Page 55 of The Princess Trap

Ruben looked up from the stack of cones he was putting away. Hans was looming over him like a giant, his face serious as ever.

Ruben raised his brows. “What’sgone on long enough?”

“Don’t be petulant.” Hans shifted slightly, the only sign of his discomfort. The sort of sign only Ruben would notice.

Still, he turned away, stacking the cones neatly. “Use your words, Hans. I believe in you.”

His bodyguard released a sigh so loud, Cherry probably heard it from the classroom down the hall. The classroom where she was currently getting to know the children while Ruben helped put away this morning’s sports equipment. Every so often, he heard her laughter. Far more often, he heard the children’s.

“I think we should get over this… disagreement,” Hans finally said.

Ruben stood, dusting off his hands. “You want to kiss and make up? Already? Usually, you last longer than this.”

Hans shrugged. “You need me.”

“Oh, I do?”

“Yes. You want to talk to me. About her.”

Ruben grinned. “Ido?”

Hans rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He turned to leave, but Ruben grabbed his old friend’s arm in a move they’d executed countless times over the years. They were both too stubborn for this friendship to work, and yet, somehow, it did.

Sometimes, people were meant to be in each other’s lives, and nothing else really mattered.

“Stay. You’re right. I want to talk to you.”

Hans sighed again. He was a master of sighs. Then he shut the door of the little equipment room and leant back against a shelf. The shelf, sturdy as it was, creaked dangerously under his weight. Hans stood. “So talk.”

Funny. All of a sudden, Ruben had no idea what to say. But in the absence of certainty, his mind spit out a thought that seemed both ridiculous and true. “I don’t want her to leave.”

“She’s not going to leave. You’ve got a year.”

“Ineverwant her to leave.”

Hans looked slightly alarmed. “You’ve known her for—”

“Less than a fortnight. I’m aware.”

“Hm.” The rough-hewn lines of Hans’s face appeared blank as stone, which meant that he was thinking. “You know, your father once said he fell in love with your mother at first sight.”

Ruben arched a brow. “Have you been reading interviews?”

“Please. You know my mother is obsessed with yours. The beautiful and tragic Lady Freja.”

“Still?”

“Of course. The people loved her.”

“Thank God somebody did.” Ruben felt traitorous as soon as the words left his mouth. Plenty of people had loved his mother.Hehad loved his mother, more than anything else in the world. So had his father. “I don’t think emulating my father is a good thing, when it comes to love. Things turned out badly for him.”

“I don’t know about that,” Hans said slowly. “He got everything he ever wanted. He died, but everyone must die. And not all die happy.”

Ruben turned those words over in his mind, but couldn’t quite get a handle on them. They felt ephemeral, like something beautiful but impossible to hold. Something that didn’t apply to people like him. He put the problem away for later and focused on a more pressing issue.

“I don’t want her to meet my brother.”

Hans shrugged. “That is natural. I wouldn’t want Demetria to meet a python.”