Page 33 of Royal Academy

CHAPTER 15

The three of them sat in silence as the royal jet flew them from Everette Academy to the palace in Hazenbak.

Nick’s face had turned some lovely shades of purple and his eye was completely swollen shut.

Lia’s face was pale, and she hadn’t once looked at Nick or Benedict.

Benedict’s face was thoughtful as he regarded the two individuals that had seemed almost entranced the night before. This morning they were acting as if the other had the plague. He wasn’t sure what had happened to Lia, but she suddenly seemed very different from the little sister he was used to.

And Nick, the normal laid-back playboy kept shooting surreptitious glances toward Lia. This new nervous Nick had Benedict fighting back a smile. The night before he had been livid that Nick betrayed his trust. But that was when he figured that his best friend was yanking Lia’s chain. If anything, it seemed the opposite on the plane.

She was cool and collected while Nick seemed edgy and uncertain.

Thankfully the flight wasn’t of a long duration not even quite an hour. Once the plane touched down at the royal airport the airstairs were taken down and the three of them departed the plane. The roar of the crowd was the first surprise to the trio, followed quickly by the snapping of cameras as flashes momentarily blinded them.

Benedict automatically reached for Lia to tuck her under his arm. But he was a hair too late because Nick had already surrounded her.

At the end of the airstairs, security was thick on the ground as they walked to the limousines. Reports and fans shouted out questions.

“Who was the man with Princess Amelia?

“What was their relationship?”

“What was there a fight?”

And then Lia heard, “Prince Nicholas, are you going to take Princess Amelia back to Meron?”

She stopped walking right before she was to step into the limo.

Turning to the reporter she cocked her head to the side and asked, “What did you say?”

The man seemed thrilled that out of everyone there shouting at them, the princess had chosen to speak with him. It was too bad that Nick wasn’t about to allow Lia to speak with the press. Not until he spoke with her in private first.

Picking her up, clean off the ground he shoved Lia into the limo where Benedict easily caught her before she fell.

Lia struggled to right herself, fuming mad, “Why did they call you Prince Nicholas?”

Benedict’s eyes widened, “For the usual reasons, Stinky.”

“Shut the hell up, Benny,” she retorted not even looking her brother’s way. “I find it rather strange that you are suddenly now a prince. So was this all a joke to you?”

Benedict spoke again, “No, no, Lia, it was a bet.”

Nick could have killed Benedict with his bare hands.

“A bet?” her voice held enough venom to kill an army.

“It’s not what you are thinking,” Nick tried to explain.

Lia turned to Benedict, “Why was Prince Nicholas at Royal Academy?”

Benedict smirked, “He lost the bet. We had a few lads at the club and the one with the fewest amount of female phone numbers had to go to the academy and watch over you.”

Anger and pricked pride spurred Lia onward, “So, let me get this straight. Prince Nicholas had to babysit me because he lost a bet?”

“It was more than that,” Benedict shrugged, “If he stayed the year then he would get my car.”

Lia swallowed what felt suspiciously like tears, “Even better, you had to bribe him to fulfill the terms of the bet. This keeps getting better and better.”

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