Princess Eva is a hopeless romantic and has always dreamed of falling in love. The problem is, in the royal family marriages are always arranged for powerful alliances and not for love. Her father says love is a luxury for regular people.
When she...
Paulo slid his hand into Eva's and led the way out the door and down the hall to the front door of the castle where a white vintage Rolls Royce was waiting for them.
They rode across town to the Parliament building in silence, holding hands while he stared out the window. There were a couple photographers that had followed along to take official photos and they rode in the car with them, which made it a little more awkward. She rubbed her fingers lightly over the back of Paulo's hand to calm her nerves and his.
As they neared the house of Parliament she saw that there was a really large crowd gathered outside and she looked over into Paulo's eyes and without saying a word out loud she told him he could do this with her eyes.
The car came to a stop in front of the building and she asked, "Are you ready?" holding out her hand.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he sighed, slipping his hand into hers as his security team opened his door. As soon as the door opened, the roar of the massive crowd was deafening. They were screaming their names and waving little Spanish flags and cheering. Some were singing the national anthem and some were sobbing uncontrollably.
Their security team escorted them into the building and Paulo kept a grip on her arm and didn't let her out of his sight. They were led to a room where Queen Victoria was waiting. She looked at her son with tears in her eyes and stepped forward, cupping his face and kissing his cheek.
"Paulo," she sniffled. "You look so handsome. You're going to be such an amazing King. I know you will," she cried, wiping her tears.
"You think so?" he asked.
"No I don't think so. I know you will," she said, laying a hand on his cheek. "Even when you were just a young boy I noticed what a natural leader you were. People gravitate to you and they listen when you talk," she smiled, taking both his hands in hers. "They value what you have to say because you have the courage to speak the truth, even if it's not popular and because of that people respect and trust you. They follow you with loyalty. You're strong and smart and care so much about your people and your country, and that's why I know you're going to make a great King Paulo, one that your father would be very proud of," she said, getting choked up and wiping away a tear.
He took a deep breath and let it out, pulling her into a hug and saying, "Thank you Mom. I'll try to be a King you can be proud of too."
She looked up at him and said, "You already are," before giving him another hug.
There was a knock at the door and a security guard came in and said, "It's time."
Paulo walked over and took Eva's hand and then the three of them were led down a hallway and two armed guards opened the large wooden doors for them that lead into the House of Parliament. The Queen walked in first by herself and then Paulo and Eva walked in side by side still holding hands.
The large room was brightly lit and it was a half-circle shape with tiered-levels of seats surrounding a large podium at the center of the room up front. Every head turned and looked in their direction.
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