They should be listening to the captain of the flight for the sake of their safety and the general interest of the kingdom, but Luke ignored the announcement. He stared at his intended, waiting for a sarcastic laughter or a sneer or a pronouncement that he was lying. It was well within her rights to doubt him. Nobody, not even his father, who was not born as low in the social hierarchy as she was, was spared from the expiration date. It had nothing to do with how much the heir loved or hated his/her betrothed, the high society just would not tolerate power to be given freely to a commoner hailing from nowhere. As he kept telling himself over and over again – if he would refuse to commission her death, then somebody else will. Therefore, he would not invest his emotions on a relationship that had an ultimatum. They both know that every day they spent together was another day closer to that inevitable finish line. 

“Making the ‘impossible things’ possible is part of the gig.” The breeding tradition had hurt him once when he was powerless to do anything about it, but things were different now. The queen was perfectly fine to run the show beside her son to teach the prince what it was like to be a king. “I am not making a promise that you will reign by my side for as long as you live – that is impossible. The kind of impossible that I could do nothing about.” Because in the game that he was playing, keeping the general public placated was as important as keeping his allies happy. She could be the other half of the puzzle that would have completed the picture, but she just would not fit in the picture. 

“The rifles from the clinic yesterday had a close resemblance with the standard issued rifles of the Royal Army. If the rebellion is all but a bunch of peasants voicing their discontent about the government, then how would they afford those firearms?” They wouldn’t. Otherwise, the money should have been spent for food or the betterment of the individual lives of the members and the community they belonged to. Not that he was discounting the fact that the rebellion rooted from an alleged discontent with the way the nobles were running the kingdom, what bothered him the most was that although the foot soldiers were commoners, there was a great possibility that the people’s grievances were being used by powers greater than the collective minds of the public. A kind of power that owned resources, that had influence to bring in his people inside the palace. “I need Sebastian to protect my family more than I need him to bring down the organization.”

A soft knock sounded from the door followed by the voice probably one of the female bodyguards of Rhiane requesting the couple to get into their respective seats. It was what prompted Luke to finally get on his feet and approach the princess elect. “You’re acting like a child, Rhiane.” He reached out his hand for her to take if she wanted to. “Suck it up and work with her. At the capital, we were taught how we don’t always get to choose who we work with. It’s a cruel world, I know.” She may say that she was not jealous, but it looked to him that she was. Her emotions were too close to the surface, allowing it to rule her instead of the other way around. When she was upset, she would stage a mutiny against him or anybody she was upset with, but when she was happy, she would become very cooperative. “I was taught that how we feel doesn’t matter. The world doesn’t care as long as we serve the purpose we are here for.” It was a subtle jab about her upbringing softened perhaps by the somberness in the way he delivered the blow. 

“I’ve said too much, but the short answer is no, you are not allowed to make her jealous. Besides, how do you propose to do so?” 

The captain repeated the request for the passengers to strap in. Luke sighed. “Come now, before we run out of fuel while circling above the airstrip.”