ROYAL DUTY

41. The throes of Love

"I don't want to talk about it. But I would rather talk than tolerate this tension for one more second,"

Natalia declared, gently placing her spoon on the table.

She and her family were having breakfast in the common room, but the weighted silence exasperated her.

Granted, it was her fault for having avoided them the previous night. But she had wanted to stall the talk for as long as she could. What she had expected and prepared for, was her family bombarding her with questions the moment she showed up for breakfast.

But, No. They had not said a word to her.

Instead, they had allowed breakfast to be served while they gave her and each other looks. Without saying a word. She had thought she could do it—let them continue with their little game—but between her nerves over the selection ceremony and the nagging feeling she had that something bad was about to happen. She decided to address the situation with her family first.

And, because her family had never suffered from a lack of opinion, they all dropped their cutleries, before Preston dropped the silence.

"Since You have allowed us. I want to know, is that how it is every day? He goes to other women, spends time with them, and then he comes to you as if nothing happened?" He paused and turned so that she could see the heat in his eyes, then continued." And do you let him just because, when he is with you, he gives you all the attention you think you deserve?"

She would be lying if she said, Preston asking her such questions in front of their parents didn't surprise her. Preston hardly ever challenged her in front of their parents. He always criticized her in private.

What has changed?

But, before she could block out her brother's betrayal and answer his questions. Her mother jumped in with a serious face.

"I was about to point out the same thing. I now understand the rumors. He does interact with you differently, yet he doesn't look hooked enough. There is still a chance he will not choose you tomorrow. And we can't have that. This is not a normal courtship, it is a war. We need to win and to win, we need a strategy."

"Wait... what?"

"But Mother!"

Both Natalia and Preston exclaimed simultaneously.

"Preston, this is not about your sister being treated the right way by the man courting her." Their mother leveled Preston with a heated glare, before moving it to Natalia. "You are forgetting yourself, Natalia. You are not here to fall in love. You are here on behalf of your country, your people—who are being oppressed and starved by the person you have been flirting with. You need to remember that you have a duty to them before yourself."

"Your mother is right. You were not raised to be a normal princess. But a warrior. Are you telling us that all that training amounts to nothing?" Her father argued, and the look he gave her had other unspoken questions.

Are you going to disappoint me? Are you going to betray the trust I have in you?

He didn't need to voice either of the questions. She could read them from his tone and eyes. He had given her a chance to do more with her life. She owed him her full loyalty and obedience. She should not fail him.

Plus, they had a point. In her mind and heart, all this had stopped being a contest. It had turned into the most wonderful love story. But it was a contest to Tyren, and she knew that. Duty came first to him. It was the reason he hadn't confessed his feelings, yet. It was the reason he always did the right thing before he did what he felt.