ADJUSTMENTS

I said goodbye to Cece and silently followed Luca to the throne hall.

"Do you know what it's about?" I asked him nervously.

Luca gave me an impassive glance and shrugged. I frowned, sensing he knew more than he was letting on. He remained by the doors and ushered me in. With a heavy heart, I walked into the hall.

The rectangular throne hall is smaller than the great hall. It is where my father usually held council with his court and advisors. Several of them were inside in the middle of a session, their loud voices sounding like bees buzzing. My father was seated on the heavy gilded throne atop the dais at the far end. He was leaning on his elbow, listening to the bees.

The room grew quiet when I entered. The court present bowed to me. Despite their show of respect, I still noticed the sideways looks they were giving me. Looks that barely hid their opinion about the crown princess who used to cause all sorts of mischief within the palace and has yet to prove herself.

I pretended not to notice and curtsied in front of my father. "Father, you wish to see me?"

"Elena, my dear. Yes, we have something to talk about." He raised his hand, and the court began clearing out of the hall to give us some privacy. My father waited until we were alone, except for his guards, before speaking in a hushed voice. "Thank heavens for saving me from that complaining bunch," he muttered, giving me a wink.

"Court boring you, father?" I joked weakly.

"You'll be joining in soon, my dear."

"Looking forward to it," I replied through gritted teeth.

My father smiled. "You'll do just fine when the time comes, Elena. Anyway, that's not the reason why I asked you here."

Uh, oh. Here it comes.

"What do you require of me?" I asked tentatively.

"You've finally come of age, my dear," my father said. "It won't be long before you'll take my place—"

"No!" I blurted out. "I mean…. Father, you're still very healthy and capable. I, on the other hand, still have a lot to learn. Surely it will take many more years…" I trailed off desperately.

The king gave a good-humored laugh.

"Don't look so worried, Elena. You're not taking over the throne right at this moment," he said gently.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"But, now that you're eighteen, and provided you now have your own royal guard, you must take the next step in governance," he continued. "It's time for our people to know the future queen of Ephemere."

"What do you mean, father?"

"You need to make your presence known to the people, but you cannot do that within the palace. It's about time you ventured out, Elena. It's not just your duty to govern the kingdom, but also to work out the people's affairs. Get to know them and entertain their concerns. Get them to love you and earn their loyalty in consequence.

"Of course, your safety is top priority; that is where your personal guard comes in. It's safe within our borders, but we can never be complacent. The risk is even greater when you journey out of the kingdom and into the outskirts. But I need not worry; the newly appointed captain of your guard is more than competent."

In an instant, my spirits were lifted.

"Yes, Luca is," I responded proudly. I could barely contain my excitement! It's what I've always wanted! Leaving the kingdom and traveling. The thought of going out into the unknown made me slightly nervous, but I knew Luca would keep me safe.

"However, necessary preparations need to be made before I allow you to leave."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I'm not going to leave my precious daughter defenseless in the event of a crisis, God forbid, now, would I?" He winked at me and lazily waved a hand behind me.

I turned around to see Luca enter the hall. I tried to catch his attention, but his eyes were lowered in deference as he approached, his expression aloof.

"Your Majesty," Luca said, after bowing.

My father nodded and turned back to me. "I have instructed the captain of your guard to give you basic training on survivability and self-defense. I think you're old enough — responsible enough — to handle sharp objects?"

My grin widened. "I can use weapons? Swords?" I said eagerly. "Luca's going to teach me how to fight?"

"Now, don't get too excited, my dear. He'll teach you the basics of various weapons handling, just so you'll know how to use them without hurting yourself. Just the basics, Elena. There's no need for you to fight." He gave me a stern look.

I smiled back sweetly, completely intending to take full advantage of this new opportunity. "When do we start?"

"Your governess has already been informed of your new practical lessons. Adjustments will be made to your existing schedule starting next week. Hopefully, you will be ready by the end of spring. Captain Luca?"

"I won't let you down, Your Majesty," Luca said.

"I know I could always count on you." My father smiled. "But don't let her have too much fun," he added in a mock whisper, which made Luca smile a little.

"Father!" I exclaimed.

The King's booming laugh echoed throughout the hall.

Nothing could dampen my high spirits, not even my father's teasing. I bit my lip to hide my happiness.

"You already knew about that, didn't you?" I said accusingly to Luca as we both left the throne hall. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not my place to tell you," he replied simply.

"Why don't we just start now, Luca?" I pleaded.

I was so excited! No more boring lessons, I'd finally get to do something fun again. And… training with Luca meant being alone with him. Like old times. Just the two of us.

'Wait... just the two of us?' I thought.

I glanced up at him. I could tell he had bathed after his training session earlier. His hair was still wet, but he had tied it in a bun again. I noticed a droplet of water trickling down the side of his neck. I instinctively raised my hand to wipe it off, but the thought of touching him stopped me. I snatched my hand and looked away, my face heating up.

Luckily, Luca was looking ahead and didn't notice. He shook his head. "You heard your father. Next week."

"Of course," I muttered as I tried to come to terms with my embarrassing and guilt-inducing thoughts. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to touch to him. I knew I shouldn't, but I wanted to. And what if I did? How would Luca react?

What is wrong with me?!

'Stop being weird, Lena,' I told myself.

But I soon forgot about that embarrassing moment, dismissing it as nothing. The following days became excruciatingly long. I kept bugging Luca to start our lessons early, and that, I was more than happy to ditch all of my existing lessons; but he adamantly refused, saying I should still prioritize them and wait until my schedule was sorted out. Besides, he would never go against my father's words.

At last, the week was up.

It was like an average day. After my second hour of lessons in the afternoon, Luca was waiting outside the door as usual. Except, instead of escorting me to my next class, he was there to fetch me for our one-on-one private sessions.

"Can't I really come along?" Cece whined.

"I'm sorry, Cece," I replied apologetically. "But my father specified that I should be taught alone so I could fully focus."

It was a lie. My father didn't say anything of the sort. But he didn't say I should bring Cece along either. Nothing was wrong with that, right?

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Luca glancing curiously at me, which only added to my guilt despite him not saying anything. "We'll find you later after our session, okay?" I told her quickly.

"Can I watch, at least?" she asked.

"No way! I don't want you to see me make a fool of myself." I laughed nervously. "Besides, you're not going to enjoy it anyway. We're going outdoors Cece. It's not going to be very pleasant for you. There are bugs and creepy creatures crawling everywhere…" Stop rambling, Lena.

She wrinkled her nose. "Fine. I'll be in the solar room."

"See you later, Cece."

Luca gave me an amused look once we were finally alone.

"What?" I muttered.

He shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

"Then don't." I walked ahead of him so he couldn't see the embarrassment on my face.

He knew. He could see through my lies, my rambling, just to make sure Cece didn't come along. I just wished he couldn't figure out the reason why. That I was being selfish and I just wanted him all to myself.