Page 8 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“I’ve already spoken to them about getting a wolf before, and Father said…”

I was listening. Honestly, I was. But, while the young prince distracted Princess Dabira with talk of getting a pet wolf, I took the small window of time to glance at Kai again.

A soft sigh fell from my mouth as my heart flapped harder in its cage again.

My Orange, Prince Kai, was beautiful. Fact.

Not in a feminine or pretty way, no. Not at all.

His features were masculine and maybe even a little stern. His face was permanently shadowed even though he was always cleanly-shaven, his nose was straight and strong, mouth thin and wide, jaw sharp and square, with ink black eyes set under dark, straight brows.

But maybe it was the way he held himself, his expression always warm and open, or the starry twinkle in his eyes—just like his mother’s in colour. Or maybe the way his raven black locks of hair softened his features, but he just had natural charm and elegance that made him beautiful.

Dressed in his official uniform of a black suit trousers and a tunic decorated with embellished gold buttons, braided ropes that wrapped under the sleeve of his right arm, and a red belt tied high up around his waist, he looked every bit of the handsome prince he was and so much more too.

“Is the conversation boring you, Princess Esmeralda?”

I nearly jumped out of my seat like a frightened cat when the quiet, playful voice came from my left. My blush stung hot across my face when I found Prince Arsh of Touma, Kai’s uncle, grinning at me.

Objectively speaking, Kai’s uncle and King Rami’s younger brother, Prince Arsh, was what I considered a silver fox. Though, actually, his short brown hair was only grey around the sides. In his mid-forties with a cheeky smile and a tall, athletic frame, he was known for being easy-going and very sociable. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him not smiling.

Except, looking at me, his grin was cheeky and amused, and his hazel eyes danced with mischief.

Like. He. Knew.

But he couldn’t know, right? I hadn’t been staring that blatantly, had I? Had I? Oh, shit…

“No, not at all,” I managed to get out relatively evenly with a smile.

“Then I suppose…” His eyes moved past me, but I didn’t dare follow to see who or what he was gazing at. “You’re simply more interested in being seated over there?”

The lift of his brow only added fuel to the embarrassment that tore through me, scorching my skin from head to toe, no doubt in blotchy, red patches.

I cleared my throat, shifting in my chair. “No, I’m happy where I’m seated.”

“Are you certain? You wouldn’t, you know—rather sit next to my nephew?”

Oh fuck…

I wanted to deny it, but my tongue was swollen and glued to the roof of my mouth in panic. So, I tried to shake my head, though I couldn’t tell if it was actually moving or not. “I don’t know…”

Prince Arsh chuckled. He was enjoying my fluster far too much. “Ah, you don’t know what I mean?”

A weight dropped through me and launched back up to my throat as I flicked my attention around us. Because if he’d noticed then—

“Relax, Esmeralda,” he whispered, and it was the oddest thing, but I actually found myself loosening under the softness of his tone. “You play a very subtle game, so I doubt anyone else noticed.” His tilted his head giving me a slight nod like he was impressed. “It took me a while to realise who you were looking at.”

I stared at him, muted and unblinking for a small eternity, trying to figure out how I was supposed to play this off. Apparently, I didn’t want to. “Are you…are you going to tell him?”

He shook his head immediately. “I wouldn’t dare.” He leaned into me. “But I could swap you into every seat next to him for the next two weeks if you’d like?”

My mouth twitched. The idea was tempting, but… “I think that would be too obvious.”

“A few seats it is then.”

“Wait, that isn’t what I—”

A harmony of clinking sounds from the heads of both tables cut through my sentence and ended all the conversation in the hall. With a light scrape of chairs on the solid wood floor, Queen Leila and King Rami of Touma stood up from their seats at their respective tables.

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