Two Princes In Panama

Chapter 13: Myles

Fourteen days passed in tense silence which was easy to maintain since I had years of keeping my mouth shut as a royal. Bernardo was senior in age to me but acted as a child when he didn't get the reaction he wanted out of me. It was an alarming glance at how he functioned in the world. He would challenge me like I was his sibling. Throwing balls of paper at me, constantly calling my name and other hijinks seen in twentieth century movies. Even with his constant prodding I remain in silent resistance.

As my feet hit the floor a padded thud resounded with every step as I trudged downstairs in light gray ankle socks. My feet glided over the smooth surface of the floor when I reached the bottom of the stairs. I gave a small ice skating performance as I made my way into the kitchen where classical twentieth century music was playing from above.

Most people agreed that entertainment of the late twentieth and twenty first centuries was the diamond age. Media grew to the standard we have now and was the first time every echelon had access. Most of modern culture was attributed to the fondation set during that age. We had improved on the weaker parts of society at times and regressed to the wars of the early twentieth century.

I started my day off wanting a swim but when I looked outside the sky looked moments away from breaking open releasing enough rain to flood anything under sea level. Instead of spending my morning in the pool I took the time to account for the cost of labor needed to install new lines of magic electrical lines. After conferring with Celine and the financial liaison office for the South I managed to have the plans legally sealed.

It was my turn to make a meal or order of the house which was why I left my office. We were not alloted a chef so we rotated meal duty between the four of us. Alejandro and Bernardo choose to order food while Mileta and I cooked. Mileta made an amazing dish called Milanesa, a thin slice of beef coated in breadcrumbs after being dredged in egg batter. She fired it to perfection and tossed it with lime juice and fresh chilis. It reminded me of a country fried steak I had in the Tennessee province as a child.

Walking in the spotless kitchen I pulled out everything I would need to prepare a meal. The downside of having a large kitchen was having to find things. I would never complain about it out loud since some of the homes in Progress Village were the size of my kitchen. I quickly put together a carbonara.

While I was busy emulsifying the egg I could sense Bernardo behind me. His energy was up so I knew he had gotten done either sparring with Alejando or working out. If he wasn't working he was doing something physical.

I turned the music up with a passing thought to make it easier to ignore that he was around. He left after the music changed to pop. I was growing tired of cooking, I needed to call the department of contracts to see if builders had been hired.

"Announce to everyone that the meal is ready," I said to my bio-companion. After putting a plate for myself to the side I began cleaning. Our guards would insist on doing all the work but I refused to treat them like slaves. I felt bad enough working them every day all day and wanted to do everything I could to make their life easier. After I finished placing the dishes in the washer I plated three other plates, one sloppier than the others.

"Sir it smells amazing in here," Alejandro said as he walked in. He was wearing a brown ribbed tank and loose fitting shorts. He was a handsome man but not in the way I desired in men. "Thank you." I hoped that the smell wasn't deceiving. I watched as he ate a forkful of carbonara and nodded his head.

"It tastes good to me. It's cool that I can tell my children that the future kings made meals for me," he said with a broad smile. I chuckled then was hit with a realization. "You have kids?"

He had never mentioned having kids before. "Yes sir, I have four in total, two sons, a daughter, and the oldest is fluid. They are with my wife in the Northern Ecuadorian province. They are staying with her family while I work here since it's cheaper here and her mothers' aren't requiring us to pay them. We plan on buying a house so any money we can save is a blessing." The way his face warmed when he spoke about his family was endearing. Mileta acted as my personal guard, so we had minimal amounts of alone time. Logically it was understandable that I wouldn't know tons about him but I still felt guilty.

"For some reason I thought you and Mileta were partnered," I said. It was probably just because I only saw them together or with one of us.

"She is engaged to her longtime girlfriend," he replied with a smirk as she walked into the kitchen.

"Mileta the prince thought that you and I had something going on," Alejandro laughed. Her black sundress flowed around her as she came to a halt at the counter, her shoulders bounced while laughter.

"I hate to disappoint but we are only coworkers." I watched her inhale her fondness and smiled with pride.

"What did you make," Bernardo asked. He strutted into the kitchen bare-chested. I remained silent while internally screaming. He was lucky I had not poisoned the food he was about to devour.

"Sir, it's Carbonara," Mileta replied for me.

"Are we sill doing this bullshit, just fucking speak to me," he said as he flopped hsi sweaty body down on one of the highchais tha tlined the island. I remained silent and began eating my food with my head down. I savor the flavors before consuming the meal. I could tell that the energy in the room had shifted. The tension was so thick I felt like I was being squeezed by an anaconda.

"Why don't you calm down and listen to me instead of playing this childish game. I have been trying to tell you that I am sorry for two weeks now." I looked over and saw bits of food at the corner of his mouth.

"I tracte out of anger and I am sorry that you feel the way you do about what I did," he said. He looked at me as if his half-assed apology should earn an applause. I wasn't going to entertain the conversation so I averted his eyes and went back to eating my food.

"Hello? I know you fucking head me, or do you need the gaurds to speak for you?" He was starting to yell. I could tell that our guards were uncomfortable with the position we had put them in.

"If you two would like to leave please feel free," I said in a calm manner. They did not hesitate to dart out of the kitchen, food in hand. Mileta almost teleported out of the danger zone Bernardo had created.

"Oh so you can talk," Bernardo said. He stood up and grabbed my wrist prohibiting me from eating. I looked down at my hand then up to his face.

"Speak," he demanded.

"Let me go now," I broke my silence with a low and controlled tone.

"Accept my apology and I will," he replied, brows creased.

"What you gave was not genuine so I won't accept it. What I will do is give you a moment to remove your hands from me. I do not feel comfortable with how you're acting and I don't like how you presented yourself in front of Mileta and Alejandro." I tried to pull away but his grip tightened.

"What do you want from me," he exhaled in exasperation.

"I want you to let me go, you're hurting me," I said. My hand was falling asleep from the pressure. Looking into my eyes he could see how scared I was in the moment and released his grasp before placing his hands on his face.

"I don't know how to fix this," he said to me. His voice was smaller than I had ever heard it. I was not going to fall for the manipulation tactic he was trying. I would not let a change in tone and posture sway me.

"You can actually be sorry for your actions. You had sex in a bed that we share. You did it while I was in the house to add insult to injury. You spent a lot of money on a prostitute when it could have gone to the betterment of hundreds. I get it, you don't like me or anything I stand for. I understand that you want to be married to a woman, but that does not excuse your disrespect or threats. So until you understand that I will be treated as an equal I won't accept anything from you."

I was getting emotional so I walked away before he could see my tears. I grabbed my food and went into the foyer at the same time thunder rolled over the palace.

"Stop walking away from me," He said storming behind me.

"Why not, you get to do whatever you want," I shot back.

"We are barely married, get over it," he said, moving closer.

"You're right, we are barely married and apparently the seal does not prohibit me from sleeping with other people so I might take advantage of that oversight. I might even find real love," I shouted at him before stomping out into the rain as my body heated in rage.