and she gripped her wine glass tightly. He ignored her glare, his face set in a neutral, pleasant expression. Kicking him under the table would be wildly inappropriate in this setting. Did he think she’d already told them?

  “Oh, don’t you worry, she’s not going back to New York,” her father said, with a chuckle. “I thought she’d have told you. She’ll be attendin
g university here in Prynesse. Our city apartment will be renovated soon and the manor is only an hour away. We’ll be able to see her quite often.”

  Duncan looked at her, a small smile on his lips. Fear gripped Alix, her heart beginning to beat faster in her rib cage. She knew what Duncan would say next, even if she didn’t know why he was doing it.

  “No, I mean when she goes to work in the refugee camps,” he said. “I know I’ll miss her, wherever she’ll be.”

  He looked at her then, putting his hand on hers. His eyes were full of pain at the thought of her leaving, with no indication of remorse for what he’d done. Alix slowly withdrew her hand from under his, pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. This was not at all how she’d wanted them to find out.

  Alix was so concentrated on glaring at Duncan that she only heard her parents’ reactions. Their surprised gasps were followed by a dead silence. She couldn’t bear to turn to see their disappointed faces.

  She saw his lips start to move again, but she held up a hand to silence him and turned to look at Helena instead, who was playing with her napkin, looking away as if this had nothing to do with her. Which, in a way, was true. This was between Duncan and Alix.

  Finally, she faced her parents. Their faces were frozen in identical expressions of shock.

  “I was accepted into the Refugee Medical Alliance internship program,” she said, looking down at her hands so that she wouldn’t have to keep looking at their faces. “It’s what I want to do more than anything.”

  “But you can’t just leave,” her mother said, her tone carefully subdued to avoid being overheard, but full of emotion. “We finally have you close by, and you have school, and…”

  Alix saw her mother glance at Duncan. She was suddenly furious with him.

  “I’m not giving everything up for some boy, like you did, mother,” she said forcefully. A few people at the next table over looked at her quickly, and she lowered her tone. “This is my life. I was happy to help this summer, and would have done it all year, too, while I was at school. But this program is my ticket to any medical school in the world, and I’ll actually be using my time to make a difference, not standing around drinking tea.

  “And even if I were staying, I wouldn’t be with Duncan,” she continued, looking over at him. He looked torn between pain and surprise. “Apparently he thinks it’s his job to tell my parents important news in my place. I don’t need you and Daddy, or some boy, deciding what’s best for me. I’ve done perfectly fine on my own thank you very much.”

  With that, she stood up, careful to keep her movements slow, as not to alarm the other diners, and turned to leave. Her parents, unable to yell for fear of causing a scene, did nothing to stop her. Neither did Duncan.

  She heard Helena whispering something to him as she walked toward the door, and Alix’s temper flared higher. Of course he wouldn’t know what to do until someone told him. Why was she even surprised?

  Chapter 20

  Duncan followed Alix out of the restaurant, anxious and worried. She was always rushing off, it seemed. She was upset, and he knew it was his fault, but he hadn’t expected that she’d be this angry. He’d thought that once she realized how sad her parents would be, she’d change her mind about leaving. At least, that’s what Leo had told him would happen.

  “Alix!” he called as he spotted her, about to turn a corner and head down one of the winding streets in the city center. There were people everywhere, and he tried not to draw too much attention to himself as he rushed to catch up with her. His security guard was close behind and Duncan instructed him to get the driver to bring the car around on the next street.

  “Just leave me alone,” Alix hissed, as soon as he caught up with her. She was also conscious of the curious eyes beginning to stare at one of the princes of Prynesse chasing down a daughter of a count through the streets.

  “Let me drive you home,” he said, leading her to his car.

  Her body language told him that she didn’t want to accept, but a quick glance at all of the eyes following them made the choice for her.

  Duncan led her out of the cool, summer evening and into the plush interior of his luxury sedan. He immediately relaxed into the leather seats, at ease behind the darkened windows. Alix remained perched on the edge of her seat, tense, staring out the window.

  He had no idea where to start. Luckily, Alix waited only until they had pulled away into traffic to start yelling at him.

  “That was unbelievable,” she cried, turning an icy glare to his bewildered face. “Why would you do that?”

  He had no excuse, other than his brother’s bad advice.

  “You seem so close to them, I just thought they should know you’re leaving,” he said simply.

  “I was going to tell them tonight!”

  “Oh. I didn’t know.”

  “Of course not, why would I tell you something like that?” she said, exasperated. “It’s my life, my parents, my choice of how and when to tell them.”

  “I thought...” he began sadly. “I thought that we were closer than that.”

  Alix inhaled sharply, but didn’t say anything.

  He had never let any girl know so much about his life before. At first it had just been a way to soften her up, when all of his usual techniques had failed to win her over. Even after he’d gotten her, though, he just kept going; the thoughts and words had poured out of him. He’d been so focused on this wonderful, new feeling of sharing everything that he hadn’t realized that she hadn’t been nearly as open with him. She kept so much to herself, she was a mystery is so many ways. Before, it had been sexy; now it was frustrating.

  “Your parents are going to miss you so much,” he said, wanting to break the silence but not admit how much he would miss her, too. “Why didn’t you tell them before? When you applied?”

  “It doesn’t matter why, Duncan! It’s my life!” she was still angry.

  The car suddenly swerved sharply to the right. Alix, perched precariously on the edge of her seat, tumbled forward. Duncan threw out his arm to catch her, and pulled her close to him. The driver swore from the front seat, cursing people who didn’t use their turn signals, as the car spun across traffic, horns blaring from all sides. There was a soft thud as the car hit the curb and came to a halt on the pavement. Duncan’s security guard turned to make sure they were okay.

  “Lucky there aren’t too many cars out tonight,” he said, trying to reassure them as the driver eased back into traffic. “And that we were in the city, not on the highway.”

  Duncan nodded distractedly, his attention on Alix, who was shaking in his arms. His heart was beating a million miles a minute, and he could hear Alix’s doing the same. She stared up at Duncan from the safety of his arms, the anger in her eyes momentarily softened, thanks to the adrenaline of the near crash. He breathed deeply, told her to do the same, then took the opportunity to explain himself.

  “I guess I’m just used to people being very involved in my life,” he said, “I didn’t realize that yours is so different. It must be nice, having your own life.”

  She sighed heavily.

  “You can still do what you want with your life, Duncan,” she told him, as he set her upright next to him. She didn’t sound quite as angry as before, but her tone was still a bit frosty. He leaned over and buckled her seatbelt, reveling in the closeness of their bodies. He felt his heart skip a beat at the familiar scent of her shampoo. He hadn’t lied to Leo. He definitely loved her. That was really the only explanation for how completely unrestrained he seemed to be around her.

  “You just need to choose, and stop letting others choose for you,” she continued, her voice softening a bit at the closeness of their bodies.

  “That’s not really an option anymore,” he said glumly, sitting back in his seat. “Leo is abdicating.”

  The shock on her face erased any trace of desire that had been building.

  “Why would he abdicate?” she said after
a moment.

  “The woman he wants to be with isn’t noble.”

  “So he’d give up his right to rule for her?”

  Duncan nodded.

  “Wow,” said Alix, crossing her arms and leaning back. “I guess now you won’t need to bother picking a charity to support, will you?”

  He smiled ruefully.

  “I need you here with me, Alix,” he said, leaning towards her. “I don’t think I can rule. But with you by my side, I feel like I’d be able to.”

  She shook her head.

  “You’ll have advisors, your brother, your father. You don’t need me.”

  “No, but I want you,” he insisted, taking her hand. “You’re not like the others. You’re smart, and passionate, and amazing, and beautiful…”

  She freed her hand from his grasp and held it to his mouth to stop him.

  “If you had any experience outside of this small world, you’d realize I’m just like everyone else,” she told him. “You need to learn how to do things for yourself, and to stop relying on someone telling you how to do them. A thousand other girls can do that for you. So pick one of them.”

  The car had arrived at the palace, cutting short their conversation. Duncan wanted to say more, but Alix opened the door to get out. Duncan knew better than to try to follow her, and didn’t move.

  “I told you from the start that this was just something fun for me,” she said, turning back to him. “I thought it was for you, too. I never wanted you to care for me. I don’t need you the way you need me. And until you’re able to do things on your own, you’ll always need someone. But that can’t be me. It just can’t.”

  With that, she got out of the car and walked away. Duncan sat in the car, unable to move. Thinking over everything that she’d said, he knew she was right. However, he also realized she’d never said she didn’t care for him, just that she didn’t need him... A slight flicker of hope appeared in his heart as he watched her move farther and farther away from the car.