Alix was out to dinner with her parents at their favorite restaurant. She didn’t particularly like it. She missed the cheap, little places in New York where she and her college friends would go after studying all night. As she listened to the clink of silverware around her and the pop of champagne bottles being opened, she tried not to dwell on the fact that it might be the last dinner with her parents for the next few years.

“How is your summer going so far, Alix?” her mother asked. She opened the menu and only glanced at if briefly; she knew it by heart.

“It’s been nice to attend all of the different events and help the Queen,” said Alix. She played absentmindedly with her fork, distracted by what she was about to tell them.

”You mean like the auction for the children’s hospital?” asked her father, with a knowing smile.

”Oh yes, I almost forgot to tell you,” Alix said, excitedly. “I won a meal for two at this restaurant. I thought you might like it.”

”Well isn’t that lovely,” her mother exclaimed happily. ”Thank you, darling, for thinking about us. But wouldn’t you rather go with Duncan?”

”What? No, that’s nothing,” said Alix, with a wave of her hand. “We’re just having some fun this summer.”

Her parents looked disappointed.

”I’ll be at school soon, I don’t want to get distracted,” Alix rushed to explain.

“Well, at least you’ll still be in the city,” said her father. ”Maybe you’ll be able to see him from time to time.”

Alix felt her heart drop into her stomach. They were more excited than she’d realized about the thought of her going to school here. She had planned on telling them about her plans tonight, but the conversation was not going the way she’d planned.

“Oh, look!” said her mother suddenly, her eyes shifting from her daughter’s face to the entrance. “Speak of the devil. Here’s Duncan now.”

Alix turned and saw that Duncan was indeed walking into the restaurant with Helena. Their eyes were grim and their mouths downturned. Alix wondered what they were talking about to make them look so serious. When Duncan spotted Alix and her parents, however, a huge smile spread across his face, and Alix couldn’t help but smile back. He came over immediately and greeted her parents, asking waiters to bring over more chairs. The flurry of activity around their table was closely observed by the other patrons, and twitters of conversation emerged at the sight of a prince and the princess sitting with the Neunesse family.

Alix was a little annoyed that he had just assumed that they could join them. She was nervous enough as it was, and having them here would make it impossible now to have any serious discussion.

Helena glanced at Alix’s nervous face and took charge of the conversation.

”Alix has been such a help this summer,” she said with a smile. “You must be so proud of your daughter.”

“Oh yes.” Her mother beamed. It was hard to tell if it was the praise, or the sight of Duncan sitting so close to Alix, that pleased her more.

“I think we’ve had one of our most successful fundraising seasons ever thanks to her,” Helena continued. Alix shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“It must be nice having her so close,” said Duncan, and his sister cast him a warning look.

“Indeed it is,” said Alix’s father, leaning over to pat her hand.

The waiter came to take their orders, interrupting the praise Helena started to heap on her.

“Won’t you miss her next year?” asked Duncan as the waiter walked away. Alix’s eyes quickly shot to his, and she gripped her wine glass tightly. He ignored her glare, his face set in a neutral, pleasant expression. Kicking him under the table would be wildly inappropriate in this setting. Did he think she’d already told them?

“Oh, don’t you worry, she’s not going back to New York,” her father said, with a chuckle. “I thought she’d have told you. She’ll be attending university here in Prynesse. Our city apartment will be renovated soon and the manor is only an hour away. We’ll be able to see her quite often.”

Duncan looked at her, a small smile on his lips. Fear gripped Alix, her heart beginning to beat faster in her rib cage. She knew what Duncan would say next, even if she didn’t know why he was doing it.

“No, I mean when she goes to work in the refugee camps,” he said. “I know I’ll miss her, wherever she’ll be.”

He looked at her then, putting his hand on hers. His eyes were full of pain at the thought of her leaving, with no indication of remorse for what he’d done. Alix slowly withdrew her hand from under his, pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. This was not at all how she’d wanted them to find out.

Alix was so concentrated on glaring at Duncan that she only heard her parents’ reactions. Their surprised gasps were followed by a dead silence. She couldn’t bear to turn to see their disappointed faces.

She saw his lips start to move again, but she held up a hand to silence him and turned to look at Helena instead, who was playing with her napkin, looking away as if this had nothing to do with her. Which, in a way, was true. This was between Duncan and Alix.

Finally, she faced her parents. Their faces were frozen in identical expressions of shock.

“I was accepted into the Refugee Medical Alliance internship program,” she said, looking down at her hands so that she wouldn’t have to keep looking at their faces. “It’s what I want to do more than anything.”

“But you can’t just leave,” her mother said, her tone carefully subdued to avoid being overheard, but full of emotion. “We finally have you close by, and you have school, and…”

Alix saw her mother glance at Duncan. She was suddenly furious with him.

“I’m not giving everything up for some boy, like you did, mother,” she said forcefully. A few people at the next table over looked at her quickly, and she lowered her tone. “This is my life. I was happy to help this summer, and would have done it all year, too, while I was at school. But this program is my ticket to any medical school in the world, and I’ll actually be using my time to make a difference, not standing around drinking tea.

“And even if I were staying, I wouldn’t be with Duncan,” she continued, looking over at him. He looked torn between pain and surprise. “Apparently he thinks it’s his job to tell my parents important news in my place. I don’t need you and Daddy, or some boy, deciding what’s best for me. I’ve done perfectly fine on my own thank you very much.”

With that, she stood up, careful to keep her movements slow, as not to alarm the other diners, and turned to leave. Her parents, unable to yell for fear of causing a scene, did nothing to stop her. Neither did Duncan.

She heard Helena whispering something to him as she walked toward the door, and Alix’s temper flared higher. Of course he wouldn’t know what to do until someone told him. Why was she even surprised?