5 You
Julien had yet to really look over at the princess, so Maria was not sure if he recognized her, but she definitely recognized him.
He was dressed differently from before as he now wore clothes fit for a prince, and his dark hair had been combed back, so that his face that held those captivating, green eyes and comforting smile were no longer covered.
He smiled at his brother as he walked over, before he finally locked eyes with Maria.
When his eyes met hers, they widened briefly before his eyebrows knit close together and his smile slightly wavered as his jaw slackened in surprise.
At that moment, both Maria and Julien knew that they were the strangers who enjoyed a conversation while watching the artist in the market just a few hours ago.
Of course at the time, neither of them knew the other was royalty, or that they would be meeting again so soon... even though they both subconsciously wished that they would.
Julien cleared his throat and did his best to compose himself before he bowed down before Maria.
He glanced at her hands that were being held tightly in fists by her side before grabbing one, forcing it to soften, and placing a gentle kiss on the back of it, just as he had done at the market.
She felt that familiar warmth on her hand and quickly filled her lungs with air since she hadn't taken a breath since Arthur turned to reveal his brother.
"Maria, is it?" He questioned her with a crooked, playful smile on his lips as he looked back up at her, knowing that earlier in that day she had told him her name was Grace before she ran away.
Still staring at him, she swallowed before she quietly responded, "Maria Grace Olympios," and then quickly added, "it's nice to meet you," in order to let Julien know that their meeting earlier needed to be kept a secret.
She was not willing to let her family find out about her secret outings and she had been able to keep them under wraps so far.
Julien hummed and nodded in approval before he straightened back up and replied, "As my brother here said, I'm Julien Dubois. I am glad to have the chance to meet you".
It was then that Maria noticed that Julien was still holding her hand.
She looked down at her delicate hand being held by his, and he quickly ran his thumb over the spot he had kissed before letting her hand go to fall back to her side.
At that moment in time, Maria and Julien both had lost all awareness that they were not the only ones in the dining room, as they were lost in each other's presence.
Maria was used to being speechless around people that were not her family and the royal court, but at that moment she was not sure she would even be able to read from a script because she was so overwhelmed and shocked by the turn the night had taken.
Moreover, it was still well within the first couple of minutes of having met her suitors.
Arthur clapped his brother on the back, which brought them both back to reality.
Julien smiled at his brother and then quickly brought his eyes back to Maria before the brothers turned and walked back towards where the other suitors were standing.
With that, the King's happy chuckle returned as he threw his arms wide out while he exclaimed, "Gentlemen we are so honored and blessed by the gods to have each of you here, knowing that one of you will marry my daughter and unite our great kingdoms!"
"Now let us enjoy a great meal together," the Queen said as she gestured towards the table, giving an invitation for everyone to sit.
"Yanis!" the King called out to his butler, "Bring the food!"
Within seconds, the servants and kitchen staff had entered holding plates for the royal family and their five guests, and placed them on the table.
The chef, who knew this was to be a stressful day for Maria, had the kitchen prepare her favorite meal-- tomato and feta cheese salad over a perfectly cooked steak.
While she was grateful that the people she considered more family than servants were looking out for her, she really had no appetite because her stomach was still doing flips, which she did her best to ignore.
Upon seeing the food in front of him, Prince Henri of Denmark clapped while he giggled and said, "Ahhh! This looks so delicious!"
With that, everyone besides Maria joined in the laughter and started to eat.
Jason, who was sitting across from his mother and next to Maria, grabbed his sister's hand under the table and gave it a quick squeeze before he pulled away.
Even though it was no secret that the extroverted prince would have loved to have five beautiful princesses vying for his time and attention, he knew that Maria was more reserved and preferred to blend into the background than to be the center of attention like she was at that time.
He and his sister had been inseparable since the day he was born, and they were not only siblings, but best friends.
The only times they had ever been separated were when Jason had gone traveling to other kingdoms to strengthen alliances with Greece and when he had to go train to be a warrior.
Strengthening alliances was something Maria should have been doing since she was next in line for the throne, but everyone knew that Jason was the more charming and friendly of the two; plus, Jason was happy to help his sister in any way that he could.
Apart from letting Maria give him the throne, of course.
He wished that dealing with the suitors was something he could do for her too, but he also knew that he could not help her with everything.
Maria knew this too, and she turned to give her brother a quick smile before she looked up to take in the scene around her.
She had her brother to her left, and the eldest French brother, Arthur, to her right.
Directly across from her sat the energetic Henri, and next to him was the stranger turned prince, Julien; across from him sat the confident Leonardo from Italy and Rafael from Spain.
The King sat at the head of the table, and the Queen sat directly across from Jason.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying the meal, and Maria did her best to take a couple of bites while she tuned into what was being said at the table.
Leonardo and Rafael seemed to be in some sort of competition for who was the most masculine, and Maria could tell that Leonardo was actually trying to prove himself, while Rafael seemed to be more joking in an attempt to push Leonardo's buttons.
Julien kept quiet and seemed to be very interested in the feta cheese, while Arthur kept sneaking glances at Maria before whispering so that only she could hear, "Are you always this articulate?" as his lips pulled into a teasing smile.
Maria mustered up the courage to look at him, if only because she was officially frustrated, and managed to say, "I'm sorry, I'm just hungry is all," before she looked back down at her plate.
"I'd believe you if you had actually eaten any of it".
Maria inwardly cursed herself, sighed, and smiled sadly at him before she said, "Truth be told, I'm nervous. This is a lot to take in and I'm not sure I'm ready for it".
Maria didn't know where the courage to be honest with the stoic prince came from, but he was just as shocked at her response as she was.
He put his fork down and took a second to reflect before he leaned closer to her and said, "I know this must be incredibly difficult for you. If you ever just need someone to talk to, I'm a very good listener, princess. Although, I can always distract you in other ways too," he finished with a wink.
Maria blushed and looked away with a hope that he didn't notice that this was the second time that night that Arthur had made her turn red out of embarrassment with how he made her heart skip beats.
It was so strange because she had never felt anything like it before, but it was almost as if she felt something in her body tugging at her to be close to Arthur.
She had no desire to make any type of connection with the arrogant prince, so she did her best to push the feeling away.
Maria then turned her focus to the other side of the table where Henri and her father were laughing with each other so much that it even had made Jason and the Queen giggle; Maria was sad that she missed whatever that conversation had been.
When the King was able to catch a breath in between laughs, he looked at everyone from the head of the table where he was seated and said, "I thank you all for joining my family in our home, and I'm so excited that my daughter has such fine, young men who are interested in spending their time with her. With that, I'll say goodnight and we will see you tomorrow!"
Everyone stood after the King was finished, and before any of the men could grab Maria to talk to her, she wrapped her hand around Jason's arm and pulled him out to the hallway so that they could escape, unbothered.
