The Moments in Between

Welcome to Cordonia

It's a long flight, and I sleep for most of it, my body needing more to recover from the night before. When I wake up there's food, and there's Maxwell, who does not stop talking from the minute my eyes open.

'Say goodbye to New York and hello to Cordonia,' he grins, for the third time that hour.

'I can't believe this is actually happening,' I say, for the tenth time that hour.

'The ladies at court are going to eat you alive,' Drake tells me matter-of-factly, not deigning to look at me as he says it, which rubs me up slightly the wrong way.

'Yeesh, don't scare her Drake. You okay, Riley?' Maxwell asks me.

'I'm terrified. And excited. But terrified,' I say, and he smiles.

'You won't last a week. This is a waste of time,' Drake says, looking determinedly out of the window. I glare at him, willing him to be nicer to me.

'I don't know why you're being so grim about this,' I retort, and he pulls his gaze away from the window to look at me. Even when he's looking at me scathingly I can't help but dig my nails into my palms in my lap.

'Look, no offence, but I've seen girls like you come and go. It never ends well. Not for you, not for Liam, not for the royal family,' he tells me, and I raise an eyebrow.

'Riley's not some crown chaser,' Maxwell frowns, which I think is pretty funny because for all he knows, I could be.

'I'm just here for the free holiday. Besides, Liam's not really my type,' I say, shrugging, and now it's my turn to look out of the window. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Drake looking at me incredulously.

'Hah,' he scoffs, as though he very much doubts me.

'I'm serious. I don't go for rich boys, much less royalty,' I tell him, choosing the moment to look back at him matter-of-factly. It might be my wishful imagination, but I think he smiles ever so slightly. His frown softens, at the very least.

'Hey, look! You can see Cordonia out the window,' Maxwell, who appears not to have heard our exchange, says from the other side of the plane, and I climb across to peer out.

It's gorgeous. The water turns from a deep navy blue to vibrant turquoise as it hits the coastline, which runs as far as the eye can see. Sand turns to lush green countryside going inland, and then there's the sprawling citadels of colourful houses, splashed at intervals across the green, expansive canvas of land. In the middle of the centre citadel sits a huge palace, with even huger grounds.

'It's beautiful. Like something out of a fairy tale,' I breathe, and I almost hear Drake rolling his eyes behind me.

'Are you ready?' Maxwell asks.

'As I'll ever be, I guess,' I reply, right as the pilot asks us to put our seatbelts on to prepare for landing.

We get through the airport in record time, and there's a car waiting to pick up us and our luggage out the front. My eyes can hardly move fast enough to take everything in as we drive. Everything is so beautiful, and Maxwell points out famous landmarks as we go.

Drake sits in silence, looking out of the window, fingers tapping against his thigh impatiently.

After about half an hour, we arrive at some very fancy looking iron gates, which we have to wait at before they are opened and we can go through.

'The royal palace. Welcome to your home for the next few weeks,' Maxwell grins, watching my jaw drop as we pull up to the front of the palace. I'd known it was huge; we saw it from the plane, but it really is massive.