A Tangled Web of Truth | Complete (ONC 2021 Shortlister)

9. First Date

Ailine, for all her desire to avoid marrying into the royal family, certainly had the experience and education to give Alicia harsh judgements on her outfit choices for her date with Prince Alejandro.

"You cannot wear something that long!" she was throwing items out of the closet very haphazardly as she judged Alicia's entire wardrobe. "Or that short!" Ailine popped her head out of the small closet and held up a skin tight mini dress, waggling her eyes at her friend.

Alicia looked up from her makeup and hair styling and almost choked. "I didn't know I still had that!"

"It's yours?" Ailine was doubled over, supporting her weight by placing her arms on the doorframe. "Oh that's a story you'll have to tell me another time. Right now I must pull myself together and find you something cute and appropriate. We really need to get you a better wardrobe if you're going to do this."

Alicia shot a glare across the room that could have shrivelled anything in sight, but Ailine had already ducked back into the closet to search for an appropriately flirtatious dress.

"You know, I really could just wear some pants," Alicia called, applying her eyeliner. "I have been doing that quite successfully for many years now."

"And you look lovely in them," Ailine agreed, "but this is the King we are talking about!"

"It's not going to matter!" Alicia wondered who she was trying to convince. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, her thoughts kept floating back to the night at the ball. His eyes. His arms. . . Him. "It's only been a day, Ailine. I'm sure we're going to have nothing to talk about with all that Ball Magic gone away."

Ailine reappeared with a knee length floral dress with cap sleeves and draped it over one arm so she could place the other on her hip. "Excuse me? Where is my friend the go-getter? Has she been abducted by aliens?"

The room was so quiet that Alicia could hear the watch on her desk ticking the minutes by. Absently twisting a curl in her fingers, she looked into the mirror so she could see Ailine. "She never wanted to be a princess, Ailine. She wasn't trained for it."

"That's a load of garbage and you know it. You aren't scared of being a queen. You're scared he might actually like you. And that you might actually like him, too."

"That obvious?"

Ailine crossed the room and handed the dress to Alicia. "Put this on and I'll finish up your hair for you. I'm sure it's not obvious to anyone who isn't me. Or your mom. I'm sure she'd see right through this."

"Probably," Alicia sighed, "but fortunately she isn't here right now. Something about my being a colossal disappointment or something."

Ailine waited for Alicia to change into the dress and then pinned back a few of her curls, securing it with a small clip covered in pearls and two small blue gems. Alicia had to admit that her years of hiding her emotions were really paying off -- she looked good, and felt way more nervous than she looked.

"Okay, Missy. Time for you to go! We can't keep the prince waiting, now can we?" Ailine pushed from behind and guided Alicia to the front door where a pair of deep blue and black heels were waiting for her. "Now put them on and get going."

"You're being awfully bossy right now. What if I don't want to go."

"I'm too good of a friend to allow that kind of self-sabotage," Ailine opened the door and handed Alicia her purse. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Is there anything you wouldn't do?"

Ailine gave it a whole two seconds of thought before answering. "No. Probably not."

A short limo drive later -- courtesy of Ailine, of course -- and Alicia was staring down the front doors of the palace and those deep brown eyes from the night before. Even without his formal suit and mask from the ball, she had to admit he had something going for him. The deep blue of his button down looked almost as professional as his formal attire. Or it would have, were his sleeves not rolled up to his elbows, hands in his pockets as he watched her approach.

Alicia could feel his eyes on her as she climbed the stairs toward him and he kept inching toward the top of the stairs.

"You found the place okay?" he said when she was in earshot.

"Well, we almost drove right past it. Can barely see it from the road."

He laughed and stepped back to allow her to come up the stairs. When Alicia reached the top, she reached her handout toward him, as she would on any date.

But this was not any date. This date had palace guards who jumped into action as soon as she extended her arm. With a small flick of his wrist, Alejandro kept them at bay and reached out to hold her hand in his. "I'm so glad you came."

"I wasn't entirely sure I was going to, to be honest."

"Really? Was the food proposition not enticing enough?" His eyes betrayed him, though. He'd been worried about that very thing, and Alicia could tell.

"Oh the food is why I'm here," she joked. "But also because I figure the tell-all book could set me up for life. So if this doesn't work out, I might as well have a good story to tell."

"Good stories are important."

"So," Alicia asked as they walked through the grand hallway of the palace, "how does this all work? Like, do you have a set number of dates you have to go on or is it just kind of whatever your mother decides?"

"I--" he started to answer before stopping himself and turning to face her, brows pulled together. "Do you actually want to know this?"

No. "Well, sort of. I mean, I have no idea how any of this works which is honestly freaking me out a little bit." It all spilled out of her mouth with an honesty she wasn't used to. "Sorry. I'm usually better at keeping those things to myself."

"Well, you will need to know when you write your tell-all book, I'm sure." He smiled effortlessly, and the tension built up in her shoulders and neck seemed to release with one look at him.

"I haven't decided if I want to write the book yet, actually."

He looked away from her and his fingers gently squeezed her hand. "I'm glad."

Several moments passed, the sounds of their footsteps echoing off the walls was the only thing that passed between them.

"Well, to answer your question," he began, stopping outside of a large ornate set of double wooden doors. "I don't have a set number of dates. I do have to fight my mother if I want to provide less than three girls for her to vet, but I don't actually have to meet with them. I probably will, though, as all of you deserve to know what being a queen means before you decide if you'll have me. So I'm really just trying to do my best to find someone and also not to put too much pressure on you."

"It's nice of you to think of us."

"I said 'you,'" he pointed out. Alicia bit the inside of her lip and pulled her hand up to her cheek, averting her eyes as the familiar warmth enveloped her.

He waited, fingers intertwined with hers, until she decided to look back at him. The two of them stood staring at each other until finally Alejandro broke the silence. "Shall we go in to dinner?"

Alicia's small nod was all it took for Alejandro to twist the handle and throw the doors wide open. The scene before her was breathtaking. Not grand and ornate like the ball, but simplistic whites and creams, candles lit in the center of the table, and a beautiful picture window where she could see a lovely view of the gardens. It was...

"Perfect."

The word slipped out her mouth and Alejandro's smile brightened as he led her across the room and pulled out the chair for her to sit down.