Ludwig had been focusing on the same report for the last hour and gotten absolutely nowhere.

Is this what it was like for the women I’ve tangled with before? He had always thought they were just being crazy. Stalking him. Catching him at parties and trying to pin him down. Putting themselves in his bed, trying to trap him into situations. One woman had even tried to get him to believe that she was pregnant with his child.

Someone knocked on the door, taking him out of his musings, and opened it without waiting for his order to come in.

Egon gave him a smile and walked in, followed by Angus. “Do you mind if we have a drink?”

Egon pulled out three glasses from the filing cabinet behind Ludwig, while Angus selected a bottle of his best whisky.

“I don’t think I’m much in the mood for conversation right now.”

“Don’t think we didn’t realize that.” Angus placed an ankle on his opposite knee and tapped his fingers on it. “However, we’re here because you need us. Not because you want us.”

“We saw the news,” said Egon.

Ludwig didn’t know how that had to do with anything. “And?”

“The good news,” Egon said, his tone dry, “is that people appreciate that Angelica was wearing the right shoes with her outfit. And, it was of utmost importance, apparently, that she knows how to stay hours standing in high-heels in the middle of rubble all the while helping the injured.”

“That was something I hadn’t even realized until Siobhan pointed it out to me.” Angus accepted the glass from Egon. “Thank you. It doesn’t matter what a princess does in public. The biggest headline she will make on a regular basis will be about what she’s wearing.”

That wasn’t entirely true. Angelica was quite capable of making the headlines, the kind that had nothing to do with what she wore, or what color her suit was. But Ludwig had realized there was always this distorted focus on women, even when what they were doing had nothing to do with fashion. “Are they saying anything about me?”

The one thing Angelica did not need was a scandal.

“Oddly,” Egon said, regaining his seat, “No. You are just a nameless person who was helping her.”

At least there’s that. And then another thought struck him. He turned to Angus. “I thought you were still on your honeymoon.”

“Siobhan saw the headlines and insisted on coming home early. When I left her, she was on the phone with her brother.”

Ludwig assumed Angus meant Valantín because he doubted Jaxon would have any information that would be important to her. “I don’t know what you hope to accomplish here.”

Egon raised his glass in salute. “We both agreed that we needed to be here to support you on your first ever case of lovesickness.”

“She got under your skin but…I have an impression you will face a few obstacles,” Angus said softly, almost as if he was talking to an angry dog. “Am I wrong?”

If Ludwig was being honest with himself, he might admit he almost felt like an angry dog. He wanted to snap at something. He wanted to lash out. But he could do none of that. To do so, would be to disrespect the woman he had fallen madly in love with.

If I can’t be honest with my friends, who can I be honest with? “Nein. You are right.”

“And you don’t know what to do,” Egon stated.  

Ludwig fell back into his chair and stared at both of his friends. He needed a moment where he could just be honest with himself and with others. No walls, no barriers. No political masks. “I really don’t.”

Angus tipped his head to the side. “Maybe if you tell us what happened, we can devise a plan.”

They might be onto something. “I took her home after your wedding and we had a great time here. Wonderful, really.”

“He even took her to Django’s granddaughter’s wedding.” Egon filled Angus in, which got Angus’s eyebrows to shoot up. “And then she left without saying goodbye and he was heartbroken. I told him to go after her.”

Angus set his glass on his knee. “But you are not in a relationship from what I gather by reading the newspapers.”

“She’s…in a difficult moment, focused on her own country.” Ludwig gestured with this free hand. “And, I think, that is what frustrates me the most. I’m trying to find a way to fit my life into hers, but I am not sure if she’s going to accept me.”

Angus’s eyes pinched at the corners. “I keep forgetting how lucky we are here in our political situation. They are not so lucky in Aragon.”  

“That I know.”

“And yet,” Egon said quietly, “here you are making the final arrangements to move there.”

“You should’ve seen her.” Ludwig’s heart soared at just the thought of seeing her. “She was like a flower that had been forced to remain as a bud for so long and was finally allowed to bloom for the first time. The people loved her.”

Angus flicked his gaze at Egon, and then both men looked at him and broke out laughing.

“What?” Ludwig was at a complete loss as to what was so funny about what he’d said.

“You should hear yourself spouting poetry,” Egon said, wiping tears from his eyes.

“This is beautiful,” Angus said. “The man who’s slept with untold numbers of the world’s most beautiful women is a virgin when it comes to love.”

Egon asked, “Is that true, Ludwig? Have you never been in love before?”

He had to think for a moment, but when he did, he realized it was true. “I’ve loved. But I don’t think I can say I was ever in love.”

But he still didn’t see what was so funny about it.

Already in bed, Angelica struggled to read the reports on her computer screen. Her mind kept slipping back to Ludwig. She pictured him in her shower, the water cascading down his back, over his body. She could imagine herself stepping in behind him as he did with her the last time they were together. As if he knew she was thinking of him, a message from him blinked on her screen:

She was glad he was coming back tonight. Three days without him seemed an eternity.

What surprise did he have planned for her? Maybe she could surprise him!

She knew when to acknowledge defeat. The simple animal attraction had intensified to mindless infatuation. Her symptoms had not simply become virulent; they had become noticeable.

She needed to be more mindful of her actions and take care to keep the press from learning about their relationship. Things were volatile enough in the country without a wave of gossip that would paint her in a bad light, running around with a handsome billionaire while the city was attacked by terrorists.

Ludwig had the freedom to do almost anything.

Freedom, she thought, wistfully. Maybe someday she could experience more of it. But for now, she and Valantín had to watch their every step.

She let her head fall back against the pillows as she stared out of the balcony, taking in a scene that had always filled her with comfort. She now saw it for what it was and always had been. A prison. A cage. Gilded and cushioned, but still nothing more than a cage.

And this was her life.

She didn’t regret it. She enjoyed being able to serve her people. There would have to be some concessions. She would never be able to get rid of her security for one. But she could do with fewer maids, for sure. She would have to get better at cooking. But wouldn’t that be a nice challenge?

Why should I be any different?

Because she was the Crown Princess of Aragon.  

The thought was sobering.

But perhaps that’s the reason why there was such a disconnect between the royal family and the middle-class people. She didn’t fully understand the constraints they had to live under. Perhaps it would be best for her and her people if she stepped down from a few of the comforts.

Not all of them, of course. But some.

Thinking about the difference in her life in contrast to that of the average citizen, it suddenly occurred to her that there was a way for Siobhan to help her that they hadn’t thought of before. Excited at the idea, Angelica tried calling her, but reached her voicemail. Unable to act on her idea, she felt restless and needed to do something.

She was going crazy locked all day inside Al-Andaluz fortress, with four men and two women shadowing her steps every second of the day. The palace was still on high alert after the bombing, but that didn’t mean she had to stay inside. A walk would do her good. Meeting with Ludwig would be even better. Having sex with him? Against every argument her mind tried to conjure, she decided that’s what she was going to do.

She texted him back.