Part 8

Talia held her breath as the Prince crowded her. He had a lazy smile on his face, clutching the toga in his hands. The thought of him in her space, touching her made her abdomen clench. She was hyper-aware of the elevated breathing, her heart thudding against her chest and palms getting clammy.

Lukas breathed. "Lift your arms. I'll teach you." The smile that curved around his lips didn't help at all. Even though he's trying to reassure her, the moon princess shivered at their closeness.

Talia did as he told her to do, and Lukas started helping by draping part of the long cloth over her left shoulder and moving to wrap the rest around her body. From up close she could see all the pores on his skin.

The toga was secured in such a way that it was tight around her torso and anchoring the end hanging over her one shoulder, but was otherwise loose and did not impede her ability to move. It's done with such ease that the moon princess wondered again how she managed to make such a mess of it.

"I still don't quite understand what you just did."

The Prince boisterously laughed, the sound rough and melodic. He patted at her shoulder lightly. "Don't worry about it. I'll just have to show you some more, hm?" There's that wink again, and her heart skipped maybe a beat or five which sounded sappy even to her ears.

"For now, though," He licked his lips, taking a step back while she tried to push aside her racing heart, "Why don't you slip on your sandals so we can head to the flower garden? The lights at this time of the day do wonders to them."

"Yeah, okay," She said, swallowing past his dry mouth. The sandals, thankfully, she managed to slip into without any help. After that, the two of them shortly rush off to the gardens. There's a constant, light fluttering in her stomach, and she's having a hard time remembering that they only just met. More than the thought of being away from her home, especially without telling anyone, this day with Lukas had left the moon princess feeling both nigh terrified and giddy with exhilaration.

There's a bounce in her step as she followed him towards this well-lighted flower garden. Talia still couldn't believe that there's more of the estate yet to explore. They barely scratched the surface of it—no wonder the other Gods preferred to stay for a month.

Stepping inside the flower garden on the east side of the estate, her mouth dropped open. There were colourful lights everywhere which happened to be artificial but also breathtaking. She had never seen something like that back home.

They had flowers, indeed, but most of them were small, hardy wildflowers that bloomed for a short period in the spring.

The garden she had the pleasure to witness was different. It's full of flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colours, so many of them and she couldn't name a single one—and it's the only winter. It smelled sweet here, almost overwhelmingly so, but also clean and fresh, with the ever-pervasive smell of the ocean cutting through the heavy floral fragrances. She could only imagine what this garden must be like in the warmer months.

Talia caught herself wishing she could be here to witness it, her stomach swooping when she realised it wouldn't be possible. Not unless Lukas swept her to the place back again—the idea which made her stomach twist.

From the corner of her eyes, she experienced him staring at her expectantly, and the moon princess finally tore her sights away from the vibrancy of the garden around. "It's breathtaking," She choked.

"Oh! You should see it at the height of spring or summer. It's like you've been transported to another realm."

"I can only imagine," She sighed, tilting her head to meet his eyes. "Will you show me when the spring and summer months arrive?"

At her question, his eyes crinkled "If that's what you like I will be more than happy to do it"

Her heart stuttered, and she flushed again. Talia lost count of times he coaxed that reaction out of her, and she wondered if it's possible to be permanently reddened from blushing. Twisting her head, her eyes fell on the portraits hanging on the wall just above the flowers.

Unable to pipe down her curiosity, she followed the trail, finally standing in front of the huge frames. They had Lukas in most of them but also a fairly large dog bouncing by his side. Talia noticed how he had a muscular chest, broad shoulders, and sturdy arms and she knew that he could pick her up without breaking a sweat. She found that very attractive.

"So who's this adorable creature?"

Lukas smiled fondly at the picture, coming to stand next to her. "My pet, Fur. He couldn't make the journey with me. The journey is too long, and he's getting old. The heat here would probably kill him. Besides as a working dog, he was needed back home. I miss him, more than I thought I would."

"I'm sure he misses you too."

Lukas chuckled. "I hope so too. He's one of my best friends. We are always going on adventures together, down to the river or on a sledge run with the other dogs. He's a very active dog."

"When Fer was a puppy, he would run down the stairs so fast he'd trip over his paws and snowball to the floor," Lukas said with a chuckle as he pointed towards the stairs. "He would just sit there and look at me as if he was wondering why I wasn't upside down or something."

Talia burst into laughter, cooing. "I need to meet Fer then. He sounds more adorable than I imagined him to be"

"I wouldn't use the word adorable for that giant oaf. He guards my fathers castle and only ever lets people in if he likes them. He doesn't like letting people out. And for some reason, he's not a fan of many of the other gods." Lukas rolled his eyes said, as they walked inside a cosy looking room connected to the garden.

Talia followed him, staring at the massive couch in the middle, which still offered the view of the garden. He asked her to sit down on the couch, plopping down next to her, all long limbs and bright eyes. She was aware that their thighs were touching.

"Usually, those who want to enter have appointments or invitations, which is how they manage to get in without any marks. Fur takes his job seriously."

"Sounds like a smart dog." Talia tried not to dwell on how she could feel the heat of his body close to her.

"I'll make sure you meet him. He'll probably be curious about you."

"I'm a bit curious about you," Talia said before she had time to catch herself. A blush crawled on her cheeks, and she felt her neck get warm. The moon princess could tell that the Prince was looking at her, which only made her redder.

"I'm a bit curious about you too," He said softly.

Talia looked up quickly. The Prince was smiling warmly, no trace of teasing or judgment.

"Oh." She breathed. "Good." The moon princess nodded and swallowed hard. "That's good."

***

As they're walking along the stairs, back outside again, on the grounds, Lukas explained, about the time he learned to swim, that they realise the sun began to sink low to the horizon and will soon set. Somehow, they've managed to spend the entire day with each other.

Wow.

And even now, Talia couldn't help but feel an unquenchable thirst to know more about Lukas. Can you blame her? The Prince had been nothing but all smiles and attentive the entire day, revealing a bit by bit his real personality and all the funny stories of his childhood.

She bit her lip, and Lukas seemed to sense the shift in her mood. The moon princess swiped her tongue across her lips, scrunching her face as she stared at the gloomy walls.

The Prince turned towards her. "Would you like to have dinner together? There's a place out here that I like to go to. It's a bit out of the way, so there aren't many who bother to go there. It's quiet. I meant to show you earlier, but well, we got a bit distracted."

Talia swallowed. Her throat felt dry and, oddly, her nerves, which had entirely dissipated over the day she'd spent with him returned with full force. Her hands were clammy, and when she responded, it sounded strained. "I would love to."

The Prince grinned, but she was too busy worrying with the way her hands couldn't seem to keep still, eyes flickering to her sandals.

"That's wonderful. After that, I can escort you back to Olympus"

***