The Heir

Dante glances at me and smiles slowly. “No,” he says still looking at me.

We ascend the stairs and enter the jet. It’s like walking into a luxurious long room with leather sofas and cabinets with crystal glasses.

“Would you like a drink before we take off?” the stewardess asks with a smile as she stands over us.

I want to ask for a double shot of vodka. I feel like I am going to need a very stiff drink, but I smile and ask for a glass of juice. Dante orders the same and the stewardess brings two glasses of juice and sets them on the table in front of us.

“To us,” Dante says lifting his glass.

I touch mine to his. “To think that all this time, I never knew that I was just a little girl frog in a big pond waiting for a prince to come along and kiss me, and turn me into a princess.”

Dante laughs.

I look at him laughing and I know I’m doing the right thing. “You know what, Dante? If you really want to pilot this plane you can. I do trust you.”

He stops laughing and something changes in his eyes. For a moment it looks as if he is going to say something important, then he shakes his head, and the moment is gone.

“Captain Anderson is ready for you in the cockpit, Your Highness,” the stewardess says.

“Thank you, Elsa,” Dante says. “Please tell the Captain to call me if he needs me.”

“Relax, bella. I’m not leaving your side,” Dante says as he straps the seatbelt around my waist.

“Tell me everything I need to know about your family.”

For an hour he describes for me all kinds of little details about his family and life in the palace for which I am very grateful, but then I feel that familiar tiredness come over me.

“You look rather tired, my darling. Lay your head in my lap. I’ll massage your head until you fall asleep.”

I lay my head in his lap, and true to his word, Dante begins to run his fingers through my hair.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’ve arrived,” Dante says.

“What … Where …” I ask sitting up, still in a sleepy fog. “You mean we are in …”

“Avanti,” he supplies, motioning to the window. “Look for yourself.”

I move over to the end of the sofa and glance out the window of the jet. It takes me a moment to assimilate what I am seeing. It’s a black Mercedes Limo with flags bearing the same coat of arms that is painted on the side of the jet, and a convoy of eight motorcycle outriders with drivers wearing bright red and blue uniforms.

“All this for you!” I exclaim.

“Royalty has its privileges.” His voice is light, but I catch an undertone.

I shake my head, still unable to wrap my mind around the fact that Dante is not an ordinary man. He is royalty.

“Yes, and I must warn you in advance that there will be people lining the streets to greet us as we pass,” he says.

Chapter 25

Rosa

I take a deep breath. I tell myself I can do this, but the level of nervousness I feel is foreign to me. It’s not the knowledge that I will step off the jet and enter an entirely different world than I am accustomed to. New things do not scare me. I went to the big apple on my own right after college. I just upped and left. Never hesitated for a second.

For some strange reason I feel almost afraid to leave this plane. My antenna is up. As if there is something dangerous waiting for me out there. Which is so weird, because in essence, we’re going to spend the weekend at his mom and dad’s place. It’s not even like they live in the middle of some warzone. They live in the most civilized place on earth. In a palace.

I squash the uneasy feeling knowing that once I step off this plane nothing will ever be the same again. “It’s just another adventure, Rosa.”

“Sorry. I didn’t catch that,” Dante says.

I smile up at him. “Nothing, just mumbling to myself.”

“Shall we?” he asks holding out his hand.

I take it and we start moving towards the door. The captain and stewardess are standing stiffly by the door.

“Good job, Captain, as always,” Dante says.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” the captain says bowing his head as we walk past.

I can’t help but notice that he’s acting differently toward Dante now that we’re in Avanti. I think Dante wasn’t completely honest with me. Looks like the people of Avanti take their royals very seriously.

The walk down the stairs to the tarmac is one I will never forget. There are cameras clicking and paparazzi moving around behind ropes jostling for a better angle calling out to Dante and, to my surprise, even me.

“Dante, Dante. When’s the wedding? Hey, Rosa, give us a smile, Rosa. What does it feel like, Rosa?”

A smartly-dressed newswoman is doing a standup in front of her cameraman. She is speaking in a rapid-fire language that sounds a bit like German, as she motions toward me and Dante.

“Welcome to the royal fishbowl,” Dante whispers as he leans his head toward me.

“Yeah, Prince Charming, you sort of left this part out,” I say, as I plaster a smile on my face.

“Don’t worry. It’s just the national press. They’re all riled up because they’ve got wind of my impending marriage and want to know if I have changed my mind about resuming my duties as Crown Prince.”

“And have you?”

“No. Finding you has made me even more determined not to carry on with that outdated system.”

A group of men dressed in colorful uniforms and wearing strangely shaped helmets—similar to those worn by the Swiss Guard at the Vatican—stand at attention while Dante and I walk past.

A man in a dark suit is holding the limo door open for us. Star is never going to believe this. Heck. I don’t even believe it myself, I think as I climb into the car. As he closes it, I see the motorcycle outriders move into position, two ahead, two on each side, and the last two behind the limo. I feel like Cinderella in her magical carriage on the way to the ball.

I thought Dante was joking when he told me there would be people lining the route to greet us, but there they are, waving flags, cheering, and shouting greetings to Dante as the royal procession of cars drives past.

Overwhelmed by all the fuss and attention, I gaze at their faces curiously. They are really excited to welcome their Prince home. We pass the city which reminds me of Prague. The roofs are all bright orange and the buildings either white or soft pastels. The balconies are filled with bright summer flowers. My first impression is of a very wealthy, well-maintained city.

“That’s our cathedral,” Dante says, pointing to a tall structure.

I lift my chin and look up at the marvelous stone building.

The limo turns a corner, and down at the end of the two-lane street, lined with beautiful trees, the palace rises up into the sky. Like something straight out of a Disney movie, except it is larger, much larger and more magnificent. Snow white with ostentatious, intricate moldings, it looks like it could have been fashioned out of ice. The summer sun falls on the hundreds of windows making them reflect light like shards of glass. I stare at the gold-domed tower and turrets with amazement. This is exactly how I imagined a palace would look when I was a child.

Tearing my eyes away from all that splendor I glance across the seat at Dante. “Just an ordinary family sitting around watching TV, huh?”

He shrugs and smiles. “Can you blame me? I was trying to calm my bride’s jittery nerves. Though I might not have been totally forthcoming, quite frankly, watching TV in a five hundred room palace is no different than watching it in a three bedroom house.” He actually looks serious.

As the vehicle pulls around the huge fountain with water spouting all around a massive copper statue of a knight mounted on a horse, I see livered staff standing in line waiting for our arrival. Hell, it is like a scene from a movie.

I glance at Dante, and feel the stirrings of apprehension. Will I be good enough for his parents?

He squeeze

s my hand. “I realize it is all new to you, but trust me, you’ll get used to it in no time.”

Both our doors are opened at the same time. I get out and glance over the top of the car at Dante for guidance of what I should do next. He winks at me. At that moment a middle-aged woman in a dark blue dress steps out of the line. To my surprise, Dante strides up to her and envelopes her in a bear hug.

“Matilda,” he says, stepping back. “You don’t look a day over thirty.”

“It’s time you came back,” she says softly. I can see tears in her eyes.

Dante frowns. “I’m not back. I’m just here for the weekend.”

A look of sorrow passes her face.

Dante beckons me to join him so I walk around to him.