Everest Mountain

ALYSSA

—I,I,I really sorry. Ivar said… I thought… I apologize. Excuse_

—You were not wrong; this is your room —reply with simplicity and crosses his arms—. I was sent to make sure everything is ok. —Someone goes out of I don't know where and curtsies when she sees us; She seems to be an attendant.

—Everything is completed, Your Majesty —talks to Aren.

—If that is so, then leave.

She nods and curtsies again. —Welcome to Lundy, Princess Alyssa. I hope you enjoy your stay here —talks to me in a sweet tone of voice and I smile at her.

—I thank you.

She farewells and goes away. Now, I'm alone with Ice Prince.

—Come in and tell me if the room pleases you.

—All right. —He makes aside for me to go in the room, and I do so. My suitcase is already unpacked and the things are in the cloakroom, have also supplied me with necessities and other things like jewelry, which I did not expect. I sit in bed, and it is comfortable, I can adjust the brightness of the lights, and there is a plasma TV and air conditioning. The balcony view is straight to the hills, and I can make out a huge stable in them and a track where horses are surely strolled.

—You must have a lot of horses.

—It is not that they are many, it is that they are big and that is why they occupy a lot of space.

—I understand. My father would be delighted with this view, he likes them very much. —I smile and go back to the room and see him—. It is totally to my liking; I thank you for taking the time of all this. —He keeps quiet for a while and just observes me, which I dislike—. Prince Aren?

He takes a deep breath, and his cold gaze wreaks havoc on my brain, he has the same look as fifteen years ago. Over his shoulder, I make out a painting and smile as I recognize what's in it.

—What a nice painting. —I pass by him, and my nose perceives his aroma, forcing me to block my senses—. Who painted it?

—My mother did it a while ago. She brought it here while you are in Lundy so that you feel that you are in your lands.

—She knows how to draw very well and has captured Corfu wonderfully. —I touch the canvas—. I see that she is proud to be from Corfu.

—She tells us about it from time to time. She says the former king made them proud of their nation.

—Yes, that's something my grandfather would do. —I slightly laugh and return to him, still maintaining the cold gesture and bearing that inspires power—. I'm glad she still hasn't forgotten her roots.

—You can rest assured, I don't think she will one day, it's easier for her to forget my father. —I laugh at his comment and keep silent when he doesn't react.

—Speaking of the subject, I brought you gifts from Corfu. Don't leave yet, I'll give you yours. —I'm going to the cloakroom, surely they put everything there. I look in the drawers of one of the closets and before leaving I make sure in the mirror that I do not look fatal—. Here's yours.

I offer him a small gift box and hesitates for a few seconds to take it. I'm terrified of him who rejects it, but he takes it and that reassures me.

—Thank you.

—I hope you like it.

—I'm retiring so you can rest.

—Sure, see you at dinner. —I smile and he just turns around.

Yep, he seems to remain the same.

I throw myself on the bed while I see the drawing of Aren's mother. She is a very kind woman and reminds me a lot of my mother. I have hardly had the opportunity to live with her, I did it when I was little, and I have blurred memories of her carrying me in tears.

I swallow the bitterness of the memories and close my eyes when my vision is clouded. I still don't know how to control my emotions when I remember the woman who gave me life. I was only five years old when she was no longer in my life. When I stopped feeling her hands, listening to her voice, smelling her scent, appreciating her beauty, savoring her love. My memories with her are blurred images and others are scenes that I have to imagine when my father tells me something about her and me together.

I try to put all that aside and decide to rest for a while because from now on I will live the most difficult days of my life.

Not even with Einar did I feel so anxious, I think I stole his role to act it in front of Aren.

I wake up I don't know what time, but I get scared when I see that it's dawn.

—God, I skipped dinner! —I jump out of bed and bend my foot in an attempt to run and fall along with I don't know what. I hear when they open the door, but they don't move forward.

—Princess, are you okay? Can we enter? —It's the royal guard and I manage to stand up, I don't want to be seen lying on the ground, fortunately, I didn't twist my ankle.

—yes, yes, I'm fine, thank you, you don't need to come in. —I take control of the light between groping and turn it on to see them—. What time is it? Is dinner past it?

—It's 5:47 pm, majesty, dinner is in an hour. —My soul returns to the body and my heart beats normally, I thought it was dawn, I hate that feeling of sleeping in the afternoon and waking up thinking it's dawned the next day.

—Thank you, you can withdraw. —They obey and I go to the bathroom after picking up my cell phone. I take a shower with warm water and get ready for dinner. I didn't bring much formal attire, so for this I decided to wear something casual, wishing it was just a dinner with the royal family and not with the whole hierarchy.

—Over here, Your Majesty. —I am guided to the dining room and find Lundy's main family sitting at the table. Ivar and his mother smile at me when they see me, and the others greet me more formally and I do the same.

—Good evening, I hope I haven't kept you waiting.

—Not at all —replies the monarch—. Take a seat next to Aren, please.

—... It's okay. —I obey and feel my heart going to go out of its place at any moment when I smell it again. At times like this is where I want to have more than one nose and be able to tattoo the smell that emanates from this man, it is addictive, and it seems that he has bathed recently too.

—Did you manage to rest? —the king asks me, and I nod.

The dinner goes on normally, we talk about random topics as well as issues related to both nations and about the treaties we have. I bring a few ideas for the next renewal, and they agree with what I propose. Aren doesn't talk much, and I appreciate it because I feel comfortable talking to his family more than I do to him.

I give them the gifts I prepared. Since I don't know their tastes, I bought things like heirlooms or other original Corfu handcrafted things. I prepared a gift for the monarchs, one for each prince and one for the kings, four gifts in total. The mother of the princes seems to be the most excited.

—It can't be~! You don't know how much I've wanted this~. Here they don't prepare it the same. —She pouts.

—My grandfather gave me the idea; He was sure you would love it.

—What's that, Mother? —asks the youngest.

—It is a drink originating in Corfu and I already warn you that you cannot drink it, it is not for children.

—So, it's alcohol?

—It's a fermented drink —I speak.

—Thank you, sweetie, I wanted this a long time ago. And thank the monarch on my behalf as well.

—You better share that with me, honey, it's a gift for both of us.

—I'm going to think about it, I doubt you can stand it. —We laughed and from the dining room we went to the living room where they invited me to take a seat. Queen Elin shows me pictures I didn't know existed.

I know she does it with good intentions, so I try hard not to cry every time she shows me a photograph where she is with my mother because she remembers her in the best way and that makes me feel good. She shows me another one where my mother is holding a child and she is holding a baby.

—this is you before you turned one year old and this is Aren, he was almost five. —I am surprised and laugh at how tender he looked; No one would believe that he now carries a bitter face all the time.

—I did not know about these photos, but my father had already told me that we knew each other since we were babies. —I confess with a smile and out of the corner of my eye I see the disgust, does that bother him or that in the photo it comes out in smaller clothes?

—Strangely, you rarely saw each other. Since you were six years old, my trips to Corfu were no longer so followed and I stopped taking Aren after Ivar was born —she explains, and I nod—. Here is another one where you are already older, it was the last time you saw each other, during the anniversary of Corfu's independence.

—Aly, you looked very happy in the photo —says Ivar and the heat rises to my face when I see the image. There is a group of children and I recognize the child next to me and I remember why that wide smile on my face is because I was next to Aren. It was one of the first photos we took during that day, I had already liked him, but I had not yet spoken to him.

—Oh, I ate a lot of sweets that day —I lie, I would never tell him that I liked Aren.

—You should have eaten too many sweets —Aren opens his mouth at the wrong time.

—Yes, I exceeded what was allowed —I clarify as I see him and so does he to me. Is he still so capable of remembering? Well, I still do, and I don't think he has Alzheimer's.

Damn. I should have guessed.

We keep chatting and it's time to go to sleep. They thank me for the gifts, and I go to my room to mentalize that I must act normal and calm, that I should not let my emotions get the better of me, and that I should not be obvious when I am in front of the man who was my ephemeral childhood love.

—Alyssa —Ivar talks to me, and I see him as he approaches me—, I was practicing archery, maybe one of these days we can play together, or you can teach me a little.

—I didn't know you practice it.

—I started recently. —He scratches his neck with a tender chuckle.

—That's great. When we have free time we can practice it, I would be happy to play against you. —I offer him my fist and he bumps it and we both smile—. Good night. Rest, little one. —I stroke his hair before continuing to my room.

I get to the room and get ready for sleep and throw myself on the bed. I take my cell phone to talk to my father for a while and inform him that I arrived well, what I did, and how I feel. I do not lie when I tell him that I feel comfortable with the royal family, they treat me very well, I only omit the parts of Prince Aren although he insists that I tell him about him, but I avoid it.

I get out of bed again when I remember the first activity of the next day: getting to know the surroundings of the palace and the streets of Lundy. I prepare a comfortable and casual outfit.

If we walk around, I think the sneakers will be better. I hope they don't come out with formal attire... no, Alyssa, better sneakers, not so elegant, not so casual.

I leave everything ready and go back to bed with my nerves on edge. I still do not receive the complete itinerary for every day; Queen Elin was the one who let me know of the first activity of tomorrow where I hope the family is or at least some more apart from Aren because I will not survive if we go alone.

What about the activities we will both do alone?

My breath stops when I remember that this is customary for this type of encounter. Out of nowhere, the gift I gave him comes to mind, he didn't tell me if he liked it or not, he didn't even tell me if he had already seen it.

—It can't be, I don't think I will be able to return to Corfu alive. —I touch my chest and feel my heart pounding—. Is it serious? Will you put yourself like this for a simple guy, someone who doesn't seem to like you?

"You're a masochist"

I know, shut up.

I cover my face with a pillow and feel like screaming from the depths of my being, but I'm not at home and I can scare them all.

Control yourself, Aly, for God's sake!

I do breathing exercises and clear my mind of what Aren makes me feel and fill it with thoughts that fill me with confidence and remind me of who and how I am.

—Princess Alyssa of Corfu —I whisper—. A goddess who is not intimidated by anyone. A girl with a warm aura, introverted until she enters into confidence, of few friends, independent, beautiful, intelligent, self-taught, empathetic, helpful. I have all that and more, and I'm not going to let a guy I haven't seen for over ten years intimidate me and dumb me down. I don't like him, and he doesn't like me either, I'm not here to beg anyone for love or be ashamed for love. It's that simple, so control yourself and enjoy these days. —I sigh and smile slightly.