"Boys?" Reggie whispered under his breath. Luke wanted to shoot him a glare and tell him to be quiet, but he wouldn't give the Princess the satisfaction proving that yes, he was a boy. Sort of. He was seventeen, and he had been in the knight academy for two years already. Reggie had been in there since he was thirteen and despite everyone underestimating him, he the best of the best. Luke on the other hand? He was just trouble.
"Princess Julie," King Raymundo scolded her. It shocked Luke to hear the King break character. He guessed that even Kings had to break out into parenting mode on occasion. "You two may rise." Luke stood up and right in front of him stood the disappointed Princess in all her five-foot-five glory. She wore a long dress full of sunflowers that reminded him of his mom's little garden she had in a broken bathtub. He only allowed himself to let his eyes graze for a quick second as he was trained to look at the wall above his superior's heads. Eye contact wasn't respectable. King Raymundo cleared his throat and told his kids, "You two are to be with these men at all time." Luke felt like the word men was just to make them feel better. "They will sleep outside your rooms, be with you in every part of the castle, and any part of the kingdom you wish to go to. Please," he turned his head to Princess Julie, "do not give them any problems."
The Princess didn't seem like a troublemaker in any videos and photos Luke had seen of her. If anything, she always seemed kind and respectful, like she was a commissioned statue that came to life with the power of a fairy. Luke had a hard time thinking of her as someone rambunctious or capable of causing trouble which is why he took the job in the first place.
Princess Julie curtsied with a scowl and started walking out without a word. Luke turned quickly to the King, who he didn't expect to shrug. So many formalities had just been broken, and in the academy, it would've cost him a dinner. He looked back at the Princess who was already out the door and hurried after her. He could've sworn the King wished him good luck before he was out in the hall.
He had never been deep inside the castle. The most he had gone in was the main room and the ball when there was a celebration for the knights every year. He looked around the halls full of old family portraits and landscapes of the kingdom he didn't recognize. At certain points, the Princess would turn her head to look at him as if to confirm that he was still there. She seemed to be frustrated with the truth, a little stomp in her step.
The made it to the second floor after going through a staircase hidden behind a door, and her heels clicked quickly down the marbled floors. Luke was fast, but he wouldn't underestimate the damage the Princess could do in sneakers. She looked back one last time before opening the door of her room and shutting it with a loud echo that clapped down the hall. Luke halted a few feet before the door, not sure what to do with all his curiosity.
He stood outside her door like he was told to and only fought off the temptation to look at his phone for five minutes before giving in. He had tried pressing his ear against the door to try to hear for any signs of life, but the Princess was silent. He hoped everyday wasn't that boring.
It was five in the afternoon, and Luke was starving. Skipping breakfast that morning wasn't his brightest idea, but he couldn't risk being late for the King himself. He was only allowed to eat when she ate, so he waited patiently. Reggie and Prince Carlos hadn't gone by at all which meant Reggie had got the fun sibling and they were out doing who knows what. All Luke knew about the Prince was that he spent a lot of time hunting for bugs and could be found running around the town square with the other kids. They didn't even feel like a royal family sometimes with how much they allowed themselves to get close to people. Luke still had some hope that Princess Julie wasn't as cold as she presented herself.
When the doorknob first rattled, Luke put his phone in his suit pocket and straightened himself out. Having to wear business clothes everyday was the one thing about being a knight that didn't make sense to him. He needed to be able to run if he had to.
Princess Julie walked out and without as much as a glance and made her way down the hall. Luke followed behind her, hoping she was walking to the dining room. She seemed so tense in her walk, now wearing a simpler silk dress and house slippers.
On the first floor of the castle, they made it inside a small dining room where the King was sitting with Prince Carlos at the table. Luke got down at one knee at the sight of the King, Princess Julie continuing her walk to sit down. "Stand, Sir Luke," the King said. Luke did as he was told and tried to take in the small room without moving his eyes so much. This didn't seem to be a dining room for royal family but just a regular family in the village. "You can go down to this hall and eat with Sir Reginald in the other dining room. Julie," he cleared his throat. "Princess Julie will let you know when she's done."
Luke nodded before excusing himself, walking down the hall in search of the dining room. He stopped at a big family picture of the royal family, the late Queen included. The dazzling smile on a younger Princess Julie was vast, and she was holding her mom's hand. The difference between the Princess then and the Princess now was understandable and depressing.
Luke kept walking until he entered a room with a long table that had seating for about twenty people. Only Reggie was eating a banquet of food alone at the end. Luke smiled going to sit in the chair next to him, glad to finally have some company and food. At the knight academy, he was surrounded by over thirty people nonstop. Alone time wasn't something he was used to.
"Luke," Reggie grinned, noticing him only when he pulled out the chair. "Can you believe how awesome our jobs are?"
"Your job may be awesome but mine is kind of boring so far." Luke started serving himself small bits of food, not used to have huge portions to himself anymore.
"The Prince told me Julie might be mean to you at first, but that she's just nervous about everything that is happening." Reggie stopped for a moment and looked around. "I don't he knows about King Caleb's threat though. He probably assumes it has to do with the queen."
"If the princess knows, it's probably both. She hasn't even talked to me." Luke didn't realize how much it bothered him until he started talking about it.
Reggie tilted his head, drinking from a straw. "Like, at all?"
"Not a single word."
"She's probably just not used to this. Remember Bobby told us they've been unguarded their whole life." Reggie had a point, so Luke decided not to take it personally. "Prince Carlos and I went to the square because he had a soccer match with some kids. They all made fun of my clothes." Reggie sounded hurt as he fixed his collar.
"We need a better uniform." Luke agreed with the kids; their clothes needed work. But there was no way they were going to dress as knights in shining armor. It was 2021. They had bulletproof vests underneath their shirts and that was it.
Reggie replied, "Just better shoes would do it. It's impossible to play soccer in dress shoes." Before Luke could ask anything, there was running down the hall. Luke and Reggie looked at each other before standing up and walking into the hallway. Prince Carlos was already walking towards them.
He pointed back and said, "My sister went back to her room." Luke's empty stomach nagged at him, but he did have a duty that made him chase after her. If he swore to die for this girl, his cause of death would most likely be starvation.
He caught up with her within seconds at the staircase, and she looked furious when she saw him. She abruptly stopped, Luke ignoring her stumbling that almost caused her to fall. When she straightened herself out, she yelled out, "Do not follow me! Go figure it out with my dad- the King or whatever you call him." She turned back around, her curls flying as she started running back up. Already an instinct, Luke stayed in her trail. She turned around once more when they were in the hallway of her room and she said, "I am literally safe. I am not going to die if you take your eyes off me for one minute! Geeze! Go eat or something." Luke stared at her for a moment, catching the bonfire in her eyes that made him look up at the furthest wall behind her as he felt a spark of it set him aflame. "It's an order."
The heel of Luke's foot that had been trained to follow every order without question on the brink of collapse, almost did turn around. But the King was a higher power above Julie. He simply bowed his head down and apologized, "I am sorry, Princess. My orders are from the King." Luke didn't look up again until her room door had slammed shut.
If the Princess didn't like him before, she definitely hated him now.
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A/N
I feel like the enemies to lovers plot I had in mind is inaccurate now because I can't bring myself to get Luke to hate Julie. We'll see how how he develops in the scenes I have planned next. Thank u for reading!!