This scene comes from somewhere between Chapter 2 & Chapter 10 (i.e. during the summer vacation when Alina was living with Mr. Traviz.)

:RAINE:

The hallways were long and empty. Hand woven carpets muffled the sounds of my footsteps though there was no one around to hear me. I could have broken the vase nearby and no one would have heard it. The noise would echo at the most, but it would go unnoticed.

Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was almost time for my tutors to come find me. A part of me wished that I could have a brother or sister to share lessons with. It was boring to be tutored alone. Unfortunately I was an only child and, by some standards, an orphan. My parents were very much alive, but even if they weren’t it wouldn’t change a thing. I never saw them.

Sometimes I caught glimpses of Father and Mother when we were going to meet with important people. Mother was a gorgeous blonde woman with a slender frame and a shapely body. She had the sort of eyes that drew you in while keeping you at arm’s length. They were two shades lighter than sapphire and one bit less than perfection. Father was a handsome man with sharp features and pale skin. His face was very angular and serious. I had never been close enough to him to tell what color eyes he had but I heard that it was the deepest black imaginable.

Rounding the lonely corner, I wandered around without really thinking. The servants were all in a completely different wing from where I was confined to. There was literally no one around me now. Restless, I considered getting started on my reading. I was meant to start the book Little Women this week. I had read it before, but this time the story would be in English.

Entering the library, I saw my nurse sitting there. She was my only other source of company when my tutors weren’t around because, of course, a good servant was neither seen nor heard so they were never in my line of sight. Sonja looked up from the book she was reading and closed it shut with a resounding snap.

“Straighten your back, Raine. You’re slouching,” she said.

I made my back rigid, threw back my shoulders, stuck out my chin and strolled over to her gracefully, as I had seen other princesses do. I was nine years old; an adult in Sonja’s eyes. She said so many times and I didn’t doubt her.

I could read in four languages, could tell the history of France with no mistakes, could map out a mental atlas and multiply and divide seven figured numbers as I would never be paid anything less than seven figures. I was already engaged to be married though I had never met the man. I didn’t have to meet him Sonja told me. We were being married for status and bloodlines. God forbid I have to marry a commoner and have a child with him. I would rather die than suffer the shame of telling Sonja or Professor McGregor. I could only imagine the disgust and disappointment in their eyes. My cheeks reddened at the thought.

I had to marry Damien Traviz and claim my rightful place as Queen. It was the only thing my mother had ever asked of me and I would do it even if it killed me. I wanted her approval. Needed it. Damien and I will have a child and he will be my heir. He will carry on the bloodline and give me a grandchild. If I don’t have an heir, the bloodline will end. I refuse to allow commoners into my family. I will not be a blood traitor. I could not disgrace my aunts and uncles and cousins and parents. Sonja said that being a blood traitor was one of the greatest sins of a royal family. They would quicker have me disowned and banished with my name erased from the family tree and have the mentioning of my name forbidden.

At the moment she was chastising my flyaway strands of hair. It was a mess by Richmond standards. She brushed the hair down before returning it to her apron. While waiting on my tutors, I was made to recite my thirty-two times tables. It was tedious but it was one of the things that needed to be done to be Queen and so I would do it willingly. That was my dream. It was what I aspired to be; what I was throwing away my childhood for. I would work hard for this and I would be rewarded afterward. Only after I would relax.

A knock came at the door and my Music tutor entered. I got my violin and we worked on a new manuscript. For hours I played and practiced, receiving sharp words of annoyance for every mistake by Sonja. “Mistakes makes not a Richmond”, she barked. They were familiar words and they were committed to memory. There were ten rules that the family lived by. It was the equivalent of the family commandments created by my great-great-great-great grandfather I think.

The Richmond Rules

1.       A Richmond will never marry anything of common blood.

2.       A Richmond will never betray family to an outsider.

3.       A Richmond will never give up the Throne.

4.       A Richmond will never shed the aristocratic ways of our ancestors.

5.       A Richmond will never sell family heirlooms.

6.       A Richmond will never accept defeat even if said Richmond is, in fact, clearly defeated.

7.       A Richmond will never confess to being wrong even if said Richmond is, in fact, clearly wrong.

8.       A Richmond will never make a mistake and non-compliance will lead to flogging by the parent/nurse.

9.       A Richmond will never perform any act of servitude.

10.   A Richmond will never fail to remember that forgiving is not the same as forgetting. Vengeance is in the heart.

I was thankful for Sonja. She had worked for a royal family before coming to live here. She knew how to raise a Queen and what was needed to make me strong and powerful. I did what she said and I was becoming more like the older princesses every day. Maybe better.

Four hours later, I put down my violin and my tutor bowed out. Today I was lucky. Sonja allowed me a whole fifteen minutes to rest before my next lesson; Combat Training. This was my least favorite class but it was needed. All princesses and princes had Combat lessons. It was another tiresome activity to prepare me for later on in life. Years of hard work couldn’t be in vain.

I knew that my eyes were hard as the thought crossed my mind. My eyes were always hard it seems. They scared normal children but I didn’t mind. I didn’t want to play with commoners anyways. I didn’t want to play at all. That was for young children and I was too old for those things. Imagine a nine year old playing. I scoffed inwardly at the idea.

A knock on the door made me turn to see my Combat tutor walk inside. He bowed respectfully and led me to the training room. I turned to look at him and my blouse shifted against the still raw flesh from three days ago. His whip had marred my skin into red welts. Sonja had treated the cuts and left the bruises to heal on their own. It was my own fault. I should have been paying more attention that day. It wouldn’t happen again today.

We began with target practice with guns and followed up with Martial Arts before ending the class with the usual Combat. This particular day we were armed with swords but his other hand held a loosely wound whip. I eyed it warily. I would not be bested by him again.

The sword was heavy and difficult to wield but my muscles were used to the feel of it in my hands. The clink of metal colliding echoed over and over in the room. My concentration was at its peak and I blocked his attacks fairly well. Getting too confident, I lost my footing and the blade lightly touched my neck. If it had been a real battle, the sword would have sliced through me cleanly. As it wasn’t I saw the whip shoot out and cut across the air with a loud thwack before smacking against my pale skin. My breath hitched and my jaw clenched but those were the only betrayals that my body felt the mind numbing pain. The heat of the lash coursed through me but my eyes didn’t water though they should have. Resisting the urge to touch the bruise to sooth it, I tightened my grip on the sword. “Again!” he bellowed and I nodded with a dark loathing in my eyes. I will have the throne one day and this will all be worth it. That mantra kept me sane.

Opening my eyes, I blinked up at the bright light. It took a second for my eyes to adjust. Egyptian silk lay cool and undisturbed under my body. Running my hand over the sheets, my fingers traced the family crest that was skillfully embroidered onto the fabric. I hated having dreams that were really memories. You could never shake your head and say that it was not real because it had already happened.

Checking my clock, I saw that it was already half past eleven. This was ridiculous. Richmonds never slept this late; not even on special occasions. Quickly I slid onto the floor in one, smooth movement and strode over to the bathroom. There I took an ice cold shower and washed my hair. I scrubbed my back. While the old welts had gone down years ago, the faded marks still lingered. I often looked at them as a reminder of how far I had come to get what I wanted. We all needed motivation and this was mine.

I stepped out of the bathroom and got ready for Sunday brunch. My skin looked milky white in the mirror and the ice blue of my eyes seemed to glow in contrast. My pale blonde hair had grown a few inches over the vacation. When I had finished brushing my hair and blow drying it, it was styled in a way that was elegantly effortless. Going over to the jewelry box, I retrieved my grandmother’s pearls. I slipped into a short, white and blackseventies Marc Jacobs sundress with a crimson bow in the back. I paired it with a pair of rich red, Manolo kitten heels and Versace handbag. My lips were deliciously stained with red, Eden’s Sin lipstick. I smacked them together and gave my reflection a single glare. Perfect.

There was no questioning it. I looked amazing without really trying.

I strolled downstairs to see that the brunch was just about to begin. Fashionably late as usual. It didn’t take any work to catch the attention of the room. I felt their eyes on me but I didn’t look at anyone in particular. As usual, the hotel was filled with many royal families but my family was by far the most powerful. As one of their two heirs, I was a known force to be reckoned with. My reputation for being almost impossible to please also preceded me wherever I went.

Kings Damon and Daniel Traviz greeted me in turn after their parents had had the pleasure. I moved to kiss each of my brother’s cheeks. Dmitri smiled slightly at me and sat back down. I moved over to McGregor, my advisor and ex-tutor. He took my hands in his much larger ones and the rough skin touched mine. “You look beautiful as usual,” he murmured softly into my ear before landing light pecks onto each of my cheeks. He pulled away and his eyes met mine. “Thank you,” I replied and sat down. He sat down beside me again.

I flipped my hair behind my shoulder and looked up to see the sons of King Sanois staring greedily, drinking in every bit of me. This is what happens when you breed with blood that isn’t pure. You get a bunch of classless morons for heirs. I pray for their bloodline. Ignoring the attention of the semi-commoner heirs, I turned in time to make my order.

“What would you like to have Mistress Raine?” the waiter asked with a charming smile.

“Surprise me,” I replied gesturing at my untouched menu.

“Surprise you, mademoiselle?” he hesitated.

“Wasn’t that my order?” I arched an artfully trimmed brow, “Maybe you should write it down.”

The boy gave a jerky bow and left. Dmitri’s eyes were on me with a small smirk. We often got our fun from tormenting the help and he knew what I was doing without asking. There usually wasn’t much else to do for entertainment. To be honest, even I wasn’t sure what I wanted for brunch but I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied with what they served me. Even if it looked delicious, I wouldn’t touch it.

My family was who made this hotel boast of having five-star ratings. Our presence and my critiques on their cooking kept them from growing complacent. Serving me was a rite of passage for every chef here. I had to be tough on them if they were to get better and stay the best.

Dmitri was talking to King Daniel at the moment and they seemed to be getting along. He had taken to befriending other Kings and heirs recently. The three month break that we had taken from school had made us miss the place. The students and teachers, Mr. Traviz and drooling boys, late night parties at the lake and the annual Bonfire. I even missed Tara and Zara’s dorm. It always smelt of Perry Ellis cologne and Lakeview cigarettes with the lightest hint of Johnson and Johnson baby lotion and TRESeme shampoo. I was secretly longing to go back. I had so many plans to enjoy myself when I returned. There were so many teenage boys to torment though they knew deep down that they would never have me. Tease don’t please. It was a popular Richmond saying.

I glanced at my manicured nails; a sure sign a boredom. Getting the silent hint, the pianist rose from his seat in the crowd and made his way to the varnished, dark wood, grand piano. He hiked up his sleeves and glanced at me before playing a song that I had never heard before. It was clearly his own composition and I had to admit that it was good. The child had talent. He was probably a few years older than I was but he was a lot younger than people I usually spent time with.

I reached out to the fruit bouquet and plucked out a kebab of grapes and melon. Snack in hand, I stood up. My movement, as usual, didn’t go unnoticed. The young pianist turned toward me without hesitation in his fingers.

I gave him that. It took a lot of confidence in your work not to stop when I interrupted. I stared at him for a while and his eyes never left mine. It was a tense moment before he broke our gaze to perform a particularly difficult part. Now that’s confidence. Of the five things I valued the most, confidence was number four. He had earned my respect. I clapped softly but the sound of my quiet approval cut through the room and echoed. A small smile flickered onto his face but he forced it back.

Turning on my heel, I swept through the maze of tables and made my way to the balcony where I closed the French doors behind me. Looking around the hotel yard, I saw two parents holding their children’s hands. The little girls were hopping and skipping all over the place. Parents really should learn to tame their animals before letting them off the leash in public.

The family stopped at the ice-cream bar and they bought one each. Ice pops. The cheapest choice imaginable. I popped a grape into my mouth but it irritated me now. I wanted ice-cream. Obviously I couldn’t have any. Sonja would kill me if she found out and I knew that she was lurking somewhere. Our family has never had a fat Queen and I was not going to be the first. I looked at the children happily licking their Bittlers’ Banana icepops with longing. I had never had candy or ice-cream or sweets of any kind before. Secretly I would have loved to try it only once, but that wasn’t the case.

This was a part of the life I lived. I sacrificed for the throne; whether it was something as little as no candy or something big like physical abuse during Combat lessons. For all I had done to get it, I had all rights to kill anyone who stood in my way of getting it. The whip marks on my back was permission enough as far as I went. No one was going to destroy my dream. No one. I had suffered too much.

Dmitri hadn’t suffered nearly as much as I had. His nurse was soft. She was against the whipping of children. His back was almost unscarred with pale perfection. Most of his marks had faded into nothing while others still were raised welts on his back. He was scarred more than most princes but not nearly as much as I was.

He was brought up a lot differently than I was. His nurse hugged and coddled him. It was a wonder that he hadn’t turned out to be gay after all of that.

“Getting some air, Princess?” McGregor asked.

He closed the doors behind him and came beside me. Narrowing his eyes, he turned my face up to look into his cool blue eyes. “You seem troubled,” he said simply. Of course McGregor would notice. He had been my advisor since I was able to talk and he had been Master Traviz’s advisor even before that. It was probably difficult to travel between cities to deal with every childish, pre-teen and adolescent problem that both Damien and I had had over the years, but he did it. If there was one person who knew me, it was the older man before me.

“I’m fine. I…it’s Master Traviz,” I admitted.

“What about him?” he asked quirking one brow at me.

“I see him in school all the time, and sometimes I wonder if he’ll ever come back to the throne. It should be ours right now and I’m here waiting on him to make a decision that might never happen.”

“I know how frustrating that must be. I’d try to talk some sense into him if he weren’t disowned. I’m not allowed to set foot near him. He has to make that decision on his own and if I know him, he’ll come through.”

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

“The Damien I know is extremely privileged and as much as he thinks he wants a normal life, he doesn’t know any other way. He was never raised, he was bred like you were and you can never disregard breeding. He can never truly fit in with commoners. I mean he can try but eventually he’ll come back to his family and title. I have no doubt about it,” McGregor nodded.

I looked down at my fingers and nodded too. McGregor would know about that. He was from royal breeding too but he was from a family of many siblings and there weren’t enough cities in France for all of them to rule. Two became kings while the others became advisors to kings. His blood was as pure as my own.

“Have you decided on how many children you’re going to have?” McGregor asked suddenly.

“Do I really have to make a decision now?” I sighed. He’d been badgering me about it for weeks and that alone said that my parents were the driving force behind it.

“Yes and Damien doesn’t have a say since he isn’t the one carrying the child. We need to make plans and put aside rooms and decorators and money and funds. Then we have to find suitable advisors…and families to arrange powerful marriages with,” he told me for the millionth time.

“I suppose I’ll have one…perhaps two?” I told him finally, “I hear children destroy a woman’s figure. I’m not having more than two. I’ll tie my tubes after the final one.”

“Good choice. I understand that you need one heir but why two?” he asked, “I never thought of you as the multiple-child bearing type.”

“True,” I laughed, “but being an only child can be lonely. Dmitri is a big part of my life and I wouldn’t ever want to give him up. I want my child to have a Dmitri.”

“Fair enough. Two children then,” he nodded. I could feel his relief. At last he could give my parents an answer.

We stood in silence side by side, taking in the light breeze and the sight of some commoners coming inside. McGregor’s aura was mildly distracting. The natural darkness of it emanated in waves as it always did. Years of distressing experiences darkened a person’s aura considerably. It wasn’t something that he and I could help. It didn’t scare me the way it creeped out others.

“How old are you now, McGregor?” I asked curiously. I had never asked him before and it was sort of strange that I didn’t know something so basic about him. I knew almost everything else about him. It was part of the advisor/charge trust that was built over the years.

He looked at me without answering. I knew that age was a touchy subject for him but I wanted to know. Advisors generally looked older than they really were since they were usually working for a prince and princess who were engaged. The stress and overwork of the job aged them. I figured that he was probably in his thirties…maybe.

“Tell me,” I said knowing that he couldn’t disobey a direct order no matter how embarrassing, degrading, illegal or immoral.

The tell-tale clench of his jaw showed his annoyance though he would never dare to voice it.

“Thirty-six,” he replied.

My brows shot up. He already looked forty. I suppose the stress really had gotten to him. He looked away but I had already spotted the flush on his pale flesh.

“McGregor…” I called him. He didn’t look at me, probably waiting for the embarrassment to physically fade from his face.

“M…” I called again, using the shortened version that I only used when he was being stubborn.

“Yes, Mistress Raine,” he murmured and turned back to me. Trying to hide behind formalities? I really had hit a sensitive spot then.

“There’s nothing wrong with your age,” I assured him, “At least you’re not nineteen and forced to mix and mingle with a heap of immature morons who talk about nothing but shopping, parties, alcohol and sex.”

“Conversation is sort of lacking with heirs nowadays,” he chuckled softly, “I blame those overly affectionate nurses. I’ll find experienced nurses for your heirs.”

“I have no doubt of that,” I smiled.

“If you don’t mind me asking a personal question?” he took the skewer from my hand and ate two melons and a grape.

“Has that ever stopped you before?” I took back the skewer and finished off the last of it.

“Touché,” he smirked, “Why don’t you have a boyfriend? I mean you have the world of choices literally. And this is your last opportunity to be with someone who you get to chose.”

“I don’t know. My school is filled with commoners and the heirs these days make me want to poison their wine five minutes into a conversation,” I sniffed, “I mean they brag about their horse stables and islands…Islands M, not countries, islands. They act like common millionaires the way they spend their money. Grow up damn it.”

McGregor laughed and shook his head. “You really are something, Raine. Clearly you need someone closer to you mentally,” he said, “keep looking. I’m sure you’ll find the right man. Although to be honest I think the best person for you seems to be Master Damien.”

A waiter interrupted us to call us for brunch. I took the crook of his elbow and he led me back to our seats. The waiter looked like he didn’t know whether to leave or stay. I fanned him away and regarded the plate. It was an array of some sort of flaky pastry pies with different fillings for each pie. Not bad. Not bad at all.

This was not the tea, coffee and juice sort of brunch. It was the champagne at one in the afternoon and well aged wine with the second course type. My family spoke with the Traviz family but never attempted conversation with each other. Even Dmitri and I kept our friendly relationship for later. We ate and discussed many things and I thanked the heavens that Zachery wasn’t here. As cute, smart and funny as he could be sometimes, I wasn’t in the mood to fight with him. There was no doubt that he was the single most irritating person that I had ever met. I was glad to get through this brunch without him though I knew that I would see him when I went back to school this term.

***

Finally school is closed for Christmas vacation. I was spending it at the Traviz castle. My things were long settled into a just renovated room and I had met with Damien’s parents and him about the marriage. He seemed to have finally come to his senses; returned to the life he really belonged to.

McGregor was right. He did come back when his parents gave him a final chance. When a person grows up with a multi-trillionaire lifestyle and their world revolving around them, it’s difficult to work for every dime they make and watch a quarter of it being taxed. He was used to getting everything he wanted without asking and now he has only one maid and butler and his old nurse. I heard his house had only enough space to land one private plane in the backyard. He lasted a lot longer than I would have. I suppose he probably missed having some connection to his family too.

Stepping out of the shower, I dried my skin and slipped on a pair of hoop earrings and a neat ring on my wedding finger. It wasn’t an engagement ring. I would not get that just yet. It didn’t take long to style my short, snow white hair. A young maid helped me into a black, semi-sheer, Jolie Garnet mini dress. My chest, rear and privates were covered and the design ran up my back and stomach but the rest of the dress showed off black tinted skin. It contrasted violently with my alabaster complexion and white hair. I slipped into a pair of black, peep toe, Prada stilettos with an intricate, white design.

After talking with McGregor I found out something that I didn’t know before. Alina was a commoner. I had lent my clothes to her and befriended the girl. I had thought that she was a rich commoner but she was just an average one. To make matters worse, her little crush on Damien had escalated to them dating. I could see it in his eyes that he was growing more attached to her.

I wasn’t jealous. I was pissed.

To be quite honest I didn’t give a damn about Damien and the feeling was mutual. We got along well as friends and we respected each other but romantically there was nothing there…as good looking and amazing as he was. He could date whoever he wanted as far as I was concerned. He could even date my puppy if he liked. It had more breeding than his current girlfriend at least. The problem was that, after all I had done and accomplished and sacrificed, it was all going to be in vain because she gave him a reason to break off the marriage and leave the throne. Everything that I had worked for; all my blood, sweat and tears – literally – would be for nothing.

All of my wincing for hours as Sonja dressed my wounds from training and combat and broken bones. All the pain I went through to get this throne was all going to be washed down the drain. Why? Because Damien thinks he’s in love with some commoner child who probably still believes in Santa Clause. It was devastating and infuriating at the same time. I actually felt like falling to my knees and crying sometimes while other times I felt like killing her off. It would be so easy. She feared me. I could get her to eat or drink anything I wanted her to. I didn’t want to hurt her though. A part of me still felt a strange kinship with the girl.

I threatened her and hoped that it would work well enough. She seemed to be willing to let him go when the time came but I could spot the look in her eyes too. She was in love with him as commoners would say. It was disgusting the way she gazed it him sometimes. It was twice as repulsive how he returned it. He was so careful with her. I doubt he would survive it if any harm came to her.

I needed a strong ruler by my side. He was turning into a wimp and it sickened me. Where was the powerful man who was bred to work by my side and holds the seed for the future of my bloodline? This worried me into sleepless nights. Nineteen years of preparation was about to go to waste.

I had even practically severed ties with my brother for the throne. His sexual preferences went against the Bible according to the Pope and if the Pope didn’t agree with it then the Catholic Church didn’t agree with it and so the Monarchy Laws didn’t either. He would lose the title if they found out and if they found out that I knew about it, I might be stripped of my title too. They have very keen eyes when it came to homosexuality and siblings. They seemed to think that if one child was gay then there had to be more blood tainted in the family; siblings, parents, perhaps cousins. Us being twins, if they found out about him they would be very wary of me.

I blinked and felt a cold tear roll down my cheek. Damien couldn’t do this to me; to my bloodline. It was the most valuable thing that I owned. Not many royal families could say that everyone in their family’s blood was pure. Damien and I were of the last two remaining families. That knowledge was like a priceless heirloom in itself. If I married into another family, it would all be over. The idea should be a sin.

I wiped my cheek and another stream flowed down it. This is embarrassing. Crying out in the open like this. Crying at all. Weakness. It was starting already. I stopped and took a deep breath to calm myself. I dried my face with a determined expression. Stop it, Raine. You’ll get what you want. Hard work never goes overlooked. I will save my bloodline and my family from tainted status and extinction. The moment of frustration was never going to happen again. I had let loose all my pent up tension and had to make sure that it never happened again.

“Mistress Raine, are you alright?” McGregor asked tentatively.

“Don’t I look alright?”  I asked icily.

“No…you don’t,” he replied. He was the only one who didn’t fear me enough not to call me out when I was bullshitting him. He respected me yes, but he wouldn’t cower.

“Well I’m perfectly fine.”

“Somehow I doubt that but I’m not going to harass you about it,” he bowed.

“Thank you, M.”

“No problem, Raine. Come,” he said and went into his office.

I followed and closed the door behind me. As usual I took the chair nearest the fire. He pushed the plate of strawberry shortcake toward me and we munched on them in silence with some cold milk. It tasted fresh and Swiss. When we were finished we called the maid to clean up and began talking.

We talked about everything; school, work, the kingdoms, a few royal scandals, secrets in the Catholic Church, our favorite restaurants, animals, Aristoria, Damien, Dmitri, everything. It was a rare thing when we had nothing to talk about. I was sitting on the edge of his desk now, looking down at him as we talked. My feet often kicked his chair by accident but he didn’t say anything. We just talked again.

“Romeo and Juliet was one of the most stupid plays from Shakespeare. There…I said it,” I laughed.

“It’s not. It was one of his most famous plays,” McGregor countered.

“Since when are ‘famous’ and ‘good’ synonymous with each other? The point of the play makes no sense,” I told him.

“That’s because when you read it, you have to pretend that romantic love exists.”

“If I want fiction I’ll read The Chronicles of Narnia. At least that made sense.”

“You’re comparing C.S. Lewis to Shakespeare? I can’t even look at you,” he got up and walked away.

“I’m not, I’m not. I’m just comparing two of their stories. Don’t be such a drama queen,” I rolled my eyes, “Now Merchant of Venice was a good play.”

“Okay you think dying for someone you love is stupid but you don’t think bargaining your life so that your friend could play a lottery and try to win a girl to marry is stupid? Your value system needs Jesus,” he shook his head.

“Juliet didn’t die for him she died over him. I mean it’s not like she couldn’t find someone else. She knew him for three days,” I sighed, “she never even left her city really.”

“People in love do stupid things,” he shrugged, “people who think they’re in love I mean.”

“Indeed,” I nodded, “Have you ever been that way about anyone?”

He was sitting on the desk beside me as usual. He was quiet and after a long while I thought he wasn’t planning on answering anymore. “It’s complicated,” he replied and stared at the deep red curtains covering the windows from view. “Sometimes I think I would do something stupid like that, and other times I don’t see the point. The woman and I have a very awkward relationship.”

“Does she know that you feel that way?” I asked.

“Hell no,” he laughed, “I could never tell her something like that. She might castrate me.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman. I approve,” I smirked, “You really should tell her though. It’s good that you’re finally finished mourning your wife’s death.”

“You honestly think that I could just go tell her that?” he scoffed.

“What do you have to lose? You have more confidence than anyone I know…other than maybe Zachery. If you can’t tell her, show her,” I suggested.

He went silent. I could tell he was deep in thought. It was strange how I had to give my advisor advice. It was supposed to be the other way around. McGregor turned to look at me. “You really have a sort of dark innocence in your face, but your eyes…those electric blue makes people mistrust you,” he murmured.

“I know. I prefer it that way to be honest.”

He reached out and ran his thumb over the smoothness of my cheek. His attention was set on me without wavering. His cold blue eyes, not unlike mine, stared. It was a look that I had seen Damien give Alina many times before. It was slightly unnerving to have McGregor of all people stare at me like that. The pieces fit themselves together in my mind suddenly.

I regarded him, for the first time, as more than my advisor and best friend. With the exception of Dmitrius, a road that I was not keen to return to, I had never really been interested in guys my age. I didn’t relate well with them. Locking eyes with the almost transparent blue before me, I then looked at him properly; pale face, guarded expression, straight nose, frowning mouth and eyes that had experienced too much. This was a man who would not let his people down for a woman. This man would be a strong leader if he had gotten the chance. This would be the man who would make all my sacrifices worth something in the end instead of shirking his duties to play footsie. I needed one answer before jumping to conclusions.

“M, am I the woman?” I asked.

He didn’t reply but leaned forward with minor hesitation, brushing cautious lips against mine. It wasn’t a conscious decision but I leaned closer to him and pressed against soft, experienced lips. Admittedly this felt good. I would never have expected it, but I enjoyed the kiss knowing very well who the mouth belonged to. His hair was silky between my fingers and his heartbeat raced under the muscles in his neck. He pulled away and took a breath.

His body was tense, waiting for my reaction. “Unexpected but not unpleasant,” I replied simply to his unasked question. He nodded.

I stood up and went to the door. I was going to go back to my room when I heard him talk.

“So we’ll do this again sometime soon,” he said softly.

“Oh, but of course,” I smiled.

“Good night, Raine.”

“McGregor.”

I walked down the halls and past Dmitri, ignoring the fluttering in my stomach. Unexpected but not unpleasant. Definitely not unpleasant. Who would have thought. Me and McGregor. Humph.

********************************************** 

I don't know if I ever mentioned it but even though I chose Jason Isaacs for McGregor and I used his picture to show WHO Jason Isaacs is, McGregor is a lot younger looking than Jason Isaacs in the past pictures. I picked pictures to show the actor but McGregor is far younger physically than the pictures you see. Keep that in mind if I never mention it before now.

Anywhooz apart from that what's your take on Raine