I sat, with hands pressed against the window and eyes glued to the busy city. With so much to see, and no Titans chasing after me, I could finally take in the illustrious City of Lights and fall in love.
“Sebastian, it's beautiful,” I sighed wistfully.
“I'm glad you like it,” he murmured with amusement in his tone.
We arrived at his parent’s house an hour later, after fighting traffic and winding our way around half the city. Sebastian's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Canesburry, greeted us at the door of their enormous, lavish townhouse that overlooked the gardens of the Eiffel Tower. Princess Bianca pulled me into a surprise hug as soon as I climbed the stairs leading up to the ornate wrought iron doors. Taken back by her affection, I hugged her awkwardly in return.
After bestowing even greater affection on her son, she led us inside and I gasped at the parquet floors, and wall panels with pearl inlay. The entire town home was decorated in a mid-nineteenth century style that made the house feel lavishly beautiful and delicately fragile at the same time. I turned to Sebastian in utter awe of the “palace” but he just shrugged his shoulders as if I were overreacting.
“Your house is stunning,” I gasped when Bianca joined us in the foyer.
“Oh, you think so?” she asked casually in her clipped British accent. “I prefer the country estate personally, but I suppose there is a certain charm to the place.”
I nodded my head slowly, trying to cover my shock and watched Sebastian laugh at me from behind his mother's back.
“Eden, Bastion, you're here!” Amelia exclaimed excitedly flying down the staircase and sliding across the slick floor crashing into her brother who opened his arms to catch her and then swung her around in a loving hug.
“Let me see you,” Sebastian demanded, suddenly very stern. He set her down and then seemed to inspect her with a strict, scrutinizing stare. She fidgeted uncomfortably under his assessment, smoothing out her shoulder length brunette hair and fidgeting with the wrinkles in her cashmere tank top and silk shorts. “Hmmm....” he thought pensively, not looking at all happy, and then declared, “Mother! She is much too pretty. Much, much too pretty. I thought you were going to put an end to that.”
“Sebastian!” I gasped, refusing to let her ornery older brother torment Amelia. “You would rather her be ugly?” I glanced at Amelia sheepishly, afraid she might be mad at me. We hadn't seen each other since the night I broke into the London palace, where I not only told her I was planning on killing her beloved cousin, but her as well. I didn't end up following through on either case, but that didn't mean I wouldn't keep my word at a future date. Still, she was so sweet, so magnetically charming that I loved her despite myself. Just as I loved Sebastian, even though he stood starkly on the opposite side of this war. Besides all that, she was much too young to understand the necessity of murder, especially of all those that she loved dearly.
“I would rather her be ugly,” Sebastian declared. “Then, at least I wouldn't have to worry about all the boys chasing after her.”
“What boys?” Amelia mumbled and then turned her attention to me. “Are you angry with me, Eden?”
“Angry with you?” I shrieked, “What could I possibly be angry with you about! Are you mad at me?”
“Eden, I could never be made at you!” She exclaimed, her big golden brown eyes grew to the size of saucers and then she rushed over to me to throw her arms around my neck.
“Really?” Sebastian teased. “I could. I could easily be mad at Eden. In fact, I'm mad at her right now.”
“Me too, but I'm always mad at her,” Kiran echoed from the doorway. We all spun around to greet him, the Crown Prince, in all his glory. He stood in the doorway in white linen trousers and a light blue polo, the sun illuminating the space around him, making his hair glint like gold and his tanned skin contrasting starkly with the light colors of his clothes.
Amelia left my arms and flew to Kiran. He held her close, lifting her off the ground and treating her like a little sister. When he put her down, she stayed at his side, slipping her hand into his and pulling him toward Sebastian and I. Bianca had disappeared into the recesses of the house a while ago.
“Kiran, are you really mad at Eden?” Amelia asked innocently.
“Would it matter if I were?” he asked her, the good-nature evident in his voice, but his eyes serious and penetrating were on mine.
“Well, that depends,” Amelia explained sternly, educating us in the proper way to be angry with someone, “what are you mad at her for?”
“Loads of things,” Kiran confessed, but walked toward me with purpose, his smirk twisting the corners of his lips and his eyes twinkling with mischief. “For starters, she is my fiancé, yet I've been away from her for an entire week and she hasn't even bothered to kiss me yet!”
I jumped back, looking between Kiran and Sebastian frantically. I couldn't remember if we were supposed to pretend in front of the Cartiers and furthermore I didn't know if Amelia counted as an audience we had to pretend in front of. Plus, since Lucan wasn't even here to witness any of this display, I didn't feel like it was necessary, and the look on Kiran's face told me he was simply up to no good. I kept my magic carefully restrained, but I felt his searching for mine relentlessly.
“Well, I, um, I didn't want to embarrass you,” I found an excuse and went for it, but he was next to me, staring down at me with those damned turquoise eyes, asking me to comply.
“You won't embarrass me, Love,” he murmured, lifting his knuckles to my cheek and brushing it affectionately.
“Also,” I improvised quickly, “I don't just give away my kisses for no reason at all. You have to earn them.”