Chapter 31

Connie

I sat on the counter and watched as Raylon fussed over pots and strange-looking food.

His demeanor was more relaxed, more at peace, as though being here in this house gave him a stillness of mind. Or maybe it was that we were all alone.

No need to hide from anyone. It made me feel special in a way, that he was willing to share this place with me. To be himself with me, like this.

His mask remained off. It brought a smile to my face to see him. The real him. He glanced at me every few minutes, as though making sure I was still there.

I sat quietly and watched as he cooked.

When a delicious smell began to fill the room, I felt my stomach rumble.

I wanted to say something, to start a conversation with him, but my mind was blank.

All I could think of were his words.

~He wants me to stay. To be here, with him.~

“Raylon,” I said, getting his attention.

He turned to me. “Yes?”

“I want to ask you something. It’s purely hypothetical, and I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“You can ask me anything you wish.”

I pulled in a deep breath. “Where would I live?”

He placed the knife onto the counter and frowned at me. “What do you mean?”

“If I stayed in the kingdom,” I asked, twisting my fingers nervously. “Where would I live? For now, Billy and Bob’s ship is my home, but they will leave eventually.”

I dared a quick glance up at his eyes. I could see he tried to hold back the joy of my question.

He thought about my words for a moment then said, “Anywhere you want. You could live in the palace with me, or in the city if you prefer.

“The royal family has many properties you can use. You could live here if you wanted to,” he said, gesturing around the large open kitchen.

The thought of what a royal apartment on a different planet would look like did intrigue me. If it’s anything as lavish as this place, maybe it’s not the worst idea.

The thought put a smile on my face before reality set in.

“I don’t have a job. No money to survive. How would I pay the bills for a place like this?”

“Bills?” he asked with a frown.

“Yeah, the bills. You know, the electric bill, food, internet, that kind of stuff. Not to mention that cleaning a place this size would be a nightmare.”

A smile spread over his face, pulling at his scar slightly.

“This house is fully automated. It cleans itself. There are no bills for the electricity, as it runs off an endless self-sustained antimatter energy source.

“And, hypothetically, if you chose to stay, you would be with me,” he looked up at me then with uncertainty in his eyes.

“And if that is the case, then there is nothing you couldn’t have. You could even have this house, if you like.”

~God, that sounds so tempting. But what happens when he changes his mind? What if things don’t work out with us?~

~What if I get tossed out like a used toy? What do I do then? Besides, this is crazy talk. I don’t know him at all.~

“No,” I shook my head. “I couldn’t live out here. I would be completely alone.” My thoughts played tug-of-war with staying and leaving.

“Connie,” he said and took my hand into his. “If you choose to stay in the kingdom, you would never be alone again. Not with me in your life.”

My heart jumped at his words, but my thoughts still nagged at me.

“You live in the palace, with your family. I don’t want to be alone out here, only seeing you on weekends or random days.

“You have a busy life, and I don’t think I would be happy being someone you come to visit every few days or weeks.”

A frown moved over his face before he took in a breath and shook his head. “I am not the king,” he said. “My brother will have to learn to do things by himself.

“Yes, my life is rather busy with my duties, but only because I choose to do them. I am not a soldier. I am a prince. I can do whatever I want.”

“You can’t leave your family. They need you.”

He stepped closer to me, and I felt him snake his fingers between mine.

“Yes, they do. And they would know where to find me if they needed me.”

I shook my head and stared at him for a moment, what are we talking about? It sounds like I’ve already made my mind up. Have I? Could I? Should I?

He broke into my thoughts, saying, “Connie, I gave my brother everything. My crown, my family. My life.

“If I were to tell him that I want to retire to be with you, there is nothing he could say or do to stop me. And that is because he wouldn’t want to.

“He may be an asshole, as you said, but he wants me to be happy. Once he sees how happy you make me, it will not even be a discussion.”

I looked away from his smiling eyes. “Raylon, I’m nobody. Do you have any idea what the odds of us meeting were?”

“So many impossible things had to happen for me to find my way to this kingdom. What if—”

“What if the impossible happens again? What if we live a long and happy life? What if I die tomorrow? I cannot live my life by what-ifs.

“All I can do is hope that after a lifetime of hiding and being alone, the universe has finally taken pity on me. What if you are my reward for a lifetime of solitude and loyalty?

“I will not force you to do anything you do not wish to do. All I can do is hope.”

He’s not making this easy. How am I supposed to say no to him after that? I settle for saying, “Let’s just take it one day at a time. Can we do that?”

“I can do anything you ask of me,” he said with a smile and turned back to the cooking.

I couldn’t help it. His hand was still in mine, and I pulled him back to me, and wrapped my other arm around his neck before placing my lips on his again.

I felt him take in a quick breath and as the kiss deepened, an alarm started howling above us followed by the sharp smell of something burning.

He jerked away and slid the pan off the heat. When he turned back to me, I couldn’t help but laugh.

He joined in my laughter before he said, “Perhaps it’s best to leave the cooking to those not easily distracted. I will have the bot make us something.”

The bot? Like a robot? So if he isn’t going to be cooking, what ever will we do in the meantime?

I shook the naughty thoughts from my mind as I remembered that I just met him. And as bad as I wanted to return to the kiss again, I knew where it would lead.

I wasn’t ready for that just yet.

“Can we go for a walk?” I asked as Raylon tapped something on a screen next to my leg.

“Of course. There is a beautiful waterfall not far from here.”

“Sounds perfect,” I said as I jumped off the counter.

He placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand before leading us out the large glass doors of the kitchen.

As we strolled through the spellbinding gardens, the quiet between us again began to annoy me. It wasn’t awkward, but I would have preferred to hear his sexy, deep voice.

“So, can I meet the rest of your family?” I asked.

“Of course. Perhaps tonight? I will send word to my brother to bring his children here for dinner. Will that be all right?”

I smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like fun. We could do a barbecue. The sun is shining, and it looks like it will be a really nice day.”

He paused on the path to look at me. “A what?” he asked, frowning.

“A barbecue. You know, open fire, outside, cooking food. A few beers—” I stopped and shut my eyes in realization. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“Forgot what?”

“That your brother is a king. And his children are princes and princesses. They don’t want to eat some crummy barbecue.”

“I think it’s a perfect idea. I know my nieces will love it. Also, my brother may be the king, but he is not as spoiled as you may think.

“The queen kept him grounded for a long time,” he said, and I didn’t miss the flash of sadness in his eyes.

“You speak of the queen with so much love. You miss her, don’t you?”

He took in a long breath and nodded. “Yes. She was my closest friend. I knew her since we were all children.”

“What happened to her?”

Raylon shifted his stance before he said, “Our people have a hereditary illness that kills very suddenly. We call it the Original Death.

“It is passed from mother to child. It is a weakening of the heart that cannot be stopped.”

“Oh my God, Raylon, I’m so sorry,” I stepped closer to him and placed my hand on his chest. “Did she pass it on to her children?”

He looked down at my hand, then placed his palm on top of it. “We do not know,” he replied. “There is no way to test for it. All we can do is wait and see.

“If they have it, they will get sick very quickly. Too quickly for our healers to do anything about it. Once the sickness begins, there is no stopping it.”

“That’s terrible,” I said.

“It is something our people have to live with. It is not common, but not rare either.”

I nodded, not sure what to say, and Raylon turned back to the path.

“Do you have any kids?” I asked and saw him stiffen.

“No,” he said without looking at me.

“Do you want any?”

At his silence, I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m being nosy again. Never mind.”

He paused again, but this time he didn’t turn to look at me.

He stared out at the trees for a moment, then said, “I never thought about it. Ever since my face became scarred, I never thought anyone would look at me without disgust.

“I cannot have a child with someone who would be afraid to look at me.”

This poor man. Why would his own people treat him so unkindly? After everything he’s done for them.

“I always wanted kids,” I said, hoping to cheer him up. “A whole bunch of them, running around, laughing, playing. But I guess that dream is gone now.”

“Why would it be gone?” he asked as we began walking again.

“I’m getting too old to have kids. I could probably squeeze one out, but my clock is ticking, as they say. I guess I never found anyone I wanted to commit to like that.”

“I could say that is a good thing, for me,” Raylon said with a smile in his voice.