Hidden Princess

Chapter 16

An hour later, I'm standing in my closet trying to figure out what I want to wear to dinner. Alex left a half hour ago to get ready, and I'm still reeling from that kiss he gave me.

My hair is piled in a bun on the top of my head from my shower, and I'm standing in front of the area of my closet that is dedicated to sun dresses.

"Nia?" I hear Cami call out from the front room.

"I'm in here!" I call out to her. Cami comes into my closet and stops dead in her tracks. The closet is just as big as the front room and the room my bed is in. To the left when you walk in is my dresser, which has all my jeans and shorts, and next to it are where all my tops are hanging. Behind the tops are my sundresses, which is where I am standing. On the far back wall is where all my shoes are organized. On the wall to the right is where my vanity is, and beside that, is my jewelry case, where the two tiaras I own are on display behind the glass, along with the many different diamond necklaces and earrings I own. Next to the jewelry case is where all my formal ballgowns hang, and there aren't as many as you would think. I only have three there right now, as all the others are in storage since they don't fit me anymore, and the one I was wearing that night is still on the boat that Dário got us out on. In the center of the closet is a grey, cushioned round bench.

"Holy hell!" She squeals. "Your closet is huge!!"

"Told you so," I laugh as I pull on the light pink sun dress I pulled out. I take my hair down from the bun I had it in as I pull out a baby blue sun dress and hand it to her. "Here put this on for dinner and then we will go meet the guys downstairs." She takes the dress from me and starts to take off what she had on. I walk over to my vanity and pick up my brush and run it through my hair real quick. I sit down on the bench and fasten my black sandals before getting up and grabbing my silver pair down for Cami and handing them to her when she sits down. 

"This is so freaking amazing, I don't want to leave," she says as she puts on the sandals.

"Well, you get to stay until after the new year, so I'm sure you'll be used to it by then," I say with a smile as we walk out of the closet and I flip the light off and close the doors.

"Used to it, yes. But I still won't want to leave." She says and we both laugh. We link arms as we leave my room and head down the stairs to meet up with Xavier and Alex. They are waiting for us outside of Alex's room. Both boys have on black dress pants, and Xavier wears a royal blue button down shirt while Alex has on a white one, both with the top few buttons left undone and their sleeves rolled up to their elbows.

"There they are," Xavier says as we come down the last few steps. Alex turns around to face us with a smile.

"Ready to go?" I ask as we stop in front of them.

"After you, Princess," Alex says gesturing with his arm for me to lead on. I roll my eyes with a chuckle before taking them down the second staircase, I lead them back towards the ballroom, but I make a turn at one of the adjacent hallways before we get back to the main hall. We go to the double doors at the end of the hall, and the servants posted there nod to me before opening the doors to the dinning room. Our dining room is set up much like what you would see if you watched the live action Beauty and the Beast movie. Everyone, except for Amália and Dário, is already there when we get there, including Remigio.

"Hey guys!" Remi says as he comes over to greet us. He does the whole handshake/bro-hug, with Xavier and Alex first before giving me a hug.

"Hey Remi," I say as I hug him back. When we pull back, he turns to Cami and gives her a hug too.

"It's nice to see you again Remigio," Cami says as she hugs him back.

"Call me Remi, everyone else does," He says as he flashes her a smile as they pull back from their hug. I see Cami give him a slight nod. "Alright come on over and take a seat," Remi says as he leads the way to the table. We all take our seats around the table. Remi is at the head of the table, with me to the right and Mamãe to the left. Alex is sitting beside me with Cami on his other side and Xavier next to her. Beside Mamãe sits Lacey, then James and Brígida is across from Xavier. 

A few minutes after we get there, Amália and Dário show up and take their seats, Amália next to Xavier and Dário across from her next to Brígida. I when I look down at Lia, I see her cheeks pink with a blush and a shy smile on her face. Xavier is smiling at her as they talk to each other. I smile as I see them interacting.

"Looks like Lia and Xavier are getting along really well," Remi says as he looks down the table at the two of them. I nod and smile back at him.

"Oh yeah, you should have seen Lia when she first saw Xavier, and then when she realized he understood everything she said," I say. Remigio chuckles as the servants bring out our dinner. 

We all chat amongst ourselves as we eat. Mamãe and Lacey are locked in a conversation while Remigio and James exchange a few words every now and then. Xavier and Lia have been in their own little world the whole time. I catch Remi glancing over at Cami multiple times during dinner. Eventually I see James and Brígida change spots and she jumps into a conversation with Mamãe and Lacey, while James and Dário make small talk.

"Why do you keep looking over at Cami?" I quietly ask Remi in Portuguese, while Alex and Cami are talking about something with Xavier and Lia.

"I don't," Remi denies, glancing over to Cami again.

"Yes you do, I've been watching you all night, Remi." I say and he shakes his head.

"It's nothing, Nia. Now drop it," Remi says, giving me a stern look.

"Okay, I'll drop it. For now," I say as I turn away from him. Mamãe and I exchange glances and I know she is thinking the same thing I am. We exchange smiles before turning back to the conversations going on around us.

After dessert, Mamãe, Brígida, Lacey and James all leave the dining room. Dário had already bowed out, needing to go check on the guards who would have just had a shift change. I watch with a smile as Xavier and Amália get up and leave the dining room. I just hope Xavier is ready to face whatever Dário will throw at him if he gets into a relationship with Lia. I lean over and whisper something to Alex and he nods so I turn to Remigio.

"Hey Remi, would you mind hanging out with Cami and showing her back to her room? I want to take Alex out to the gardens and show him around more before it gets too late." I smile sweetly at my brother who looks at me with narrowed eyes before softening his expression.

"Yeah no problem, Nia. As long as Cami doesn't mind tagging along with me to take care of some business first." He says and we all turn to Cami.

"That's fine with me, it's not like I have anything else to do," Cami says with a shrug.

"Perfect," I say as I grab Alex's hand and pull him from his seat. "I'll stop by your room later tonight, Cami!" I call as I lead Alex out of the dining room. 

After making our way back through the hallways of the palace, I lead Alex out the back door and into the garden. It's dark outside, and there aren't many lights in the garden, but the moon is bright enough that you don't really need the lights. There are multiple paths we could take and I pull him down the middle one that leads to the big fountain in the center of the garden.

I take hold of his hand and intertwine our fingers. We walk down the path until we reach the fountain. I stop and sit on the edge of the fountain and Alex sits next to me, still holding my hand. We sit there and look up at the stars shining in the night sky.

"Wow, the stars really are beautiful here," Alex says before turning to look at me. 

"Alex," I say his name as I turn to look at him. He looks back at me and I take a deep breath before speaking again. "What do you think about me, now that you know who I really am and have seen all this?" I ask the question that has been bugging me ever since we got to the palace. Alex looks back up at the stars before answering me. I brace myself for the worst as I wait for his answer.