Of all the jaw-drops I’ve seen when people first meet Ben, Melody’s mom has to take the award for biggest and most dramatic.

We’re standing in the middle of her enormous kitchen, all these teenagers and then there’s just Ben. Tall, statuesque and with a royal prescience, he’s flustered even the most poised socialite in this town. Melody’s mom is known for her grace under pressure and flawless manners. However, Ben has put those qualities on hold, if only for a few moments. This puts a whole new meaning to the term that Gabe, Marc, Sergei and Oleg use to define Ben’s aura: ‘the force.’ It truly is almost like he’s got some kind of Star Wars-esque control over people.

Mel bursts out laughing as her mom scrambles to say something intelligible. She said she told her family the two of us were coming ahead of time, but obviously that hasn’t helped things.

“I—uh, well, um—very nice to meet you—um,” she stutters.

“Ben, just Ben, thanks,” he suppresses a chuckle. Meanwhile, the people behind us aren’t holding anything back. They’re full-on hysterically laughing. I think Mel is on the floor, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

My god, the look on her face when she walked into the kitchen and saw a Prince in the middle of the room. Priceless.

“Oh, um, Ben,” she smiles widely, “Yes, Ben. Very nice to meet you, Ben.”

“And you as well,” he answers cooly and flawlessly. As always.

After a slight pause, she holds up the tray full of food and asks, “English muffin?”

That’s it. I can’t hold it back any longer. And neither can Ben. We both crack up as Mel tries to shoo her mother out of the kitchen. Everyone gathers around the island and begins picking at the food… and Mel’s little brothers decide that’s the perfect time to waltz into the room.

Nikolai, a sophomore and Mitchel, a 7th grader aren’t aware of Ben at first—which is weird because he’s towering over everyone else in this place.

Niki is the first to finally notice and say, “Hey, you’re that prince dude, right?”

Go figure. A fifteen year old boy is more chill with Ben than Caleb and the rest of the guys my age were. It’s amusing.

“Yes, sir,” Ben answers sarcastically. He’s used to people asking him things like that—questions that include ‘that prince dude’ and such.

Mitch follows up by saying, “You know you’re a lot taller in person.”

“Really?” Ben entertains them.

Nik nods, “Oh and by the way congrats—you’re the first person to make my mom look like a babbling idiot since that time she met John Stamos.”

“Your mom met John Stamos?” I ask Mel with a chuckle.

She rolls her eyes, “When she was in her twenties, yeah. She used to live in New York City and saw celebs all the time.”

The rest of the morning we spend stuffing our faces and getting ready for the half hour or so trip to Lake Auburn’s Ski-Lodge-turned-post-prom-getaway. Teenagers from all over South-Central Maine go there this weekend for canoeing, hiking, biking, horse riding—you know, ‘Maine things’ like that. 

“You know, this is good,” Ben says as we finally get settled into the back of the large SUV. “I can teach you how to ride now—you’ll need the experience for later on.”

“I’ve had a few lessons already,” I reply, “But I bet those instructors aren’t half as good as you are.”

He snorts, “Damn right. I’ve been riding since I was two. They strapped me to a pony and walked me around the grounds.”

“I can believe that,” I let out a puff of laughter. “But why do I have to know how?”

His arm wraps around me and pulls me closer. I set my head on his upper arm as he explains, “You’ll need to review your troops on horseback—ever seen the trooping of the colour in Britain?”

I nod, and he tells me, “Our countries do something similar. You’ll accompany me and my father during ours and we’ll accompany you during yours. We figured it was best to separate the two. My father feels it’s better if you do the one in Chirnova.”

“Oh great, a chance for everyone to watch me fall off a horse,” I mumble. 

He gives me side a pat and says, “You won’t fall. You’ll be fine. We’ll do plenty of riding once we get back home.”

Home. Is that what I should Chirnova and Vladesvya now? East Creek has always been my home. How could I just stop calling it that? The notion hits me like a brick wall.

But I don’t let him notice. I carry on joking with him, and Gabe and Marc like normal. I try to forget about how all my things will soon be in boxes, ready to be shipped over seas. I focus on now; being with my friends and enjoying freedom.

Even when a paparazzi car begins following us on the road to the lodge, I remain calm. It’s no use getting worked up over it anymore—and those new anxiety medications are working great.

Thankfully, the security guards at the gates lock them out. I’m just happy this place decided to invest in those guys full-time.

“I hope you don’t mind sharing a room with Ash and Caleb—they couldn’t afford it all by themselves so I paid half,” I tell Ben as we grab our weekend bags. Marc attempts to take it from me, but I slap his hand away. “Do you want me to look like a complete snob?”

“Point taken,” he backs off and resumes his place behind us as we walk through the door.

Ben answers, “Not at all. Caleb’s alright—reminds me of my friend Eric.”

Oh, I forgot about him. Come to think of it he kind of does act like Eric. 

As soon as our bags are in the rooms, we meet up in the lobby and discuss the day’s plans. Mostly everyone is going horseback riding today, because everyone usually does that Sunday—so, we’ll have to stables all to ourselves.

“Twenty-five dollars for three hours?” Ben asks, “That’s it?”

I nod, “The locals are pretty rich and they donate around this time of year so people that can’t afford it can ride.”

“Well that’s nice of them,” he says thoughtfully. “I think the royal stables at Sandivok House do something like that—for the country children.”

The image of little kids smiling and riding around on ponies makes me grin. “Have you ever given lessons before or am I your first?”

“I taught all my little cousins,” he brags as we follow the group out of the lodge. His hand locks onto mine as we start on the path to the stables. “So thankfully I’m used to dealing with stubborn little people.”

I raise my free hand and hit him playfully on the arm. “Excuse me?”

He breaks into laughter as we start down the hill, and by the time we’re inside the gate our exhaustion has disappeared. The lady that runs the stables doesn’t look too happy that we’ve got a ton of energy to waste.

As she briefs us just like she did last year, I sense Ben fidgeting beside me. He’s probably heard this a million times from his instructors over the years, so it must not be fun to get lectured right now. But, he acts like a good little polite prince and bites his tongue.

She leads each of us over to a horse. There’s just enough of them for our whole group to go together in one shot.

Ben helps me up onto the white and beige-spotted mare the woman pushed me towards. She nearly gave Gabe and Marc a heart attack by tapping my shoulder the way she did. I don’t think she realizes who Ben and I are or why there are four dudes with earpieces following us around.

“Now, I need to know if anyone here has ridden before. If the ratio is large enough I’ll let you go on your own.”

Ben’s hand shoots up, along with Mel’s and Sami’s. Finally, Caleb reluctantly waves a hand. He’s kind of embarrassed about his riding lessons because in America equestrian is kind of a girl’s sport. 

The woman nods, “Good enough. My back is killing me… and I’m sure the Prince and Princess’s suits will make sure none of you maim, kill or run away with my horses. Isn’t that right boys?”

Ben breaks out in suppressed laughter as my eyebrows raise, along with Gabe, Marc, Oleg and Sergei’s. The four guys only nod in response and tug at the bottom of their jackets. It’s comical. And, I’ve finally found out that she does, in fact, know who we are. 

“Well? Get going, you only have three hours,” she motions towards the gate and Ben is the first one to kick his horse on. As soon as his horse starts moving, so does mine, which triggers a chain reaction. Soon we’re off and moving down the trail. Gabe, Marc, Sergei and Oleg have to walk beside us, which is pretty easy considering the horses move so slow.

Ben has fun not only telling us stories about his horse riding and polo mishaps, but giving us tips on how to get the horses to like us.

“Lots of sugar cubes,” he says with a chuckle. “You know, I used to give my horse so many when I was little they had to take the bag away from me. But that horse loved me unconditionally until the day he died—I won my first championship match riding him.

“Is that the huge horse trophy sitting on your shelf in your bedroom?” I ask, watching as Mel and Sami trot out ahead of us. The trail gets wide around here, and there’s room for galloping, which I’m guessing the two of them really want to do.

He nods, “That would be it. It’s the biggest one; they just gave out medals after that year.”

After a pause of silence, I ask, “So when is this trooping of the colour thing?”

He scoots his horse closer to mine and answers, “In Vladesvya and Chirnova we call it vojenský deň.” Military Day. So, it’s like their version of memorial day.

“Chirnova’s is the first Saturday in July; Vladesvya’s is the third Saturday. Once you experience it, you’ll understand why there is a week break in between them. It’s like our versions of the American’s 4th of July celebrations… street parties and lots of drink and food.” He says, “Up until now I’ve always been at the base, so it’ll be great to finally be apart of the trooping.”

“How long is it?” In other words: how long will I be sitting on a horse for?

“The ceremonies are about an hour, usually less. If it makes you feel any better once we’re done there we get to go to the palace’s garden party—it’s family members only so it’ll be relaxing.” 

His smile forces me into smiling. Somehow, he always manages to add something like that to the end of a statement, to make me feel better.

“I guess that makes me feel a little better,” I admit.

A long interim of silence falls upon us as we make our way past the nearby pond. It isn’t until he says something that I realize how truly spaced out I’ve been. 

“I have a feeling we should enjoy this peacefulness while we can. Once we get back home everything will turn to chaos.”

There he goes with that ‘home’ thing again. I mean yes, it makes sense for him to be saying that but I don’t think he realizes how much it screws with my head.

“Kassy has already been texting me pictures of options for the color scheme of the wedding,” I mention as we weave through the trees. “Did she forward them to you too?”

“Yeah she sent them to Andy, who sent them to me,” he shrugs, “I told them it was your choice. I don’t care much for that part of the planning.”

“Good because I already told them dark blue and dark green were the colors I wanted,” I grin as he gives me a smirk and a sideways glance.

“The colors of Chirnova and Vladesvya?” He assumes with a chuckle, “See, you’re ready. You know what you’re doing.”

I try to believe that. Though, I’ve always had a thing for symbolism. I guess things like that just come naturally to me. Why would I use colors that aren’t my countries’ colors? It wouldn’t make sense for my bridesmaids to be wearing pink or purple. Plus, autumn is for deep, rich colors like emerald and sapphire.

“She also asked what uniform I wanted to see you in.” I hear one of the four guys behind us snort and give them a sideways glance.

“Oh please don’t tell me you picked the white one, I feel like a disney character in that thing,” he groans. 

I shake my head, “Nope. I said the blue and green one. You have to match the color theme, you know… but you do look hot in that white one.”

“Like Prince charming, if I do say so myself, Your Highness,” Oleg quips from behind us.

Ben bursts out into laughter, “Oh god not you too. Do you know how many magazines have used that nickname on me?! It’s ridiculous!”

“I hate to break it to you Ben, but you kinda are,” I stifle a laugh. “I mean, you absolutely charm the pants off people.”

“Hence the prince charming,” Gabe wiggles his eyebrows, appearing beside me. 

With a roll of his eyes, Ben brushes off the comments. But I don’t think he really understands how true it is. He’s the ultimate prince. Handsome, charming, in the armed forces, rides polo, goes hunting, saves people for a living, and he’s the head of five charities already.

I don’t notice I’m staring until he asks, “You’re staring, Annie.”

______________________________________________________________

I love it when she does that; when she stares at me with that goofy grin on her lips. It reassures me that everything that’s happened over the past few months is all real. She does have feelings for me. 

But the nightmares tell me otherwise. Why am I the one that’s now starting to doubt our relationship? I fell in love with her in a matter of weeks and now bad dreams are making me rethink this? I can’t let them win. I know I love her. I know this is going to work. It has to.

We can’t be like those other royal couples that fell apart. If we do, both countries and half of Europe will lose faith in our royal families. They’re all counting on us to set a good example of our culture, and the pressure is almost unbearable.

But all I have to do is look at her and everything feels alright again. And soon I’ll be able to look at her every day, instead of once a month.

“Come on!” She yells from ahead of me. For a new royal she rides pretty well. Maybe there is hope for her trooping day.

She gladly welcomes any advice I throw at her as we round corners and climb hills. Through the whole thing I can’t help but imagine that we’re at the trooping already, with crowds all around and my father in front of us. For some reason, it’s an awesome picture in my head. It will further solidify the notion around the world that we’re the next royal power couple. Not that it’s the most important thing to aim for, but it sure as hell would be great to be respected as much as our sets of parents were.

And she’ll be in her uniform; the white and blue outfit reserved for female members of her House to wear on that day. It was custom made in the early 1900’s for her great-grandmother, Queen Vittoria, and the women on the throne or in line for the throne have been wearing it and other versions of it ever since then. Although, she won’t have nearly as many orders as the rest of her relatives until she starts being a full-time royal. But for now she’s got about five waiting for her just because she’s a crown princess.

“I’m impressed,” I compliment as she slows down to pull up beside me. I still beat her up the ridge.

She grins, “So do you think I’ll fit in during the royal hunts?”

I nod, “Absolutely. You’re a natural.”

That’s all it takes to make her happy. I know she loves being reassured she’ll fit into my life; royal life. She’s always been nervous about it, but I think it’s getting better.

“So do you guys actually take the birds home and eat them?” She asks curiously.

With a chuckle I answer, “Of course, I mean what else would we do with them? Quails are very good, by the way. You’ll probably see them as one of the options for our wedding dinner.”

Grimacing, she seemed to think about it for a moment before asking, “Do a lot of the royals like it?”

With a roll of my eyes I reply, “The last three weddings I went to quail was served as one of the main courses.”

She looks taken aback as she questions, “one of the main courses?”

I let out a puff of light laughter. Apparently Kassy hasn’t brought up that part of the wedding planning.

“Yeah, there are anywhere from two to four main courses; right after the appetizers, salad and soup. And then after the main courses there’s two rounds of desert followed by drinks—or as it’s called by the royal circles ‘happy hour’,” I explain as she stares back at me with her face twisted into a confused grimace.

“All that food? Seriously? Do you even eat half of it?”

“Now that I think about it, yeah actually. Probably because they wait for about a half an hour in between courses,” I guess.

“Well… okay then,” she says, still looking a little surprised. There are some things she still needs to get used to, obviously.

“So Ashlyn and Avery,” I bring up the wedding topic even more by asking, “they’re going to be your maids of honor?”

She nods, “Of course. And your best man?”

“Either Eric or Leopold—I can’t decide. I don’t want either of them to feel bad but only one of them can carry the ring—.”

“Why don’t you just pick both like me? Then we’ll match,” she laughs slightly.

I take it into consideration, “I could. I bet Avery wouldn’t mind meeting Eric. Something tells me those two would be a good match.”

“Hah!” She throws her head back in laughter; something I’ve always seen as one of the hottest things a girl can do. And she looks so beautiful when she does it. Her long blonde hair goes flying around her, making her look a little crazy but adorable. 

“Oh, I’m sure. Let’s just make sure they’re not too distracted by each other to do their jobs,” she jokes.

And so we laugh, and tease and joke. And things feel more normal than ever. This place is like a sanctuary. There are no paps lurking in the bushes and no people asking for photos. No one here has really paid attention to us. They’re too busy enjoying themselves. Hell, I’m enjoying myself. That’s something I haven’t done in a while. I’m always so busy doing other things I never get the chance to do things I want to lately; things like spend time doing normal couple stuff with Anna. No fancy dinners or media appearances, just hiking, riding horses and having pizza for dinner.

If only things could stay like this. By the end of June this kind of thing will only happen once more in our lives: the honeymoon. We won’t get a weekend alone like this for a long time. Nothing will ever be as secluded as this, except for our own homes.

Enjoy it all to the fullest now, is what my father said before I left. 

And I’ll be damned if I don’t do just that.

____________________________________________________

OMG LOOK ITS A WILD UPDATE GUYS. Aren’t you happy I kept my promise this time? No month long wait, but it’s shorter than I wanted it to be. I might come back and lengthen it tomorrow, but for now I need sleep.

So tell me what you like and don’t like ect. etc. (did you like Ben's POV?) and hopefully I’ll be able to crank out the next update in about a week or two. Classes are almost over so don’t worry! One update per week will be the thing this summer hopefully.

Don’t forget to vote & comment! I love hearing from you all, you really are the best readers <3 thanks again for stopping by and I hope you’re all having a great spring so far! :)