Part 16

"Yeah," Talia nodded quietly, teeth sinking into her plush bottom lip.

Lucky? She scoffed under her breath while trying to remain composed. The moon princess wanted to run away from the castle and never come back. When she looked up, the princess found Jaxson still staring softly at her, the corners of his mouth tilted upward.

As she directly met his eyes, his lips formed into a full grin, and the skin under his eyes crinkled delicately. Suddenly overwhelmingly aware of the silence around the table, she broke the gaze and looked away. Talia knew her stepmother and father had watched every bit of the short exchange with hawk eyes and were presumably laughing on the inside.

Exhaling hotly, Talia found a bitter anger building in her gut. It infuriated her how Jaxson behaved: oh so attractive and charming her parents into an infatuation she would never escape. The moon princess needed the brunch to end; simply being under the constant scrutiny of his intrigued eyes was taxing enough. Dealing with her father, especially Hera at the same time was thoroughly draining.

"Pardon me," She huffed and stood from the table. Her father looked up in surprise; lips pulled together in a straight line. "I think I may have caught something."

A lame excuse. She knew as soon it fell out of her mouth, but Talia went ahead with it. Tactfully, Zeus daughter slipped out of the dining room, rushing to the solace of their massive kitchen. The service maids stilled at her sudden entry and gawked.

Behind her, she heard the click of heels against the floors, followed her the entire path she chose through the dining room, past the first restroom, and into the large kitchen.

Talia ignored the whispering maids and grabbed a flute glass from a cupboard, filling it with the nearby whiskey on the rack. Before she had emptied it, Hera stepped into the kitchen. Her brown hair was still fastened tightly under the hat, and the colour on her lips was smudge-free, despite having consumed lunch. The woman stopped a few feet from Talia, crossing her arms.

With one look, Hera managed to send the maids scrambling out.

"And what do you think you are doing here, young lady?" Hera inquired sternly, and her eyes displayed the significant indignation her voice didn't convey — quite.

Talia sighed, wholly exhausted of the notion that she was to go along with these antics. "Nothing. I needed fresh air."

"From what exactly?"

"Can we not do this?"

Hera stopped, frowning as she took the nearly drained glass from her hand. "What was the matter with you over there? Behaving like an alcoholic. Jaxson was perfectly nice to you, and you completely neglected his attempts at conversation!"

The moon princess teeth sank into her cheek, keeping from saying something she would positively come to regret.

"Don't you have any consideration for others?"

She could feel everything boiling beneath the surface of her skin. "What about my feelings?"

"Your feelings? Since you were born, you have been your father's priority over any and everyone! He raised you in the best of worlds, with anything you could have asked for and more. You have always been privileged compared to my daughters and sons! Don't you dare question that, young lady!"

Her stepmother took another approaching step.

"Since you came back this week, you have been behaving outrageously. Don't you think it is the most opportune moment to reimburse us for the trouble we have gotten into for your sake?"

"That's not fair," Talia growled.

Her mother purposely strode forward until there were only inches separating their chests. Hera stared up at her, barely reaching her chin, but there was something so authoritative about her demeanour that she was left feeling dauntingly subordinate. She stared her coldly in the eye

"Life's not fair, sweetheart. Now go socialise and don't drink any more."

The first thing Talia did out of her sight was snatch a bottle of whiskey from the kitchen and rush to her favourite place—the patio.

***

Magically turning up at Talia's side, her sister Artemis linked their arms.

"Thank you for finally joining me," The moon princess said, the sarcasm light on her tongue.

"Figured I'd give you some time to calm down after meeting that guy" Her sister chuckled, and the delicate feather attached to the side of her headpiece that matched her dress tickled Talia's ear.

The moon princess gritted her teeth. "Glad to see you are taking this seriously."

"I am sorry," Artemis sighed, patting her wrist. "They expect you to comply and me to help you agree to them. You know how it gets once Hera is involved."

Talia shook her head. "I'm not going along with this. Father practically blackmailed me into coming, only to stuff a marriage down my throat."

"You know, you might like Jaxson once you both spend time together."

"Spend more time that posh prick? I doubt it!"

"Wow! I didn't know you had it in you," Her sister cackled loudly.

"Talia" Their stepmother's voice cut through their laughter, and their smiles fell.

Repressing the urge to groan juvenilely, she pressed her lips down as she turned around, watching Hera approach. Once she was close, her stepmother placed a silky glove on her elbow.

"Darling," Hera said, her red lips curled into a fake grin. "Why don't you go say goodbye to Jaxson?"

"Now?"

"Would you rather he stay for dinner?" She chided, and her fingers squeezed around her arm; she wasn't getting away.

"No!" Talia coughed. "I mean, he might have other plans."

Hera rolled her eyes as if she understood it very clearly. "Follow me, dear."

Her stepmother steered her through the hallway, leaving Clio behind in the kitchen. Every so often, they stopped, greeting one or another person. Talia smiled politely and engaged in conversation, secretly hoping to procrastinate as much as manageable.

Hera gave her a knowing glance at the third stop and quickly excused them. She's so clever that way. Talia can give her that. By the time her mother's firm grip on her elbow began to relent, they had reached the end of the garden.

Jaxson stood all alone near the edge, his eyes brightening when he spotted her. She cringed internally at that. Why did he have to be so perfect? The son of Ajax took a step further, bowing down in front of her.

"Hello"

She hummed softly. "Hi. I heard you were leaving"

"I can stay if you want."

A natural flirt as well. Very charming. She drily thought.

"Oh, no! I'm sure you must be otherwise engaged."

Jaxson laughter echoed in her ears. "I am. Have to go look after my father's kingdom."

"Okay, then. Goodbye"

As Talia turned on her heel, he called out her name, making her halt. Cursing under her breath, she met his eyes. "Yes?"

"I cant wait to see you soon."

"Same"

"Really?"

She gritted her teeth together. "Yes"

***

If there was one thing Talia loved after her late mother and reading, was bubble baths.

Warm pink bubble baths that smelled like roses were undoubtedly her favourite. The water reminded her of the Sakura painting she saw in Lukas house on Earth. She was currently in her big, white porcelain tub, enjoying a pink bubble bath. Talia always made sure to draw one of these at least once a week, as there was nothing that relaxed her more than soaking in warm water with a sweet rose scent wafting gently throughout the room into her nose.

Her eyes were closed, and the water went up to the right under her chin. The moon princess had been here a while, her fingertips were starting to have crinkles, but she couldn't find the energy to get up and go about performing her nightly routine.

Not after the disaster afternoon she had.

It'll only be a matter of weeks before Jaxson asks to court her, and within a month, they'll be newlyweds. A shiver ran down her spine at that word. She didn't want to do any of that. Not with Jaxson. Come to think of it, Talia only wanted to follow these through with Lukas.

She noticed that the water was starting to become lukewarm, so with a sigh, she quickly got out and grabbed her towel as soon as she could. Her skin prickled when it came in contact with the cold air, and as she assessed herself, Talia could already tell that her skin was all wrinkled from the water.

With a sigh, she reached to drain the tub.

Talia sat at the edge of his tub with her towel wrapped around her naked body, watching a tiny whirlpool form where the water was draining.

Just then, she heard a rattling sound following by someone tapping on her window. Alarmed, Talia turned out and hesitantly peered at the glass, unable to figure out the stiletto.

"W-Who is it?"

"It's me."

Her eyes widened at the familiar sound, and she rushed to pull open the window. "Lukas?"

***