Royal Maid’s Awakening - Chapter 3

Lukas looked at her, some indecipherable expression crossing his face before it blanked again. ‘The King has requested my presence for a meeting tomorrow. Don’t worry, I won’t be staying long.’

Now Hannah felt bereft.

Then he looked her up and down and frowned. ‘You’re obviously not a guest… Are you working here?’

You’re obviously not a guest. As if she needed him to tell her that. As if she wasn’t acutely aware of her plain black shirt dress with short sleeves and a belt. Nude tights and practical court shoes. Minimal make-up. Hair pulled back into a tidy bun. Utterly unremarkable. A stark contrast to the beautiful women just feet away, in their glittering finery.

She lifted her chin in an unconsciously defensive gesture. ‘I’ve worked here for the past six years. When Princess Laia arrives to marry the King, I’ll be her lady-in-waiting.’

Princess Laia was the Crown Princess from neighbouring principality Isla’Rosa and she was promised to King Aristedes in marriage and had been for years. There were rumours swirling that she was due to arrive any day now to fulfil her marriage agreement with the King.

Lukas’s gaze met hers again. His dark green eyes had always reminded her of the seas around Santanger on a stormy day.

He took a step back. ‘You don’t need to work. I’ve made sure of that.’

Pride stiffened her backbone. ‘I don’t need your money.’

Lukas’s face flinched minutely, as if she’d struck him. Immediately contrite, she put out a hand. ‘I know what you’re doing for us, Lukas, and my parents appreciate it. But I don’t—’

He cut her off. ‘Did you expect I would see you here like this and feel compelled to offer you even more?’

Hannah’s eyes widened. She shook her head, totally bewildered. Lukas sounded cold. Remote. Cynical. She’d never met this man. He’d changed. But before she could say anything, he ran a hand through his hair and said, ‘Forgive me, that was…rude. Of course you’re not obliged to take anything from me.’

He looked back at the ballroom. ‘I should get back.’

Hannah bit her lip. This wasn’t how she’d imagined meeting Lukas again. There was so much between them. The air throbbed with it. As if hearing her thoughts, he looked at her for a long moment. But Hannah couldn’t speak. Where did she start?

And then…he was gone.

Hannah deflated like a balloon once he’d disappeared back into the crowd. As much as he could disappear. Their differences couldn’t be starker. And how much he’d changed couldn’t be more obvious.

He had edges now. And he’d grown cynical. Had the world of success done that to him? Love affairs with women?

She’d been prickly with him just now, because she still wanted him. After all this time. Apart from fantasising about what it would be like to see him again, she’d also fantasised that he would have lost his hold on her.

But the last few minutes had blown that out of the water.

And soon he would be gone again, back to his life on the other side of the world. He was here out of a courtesy to the King, that was all. Maybe for a day? Two at the most?

A sense of fatality gripped her. This was her last chance to make him really see her. As a woman. Not just his best friend’s younger sister. She was a woman now. Twenty-four years old, even if she was a virgin. Hannah scowled at herself. Clearly she needed to move on from this obsession with Lukas Zárate and there was only one way to do it.