Royal Games

Chapter 44

I wake to the sensation of Isaac stroking my stomach in idle patterns. His body presses against my back, cradling me. He presses a kiss to the upper curve of my ear. My heart flutters.

"Good morning, Alyssa." He hums against my skin. My breath catches at the sound of my name on his lips. My real name.

"It's Christmas." I mumble, still sleepy.

Isaac moves his lips, trailing affectionate pecks down my ear. "It is." His lips dance across my cheek as his hand stills on my stomach, pulling me even tighter to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm in love." The words tumble from my lips unbidden. Love. Now that I've said it to him, it feels natural to say it again. I could say the word a million times and it wouldn't be enough. I want to shout it from the rooftops. Loud enough for the world to hear. Loud enough for all of Topia to hear. I tilt my head, finding his sapphire eyes as his lips hover over mine. "I love you."

He captures my mouth in his. Our kiss is so much briefer than last night's, but it divulges the exact same emotion. "I will never tire of hearing you say that." Isaac breathes as he pulls back.

"What?" I smirk. "I love you?"

"Yes." He smiles right back. "That."

"Isaac!" Kelly sings as she pushes his door open. "Are you coming down for..." She stills at the sight of us together, then quickly averts her gaze. Her voice flickers from excited to hesitant. "Presents."

I feel my cheeks flush. My skin burns and prickles as Kelly backs out of the room.

"We'll be there in few minutes." Isaac calls after her. His following chuckle reverberates against my body. "We probably should be getting up." He says to me.

I groan. "What's Kelly going to think of us?"

"Hopefully nothing different than she did yesterday. We're in love." Love. That word again. He presses another kiss to my cheek. "What we have or haven't done is none of her business."

The implication of his words hit me. I think of all the things we haven't done. All the things I want to do with him. To him. I hastily shut down my train of thoughts before I can do anything that would scar Kelly's brain if she walked in again.

"Let's go, then." I sigh, shivering at the cold as I pull out of his embrace and swing my legs to stand up. "Do I need to get dressed?" I gesture towards my fuzzy pyjamas, black and patterned with white stars.

Isaac takes his time looking me up and down, causing a blush to crawl up my cheeks. "No. I love you just the way you are."

I don't stop smiling all morning.

Not when I give Isaac a book full of cake recipes by a famous British baker. No, my smile widens as I anticipate tasting Isaac's bakes.

Not when Isaac gives me a jewellery set of matching earrings, necklace, and bracelet. No, my smile beams brighter still at the silver hearts.

Not even when Kelly insists on painting Isaac's nails magenta with her new nail varnish. No, my laughter rings out like Christmas bells.

"Time for Christmas dinner." John calls from the kitchen shortly after noon.

I take a set next to Isaac and facing Kelly, who hasn't said a word about finding me and Isaac in bed together. I'm incredibly grateful to her.

We all dig into a feast of roast turkey (fake and made of magic, Adele reassures me), potato, and veg.

"It's not a roast dinner without Yorkshire puddings." Isaac insists when he catches me staring at the strange golden lumps on my plate.

"But what are they?" I ask. I've heard of them before, but I've never seen them until now.

"Pancakes. Or, at least, they're made with the same ingredients." He grins as I stare at him incredulously.

"So, Ally," Adele begins. "What do you want to do after you finish university?"

After I finish? I haven't put much thought into it before, beyond not moving back to the palace. "Umm. I don't know.... Well, I want to buy a house in the countryside, so that rules out anything based in a city. Maybe I could do something online, probably freelance."

"It's alright, dear. You've still got a few years to go, and you never know what opportunities might fall into your lap."

"That's right." John agrees. "I never thought I'd become a teacher until I moved here with Adele and saw an ad for a nursery worker at the local primary school. That's when I took a teaching degree."

I notice Kelly has been quiet throughout the meal. She's been like this all week. She keeps putting on smiles and sounding upbeat, but I see the cracks in her façade. I want to help her heal, but I don't know her that well. Isaac's the one who needs to be there for her. And he is there. But Kelly's going to need support long after we go back to university. It claws at my heart how much she's suffered.

"What plans do you have for when you finish school, Kelly?" I ask.

"I've always wanted to do some kind of medical degree at university. To help people." Her use of the past tense 'wanted' doesn't escape my attention. I don't want to think about why she might be unsure now.

Once we've finished the main course, Adele puts on a playlist of Christmas music. We all start singing along. Even Kelly joins in, her smile looking the most genuine it's looked during the entire meal.

With the jovial sound of music filling the room, I look around, noting the familiar faces and grinning glances. It's cosy. Modest. Such a simple affair is how I pictured Christmases as a child. Just one Christmas like this would've been enough. And here it is.

I let myself forget my pain. The pain of others in the room. I let myself get lost in song. In the moment. This unadulterated joy is what Christmas is truly about. I never want to forget this moment.