"Prince Nikolas has a squeaky clean record and expects professionalism and perfection. He's a bit—much," Luke said

"Oh," I said blankly. I was miraculously starting to feel grateful that Missus Lucille was going to teach me what the heck to actually do, since Prince Coleman let me get away with a lot of crap.

We entered the dining hall for lunch—my first time since breaking my foot.

"Oooh, Cassie!" Sherry spotted me and leapt up from the table to scurry over. She pulled me into an excited hug. "How is your foot? Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm a lot better! It's good to see you again, Sherry."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear it," she beamed. "Go get your food and come sit with me."

"Alright," I said.

Luke and I got in line, and I half-expected Chef Jonathan to jump out of nowhere as he often did, but I didn't see him. After piling our plates, Luke and I sat down by Sherry as she burst into chatter.

"Did you hear while on bedrest? That awful Nikotan Prince is coming tonight." Sherry wrinkled her nose. "I mean, why's he coming on a Tuesday? The festival doesn't even start until Monday. It's ridiculous!"

It didn't seem that crazy to me.

"I'm hoping he gets snails in his bed this time," Sherry grinned conspiratorially. "I personally think them much grosser than frogs."

"Sherry," Luke's voice was surprisingly crisp. "You shouldn't say such things. Prince Nikolas is an honored guest of the royal family."

"Please. We all know that no one actually wants him here. Not even the royal family. He's stuck up and full of himself and just the worst. Mister Lucas, I'm only saying what everyone thinks," Sherry sniffed.

Luke suddenly pushed his chair out, and its legs skidded against the wooden floorboards with a scrape. Sherry and I watched with our mouths wide open as Luke marched up to the unoccupied head table and climbed up on it.

"Can I have your attention, please!" He shouted, which was somewhat irrelevant since almost everybody was already staring at him as his table climbing escapade hadn't gone unnoticed.  However, the chatter did die down immediately. Luke straightened his tie before continuing. "Thank you. I need the kitchen staff out here as well!" He said loudly. "You there, Raven. Go fetch Chef Jonathan and his staff and get them out here."

People began to whisper and clamor about as the confused kitchen staff filed out.

"Thank you, Raven," Luke said, his voice echoing through the now silent food hall. "Now I want all of you to listen and heed my words." His voice was harsh and strict. "Prince Nikolas arrives here tonight. Now I know that many of you dislike him—perhaps you even hate him. I know that our countries are not friends. I know that they destroyed us in the last winter Olympics. I understand that you may not care for Nikotan mannerisms. However, that is absolutely no excuse to treat him abysmally. Because you are not just regular old citizens of Aregano. You belong to the prestigious staff of King Collin's household. You do not get to be so petty.

"So you will do as I say. You shall not harass Prince Nikolas in any way, shape or form. In fact, you will be just as helpful and accommodating as you would be to any other honored guest here at the palace. I don't want to hear name calling, or hear any talk of stupid pranks and tricks to play. To the kitchen, I want his food to taste just as excellent as any other plate in the palace. No funny business. You all are to treat Prince Nikolas with the respect that his title earns him, and you are going to be professional for a drastically needed change. And if I see anyone violating these standards of conduct which I have laid out, I will not hesitate to terminate your employment immediately. You will be out on the street before you can get out another word about how much you despise the crown Prince of Nikoto!" By now, Luke was breathing heavily. "You may continue with whatever you were doing, now."

Luke leapt off the table, and the hall was silent in shock for a few moments before bursting into hushed whispers and carefully watching Luke as he headed back towards me and Sherry. He plopped down beside me and brushed a loose strand of golden-brown hair from his forehead.

Now maybe it was some primal instinct, or maybe it was this patriarchy everyone liked to go on about—I couldn't be sure, but something about Luke taking charge and laying down the letter of the law was extremely attractive to me. I always saw him as sweet little Luke; he was a rather quiet and docile sort of person, but he was cute and nice. If I had had to describe his spirit animal, I think a kitten would have come to mind.

But he no longer seemed like a kitten to me.

A lion seemed more fitting at this point.

Perhaps the whole affair took something out of him, because a few beads of sweat clung to his forehead. And yet, he didn't look regretful or sheepish. He seemed confident and perhaps even a little proud. I liked it.

"Sorry, you were saying, Sherry?" Luke asked.

Sherry just gaped at him, until she finally muttered, "It was nothing, sir."

Author's note: sorry for the short chapter. The next one is almost twice as long. :)