Page 9 of The Problem with Princes
We move up the street and I glance behind me one last time, committing to myself to forgetting about MSG and just enjoying our surroundings. We sit down on the bench and the breeze pulls small hairs from my braid, splaying them across my face. I take a deep breath and turn my face to the sun. The rays warm my cheeks and closed eyelids. This is why I came here.
I feel Texie wiggle in closer to my side and nudge me. “Hey, let’s plan what we are going to do for the rest of the day and tomorrow.”
The guidebook crinkles in front of me, and I reluctantly open my eyes. I straighten up so I can see a small bit of the island over the top of the magazine and focus on the list of top attractions. “I can’t leave this place without going to the Hilltop Monastery.” I point. “What else is around it that we can see while we are over that way?”
Texie squints. “It looks like Crater Lake is not too far from there. Maybe we can get in some swimming tomorrow afternoon.”
“That sounds divine. It will take up most of the day tomorrow, so what do you want to do today?” I lean down and grab my bag, pulling the bakery box out. What’s left of the pastry is pushed to one side of the crushed box, the cream filling oozing out one end. I run my finger along the inside of the box and pop the errant cream into my mouth. Everything is right with my world.
My gaze flicks quickly to the sound of a skateboard on the sidewalk of a side street. I push down the lurch in my stomach. It obviously missed the part where I said everything was right with my world. MSG better hope he doesn’t run into me again. Because I am feeling the desire to smack him for tarnishing my vacation.
“There isn’t much left of the day. Maybe we should just walk around the city.” She motions down a road. “There is a cathedral just down there. It probably looks like the other cathedrals we have seen, but I’m sure it’s pretty.”
I nod. “It’s the cathedral where they held the King’s coronation.”
Texie tilted her head. “Wasn’t that like, thirty years ago? How do you even know that?”
“It’s called research. You should try it sometime.” I smirk at her.
She looks blandly at me. “I do research too. I just didn’t research every minute detail of this country, that’s all.”
“Fair point,” I concede. “I saw a video of the cathedral on the internet, but the quality wasn’t great. I’d love to see it in person. How about we leisurely finish eating our treats and then we can walk down to the cathedral and burn off the calories? Deal?”
Texie nods and takes a bite of her baklava, the sticky juice running down one side of her mouth. “Deal.”
I shoved the last overly large bite into my mouth. Standing up, I step to the rock wall that separates the ledge from the cliff below. The sun is moving lower in the sky, but the pinks and purples haven’t yet started tinting the horizon.
I suck in a deep breath and listen to the waves crashing on the rocks below. My eyes flutter shut, and I allow all the stress and anxiety of the day to flow out of my body. I imagine it is like water running from my shoulders down my arms and legs and trickling out of my fingertips and toes. (I learned this visualization thing when I did Pilates for about six months. The exercise didn’t stick, but apparently the visualization thing did.) A deep breath pushes from my lungs. Slowly, my eyes open and I take in the view in front of me with a new viewpoint. A more natural viewpoint. Yeah, I know I sound like some natural foods commercial. “Okay.” I turn toward Texie. “I think I can face life now. Are you ready to go?”
Texie crumples up her paper and chucks it in a nearby garbage can. “Yep. Let’s go seeanotherdark, musty church.”
“Come on, Tex. Even you must admit thatHram Hristovog vaskrsenjain Montenegro was gorgeous.”
“Okay. I’ll reserve my judgement until we get there.” She smiles and I know that she is just messing with me. She knows I feel different here.
The Cathedral is, contrary to Texie’s assertion, neither dark nor musty. The pink from the waning sunlight reflects off the white stucco walls. Gold leafing lining the walls of the chancel casts the center of the nave in a golden light. I tilt my head back, focusing my gaze on one of the saints in bright blue robes on the ceiling above me.
“See? Aren’t you glad we came in here?” I don’t drop my head to look at Texie.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Now I do turn to look at her. “You guess? What are you talking about? You don’t think this is amazing?”
She shrugs. “It kind of looks like all the others. I guess there’s more blue in this one though. So that’s different. Otherwise, I really can’t tell one from the other.” She looks around, as if trying to find something that sets this place apart from the others. But then shrugs again.
I squint at her trying to see if she is messing with me again. But she isn’t saying it to get a rise out of me. She is completely dead-dog serious. She doesn’t see a difference—doesn’tfeela difference here?
“Well, thanks for humoring me anyway.” I turn my eyes back to the paintings on the ceiling, letting them speak to me instead. “I guess we can go.”
She puts her hand on my arm. “It’s okay, Gee. We can stay as long as you want.” She tilts her head to the side and a soft smile plays at her lips. “I like Atraxia Grace. She isn’t as high-strung as DC Grace.”
“DC Grace isn’t high-strung,” I pout.
Her lips flatten. “Yeah, right,” she mutters as she moves off to the other side of the nave.
I watch her back for a moment, knowing she is completely right. Even with the coffee and skateboard incident, I’m way less stressed here. If only I could bottle this little island feeling and take it back to DC with me.
ChapterFour
