Chapter 3

Maksim didn't know for how long he stood in the hall staring at the corner Ella disappeared around. He felt a whirlwind of emotions run through his system. The roses in his hand suddenly felt pointless. Why didn't he give them to her?

"Hmmm," Clare said as she stood behind her brother. "Yes, that is really an interesting corner. The architecture is really breathtaking. I mean how did they come up with the ingenious plan to put a corner there? At that very point."

Maksim didn't know why he was smiling. Usually, Clare's sass irritated him but today anything she said would fall on sweet sweet ears.

"Why are you smiling?" Clare raised a brow.

"Does Mrs. Dunbar still work at the palace?" Maksim turned to look at his sister.

"Yes...." Clare eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Let's go find her," Maksim grabbed Clare's hand and started to tug her down the hall. They walked into Mardick's old office and found Vivian, the new chief of staff.

"Your grace," Vivian got up from her chair and bowed.

"Good afternoon, Vivian," Maksim smiled. "Could you call Mrs.Dunbar for me. I would like to speak to her."

"Of course, sir," Vivian, a middle aged woman with short black hair, rushed out of the office.

"You know calling her in like this will make her think she's about to get fired," Clare said as she examined her nails.

"You think so?"

Clare raised a brow, "You realize who you're talking to, correct?"

"I'm not firing her,"

"She won't think that,"

"Shit."

"What are you not telling me?"

Maksim smiled at his little sister, "Mrs. Dunbar's daughter, Ella Dunbar, is the blonde from last night. My mate."

"I could have told you that,"

"What?" Maksim sat up in his seat in alarm.

"No, I'm just kidding," Clare laughed. "I didn't see it."

"Stop messing with people, Clare,"

"Stop being an Idiot, Maksim."

"Your grace," Vivian's voice pulled the two royals out of their argument. They turned to look at the tall blonde woman standing beside Vivian. Mrs. Dunbar's face was engraved with worry lines as she bowed her head.

"Mrs. Dunbar," Maksim rose from his chair. "It's been so long, do you remember me?"

"Stupid question," Clare muttered under her breath.

"Of course, your grace," Ruby, Mrs. Dunbar, replied with a small smile.

"Right," Maksim sensed Clare laughing at him. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you very much for asking." Ruby's eyes flickered to all the others in the room. Vivian was just as confused as her as to why the prince had called her in here.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Dunbar," Clare said in a small soothing voice. "My brother isn't here to fire you or anything. He's just taking a stroll down memory lane and through of you."

"Oh," Ruby smiled as her shoulders eased up on the tensions just a bit.

"How is your family doing?" Clare took a step forward.

"They're well."

"That's wonderful," Clare smiled and placed a comforting hand on Ruby's arm. The girl gracefully guided the woman over to the seating area in the office and urged her to have a seat. Maksim followed behind.

"How's Ella and Mia? I haven't seen them in so long,"

"They're both doing well," Ruby nodded as she took a seat with caution. "Ella is starting her senior year in a few days."

"Where does she go to high school again?"

"St. Vincent's Academy," Ruby said proudly. "She got a full scholarship."

"Wow, that is amazing," Clare cheered. "Ella was always so bright. How are the others, Lily and Piper?"

As Clare spoke with Ruby, Maksim realized just how much she took after their father. Just like Owen, Clare was always level headed. She knew how to get people to bring their guards down and not be intimidated by her title. It was hard to believe watching her that she was only thirteen years old.

"It was so nice talking to you, Mrs. Dunbar," Clare said after a while. "I really do miss seeing Ella and Mia."

"I will pass the message along to them," Ruby smiled as she patted the hand Clare put on her lap. "I don't mean to be rude, but I should really go back to work."

"Of course," Clare jumped to her feet.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Dunbar," Maksim said politely.

"Thank you for remembering us," Ruby gave a small smile before she bowed and walked out of the office with Vivian.

The siblings waited until the two women were far away enough from them to turn to each other.

"Ella goes to St. Vincent's Academy. She is a senior. She will be running for class president and she works at her father's diner part time after school and on the weekend. You're welcome," Care bowed.

Maksim chuckled as he shook his head, "Thank you, Clare."

"Honestly, what would you do without me. Oh I know, give the poor woman a heart attack by making her think you were going to fire her."

"I'm not very good at this charming thing, am I?"

"No. You stink at it." Clare stated plainly. "Which is ironic because shouldn't you be like Prince Charming?"

"I don't know," Maksim shook his head impatiently. "How do I get Ella's attention? She doesn't feel the pull the same way I feel it."

"I don't know, " Clare looked around. "Send her flowers or something."

_________________________

"Did Mary say anything about you running off?" Mia asked as she handed her check to the bank clerk.

"Nope," Ella shook her head as she blanched Leo on her hip.

"That's a relief,"

"Yeah," Ella looked away.

"What's the matter with you?" Mia asked looking over her shoulder. "You've been acting strange ever since you got back."

"No, I haven't,"

"You didn't even finish your lunch before we left," Mia frowned. "If it's about the pin, you can relax. The lousy thing didn't even work properly."

"Thanks," Ella gave a quick smile. She grabbed a lollipop off the counter and gave it to Leo. The little boy reached out happily and began to struggle to take it off.

Mia watched her sister closely. It wasn't like Ella to be so lost in her head. She was the most sensible one out of all of them. The most level headed.

For the rest of the afternoon, Mia decided not to bug Ella with any more questions. They finished their work at the back, picked up Leo's medication, and stopped by the ice cream shop before heading home. The streets were heavily packed due to the palace setting up for the parade scheduled for the weekend. The girls watched the men hang the banners and the royal flags as the kids admired them in wonder and awe. A few of the older folks passing by looked up at the royal flag with disgust. They shook their head and grumbled about selfish kings and queens as they went on about their daily lives.

"Can you believe their nerves?" Mia said as she fed Leo ice cream. "Even with everything going on, they are still having the parade."

"It's tradition," Ella shrugged. "They do it every year."

"It's just an excuse for them to come down here for a day and show their face before disappearing for another whole year. It's like Oh look at us, peasants, We're still alive."

Ella snorted as Leo giggled at his mother's silly tone.

"Come on," Mia said, finishing the last bit of the ice cream. "Let's head home."

"Are you coming to the parade this weekend?" Ella cleaned their table and threw out the trash.

"Might as well," Mia shrugged. "I like to see those damn Queen's guards in their uniforms."

"Do you think they will give mom the day off?"

"Who knows?"

As the sun moved across the sky and the town got ready for their nightly routines, Ella and Mia walked across the cobblestone roads. They laughed about their girls from the ball who could barely walk or eat in their ridiculous dresses and worried more about the diamonds around their necks then their dates. But as they neared their house above the family diner, their eyes fell on the palace car parked outside.

Mia immediately paled. The last time a black car from the palace had been parked outside of their house like that was on Christmas morning the year Ella turned thirteen. The two girls looked at each other with worry and ran forward. Ella felt lightheaded as she began to imagine the worst possible things.

Was her mom okay? Was she hurt?

"What's going on?" Mia asked as soon as she burst through the doors of the diner with Ella right behind her.

Their eyes landed on the scene in front of them. Dean wore his white apron and hat as he sat on the stool at the breakfast bar. Lilly stood next to him with her hand on his shoulder. A man in a black suit stood in the middle of the diner checking his watch.

Upon the girl's arrival, everyone turned to them. The man in the black suit took a deep breath and walked up to Ella.

"Ella Dunbar?" he asked.

"Er...Yes," Ella said. She looked at her sister and then at her father. Everyone in the family wore the same expression of concern and confusion.

The man in the suit gave a nod before he walked out of the diner, leaving everyone in an even bigger state of confusion.

"What did you do?" Mia turned Ella to face her and whispered urgently.

"Nothing!" Ella's heart began to pound. She ran over her time in the palace once more. She didn't think she had done anything wrong. It had been an affair that lasted no more than thirty minutes. She saw Mary, picked up the checks, and then left.

No.

She had seen Maksim before she left.

Ella felt her stomach twist and turn as her chest grew hollow. She hated not knowing what was happening. And she hated the looks of worry in her father's eyes.

Ella was about to rush over to her Papa on the stool when the doors to the diner opened again and the man walked in. He held a large bouquet of red roses in his hands as he walked up to Ella.

"From Prince Maksim," the man said with a bow as he handed the flowers to a stunned Ella.

With numb arms, Ella took the bouquet. She felt Mia grilling her as Lily and Dean gasped in the background.

"Thank you?" Ella shifted her weight from feet to feet, uncomfortable with the way everyone stared at her.

The man in the suit bowed his head once more before he motioned with his hand to someone outside. Ella and Mia turned to the door as three other men, all in black suits, walked in with more bouquets.

One had white roses, another had lavender ones, and the last one had pink ones. They were all presented to Ella one by one. Everyone in the diner, including the customers were left stunned as they walked out only to come back with more flowers.

Lilies, Daisies, Peonies, Poppies, Buttercups, Orchids, Bluebells, Sunflowers.

The entire breakfast counter was filled with flowers of all types. Dean could hardly see his menus on the countertop as the men stepped back and bowed their heads yet again.

"What is the meaning of all this?" he asked in irritation.

"Prince Maksim sends his apology," one of the men said. "He was unsure of what Ms. Ella's favorite flowers were."

"So he sent the whole store?" Dean raised his voice. "What are we supposed to do with all this?"

The man all looked at each other. They were not instructed on that part. Dean and Mia huffed in irritation as Lily and Ella gave each other worried glances.

"Please take them back," Ella suddenly said.

Everyone turned to face her. She took a step forward and held out the bouquet in her arms.

"Take them all back," Ella said again. 

How will Maksim feel with all these flowers coming back?