There was satisfaction in watching her turn to the table, take the glass, and pop the pill into her mouth. Luke would not deny the feeling of fulfilment in winning a round of their battle of wills that afternoon. If she looked close enough, she would notice a subtle shift in the intensity of his stare, in the set of his jaw, and even in the stiffness of his posture, which could only be credited to relief. After all that was said, their little tug-of-war was over. Granting that she conceded, he was glad that Rhiane finally listened to the voice of reason – which was obviously his voice. 

The victory was not enough to ease the discomfort brought by the throbbing pain on his head, but it did make him realize that Rhiane was not uncapable of seeing things his way. It took more than a request to get her to take a pill that promised to ease the pain and swelling of her ankle, but to Luke, the important thing was that she got out of her default go-against-the-prince mode. Ultimately, the first part of the mission for that afternoon was a success. 

He gathered the coat and folded it on one arm as Rhiane was testing her weight against her feet. The medication would not take effect immediately, but she would gradually feel the effect. Taking it would not be her worst decision for the day. As she was making sure that her legs would not fail her for the second time, she talked about her mother and father and how they “loved each other deeply until the day she died”. There were other words that completed the sentence, but she lost him at that. His father loved his mother deeply until the day he died. The same could not be said about his mother, who remarried too soon. Prince Alessandro was said to look a lot like the late prince consort. He had his father’s height, build, cold eyes, and most of his facial features, that when he looked at the mirror he would often remember the man whose arms carried him when he was too tired to walk, whose voice that chased away his fears when he was afraid of the dark, whose discipline he carried all the way to that day. When he looked at the mirror he often wondered what kind of man he would have turned out to be if his father was still alive. Could he had been more like his father, a person capable of love, or would he still be the same person who would marry out of duty like his mother?

“A cat?” Luke pushed his thoughts aside as he phrased the question rather absently. There was no point in dwelling on thoughts of what could have been. All the power, wealth, and authority the royal family possessed would not be enough to bring back the dead. 

He reached for her hand and put it on his arm before he started walking. “Tell me when it hurts so we can stop and rest.” 


It didn’t take long for them to be back into the road in a much newer hovercraft, but not Luke’s. Instead of taking his own, the crown prince chose at random from the standard air crafts used by the escorts of the royal family. It was easier to gain clearance that way, also easier to lose any tails. The notifications of his communication band were switched on in case there was any move from the palace to go after him. Fortunately, there was none. 

It would take a clear head to be able to maneuver the craft. His migraine would have made it difficult for him to do so. Good thing he was able to excuse himself from Rhiane on the way out of the suite. The pain medication prescribed by the doctor especially for him was in one of the drawers of the bathroom. His migraine was perhaps the most pressing issue when it came to his health. It had rendered him useless for a day in the past when the attack was not tended properly and the medication, though readily available, was neglected by him. Only select people knew about it, and it was honestly not a serious ailment. A vast number of population had it, but then again, any form of weakness was bad. 

“You will be the first person that I’ll be bringing to the island with me. You’re not supposed to share it with anybody. Have you been to the sea?” he said as they glided through the sky. Luke was in a better mood, he could feel the pressure in his head easing away the same with the blurriness on his vision. “There’s this place where we can have an unobstructed view of the sunset. If you’re somehow a little daredevil, there’s a cliff where you can dive from. The waves shouldn’t be as strong this time of the year. It’s relatively safe to do cliff diving.”