Page 11 of The Prince

Chapter 7

Daniel hummed to himself. He walked through the conservatory in the palace. Really, it was a huge greenhouse in one of the courtyards. The enclosed space had several trees, grass, benches, a statue of young children playing in the water, and a smaller greenhouse. Daniel encouraged the preservation of this small space as well. Much of the vegetables that the palace chefs served came from their own freshly grown produce. Daniel was immensely proud of it all. And he loved to spend time, smelling the earth and admiring the space. Today he pondered Melodia.

He rounded a corner in their rows of cocoa trees. The palace made its own chocolate. Up ahead, one of the staff gardeners teetered under the weight of a huge flat of tomato plants, lost her footing, and the whole mess of them came crashing down all around her.

Daniel rushed to her side, scooping up the tiny plants and placing them back in each container, filling them with dirt.

“I’m sorry, your highness. I’m so embarrassed.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault. It’s ok, we’ll clean it up.”

The clean-up process took several minutes and Daniel was plenty dirty when they were through.

“I apologize again. I was thinking of…” she wiped her eyes, accidentally smearing dirt across her cheek. “thinking of other things.”

Daniel wished he carried handkerchiefs with him like they taught him to do as a young boy. A matter of manners he promptly dropped as soon as he realized no one did that anymore. Instead he stepped forward and used his sleeve. “Here, you wiped some dirt down your cheek.”

The older woman shook her head in embarrassment. “You should not be getting your shirt dirty with my old face.”

“What’s this? Your face is worth much more than this old shirt.” He winked at her. Then he noticed her red rimmed eyes. “Are you doing well? If you don’t mind my asking, you seem sad.”

Then she burst into tears. And Daniel panicked. He patted her shoulder. “Oh dear. I’m sorry. Shall we call someone?” He pulled out his phone, and began a message to his assistant.

“No, no.” She waved her hand. “I am perfectly fine. You were just so kind.”

“What is it that troubles you?”

She sighed. “My mother. She’s not well. She’s on her last round of chemo and they don’t have much expectation that she will survive.” Her breath shuddered. “The grief comes in waves.” She smiled sadly, her eyes sparkling with wisdom and sorrow. “Who are we to fight the nature of things? All things are born and all die.” Her eyes welled up again while she said it, and Daniel’s heart broke for her. He remembered all too well the death of his own father, not too long ago. “And we miss them forever.”

She nodded. He brought the new tomato plants to the location she directed and Daniel talked to her a minute more, his mind distracted with her sorrow and his own, and the suffering that naturally comes through life. As soon as he left her, he placed a call to his assistant. And planned a visit tomorrow afternoon.

As he rounded a corner on his way to his own bedroom suite he bumped into Melodia. “Whoa, you alright?” He steadied her with hands on her shoulders.

“Daniel!” She fell into his arms and for a moment, he worried that she too would break down sobbing.

But she pulled away with a full grin and eyes shining. “My rooms! They’re gorgeous! With the most beautiful view of your gardens and the ocean.”

Daniel smiled. They had put her in the suite of rooms on the West side, where several other visiting girlfriends had stayed. The family was beginning to think it was a matter of good luck that all those relationships had worked out well. He found it amusing they had placed her there, but he wasn’t surprised. His mother might have had something to do with it. “I’m glad you like the rooms. Are you headed there now? Why were you in such a hurry?”

She turned red. “Oh, well, I got lost, and then a nice member of your staff directed me. I need to place a call in to my agent and I left my phone in my rooms. I was exploring the back gardens. They are stunning. And I was in search of a conservatory?” Her eyes widened with such hope, he recognized himself in her excitement.

“I was just there. I’ll have to give you a tour. But now, can I walk you to your rooms?”

“Oh yes. I must make this call. The staff member said it was urgent.”

They hurried through the many halls and across the palace. When at last they reached her door, she walked in and gestured that he join her. “Come in. This can’t take long.” She stopped and turned to face him. “If you have time…”

“I do. I have the rest of the day off.” He relaxed in one of her chairs in the sitting room.

She returned right away and came to sit beside him. “I left a message. I’m sure it’s just another gig. But everything is urgent to an agent, except picking up when I try to reach him.” She only pretended to be irritated with him. There was an excitement in her face when she talked about her work.

“Do you love what you do?”

“Yes, well, I found something I can do and be successful.”

“That’s not too remarkable though, I bet you’re great at lots of things.”

Her smile faltered for a moment. “Well, I don’t know about that, but I do know I have what it takes to be a model.” She stood and lengthened out her spine, stood erect and held her arms in a perfect soft angle, then she walked, and he had to give it to her. She was transformed into every other runway model he had ever seen. “You’re brilliant. A total natural.”

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