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“You’ll receive money for it if that’s what you’re worried about. Keep in mind, however, that you won’t be worrying about money ever again once we arrive in Edoria. This plane? It’s but a taste of what you have to look forward to.”
She raised her finger. “I’m letting this slide just once, and only because I was maybe two weeks away from selling that thing for scrap myself. But going forward pal, you don’t make a decision like that ever again without talking to me first. Got it?”
She’ssexywhen she’s angry. The words popped into my head unbidden. They were true, however. Something about her narrowed eyes, the way she wasn’t afraid to get right in my face… it was a major turn-on.
“Fine, as you wish. I’ll consult you on all such matters in the future.”
She smiled slightly, pleased to have gotten her way.
“Good. Now, are we going to fly, or are we going to sit here and argue?”
I broke from Ava to go into the cockpit, letting the pilots know we were ready for takeoff. They wasted no time making the necessary preparations, the engines whirring to life.
“Let’s get strapped in,” I said. “The flight is ten hours, and that’s assuming good weather the whole way.”
She slid into one of the open seats, and I did the same. The pilots pulled the plane out onto the runway, and we only had to wait a short while before takeoff. The plane soared into the sky, the city of Seattle growing smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a gray smudge below. It wasn’t long before we broke through the clouds, the blue sky I’d been missing since I’d arrived finally overhead.
“Thank God,” I said. “I was about to lose my mind if I had to spend another day under that gloom.”
Ava flashed me a smirk. “Not everyone can handle it, I know.”
“Not a matter of handling it; more that I prefer the weather back home.”
She pursed her lips for a moment. “Alright, what’s so great about it?”
I took a deep, slow breath, images of Edoria appearing in my mind’s eye.
“Lush, green summers; colorful, brisk falls; white, crisp winters that lead into warm springs. Edoria has every season, and somehow the most perfect version of each one. None of this dreary gray that you find here in Seattle.”
“I love the gray,” she said. “Makes me feel like wrapping myself up in a big sweater and sipping some hot tea, getting nice and cozy.”
“Well, you want the gray, London’s only a three-hour flight away.”
“Oh, I’ll be coming back here,” she said, defiance in her voice. “If you think you’re going to stick me in some castle tower in this Edoria place for the rest of my life, you’ve got another thing coming. I am not Rapunzel in the tower, buddy.”
“You’ll go where your royal duties command you to go. I understand that you Americans are obsessed with this idea of living for yourself or whatever such foolishness, but you’re going to have to become accustomed to the notion of serving something greater than yourself.”
“Listen Luc, I agreed to come and meet my father and see what this is all about, but I never agreed to stay and give my life to this place. You need to slow your roll.”
I bit my tongue for a moment, not allowing myself to say what I wanted to. After all, I had upended this young woman’s life and laid a kingdom at her feet. I would need to kill her with kindness to get her to see what was right.
“May I ask what made you decide to come in the first place?” She shrugged and said simply, softly, “Mom.”
“Your mother?”
“Yeah. This might sound a little silly, but this is the first chance I’ve had in a long while to feel closer to my mom. I know she’s gone, but still.”
I said nothing, considering her words. Ava’s expression turned hard.
“What, you think that’s stupid or something?”
“I said no such thing.”
“Then what’s up with that look on your face?”
“It’s called thinking. As in, thinking before you speak. It’s something you might want to try sometime.”
She rolled her eyes.
