Page 31 of Roaming Holiday

I take a puff. “Is it even legal here?”

Maia lazily tilts her head toward me, the morning sun illuminating her brown skin. Her cheeks sparkle with beads of sweat. “Not in this quantity. She told me we have princess privilege here.”

“Is that really a thing?”

She giggles. “No.”

My and my sister’s legs are draped across each other’s laps, our hands entwined.

“I needed this,” I mutter with a sigh. The sun blinds me, so I close my eyes and revel in the heat against my face.

“You did,” she agrees. “I did, too.”

I call for Beck to let the room service in, and the hotel employee rolls the cart right onto the balcony. Once I hand over the tip, I wait until we’re completely alone to talk about our new family. It’s eight in the morning and my parents are at the spa.

“Do you think she’s full of shit? Aunt Bev.”

We haven’t spoken much about the lunch. Ruby took us to get mani-pedis the next day before a little shopping and wandering.

Maia sighs and squeezes my hand. “I don’t know. It feels fake. All this formality makes it feel less authentic. It’s tough to make a connection.”

I chuckle. “Roman’s trying real hard for your attention, though.”

She snorts. “I know. I liked his boldness at first but he quickly turned into a pathetic waste of a trust fund.”

I bark out a laugh as my sister takes a puff and passes it back to me. With the joint between my lips, I sit up straight and flip my curls from one side to the other. “She sent over those scrapbooks and the letter Mom sent her.”

“You asked her to?”

I shrug. “I just really want to know more about Mom.”

Maia presses a button on the wall that pushes an awning over the balcony. The sweltering sun no longer beats down on us. “Me, too. Does that mean you want to accept the crown?”

“Do you want to?”

She hesitates. “I think… we can make history.”

“We shouldn’t accept it just for that.”

“Of course, but… I don’t know—I’m torn about it. It would be so much easier if it wasn’t sprung on us. We’re not the only ones who want change, but we are the only daughters of Queen Ophelia. That has to count.”

“We resent people who believe they’re important because of their parents.”

“Then we show the world that we’re not like that.”

I laugh. “Coming from the girl who never gives a single fuck what others think of her.”

“Just… before we give an answer, I think we should consider what this could do for us. How will this improve our lives—and how can we navigate it without compromising our morals?”

I stare at my sister for a long moment. Her long curls spill down her chest and her once round and soft face has a bit more edge and maturity. Pride swells inside me. She’s no longer an impulsive teen, but a thoughtful twenty-one-year-old. “You’ve grown so much, Maia. I’m proud of you.”

She looks away shyly. “I learned from the best.”

Maia and I chat for the remainder of the morning, and she mentions a club that Vanessa told her about. My sister loves a good party, and I’m ridden with guilt every time I turn down her offer. This is no different. She tells me constantly that I need to live it up in a foreign country, gain experiences, be wild, but I don’t imagine a nightclub as part of it. The more she presses, the more I deny it, and the more I feel shitty for letting her down.

Ruby and Dad stop by after the spa, but it’s nothing more than a surface conversation and telling us that they’re taking a trip to southern Maldana for a few days. I hate hurting him with every curt reply, but I could’ve had years to think this princess thing over. Instead, I have three months.

He’s not the only one with grief; I grieved the part of my dad that didn’t show up every day.

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