Prince Among Men

Chapter 14 - Regroup Pt. 2

The next week, for both of them, was spent catching small breaths in-between attempting to meet the needs of overbearing parents. Orm was a bit more accustomed to this than (Y/N), but it didn't ease his exhaustion by very much. In addition to his regular duties, another envoy from Xebel arrived to maintain relations between kingdoms. Princess Mera had arrived along with them, and he recalled their childhood spent as friends. All of the warmth had gone away after Atlanna died. He was unwilling to dwell on the subject, and regarded her with stiff courtesy.

While processing the strange circumstances of her reconciliation with the brooding prince, (Y/N) searched for a way to reconcile herself to her mother's new path in life. She had time to think on the drive to the nearest airport, where she would be picking them up, although she was more preoccupied with driving Jess's borrowed car as carefully as possible. An accident was not something she could add to the stress equation at this time.

The more she considered it, the more strangely conditional his presence felt. She had never been particularly careful with her words around him, at times teasing him probably more than he was used to. Her inability to guess at his upbringing was heightened by the fact that not only did he appear to be actual royalty, but he was from a completely unknown culture, and had clearly suffered some trauma beyond the scope of what she could fathom. More than once, the doubt had crossed her mind that he may be delusional or a deliberate trickster. She had no concrete way to dispel this doubt, but her instincts told her that he was genuine. She had been wrong before, but she wanted to believe in the strangeness of the situation this time.

Coping with her mother's new choice had been less challenging than she thought. The unwanted houseguest her mother had toted along treated (Y/N) with more dignity and autonomy than previously expected. He seemed aware of her misgivings before he had arrived, but didn't attempt to overcompensate for them. She was still unsure whether she could embrace his anticipated role in her life, but she could see that her mother was happy at the very least. There was still a fighting sense of indignity when she pictured him as a part of her family, something she could not reconcile by conscious effort, which she supposed would go away in time.

In the afternoons she often caught her visitors gazing out the window at the construction site. The skeletal hotel was beginning to look less spindly. It was getting harder to view the sea beyond the sharp geometric frame.