Aliyah Giorgia Juliet Panimiro was never meant to be Queen. It's not in her blood. Yet, when she turned sixteen, the duty to wear the crown was thrust upon her. Now, she spends her time alone, dreaming of a day she won't have to attend balls with the dreaded goal of finding a husband.
Aliyah must marry before her family disowns her, but is it too much to ask to fall in love first?
Elliot despises the royal family and everything they stand for. So, he’s not quite sure how he ended up working for them this summer. There’s nothing he wants from Galinera Castle apart from a glowing recommendation and to make his mom proud for once. He has no intention of leaving with anything else.
And then he meets a girl under the plum tree, and he wonders how bad it would be if, just this once, he talked to her…
Art by @finitelines
For now, he watches as Aliyah rolls her neck, and Elliot almost walks over to ask if she’s alright. To just be close to her. He’s always known he wants to touch her, but the need now is almost animalistic. His fingers itch to trace her collarbone to see if she’s as soft as she looks. He can’t believe he’s known her for longer than three seconds and he hasn’t come up with all the reasons to touch her yet. Would it be too strange to ask just to hold her hand? He feels like he might go insane at the thought of not holding her a moment longer.
He doesn’t move though. She’d hate that considering what happened last time. She might hate him now. He’d probably get banished for daring to look at her, and he’d lose her all over again. So, he’ll stand here.
She looks around the room again, and Elliot has missed the entirety of the dinner conversation because she hasn’t said another word and he’s been watching the way she chews her lip. Her gaze sweeps over him, and he can’t even be annoyed; he’s still glad he came. But then she looks back, and her eyes are wide, and she’s smiling. Truly smiling. Not the smile she gives waiters, and not the one reserved for photographers. The one for him. The one he sees under the plum tree. The one his dramatic heart never thought he’d see again.
She either remembers where she is or remembers she doesn’t like him at all and blinks, then looks down at her plate. From then on, the only time she looks at him is when he’s not looking at her. It’s agony. The way he misses her seeps into his soul. It’s affecting everything from his breathing to his sleeping, and he doesn’t know how to fix it, or if he even deserves for it to be fixed. All he knows is that everything feels better when she looks at him, even if it hurts all the same.