Luke turned to her and paused. He was standing at the foot of the bed, ready to step outside of her room and face the world save for the sneakers he had yet to put on. Rhiane, on the other hand, did not seem to grasp the urgency that necessitated them to act fast. Though he understood that ladies took time to prepare themselves, he thought her behavior was either sabotaging his schedule or showing her lack of care for precious time.

“I have no use for apologies and I certainly did not ask for one.” His blue eyes were cold, his face the same emotionless mask he used when speaking with a subject or a business partner. It was true. Hearing her say what she was sorry and not sorry about would not solve his problem, or the problem of anybody in particular. It would just eat up time that was never his in the first place. The fact that he stayed up late, got up early, and sacrificed sleep was testimony that the world was not about to wait for them. They had spent enough time fooling around and pretending to be people who they would never be. It was just proper to set their feet back to reality, wear the crown, and be responsible future leaders. But he just had to add, “It is the rational thing to do. Every household must have a stock of basic medicine and first aid. You run a farm. Your brothers or your father may get hurt in operating the equipment, or they may experience muscle pain from too much work, or they may get sick. These are normal occurrences. People get sick. People feel pain. People bleed. Is it not common sense or must this be turned into a law?”

He was pushing her, he knew that. The issue was really a trivial matter. Either him or her could have let it go so they may both move forward. He didn’t need an apology and he would also not apologize for the choices his mother made that disagreed with Rhiane. It was her problem.

Not wanting to stand in awkward silence, he called Anelle again. That time it was to do Rhiane’s family a favor. The disdain for being asked to do an errand for the peasants translated through the line. Her words were clipped and sharp. She tried to reason that they were busy and buying basic medicine was easy enough that the men of the Black household should be very capable to handle the errand, but Luke insisted. When the crown prince gave an order, it must be done. But if he was aware that he overstepped his boundaries in making decisions for the family, the short answer would be no. 

“Rhiane, you need to get dressed. The food is on its way and we need to finish the filming today,” he said after the line was cut. Yes, he said we even after she offered to do the filming alone. As if on cue, there was a gentle rap at the door and a voice telling them that breakfast is at the dining room. Luke assured Sebastian, he assumed it was Sebastian, that they would be joining them in a bit, then turned back to Rhiane who still kept sitting on the bed.

“If I could ditch this damned tour, I would have done it from the start. However, it is not what the queen had in mind. It’s you and I both or nothing at all. Didn’t you promise her at the start that you will cooperate?” He raked his hair with a hand in exasperation. “I know you’re tired, but it will all be over in a few days.” Luke would be leaving for the summit and she would probably be attending classes on etiquette, protocols, basically preparing her to be a lady that would not embarrass Luke and the queen. Princess Callista would most likely drag Rhiane with her to social and official functions, but it was not as tedious as traveling from one place to the other day in and day out. 

“We will bring the paintings and whatever it is that you wish to bring with you to the capital. You may turn your old room into a studio, keep the paintings there, or hang a couple of your favorites in my room. I don’t understand why you feel embarrassed about your passion. If you did not think the artworks were good enough why did you keep a collection of them and why are you giving one away to Tobias?”