The Twelve Days of Christmas

Chapter 10

I needed a moment. It wasn’t even the King that had triggered me. Not even the institution he represented. It was that stupid laugh. The one that made me feel about five I needed a moment. It wasn’t even the King that had triggered me. Not even the institution he represented. It was that stupid laugh. The one that made me feel about five years old and back in the school playground. It was stupid. For a start, I had let it get the better of me and made an even bigger fool of myself.

I let myself back out of the Bow Room. Tracing my steps carefully back to where I had come in with Ben. Knowing full well that I probably wasn’t supposed to be randomly walking around a royal palace alone without anyone knowing where I was. I didn’t really care. I needed air.

My plan was to walk through the courtyard and find my way back to the toilet Ben had shown me to. I needed to just shut the door on the world for a little while and breathe. I had no idea how I had even got to that point. Even one of the things that had happened would have been a long shot, but putting them all together was so unbelievable. I was certain I must have been having a nightmare.

As I made my way through the courtyard, I half expected a member of the King’s Guard to tackle me out of nowhere. It wasn’t like people made a habit of walking around the King’s residence alone and without permission. I heard footsteps. Soft almost, and leisurely, but they seemed to echo on the hard floor.

I slipped from the building and breathed deeply in the cold restoring freshness. Standing with my back against the wall, the damp seemed to seep into my skin. I tried to stay still and slowed my breathing. Still overly convinced I could possibly be arrested for wandering off from the rest of the contestants.

As the door beside me opened, I closed my eyes. As though if I couldn’t see them, then they couldn’t see me either. It was such a ridiculous action. The movement in front of me was enough for me to feel it in the air. The simple woody soap smell drifted to me. I could feel the heat radiating towards me.

It was him. I would have known him anywhere. My heart rate picked up so much that it felt like it was pounding out of my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut even harder. Not daring to be affected by him even more. All thoughts of the location vanished from my brain. Nothing but images of him filled my mind from our morning in the park.

He must have moved his face closer, because I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek. “You make me so crazy that I am tempted to take you right here.” His words shocked me, among other responses. He had seemed so calm and gentlemanly in the snow. The edge of menace in his voice made him seem almost like a completely different man. “Look at me, Noelle!” It wasn’t a request, and I complied without thinking, my eyes snapping open like a startled deer.

His eyes had lost their slightly creamy edge and were pure icy blue. The intensity was exactly what I had been trying to avoid. The temperature seemed to become overwhelming, even on the crisp winter’s day.

He was leaning against the wall behind me, with his arms blocking me in on both sides. His nose almost touched mine as he looked down at me. “You got my second gift, then?”

It was almost as though his words brought me back to reality. “You could have told me who you are.”

“And who is that?” A hand swooped down and brushed the hair that had fallen from my plait onto my cheek, tucking it carefully behind my ear. Everything seemed to be passing in slow motion.

I realised that I didn’t even really know the answer. There was no way of knowing who he was, not really. I had barely had a chance to assess him enough to know anything at all, not even his name. “You could have told me that you were visiting the palace. That you live… that kind of life.”

“I am the Prince of Aggnova, a small island off the coast of Poland and Latvia. It isn’t the sort of thing I can just tell random women in the park. For a start, many women would run a mile. My official title is Prince Alexsandrs Mihails Karlis Strasdiņsch, but my friends call me Alex.” The sudden smile that pulled at his lips wasn’t a true one, but the one he must have used when on royal duties. It was as though he was trying to show me his royal persona. It neither matched the man I met in the park or the man who had me locked against a wall with just his body.

“In answer to your not quite a question, yes, I visit the palace. Will and I went to university together. I studied here in Britain. We value our relationship with the British monarchy and I visit as often as I can, and not just because Will and I are friends. My father encourages me to make diplomatic visits on his behalf. He’s getting a little too old for travelling.” I had so many questions, but my throat was so dry that I couldn’t find my voice.

“Ah snowflake, you look like I have shocked you to your core.” I nodded slowly, not that a nod was remotely the right response. That version of Alex made me too nervous to be anything short of a bumbling fool. “I wonder what else we could do to shock you further.” I heard a door close, but it was somewhere far off in my mind as I considered the implication of his words.

Someone cleared their throat, but I still stayed completely still. Alex slowly and confidently straightened himself and removed my manly cage. The look of confusion on my face must have been quite entertaining for him because he let out a low, easy chuckle, which almost seemed to end in a growl.

“Miss. I was concerned and came to see where you had gotten to.” I turned to take in Ben’s stern and serious face beside us, a few paces away.

“The lady is quite alright, just lost her way in the maze of corridors. I shall leave her in your capable hands.” Alex strolled away, turning as he passed Ben and winking at me.

I waited for him to be through the door before my body loosened and I turned to Ben. “I was trying to find the bathroom which I visited before and erm bumped into his highness.”

“Yes. Quite. That is the logical explanation I had come to for the pair of you to be against a wall.” I went to walk towards the gathering. “Miss?”

“Yes, Ben.”

“I thought you were looking for the bathroom?” He raised his eyebrows at me and I couldn’t stop the slight giggle that escaped.

“I’m sure I can manage to wait. After all, we must not keep the King waiting, it was quite disrespectful of me.”

“Quite. This way, miss.” He held his hand out towards the door back inside the palace and bowed his head slightly. Despite his position, I could still make out the slight mischievous smile he was trying to hide. Nevertheless, I headed towards the door. Ben’s arm coming past me as I reached it and him pulling the door open for me.

“Ever the gentleman, Ben.”

“Quite.”