“I don’t want to what?” 

Truthfully, there were a lot of things he did not want to do, nor asked for. One of which was to be stuck with a patient, who looked as if she had not only caught common colds but something a little more serious, on a night when she was supposed to be preparing for the questions from one of the most reputable talk show hosts in the kingdom. If he did dream of tending to the sick, he would have become a doctor or a nurse at least. That he chose a career path in the military was testimony enough that it was in his nature to destroy rather than heal. 

Luke honestly thought that the exertion of the hike would generate enough heat to at least keep their core temperature to acceptable limits, but perhaps because they were too careful and too slow in their ascent. Especially for Rhiane, who might not be used to swimming on a cold autumn afternoon, and who, because of her contempt for him, chose to expose herself to the elements even after they had the chance to hole up in the warmth of the hovercraft.  

The crown prince wanted to say something, but he managed to hold back his tongue if only because he had his hand in the situation. Instead, he disconnected the band from his wrist and had it functioning like a normal mobile phone. His fingers moved furiously across the digital keyboard typing a quick message to Ms. Viscomi. After which, he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. 

“Mother,” he said after a few seconds. “Mother, may I talk to you?”

The voice at the other end of the line responded, “If it is not about the implant, then of course, dearest. Is it about the information presented during the committee meeting this afternoon? It is indeed a cause for alarm, the rebellion and its suspected allies who are in pow--” The queen’s voice faltered as Luke heard a notification ping from her mother’s end of the line. He let the silence stretch for a few seconds while the queen probably read a message that he suspected was from somebody in the production team of the interview and he contemplated on his lack of focus lately. The meeting that he missed that day and the message that he ignored that afternoon, because he had favored his selfish desire to run away from his duties, it contained crucial information about the rebellion and its suspected benefactors. He should have been there listening to the reports first hand. And what of the committee’s actions? He didn’t even open the mail.

“That is not the reason I called.” His voice was firm, as if to vent the building frustration. The queen would have already known the reason anyway, but Luke continued with, “I wished to personally inform you that I requested to cancel the interview with our princess elect tonight on account of Ms. Black’s poor health conditions.” 

“The peasant?” The queen sounded incredulous. “Poor health condition, a little cold, fever, or flu, my dear son is not life threatening. It is not reason enough to cancel an appointment. Let the make-up artists do their magic and she will look perfect in front of the camera.”

“I do not feel that it’s right to force her to perform like a puppet on stage. Not in her current condition,” he shot back.
The queen laughed. “And since when did you start to care about a peasant’s well-being, Lucius?”

“I care only that she does not collapse on live television and make a fool of us all.”

“She will not, trust me. She has enough motivation to perform and not fail me. Now, accompany her back to her room where her maid servants should be waiting to prep her up.”

Luke smiled, looking out into the sun setting on the west. “If you insist, your majesty. I hope your production team has the patience to wait.” He ended the call and turned off the gadget, effectively cutting off any attempt of communication. It was always tiring to argue with the queen.

With an audible sigh, Luke turned his attention back to Rhiane. It was a good sign that she was shivering, because it meant that her body had not yet given up on generating heat. He had seen enough movies to know what to do in a situation like that, where one was suffering from ailment brought by excessive exposure to low temperatures, but he had no enough medical education beyond the basic first aid training to either validate or invalidate such scenes. It seemed logical. Given that Rhiane was conscious and not entirely suffering from hypothermia, it might work.

If he started overthinking, then Luke would altogether abandon the idea, so he opened his door and exited the hovercraft then jogged to her side. He opened the rear passenger door, then hers, and before she could protest, Luke had princess-carried her out of her seat and again deposited carefully on the back seat. After closing both doors, he ran to the other side and entered the craft shivering. “Cold. Cold. Cold,” he chanted as he pulled his shirt over his head and got rid of his still wet pants. 

Pausing to consider what it might look like for her, he narrowed his eyes and warned, “Don’t ever think that I am enjoying this.” He was trying to help speed up the improvement of her core temperature, so they could return to the castle and make no enemy of the queen. He wanted to make it clear that it was pure business, else she might again mistake it as him warming up to her. Without a word, Luke pulled Rhiane to his lap and held her like he would his lover, maximizing the area of their skin that could touch while he shared his warmth to her. She was too cold to the touch and he could feel her shivering. Even then, he could feel her heart beat against him, strong and even, a sign that she was starting to recover.