Now Presenting (I'm No Princess Book 1) Page 6

  I saw Dmitri stiffen noticeably. All sign of warmth left him and he was the cold statue I’d met my first day. He turned to the newcomer. “Dominic.”

  I dragged my eyes off Dmitri and saw a guy who looked exactly like I thought he would in real life. He looked exactly like his pictures; brown hair lighter than his older brothers, but pale blue eyes like his father. He wore a cocky smirk that he coupled with the arrogance of a guy who knew he looked good and knew how to work it. He wore a military uniform and I remembered he was still in his obligatory service period.

  Dmitri cleared his throat. “Lady Tatiana, my youngest brother, Dominic.”

  “Pleasure,” Dominic said as his smirk grew and he held out his hand.

  “Uh, likewise, Dominic,” I managed to stammer as I gave him my hand.

  His eyes held a mischievous glint that almost made me blush. Boys who looked at you like that only wanted one thing. And while I wasn’t new to that one thing, there was something about the absolute confidence of this prince that made me feel new to it.

  “Please call me Nico,” he said, sweeping into a low bow while he brought my hand to his lips and pressed them to my skin for maybe a touch longer than protocol dictated.

  Faced with this after dancing with Dmitri, my brain totally faded. “Uh, sure.”

  “I hear it is lunchtime?” Nico asked, looking between us.

  I nodded. “That was the plan.”

  He offered me his elbow. “Excellent. Allow me.”

  I slid my arm into his and let him lead me off to lunch, Dmitri and Nikolai trailing along behind.

  Chapter Six

  I’d woken up early enough that I’d managed to avoid Gerta and Shelly. So, I was showered and dressed in what I wanted to wear as I wandered down to the… Well, I guess I was going to find out when I got there.

  And I definitely did not think about Nico as I wandered along. With his appearance, Dmitri had lost any sense of…relaxation or whatever it was that I’d seen after our dance lesson. But it was hard to dwell on that when Nico dominated any room he was in, filling it with talk and making me laugh. He asked me questions and told jokes and was definitely the life of any party he attended. I’d known him less than a day, but that much was obvious.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets as I found myself in a small courtyard which distracted my thoughts. It was cold, like colder than when I’d had to wake up at five to get Lia to water polo practice before school at the end of Term 1. But I’d expected that, what with it being winter in Europe and all.

  It was pretty, though. There was a raised square of garden in the middle of the courtyard, with a thick edge like you were supposed to sit on it. A layer of snow sat over everything, but Lia said it was going to get much thicker in the next week and I looked forward to that very much. Already I could kick little flurries around my legs, so I found myself shuffling and twirling all over the courtyard with a ridiculous smile on my face until movement caught my peripheral vision and I stopped to see Dmitri watching me with boredom.

  I would have been more embarrassed to have been caught out if the sight of him hadn’t distracted me. He was wearing a compression shirt and pants, with baggier shorts over the top, and sneakers. Which, you know, made him totally covered. But compression clothes are inherently tight. And Dmitri may as well have been naked for the way the shirt accentuated every. Single. Line. Of. Muscle. If I hadn’t already known that he was desperate to get back into active service, I would have said the physical condition in which he kept himself was a dead giveaway.

  Which reminded me of what he’d found me doing and I pulled my head out of thoughts of his abs long enough to begin thinking of something to say.

  “Uh…” I started, looking around like there was any decent explanation for me marching around the place like a twat. “We don’t have snow at home.” I kicked my head sideways as I amended, “Not really.”

  He nodded curtly. “Lady Malmont was much the same her first winter,” he said and I wasn’t sure if he was actually defrosting a little or just not sure what constituted politeness around me anymore.

  I rocked back on my heels awkwardly. “Yeah, I can imagine.” I couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Lia being just like me when she first arrived. At least not when anyone else could see her. I schooled my expression and pointed at him. “You’re not in a suit,” I said like he might not have noticed.

  The way he looked down made me think maybe he hadn’t noticed. “No. I run in the mornings.”

  I clicked my tongue as if I knew anything about exercise. “I’ve heard it’s better in active wear.”

  A slight hint of confusion lit his face.

  “Active wear.” I pointed at him again and had a more difficult time pulling my eyes from his body again. “Compression…stuff…” I finished lamely, trying not to think about that active wear parody music video.

  “Ja.” He gave another curt nod. “I see.” His jaw did that thing where it twitched. “If you’ll excuse me. I need to be back in time for a meeting.”

  He sounded so stilted that my annoyance simmered away, but I tried to ignore it. “Of course. Far be it for me to keep you, your highness.”

  His jaw twitched again and, after he muttered in Gallyrian, he asked, “Do you not have a lesson today?” in a manner that quite clearly stated he thought I needed it, regardless of what the lesson was.

  I drew myself up. “Yes. Gallyrian. Someday, you’ll lose the advantage of insulting me without my understanding.”

  I highly doubted that actually. The likelihood of me ever learning Gallyrian to the point I could actually speak it was like trying to teach an emu to fly. But Dad insisted we give it a red hot try and I was more than happy to oblige. Especially if it could annoy a certain member of the Gallyrian royal family.

  “It is hardly an advantage,” he snapped.

  “Sorry. What would you call it, then?”

  Both sides of his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared for a moment. “There is no advantage in an uneven battle,” he replied haughtily.

  I huffed. “You could always resort to English. Or, are you averse to fair battles?”

  Now, I knew as soon as it was out of my mouth that that was the worst thing to say. Because if there was one thing about the crown prince of Gallyr, it was that he had a deep sense of fairness and justice, especially when it came to things like battles of any kind. Dad had never expressly said it, but I understood it was one of the reasons he was so desperate to get back active service; he didn’t think it fair that the people serve and fight for him but without him.

  But I could hardly take it back now.

  “Good morning, Lady Tatiana,” he said curtly and even I could tell how much it was taking him to be polite. His face was set it the stoniest mask I’d seen it and his eyes were devoid of emotion.

  Before I could say anything, he’d bowed – no doubt slightly more deeply than he’d intended in his anger – and jogged off. When I was pretty sure he was gone, I kicked more snow and let out a yell of frustration.

  Dmitri and I didn’t have to be friends – the fact that I had the mad urge to drool whenever I saw him put paid to that idea anyway – but it would have been nice if we could get along. Our fathers were best friends, after all. Besides, I was going to be in the country for at least the next five years and with that came obligations that meant we’d have to be in proximity.

  And yet, I just kept putting my foot in it.

  I yelled again, then yelped as a bunch of guys in suits came jogging into the courtyard.

  “My lady,” Nikolai said, bowing. “Is everything all right? I’ve been looking for you.”

  I sighed deeply. “Sure, Nikolai. I’m just making a mess of things again.”

  He nodded as he made some hand gesture that obviously dismissed the other guys as they started moving off. It hit me then that there was probably no reason why Nikolai should have had like five guys out looking for me when I wasn’t go
ing to have got far.

  “Your father is looking for you,” Nikolai distracted me.

  “I haven’t even had coffee,” I whined rather petulantly.

  “We’ll get some on the way.”

  I smiled at him thankfully and followed him to the breakfast room.

  “Anya,” Hilde said with a warm smile as she looked up from the paper. “How are you?”

  I put on my best smile. “Fine. Thanks. You?”

  She nodded, looked like she was about to pat the newspaper, then stopped and folded her hands neatly. “Good, dear. How’s your dress coming?”

  I waggled my head noncommittally as I picked up a danish. “I have every faith that Madame Jacqueline will produce something marvellous…” I said slowly, almost questioningly, like I was asking for Hilde’s approval.

  Her smile widened and her eyes crinkled pleasantly. “Well said, Anya. You’re learning.”

  I shrugged, looking down to hide my smile. “Maybe.”

  Hilde smiled. “I believe your father was looking for you?”

  I jumped. “Yes. He was.” I looked around.

  “What were you after, dear?”

  “Coffee,” I told her and she smiled.

  “Lancaster?”

  The nice guy from the day before came over with a travel mug and the pot of coffee. “To avoid spills, my lady,” he said and I grinned as he filled the mug.

  “Thank you, Lancaster.”

  He nodded and went back to his post.

  “Go on, dear. Your father was…a touch agitated when I saw him,” Hilde said kindly.

  “Thanks. I’ll see you later!” I told her as I hurried out.

  “Nikolai, when does the semester end?” I asked him as we walked to my father’s study and I took a bite off my danish.

  “What semester, my lady?”

  “The university semester.”

  “The week before Christmas, my lady.”

  I huffed. “So I’ve got to wait until then to spend more than the weekend with Lia?”

  “I believe she has some time off on Fridays, my lady.”

  I nodded as I munched my danish. “Who’s in charge of calendars around here?”

  “In what way, my lady?”

  “I’m going to need you to cut down on the ‘my ladies’ there, Nikolai.”

  “Of course, my…” He cleared his throat. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Thanks. Now, can you work out who I need to talk to about hanging out with my sister on Friday, please?” I asked, looking back at him as I stopped outside Dad’s door and knocked.

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  “Sweet, thanks.” I pushed the door open after Dad called me in. “What’s up?” I asked him as I dropped into a chair.

  He looked up from his desk and whatever he was about to say died on his lips as he looked at me. “Really? You’re walking around the castle with a travel mug and stuffing your face?”

  I shrugged. “It sounded important.”

  Dad rolled his eyes. “Something like that.”

  I frowned. “What’s up?”

  “First things first, kiddo…” The way he petered off told me I wasn’t going to enjoy this at all.

  “What is it?” I asked as he walked around to the front of his desk and leant against it.

  “Tati, you need to see something. You’re not going to like it, but it’s–”

  “Just spit it out, old man,” I interrupted.

  Dad reached behind him and picked up a copy of the National Gallyrian Times newspaper. On the front page was a rather unflattering colour picture of me in my school winter uniform.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  He looked behind me and I turned to see Nikolai had come in.

  “Dad!” I smack his leg with the paper in an effort to get his attention.

  Dad ran a hand through his hair, which he only ever did when he was super stressed. “Long and short of it, Tati, is that the press thinks you’re home to marry our prince.”

  “I beg your freaking pardon?” I yelled, jumping out of my chair.

  Dad looked shyly at me.

  “God, you let me just wander around this morning with this hanging over me? What do they think of me?”

  “The press think highly–”

  “Not them! Rex!” A thought hit me. “Am I here to marry a prince?” I asked as I fixed Dad in a super glare.

  He shook his head. “You are here for no other purpose than us spending time together and getting used to the place before university starts.”

  “Dad, you better not be lying to me. I swear to God, if I’m expected to marry a prince…”

  I stopped as implications hit me. Surely only crown princes had arranged marriages? Was I supposed to marry Dmitri? I blinked for a moment, not actually sure how I felt about that. I still wanted to clobber him in the head most of the time, but there was that niggling flutter he was giving me as well.

  “Shit. I don’t have to marry Dmitri, do I? I’m no princess, Dad! I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Hell, I don’t even know how to be a lady!”

  “Tati, calm down. It’s fine. No one expects you to marry anyone. It’s speculation, is all. Dmitri is expected to marry soon–”

  “He’s engaged?” I squeaked.

  Dad shook his head. “No. He’s very much the opposite of engaged, with no one to be engaged to. But it’s tradition. The heir to the Gallyrian crown is to announce his engagement before his twenty-fourth birthday and it is always on Valentine’s Day.”

  I scoffed. “Sorry, what?”

  “Dmitri’s already twenty-three.”

  “So…?”

  “So the country gets excited about a royal wedding. They’ll make one up out of nothing if need be. You’re a high-born lady, daughter of the king’s best friend. This was bound to happen. But there’s no basis for it. Dmitri, Rex and the others know all this, they don’t see you any differently.”

  I nodded. Of course, that made sense.

  No, it doesn’t. It’s freaking insane. The country thinks you’re here to marry Dmitri! I’m not even going to begin on this Valentine’s announcement bullshit.

  “Okay… So no harm, no foul?” I asked, trying to get my head around it.

  Dad nodded. “I just thought…you should know.”

  I felt my eyes narrow. “You thought I should know?”

  “I thought we should talk about it before you saw it and freaked out.”

  I breathed in deeply. “Okay. So the supposed emergency–”

  “Was just to stop you freaking out. Jenn and Bea will see this too no doubt. And I didn’t want the three of you working yourselves up over it.”

  I popped my hip. “Just what kind of girls do you think we are?”

  “Very special ones.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

  Dad pushed himself off his desk. “You good?”

  I looked back down at the paper in my hand. “I don’t know. I feel kinda weird about it, honestly.”

  “Lia’s been through it all multiple times. You’ll deal. Besides, Dmitri announces his engagement in less than three months. That’s the longest you’ll have to deal with it.”

  “Exactly who is he going to be announcing his engagement to?” I asked.

  Dad sat in his chair and looked at me. “The media has just as much idea as me on that one, kiddo. Now, don’t you have a lesson to get to?”

  I huffed. “I have many lessons to get to,” I grumbled as I dragged myself out of Dad’s study and Nikolai took me to meet Nico, who I followed around for the rest of the day, which brightened my mood considerably after he just laughed at the article and asked me if he or his brothers had a shot.

  I had some politics before lunch, then the start of some very bad Gallyrian, then etiquette and dancing after lunch. All my tutors but Nico had lower hopes for me than my PE teacher in Year 10, and I’d barely passed.

  Mr P
hipps took me for Politics and it was basically just a long-winded run through of the history of the monarchy at that point while Nico exasperated Mr Phipps with sordid details of Gallyr’s previous monarchs’ private lives.

  Miss Karonev tried to get me to understand the very basic sentence structure of Gallyrian, and spent more time muttering about my incompetence and Nico’s attempts to teach me dirty words than I did learning. Needless to say, Nico was banned from attending any more of my lessons.

  Mrs Lukin had the least amount of hope for me out of everyone. But I wasn’t surprised. My grasp of etiquette was severely lacking and I completely blamed the fact I’d lived at the bottom of the world for my whole life where royalty and nobles were a thing of fiction and dreams.

  In our dance lesson, I could tell Nico didn’t think much of my skills – or the number of times I injured him – but he didn’t seem to mind the time he got to flirt with me. And I relished the time that I felt like I was dealing with a relatively normal person for once. Even if we were twirling – in the loosest sense of the word – around the south conservatory.

  Finally, I considered one part of my day a success after I managed to sneak into dinner without having to change into any Lia-clone clothes. Although Dad and Lia both gave me exasperated looks, neither of them said anything out loud.

  Nico sat next to Lia and I watched the two of them in conversation for a while. I saw right through Nico, but it didn’t mean I didn’t find him amusing or charming. The guy was whispering things in Lia’s ear to make her bite her lip at the same time he was winking at me.

  Next to me Dmitri was as stony as usual, only staying at the table long enough to eat his dinner then he swept out of the room with his usual speed and grace.

  “Coffee?” Rex asked as the plates were cleared away and I shook my head.

  “I’m going to call it a night,” I said as I pushed myself up from the table. “I promised I’d email Jenn and Bea before bed.”

  “I’ll walk you,” Nico said with a smile.

  I spared a quick look to Dad, who nodded. So I turned to Nico with a smile. “Sure. Thanks. Night, all,” I said.