The Royal Romance

Chapter 7

On the ice, several guests are already skating around in pairs, including Prince Liam and Olivia at the center of the lake. Riley listens to their conversation:

..."Don't tell me you've forgotten just how well I can skate." Olivia grabs on to Liam's arm.

"Oh, I very much remember."

Maxwell takes Riley's hand and pushes her onto the ice. She almost falls and completely makes a fool out herself but she balances and glares at Maxwell.

"Remember to keep your eyes on the prize... Now, get out there and grab some time with the Prince while I distract Olivia." Maxwell waves at Olivia from where he stands. "Olivia, you gotta see me do a spin! Don't move!" Turning back to Riley, Maxwell winks and hip-checks her, sending her sailing across the ice. "Go get 'em, princess!"

Shifting her weight around, she manages to firmly balance herself and skates over to Prince Liam.

"Lady Riley, a pleasure to see you, as always. You're a vision of grace on those skates."

"Thank you!"

"I take it you've come to skate with me today?"

"That was my hope."

"Then please, accompany me."

Liam offers Riley his hand. I take it, entwining their fingers together.

"Gladly."

She skates alongside Liam...

"You look very lovely today. And warm."

"Yeah, definitely glad I put on this coat. Do you and the court come out here regularly?"

"Not often. However, when we do, Olivia's always been very generous by having us at her state. But actually, I used to come out here frequently when I was younger. Olivia and I would play in the snow together..."

"You and Olivia, huh? Tell me more about that."

"We'd build little snow forts on the bank and 'catapult' snowballs at each other. The lake was too dangerous to play since we were young, but sometimes, we'd sneak onto the ice in hopes that we could see the fish beneath the surface. We never did, but we had many exciting false finds."

"You two must've been close."

"We were... It's been hard watching her, well, become who she is. I know Olivia can be a tough person to get along with."

"She's basically the opposite of you."

"Olivia had a difficult childhood. Her parents were killed in political assassination when she was only five years old. She was alone, without family at her estate for the better part of the year before my parents and I officially visited. She was supposed to be in the care of her great aunt, but the woman had left her for summer on the Rivera, abandoning her... Olivia didn't have anyone. She was so alone."

"Didn't she have... servants?"

"The servants were doing their best, but they were traditionalists, Nevrakis-family trained for decades. After a lifetime of holding the nobility up on a pedestal, they weren't prepared to give her what she needed the most... Love. The first few days of our visit, she was sullen and withdrawn. I thought she hated me. But one night, I heard her crying through the wall. I actually believed it was a ghost at first, but once I got over my fear, I decided to investigate and there she was... Little five-year-old Olivia, crying and clutching one of her mother's gowns, saying over and over again, 'Come back. Please come back.' I knelt beside her and held her until she cried herself to sleep. I knew we couldn't leave her there. I convinced my parents to invite her to live at the palace with us. For almost two months, she wouldn't leave my side. Just about drove Drake crazy, actually, but- -"