Duncan followed Alix out of the restaurant, anxious and worried. She was always rushing off, it seemed. She was upset, and he knew it was his fault, but he hadn’t expected that she’d be this angry. He’d thought that once she realized how sad her parents would be, she’d change her mind about leaving. At least, that’s what Leo had told him would happen.

“Alix!” he called as he spotted her, about to turn a corner and head down one of the winding streets in the city center. There were people everywhere, and he tried not to draw too much attention to himself as he rushed to catch up with her. His security guard was close behind and Duncan instructed him to get the driver to bring the car around on the next street.

“Just leave me alone,” Alix hissed, as soon as he caught up with her. She was also conscious of the curious eyes beginning to stare at one of the princes of Prynesse chasing down a daughter of a count through the streets.

“Let me drive you home,” he said, leading her to his car.

Her body language told him that she didn’t want to accept, but a quick glance at all of the eyes following them made the choice for her.

Duncan led her out of the cool, summer evening and into the plush interior of his luxury sedan. He immediately relaxed into the leather seats, at ease behind the darkened windows. Alix remained perched on the edge of her seat, tense, staring out the window.

He had no idea where to start. Luckily, Alix waited only until they had pulled away into traffic to start yelling at him.

“That was unbelievable,” she cried, turning an icy glare to his bewildered face. “Why would you do that?”

He had no excuse, other than his brother’s bad advice.

“You seem so close to them, I just thought they should know you’re leaving,” he said simply.

“I was going to tell them tonight!”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

“Of course not, why would I tell you something like that?” she said, exasperated. “It’s my life, my parents, my choice of how and when to tell them.”

“I thought...” he began sadly. “I thought that we were closer than that.”

Alix inhaled sharply, but didn’t say anything.

He had never let any girl know so much about his life before. At first it had just been a way to soften her up, when all of his usual techniques had failed to win her over. Even after he’d gotten her, though, he just kept going; the thoughts and words had poured out of him. He’d been so focused on this wonderful, new feeling of sharing everything that he hadn’t realized that she hadn’t been nearly as open with him. She kept so much to herself, she was a mystery is so many ways. Before, it had been sexy; now it was frustrating.

“Your parents are going to miss you so much,” he said, wanting to break the silence but not admit how much he would miss her, too. “Why didn’t you tell them before? When you applied?”

“It doesn’t matter why, Duncan! It’s my life!” she was still angry.

The car suddenly swerved sharply to the right. Alix, perched precariously on the edge of her seat, tumbled forward. Duncan threw out his arm to catch her, and pulled her close to him. The driver swore from the front seat, cursing people who didn’t use their turn signals, as the car spun across traffic, horns blaring from all sides. There was a soft thud as the car hit the curb and came to a halt on the pavement. Duncan’s security guard turned to make sure they were okay.

“Lucky there aren’t too many cars out tonight,” he said, trying to reassure them as the driver eased back into traffic. “And that we were in the city, not on the highway.”

Duncan nodded distractedly, his attention on Alix, who was shaking in his arms. His heart was beating a million miles a minute, and he could hear Alix’s doing the same. She stared up at Duncan from the safety of his arms, the anger in her eyes momentarily softened, thanks to the adrenaline of the near crash. He breathed deeply, told her to do the same, then took the opportunity to explain himself.

“I guess I’m just used to people being very involved in my life,” he said, “I didn’t realize that yours is so different. It must be nice, having your own life.”

She sighed heavily.

“You can still do what you want with your life, Duncan,” she told him, as he set her upright next to him. She didn’t sound quite as angry as before, but her tone was still a bit frosty. He leaned over and buckled her seatbelt, reveling in the closeness of their bodies. He felt his heart skip a beat at the familiar scent of her shampoo. He hadn’t lied to Leo. He definitely loved her. That was really the only explanation for how completely unrestrained he seemed to be around her.

“You just need to choose, and stop letting others choose for you,” she continued, her voice softening a bit at the closeness of their bodies.

“That’s not really an option anymore,” he said glumly, sitting back in his seat. “Leo is abdicating.”

The shock on her face erased any trace of desire that had been building.

“Why would he abdicate?” she said after a moment.

“The woman he wants to be with isn’t noble.”

“So he’d give up his right to rule for her?”

Duncan nodded.

“Wow,” said Alix, crossing her arms and leaning back. “I guess now you won’t need to bother picking a charity to support, will you?”

He smiled ruefully.

“I need you here with me, Alix,” he said, leaning towards her. “I don’t think I can rule. But with you by my side, I feel like I’d be able to.”

She shook her head.

“You’ll have advisors, your brother, your father. You don’t need me.”

“No, but I want you,” he insisted, taking her hand. “You’re not like the others. You’re smart, and passionate, and amazing, and beautiful…”

She freed her hand from his grasp and held it to his mouth to stop him.

“If you had any experience outside of this small world, you’d realize I’m just like everyone else,” she told him. “You need to learn how to do things for yourself, and to stop relying on someone telling you how to do them. A thousand other girls can do that for you. So pick one of them.”

The car had arrived at the palace, cutting short their conversation. Duncan wanted to say more, but Alix opened the door to get out. Duncan knew better than to try to follow her, and didn’t move.

“I told you from the start that this was just something fun for me,” she said, turning back to him. “I thought it was for you, too. I never wanted you to care for me. I don’t need you the way you need me. And until you’re able to do things on your own, you’ll always need someone. But that can’t be me. It just can’t.”

With that, she got out of the car and walked away. Duncan sat in the car, unable to move. Thinking over everything that she’d said, he knew she was right. However, he also realized she’d never said she didn’t care for him, just that she didn’t need him... A slight flicker of hope appeared in his heart as he watched her move farther and farther away from the car.