Page 34 of Learning to Rule

“Blessing?” I say the word for him.

“Yes.” Clement purses his lips together thoughtfully.

“Give Dalton time to accept that. He’s still too scared to acknowledge what being king actually means for now. He didn’t expect to be in this position for a good number of years. We both thought we’d be constantly at war, trying to get his father’s blessing for our marriage.” I wave the engagement ring on my finger at Clement.

“I see she couldn’t keep it a secret.” Dalton snorts a laugh. “I should have known she’d mention it at the first opportunity”

“I’m excited. You’ll have to forgive me. It’s not every day the man you love proposes,” I tease back.

“Congratulations.” Clement shakes Dalton’s hand, and Hannah peers across the table at the ring.

“Do I recognize it?” she asks, leaning her head to the side inquisitively.

“It was my grandmother’s,” Dalton replies.

“A fantastic choice.” Clement nods his approval as he takes his place at the table and waits for Dalton to sit down.

As we all settle in our seats, the doors to the dining room open and in walk four footmen with the trays of food. My stomach rumbles expectantly. Dalton put me in charge of the lunch menu today. I knew he planned to try and relax the rules a bit, so I wanted to as well. I just hope it works.

The footmen remove the silver lids to reveal burgers with all the toppings and fries. I bite my lip nervously as Clement’s and Dalton’s eyes go wide in front of me.

Maybe this was a bit too much. It’s probably not the fine dining they were expecting from the palace chefs, even if the burgers have been prepared from the finest ingredients and are a massive step up from drive-thru.I even asked the chef to put little Janastrian flags in the top of the buns.

“I love it,” Hannah exclaims before I have a chance to apologize.“The only time I’ve eaten at the palace, I was fed fois gros, or fois gross as I like to call it. Force fed goose liver is not my thing. This, however, looks so appetizing my stomach is rumbling.”

“Is it all right?” I look toward Dalton, seeking his approval.

“You know what, it really is. It’s a part of you and Florida. These are just like the ones we had at that restaurant one time. I wonder if we can get freshly caught seafood brought in for next week and have it with that sauce they made?” Dalton reaches out and takes my hand across the table. “As you can see, we really are going to be changing the way things work. I want to keep some royal duties or I’ll become superfluous, but I also want us to be more open and modern as a couple. I want to help Janastria. We’re already discussing the idea of opening the palace and the crown jewels to the public for more tourism income. I know it’ll create many more jobs as well, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Dalton silences and looks toward me to continue.

“As Dalton said, we’ll be working together on lots of different projects. We want to be seen to be helping as much as we can. We want to be a royal family that Janastria will be proud to have, but we can only do it with both of you at our side, supporting us.”

Clement holds his hand up to silence us. Dalton flusters for a moment, the ingrained superiority in him will take a while to leave. He tempers it down, though, by popping a fry into his mouth.

“These burgers smell so damn good, I’m almost salivating and really need to eat them. So, all I will say is whatever you need from us, you can have. On the first occasion they met, Hannah thought Elodie would make a perfect queen. This meeting today has proved to me that it’s true. I’m sure you will both rule happily together and for a long time.”

Clement picks up his glass beer stein, something else I couldn’t resist, and holding it in the air, he chinks it against Dalton’s. I see the smile of happiness on my fiancé’s face, and I can’t help but fall even deeper in love with him. We’re moving forward and will never look back.

Eighteen

Dalton

The bright morning sun shines down on us, and despite the crisp chill in the air, I don’t feel cold at all.

It’s probably due to the woman snuggled into my side as I show her the gardens of the palace. They were orchestrated by some renowned English designer in the eighteen hundreds. I’m afraid I’m not one for plants, so I can’t tell Elodie anything about them. All I know is it has a maze, and when the weather warms up, I plan to get lost in there with her for hours.

“I wonder if we can get a couple of palm trees to survive somewhere in the garden? I love all your plants, but I think I’d love having a little part of my home here as well. Palm trees are the only greenery I see in Florida…well, those and Spanish moss. Probably best not to bring that here, though—it’ll spoil the look of your garden,” Elodie muses. I love listening to her ramblings. As she’s become more relaxed around me, I’ve noticed she does it more frequently.

“What’s Spanish moss?” I ask, looking up at the trees lining the promenade we’re walking along. Her arm is linked in mine, and there’s a modern love song being played on a violin in my head. It’s all very regal. Maybe I am a king after all.

“It’s the gray net-like stuff that hangs from a lot of the trees in Florida. It doesn’t harm them, and animals use it to nest in,” she explains, and I listen with interest.

“I remember seeing it. I wondered what it was.”

“Now you know. I don’t think it’ll survive here anyway. Too cold.” Elodie shivers.

“Do you want to go back inside?” I don’t want her getting cold and becoming ill. It must be a shock for her, coming to a country that has winter temperatures of a little above freezing when she usually lives in the tropical climes of Florida.

“No, I want to walk a little more. I feel as though we’ve been hidden away in the palace for days.”

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