Separate Crowns of One Heart

Thırtėėn

I'm enjoying breakfast with Mila and Tanya the next morning when an urgent knock sounds on her door. I turn to her, curiously. "Are you expecting someone?"

"No." She sets her glass of milk down and rises to answer the door. "Oh. Oh! Y-your Highness." She bows deeply.

Highness? I quickly stand as the Prince pushes his way in. He quickly searches the room in that calculating way of his, taking everything in. "What are you--"

"Y-you're not in any danger?"

"No," I answer, frowning up at him. "I'm perfectly fine."

He squints his eyes and studies me as if he thinks I may be lying. "And you haven't been hurt? At all?"

I try to answer no but I stop myself because it does not feel completely honest. Not that I have a problem lying to his royal pain, but I can't help but think about last night in the woods with Micah. He told me he loved me yet a part of me was left deeply wounded.

"Cyrah?" The Prince peers into my face. "Have you been--"

"No."

"Alright." He nods and steps away, finally. He turns to Mila, who is busy attempting to pat a wayward curl into place. "I apologize deeply for barging in on you like this, Miss. Baez."

As I watch Mila try and look presentable for the Prince, I notice the Prince's clothing isn't anything he would usually go out dressed in. Not only do his kamis and pants not match in color, but they are also two different materials. He is also not wearing any jewelry.

Mila begins to accept his apology but I speak up before her. "Did you come here in a rush?"

"Nooo," he draws sarcastically. "I took my absolute sweet time getting here because I definitely did not think that something terrible had happened to you."

I look at Mila with a smile. "My dashing prince is beginning to get hysterical. I should get him back to the Palace so he can get his beauty sleep." I glare up at him. "That's bound to relax him."

"Well..." She glances helplessly between me and the Prince. "Would you sit and finish breakfast at least? Your Highness, you're welcome to join-- I mean... please join us."

I return to my seat at Mila's small table and the Prince takes the seat beside me, folding his long legs awkwardly beneath the small table. Mila and Tanya leave to bring more food (and I'm sure Mila is taking this time to freshen up). I pick up right where I left off with my lemon crepes before the Prince so rudely interrupted. It quickly becomes difficult to enjoy my breakfast because the Prince is doing that thing where he stares all hard and stoic at the side of my face to get my attention.

"Out with it."

"Are you sure everything is alright?"

I breathe heavily through my nose and put down my fork. "Yes. Why is it so hard for you to believe?"

"Because." He glances in the direction that Mila and her handmaid had gone in And lowers his voice. "I had this feeling last night—"

"Oh, please!" I resume my eating, refusing to let him ruin my appetite. "You come here all hysterical over a feeling?"

"Quit calling me hysterical," he grumbles. "The whole moon, I could not sleep because something did not feel right. And then I sent you a message on the comm and you have yet to reply. I got tired of waiting so I came here to make sure you were alright and now here you are—"

He stops talking and plasters a smile on his face as Mila and Tanya return. Tanya sets a plate down before him. "I hope it is to your liking, Your Highness." She bows before taking her seat.