The Royalty

Chapter 24

Song: Battlefield by Jordin Sparks

I ran a hand through my hair as we pulled up to the French palace, where we would be staying for the next and last two days we had in France. I still hadn't worked up the nerve to tell America about what'd happened between Daphne and I. I didn't want to make her feel like Daphne was a threat, because she wasn't. I'd made it perfectly clear to Daphne that I wasn't interested in her like that and she said that she never wanted to see me again. That was the end of it. If Daphne was going to do anything, it would be ignoring me the whole time. Things should run smoothly as long as America never found out about what'd happened.

Still, I had a bad feeling in my stomach- like this trip was going to trigger something terrible. I tried to push the feeling away but it festered in the back of my mind.

America and I got out of the car. She took my hand and looked at me curiously. "Why are you so nervous?" she whispered. "You said they were just allies and family friends, right?"

"I'm not nervous," I replied hurriedly. She shrugged and rolled her eyes at me, pulling me up the steps and to the door. The guards on duty bowed and opened the large doors.

Daphne and her family stood in the foyer, waiting to greet us. Daphne smiled at me warmly, her dark blue eyes meeting mine. I wasn't sure how to approach her. Was she still mad or not? That was the thing about Daphne. If she didn't want me to know what she was thinking, I'd never know.

America and I walked closer to them. "Maxon! It's good to see you again," the king said. "It's been far too long since the last time I've seen you."

I gave a polite bow to everyone before responding. "Indeed it has, sir."

"Yes! It really is odd to think about everything that has happened since then. You got married for God's sake! Speaking of which," he said, turning to America, "would you like to introduce us to this fine young lady?"

America blushed as I rested my hand on the small of her back. "America, this is the king of France. Sir, this is America."

She curtsied politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." The king nodded approvingly.

"Likewise, my lady." He turned back to me. "You've picked a lovely girl, Maxon."

"Oh, I know. You wouldn't believe how much effort it took to get her to like me, though," I said while winking at America as she tried to suppress a smirk.

Daphne cleared her throat, stepping forward with her mother. I gulped and felt myself lean away from her a bit. "Maxon," she said. "Aren't you going to finish the introductions? Papa isn't the only one in the family, you know."

I coughed. Well, here goes nothing. "Ah, yes. America this is Daphne and the queen. Daphne, Your Highness, this is America."

"It's so nice to finally meet you, America!" Daphne exclaimed, moving to America and embracing her. America laughed and hugged her back. "I'm so happy for the both of you. Prince Maxon always used to tell me how he couldn't wait to find a wife and, well, here you are!"

America pulled away, casting me a questioning look. "Maxon used to talk to you about this? I apologize, it's just that I was under the impression he never really had anyone to confide in and he never mentioned you."

Daphne waved it off. "Oh no, it's fine. Considering he was with a beautiful girl like you, I'm not surprised he didn't bring up another woman. But, yes. We were close friends."

America blushed. "Thank you. You're so sweet."

There was a lump in my throat as I watched them talk. I didn't know what was going on. I'd thought Daphne would be cold and distant, but she was actually being nice. Nice! I was almost too stunned to speak. All I knew was that I needed to figure out how to get through the time we were spending here without letting America find out what'd happened. To do that, I had to get away from Daphne. At least, until it was time for dinner.