The Translator

Chapter 10: The Group Date

*Erik's P.O.V*

"Hey Henri, Erik, wait up," Sir Kile shouts, dashing up to us. "Are you guys ready to ask the Princess out on a quadruple date?"

I quickly translate for Sir Kile and the grin that appears on Henri's face is answer enough. Before Henri can answer him, Fox and Burke walk up to us, Fox looking a little nervous and Burke looking pleased.

"So today is the day we ask the Princess out on a date?" Fox asks, looking around our small group and giving us each a warm smile.

"Yes, today!" Henri grins, not even waiting for my translation.

"Are you going to be there too?" Burke asks, raising an eyebrow at me. "If my opinion counts for anything, I think you shouldn't be allowed on the date. If Henri can't speak with Princess Eadlyn without your help, she should know that now. Maybe he should have learned English before coming here, that would have been the proper thing to -"

"Learning a second language isn't anywhere near as easy as you think, Sir Burke," I immediately interject, not bothering to translate for Henri. I take a moment to gather my thoughts, trying my best to remain neutral. "Perhaps you should try learning Finnish in the span of two months and see how fluent in it you become before you are thrown into a bunch of other men who only speak Finnish. I can assure you, you would need a translator as well. Sir Henri is trying his absolute best to learn the English language and I see him improve every day. He may not be picking it up as fast as you might like, but thankfully your opinion does not matter. Last I checked, he is trying to win the heart of the Princess not the heart of Sir Burke."

"Nicely put," Sir Kile grins, patting me on the back before turning to Burke. "If you have an issue with Henri and Erik, I can go see if Hale would like to join us for the quadruple date instead...I'm sure he-"

"No, no," Burke cuts him off, "no issues here. I'm sorry for my outburst, I'll keep my thoughts to myself next time."

"Good idea," Kile says, his eyes lighting up when the Princess suddenly walks into view. "Wait here Gentleman, I'll be right back with Eadlyn."

As he quickly walks off to greet her, I turn to Henri and give him a short summary of what just happened. I try my best to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal, but I can tell Henri is starting to get upset by what Burke said. Thankfully before he can dwell on it too much, Kile walks up to us with the Princess in tow. Henri quickly takes her hand and kisses it, a big smile taking over his face.

"Hello today," Henri greets, making the Princess laugh.

"Hello Henri. Burke, Fox," she turns to each suitor as she greets them, a steady smile on her face as she turns to me. "Hi, Erik."

"Your Highness," Burke begins before I can speak. "Maybe this is a little out of line, but we were thinking that the Selection is a very challenging time for you."

"You have no idea," she chuckles.

"It has to be crazy," Fox says next. "You have your work to do, and then you need to find time to do your solo dates or at least try to get around to everyone at a party. It seems exhausting."

"So we had an idea," Kile continues. "Could the 4 of us do something with you this week?"

A big grin takes her face as she answers, "Yes! That would be great. Any ideas on what to do?"

"We were thinking about cooking together," Burke says with an extremely pleased look on his face.

"Cooking?" she asks, obviously not thrilled by the idea, but she manages to keep a smile on her face.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Kile urges, trying to get her more onboard.

"All right," she sighs, giving in. "Cooking it is. How about tomorrow night?"