Page 31 of The Prince and the Double Shot
“You have. Not everyone is like me, my friend.Stay, Zane. I think you’re supposed to. This ishometo you now. Do you hear me?”
“I… do… I’m just… I need to think.”
“Maybe that’s what you shouldn’t do. Look, I don’t know everything that you’ve gone through, and I wouldn’t pretend to. But you’re safer here than you can be anywhere else in the world, and do you know why?”
“No.”
“Because you have us on your side. Do you hear me?”
I nodded.
“Why did you tell me this?”
“I keep other people’s secrets, hon. But when you love someone, a secret is never good. It just builds into something else, and I saw no reason for you not to know. It was time. Are you ok?”
“I haven’t been ok in a long time.”
“I think that’s why I wanted you to know. Your future is bright, but hiding in the shadows is not healthy. You deserve better than that. You deserve to live a life fully without fear and reservations. Aren’t you tired, Zane? Don’t you want to be able to live?”
“How can I?”
“Stop running away. There are things that you can do, and the only thing that’s stopping you is yourself. You don’t have to be scared.”
“I was so afraid that you and Layla would discover that I’ve been lying to you this entire time and fire me.”
“We all have secrets. But sometimes the secrets we keep would fare better in the light of day. Understand?”
“I do. You’ve… I need to think.”
“I’m here if you need me.”
I nodded and walked out of the ballroom. My lie was over. Now I had to figure out what I needed to do.
PHIL
Aday of leisure. Layla forced me to take a day off from working in the gardens. I enjoyed my work, and it really didn’t feel like a chore. It felt like life. A reemergence of the magic coursing through my body that I had denied myself for too long. Nature was healing, and the therapy that it provided had already unlocked a path where my future didn’t feel like a black hole. Magic – if you deny it, it withers and so do you.
I was blossoming again. It was strange to feel again. I had been so numb with my grief that even colors had changed their hues. Now, it felt like the sun had started to brighten, and the world was more vivid. It was a nice change, even if it was a melancholy one.
Life moved on.
I had taken the first steps of walking a new path without Petra by my side. Somehow, I didn’t feel alone. Maybe his essence–his energy-was here with me, comforting me as I began life anew. I would never be able to touch him again, but I could believe that a part of him stayed.
Nature had helped me find him.
Nature had helped me find myself.
Nature had nurtured me back to the land of the living.
I suppose… I mean, I would have to give a small amount of my growth to Zane. Being around him was… It had started out weird and awkward because of how much he resembled Petra. It had made me uneasy and emotional to look at him at first. But they were so different. Those differences had helped me to put aside their similarities. Zane had become so easy to be around. He made me laugh and feel protected. It was odd. I barely knew him. We had confided none of our secrets to each other, even though we had spent many nights talking in a bar or walking on the beach.
But that kiss… Then the conversation after. Two weeks ago… I totally destroyed the moment, the momentum between us.
It had to be done, for him and me.
But it left me feeling empty and sad.
Finding someone you enjoyed spending time with was a rarity for someone like me. The life of a royal meant service to the country and its people. Our time was spent running our kingdom and ensuring our citizens were taken care of and thriving. It was meeting after meeting that usually filled our time. Leisure was an activity that we rarely had time for, and when we did, it was still scheduled and usually for charity.
