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

10. A Bet Well Placed

Alejandro had finally relaxed as they finished the meal and the dessert was cleared from the table. Alicia was laughing at his jokes and asking him questions about life in the palace, eagerly soaking up all the useless information he provided about the statue of the rogue jester in the gardens.

"So he actually had a statue of himself made and installed all because he won a bet with the king?" she asked, lips pulled up in a smile.

"Right? He did! I always thought it was pretty ballsy of him to make the bet in the first place, but it makes for a great story. Not really sure why we haven't taken it down over the last hundred years, though. No laws saying we have to leave it there."

"Sometimes it's fun to remember the past," Alicia mused. "Maybe even remember how important it can be to make the odd bet with a court jester type."

"I've never thought about it that way. Perhaps it is important. Maybe we should institute some type of 'place a bet with the king' day."

"I've never met your dad in person but I have to say I think that would be extremely entertaining."

"He's definitely the sort to place bets. Had a whole big thing about how long it would take me to find someone at the ball."

"Oh? Who won?"

Alejandro couldn't help but remember the board his father had made with the bets placed by the family and close friends. "Well, Yolanda, my best friend's sister, thought I'd find someone before dinner."

"Well, you did at that," Alicia smiled, fiddling with the hem of her skirt and averting her eyes toward the window. The reflection in the glass betrayed her and Alejandro got a clear shot of her eyes, swimming with an emotion he couldn't identify.

"I did. But unfortunately for her, it's my mother's bet that will likely win it all."

"Oh?" Alicia turned to face him. "Why's that?"

"Well, if it happens, I'll tell you. Wouldn't want to give her the upper hand on the bet. You know. Fairness?" It was Alejandro's turn to try to mask a growing warmth in his skin as he remembered his mother's prediction. You will meet her dancing or perhaps alone at the ball, but you'll have to work hard to keep her so I think you'll wait until the last possible moment to make it official.

The conversation had immediately preceded his attempts to get her to give him a month to choose his bride. Those words stuck in his head, too, a daily reminder of what was to come. We cannot change everything at once. We must push slowly. I will give you a week.

Alicia had stopped looking at him and was dragging her hand along the window sill when he finally turned back to face her. "So, shall we go for a walk or try our hands at painting?"

She raised her eyebrow and one side of her lips flickered into a smile before she composed herself. "I'm not really much of a painter. There's a reason my talents are restricted to hair rather than nails or makeup."

"A walk, then? Or just a seat in the gardens?"

Alicia looped her arm through his, causing Alejandro's breath to hitch slightly, but he was pretty sure he hid it well. He hoped, anyway.

With a wave to the guards, the doors swung open before them and allowed them to enter the palace grounds at the very moment the sun began to poke below the edge of the horizon.

"So, I know we've talked a bit, but how much do you know about our history and the monarchy and stuff?"

"That obvious, am I?" Alicia chuckled and amused herself with inspecting a nearby bush instead of answering.

"No, not really obvious at all. But I wondered if there was anything you wanted to know. There's a lot to understand about the job part of all this and I just don't want you to feel unprepared."

Alicia continued to gently turn the leaves of the shrubs between her fingertips. "But you don't want to scare me off by telling it all to me at once?"

How is she so perceptive? Alejandro nodded. "But I don't want to scare you off," he admitted.

"Well, I did go to school. So I know enough of the basic history of the country and the monarchy. And if Ailine is to be believed, your mother is a force to be reckoned with."

"Tell me about it!"

Alicia attempted to mask her giggle with a small cough. "I mean, I guess I'm not worried about that theoretical stuff much. I just want to know what it's like. To be in the public eye all the time. The only time people really notice me is in the very small niche market of hairstyling."

"Well, not everything is public. I doubt there will be any photographs of our date today, for example, though the limousine arriving is likely to be front page news."

Alicia groaned and gently pulled Alejandro's arm to lead him down the path away from the palace doors. "I told Ailine it was too much."

Alejandro couldn't help but chuckle at how different Ailine and Alicia were. "Ailine is maybe a little right on this one, though. The tinted windows on the limousine make it unclear who is inside, which means all the papers will be speculating. But as none of them were allowed inside the ball, it is unlikely you'll be exposed until you are ready."

She scrunched up her nose and rolled her eyes, leading him through an archway in the trees that he knew led to the main fountain.

"And that's what worries me," she whispered once they were within earshot of the roar of the water. "I'm not sure I'm ready to have people speculating."

"I'll do everything I can to protect you from that. So will my mother, I'm sure. It does mean a fair bit of staying in the palace or bodyguards and assistants, though. You do get some say in who fills those positions, and they can be sort of like friends. It's not so bad."

"Does it get lonely?" she asked abruptly, eyes turning up to search his face. "Is that why you are so eager to choose someone?"

"Yes," he admitted. "And no. It does sometimes get lonely but I have friends and a family and I love them. But no, that isn't why I'm — how did you put it? — 'so eager to choose someone'. No, that is because my mother has given me a time limit. I don't have a choice but to make a decision."

"It would be so much easier if we didn't get a say," Alicia said, releasing his arm and sitting down on the edge of the fountain. In stepping closer to her, Alejandro was starting to feel the small droplets of water clinging to his exposed skin and hair.

"Perhaps for me," he admitted. "But not for you. I don't think that would be a very good start to a marriage, though. Forcing someone to do something, I mean. My mom always says 'begin as you intend to continue.'"

Before he could say anything else, she slipped her shoes off and flipped her legs over the ledge and into the water. The way she spun her head back around to look at him gave him a whiff of the orange and coconuts scent of her hair. The look of her, so carefree amid all the worry, made him want to follow her into the fountain.

So he did. Truth is, though he'd known her only a short time, he would already follow her anywhere. And that was dangerous.