The Seventh Prince

Chapter 11

As their carriage pulled up to the castle gates, Alice took a deep breath. She stepped out following her elder sisters with Tessa behind her. They faced the seven princes with only six of them looking back. The way Alice saw the princes was much different now. She saw all of them, not just Luke. The prince that caught her eye, to her surprise and his, was the youngest prince, Jack.

She walked up to Jack. "Good day, Jack," she said.

Jack seemed surprised that she was even approaching him but quickly responded, "Good day, Miss Alice. How are you today?"

"Good. And you?"

"Fine," she replied.

Luke looked the six princesses, carefully thinking over his plan. He talked a bit to Tessa and Faye but the other princesses didn't even come up to him, not even Alice. He talked to King Henry for a while and he talked to his father. 

"What's wrong, son?" his father asked.

"What? Nothing, sir."

King Samson eyed him suspiciously. "You aren't going to talk to Alice? Or Daisy? Or any of the others?"

"I talked with Tessa," Luke said, trying to ease his suspicion. "And Faye."

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, sir," Luke said, as confidently as he could. He immediately left to talk to Alice. She was still talking to Jack as he approached them.

"Good day, Miss Alice," Luke said.

"Good day, Luke," Alice replied. She was very confused. She had thought that Luke didn't like her and now he was willingly coming up to her to start a conversation. She just wanted to keep talking to Jack.

"Hello, Luke," Jack said to which Luke nodded in response.

The conversation went downhill from there, a fact which Luke made sure of. They talked about the weather, the trip to West Ostaria, and various other dull things until it was time for Alice to leave in order for the princesses to get home by nightfall.

"Farewell," Luke said.

"Farewell, Luke," Alice said, then turned. "Farewell, Jack," she said a smile breaking across her face.

"Farewell, Princess Alice," Jack said, bowing and kissing her hand and she stepped into the carriage.

As the walked up the twisted stairway up to their rooms, Jack whispered to Luke, "Luke, what were you doing?"

"What?" Luke said, smiling and pretending to be oblivious to his intentionally terrible conversation skills.

Jack paused. "You know, when we were talking Alice and you... you... even I'm not that bad Luke!"

Luke smiled at his little brother. "She likes you Jack."

Jack blushed. "Fine. Good night."

"Good night," Luke said, glad that his ingenious plan not only made him happy and Scarlett happy but also made Jack, and all his other brothers for that matter, happy as well.