Ryker filled his own plate and sat back down in the chair where he’d slept. She turned the movie back on, and that’s where he put his attention.
Better to focus on the inaccuracies of a make-believe royal than the reality that he was starting to think there might be something a little extra special about the a very real princess.
* * *
Something seemeda bit off with Ryker as they ate breakfast and watched the last half hour of the movie from the night before.
Amalia never let herself load a plate like she had when she’d seen the pastries a few minutes earlier. At least not when literally anyone else was around. Maybe her assistant. The Auverignonian had always been the first one to pile a plateful with Amalia, but she was a world away, even if she remained in Ravenzario.
A bit of guilt ate at her as she wondered how intensely Zoey had been questioned. They would have talked to her, but Amalia made certain her assistant didn’t know anything. Zoey had become the closest thing she had to a true friend. She didn’t think they’d push Zoey too hard, and that it would quickly be apparent that she actually didn’t know anything shecouldkeep from them.
Ryker propped his feet back up on the edge of the bed, already wearing trainers and ready to go at a moment’s notice.
He’d surprised her by not sleeping on the other side. There had been plenty of room, at least she presumed so. Amalia hadn’t shared a bed with anyone since her sister when they were little girls.
Her younger sister.
Not her older half-sister.
The one she’d always known had existed, but who’d only appeared about a year earlier.
She still didn’t know the whole story - didn’t know if anyone truly did.
A snort from Ryker drew her attention back to the telly where the prince wondered aloud if he could abdicate his role to his best friend.
Nope.
That wasn’t how it worked.
By the time the kiss came and the credits rolled, the prince had accepted that his place was in the palace as the heir, because he wasn’t adopted after all, and with a decidedly non-aristocratic woman by his side.
“Want to look through the itinerary?” Ryker pulled a folder out of the bag he’d had with him since the ferry.
“Sure.” Amalia twisted until she lay on her stomach facing him. “You said we’re going to a winery today?”
He moved the chair until he sat closer to her. “Yes. We’re doing a tour and a tasting before continuing on. Tonight, we’ll stay at another boutique hotel. Tomorrow, we have a beach excursion of some kind. The next day, we’ll stop a couple of places before we travel to Baicampo in the afternoon. We’ll do a tour of the area and some kind of dinner with special guests.”
She reached for the paper, but it didn’t say who the special guests were. “I wonder who they could be.”
Ryker gave a shrug. “I have no idea.” They went through the rest of the itinerary.
By the time they reached the end, Amalia knew she couldn’t stay away any longer than that. She really shouldn’t stay that long. Another couple of days, tops.
And, when she was honest with herself, she knew she never should have left at all.
“It sounds lovely.” Amalia meant it. The whole thing sounded lovely, but she wouldn’t be able to enjoy it if the guilt continued to eat at her.
The rest of the day didn’t veer too much from the afternoon before. The other three couples didn’t intentionally exclude Amalia and Ryker, but given their apparently long history, didn’t include them much either. The tour director did his best to help them stay engaged, but for the most part, the two of them kept to themselves.
In the van, Ryker kept her laughing with his faux-tour guide commentary. By the time they reached the winery, she’d relaxed a bit more.
They were introduced to their local tour guide who began to show them around. Amalia breathed an internal sigh of relief when she recognized the name of one of the wines the winery produced. She tried not to be a snob about food and wine, but it would be difficult for her to pretend she loved a wine when she found it truly unappealing. At least this should be good enough.
As they walked through the vineyards and processing areas, Ryker stayed close to her, sometimes taking her hand. Amalia knew he only did it to keep up the pretense, but she let herself imagine what it might be like to have someone special in her life.
Someone who didn’t care that her place in the family - and the world - had been ripped away and remained uncertain. Ginny still hadn’t told the country if she planned to retain her place in the line of succession. Until she confirmed one way or the other, Amalia remained in a kind of limbo.
Which had led to her official visit to Ravenzario in the first place.
