The Crown Prince's Secret

Chapter Nine

"Isn't the Prince so charming?" My Mom's eyes practically morphed into hearts as she watched him from behind the bar.

I offered her an irritated, forced smile. "The most."

"Charming. Handsome. Thoughtful. You could learn a lot from him."

"He could learn a lot from me!" My voice bounded through the room, way louder than I intended, and the Prince's eyes snapped to me.

I continued piling everything onto a tray for the Prince and his friends. They continued their game, luckily keeping their focus off of me for a while. And after squealing in Lucca's face, Indira and her friends returned to their table in the opposite corner of the room to give the Prince some space.

I made my way across the room, tray in hand- but Koa whizzed out in front of me, darting over to the Prince and Mika soon followed her.

"Guess what this is," Koa shouted and waved a paper in front of his face.

"Hmm. A drawing?"

"No."

"A menu?"

"No."

"A business proposal?"

Koa burst into laughter. "No silly. It's a perfect score on a math quiz!"

The Prince's brows raised. "Who did you steal it from?"

My sister playfully slapped his arm and he chuckled before giving her a high five. "Good job."

I set the glasses in front of the three friends as Koa dragged a chair over to the Prince and took a seat.

She looked over the small board in front of them. "What is this?"

The Minister smiled at her, his blue eyes turning to moon crescents. "It's a game. First you pick a number on the board. Then we roll the dice and whoever's number is furthest from the number the die lands on has to do or answer whatever the winner says."

"How do you know who the winner is?"

"Whoever's number is closest to what the die lands on."

"Have you played this game before?" The Prince asked, catching my focus as it snagged on the board again.

"I have but when we played there were only two dice and there was drinking involved." The reality of what I said crashed into me like a herd of horses trampling over my body- rather, who I said it to-

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. The way you play it is correct." I turned on my feet-

"Just answer my question."

I stopped protesting physically, mentally, and said, "when we played, the loser would take a shot before completing their task or answering the question."

The Prince leaned back, letting his legs spread wider and angled his face up to me. "What's the purpose?"

I merely shrugged. "To make it more interesting I guess. When you're sober, you're more cautious and aware so everything is more tame."

"And who were you playing this lurid game with?"

"Some of the other shop owners at our family's holiday party."

"One time when Kenny lost he had to kiss old man Mr. Kumal who owns the shop across the road!"

"Indira!" I spun on my feet, shooting daggers at her with my eyes.

She only shrugged innocently. "What? It's true!"

I made to sprint away but the Prince grabbed my wrist, pulling my back.