Chapter 2 #2
Would they sleep together again? Or would she end up on one of the folded-out chairs as originally planned? She would be find in one of the chairs.
Someone had brought her suitcase from the hold to the bedroom.
Frederick told her to change in there, promising he wouldn’t invade her privacy.
It hadn’t crossed her mind that he might.
Her favorite pyjamas were more than conservative enough they wouldn’t cause too much of a scandal even if photos were taken. She was also able to pull out her favorite pillow and blankets. She traveled everywhere with them.
When she emerged with her bedding in hand, she found Frederick maneuvering two of the chairs together to make a longer bed.
She dumped her things on one of the chairs. “I am not taking your bed.”
He gave a shrug, but didn’t stop what he was doing. “I’m not letting you sleep out here.”
Elise glared. “You do know I’m at least as stubborn as you are, right?”
“I’m the king,” he reminded her. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say my word is law, but...” He simply raised an eyebrow her direction.
“I’m not your subject,” she countered.
“But you have a work visa in Southern Santiero. I can… check into that…” His words hung in the air, the actual threat unspoken.
Elise narrowed her eyes as she tried to read his expression. “You’d hold up the production of a major motion picture that will feature your country and increase tourism, just because I won’t kick the king out of his bed?”
The stare down lasted longer than she would have expected from anyone else. Elise supposed it came from not wanting to give away more than he needed to in negotiations with other countries or even politicians in Southern Santiero.
But eventually he blinked.
“Fine.” Frederick crossed his arms over his chest. “We can share again.”
It wasn’t Elise’s first choice, but it was better than making the king sleep on folded out chairs.
And she had slept very well during their shared nap.
Picking up her bedding, Elise turned on her heel and went toward the back of the plane.
She went to the same side she’d slept on earlier and tossed the pillow to the floor under one of the windows.
Someone had pulled all of the shades down after they landed.
The only ones that had been left open were the ones she and Frederick had been looking out of at the time.
Flipping the covers all the way back, she sat with her legs stretched out then situated her blanket over the top.
“What’s wrong with the bedding?” Frederick stood on the other side, and looked down at her.
Elise noticed he’d changed at some point since they’d agreed to share. The flannel pyjama pants and soft-looking t-shirt had definitely seen better days. They looked perfectly worn in, but not something she would have expected from the king.
“Nothing. I prefer my own but the bedding here came closer than anywhere else.” She held up the green camouflage one on the bottom.
“This is made out of parachute material. I got it at a military surplus store in the States after a friend let me use theirs once. It’s lightweight in the summer and in the winter, you don’t need much on top of it to contain your body heat. ”
He sat on his side of the bed. “It’s very comfortable in here, and the weather in Southern Santiero is very temperate most of the year. The other blanket looks fairly thick.”
She tugged the gray and white blanket further up her legs.
“This is a weighted blanket, but it’s got a bamboo duvet cover around the actual weighted part.
The bamboo or whatever keeps cool. When combined, they work both ways.
” With a shrug, she slid down and pulled the blankets up.
“The two of them together work almost year round.”
“Bamboo?”
“Honestly, if the blankets shift for some reason, and I’m just using the bamboo side of the weighted blanket, I get cold. It works really well.” She pulled the blankets all the way up to her chin.
“Interesting.” Frederick didn’t say anything else but pulled his own blanket up, though his settled under his arm rather than over his shoulders like hers did.
Elise gave him a small smile. “Good night, Frederick.”
He tipped his head toward her. “Good night, Elise.”
Rolling to face away from him, Elise wondered how long it would take her to actually doze off.
Fortunately, her blankets did their job. With the perfect temperature and the cozy weight spread evenly over her body, it didn’t take long for her to sink into the blackness of sleep.
Some time later, she woke, realizing she’d rolled over. She could see Frederick’s face in the dim lighting.
In sleep, again, it appeared far more relaxed than during the day.
His words from earlier came back to her.
"I don't get a lot of physical contact with people… very seldom do I have a chance to do something so simple as just have contact with someone for more than a few seconds at a time."
Though Elise often felt touched out after events with fans, she couldn’t imagine going through life without a good hug from a friend or family member on a pretty regular basis.
She loved a good hug.
“Are you watching me sleep again?” Frederick didn’t open his eyes as he spoke.
“Maybe.” That was as close as Elise would come to admitting it - at least for the moment.
“Why?” His voice held genuine curiosity.
“I was thinking about what you said earlier. I can’t imagine life without getting a good hug or two on a regular basis.” She reached for him, but found his hand instead of his face this time. “I love a good hug.”
“I do as well, but not many people want to hug a king. Or some may want to, but they’re probably the ones my security team would keep an eye on.”
“Not even your mum? Grandmum? Siblings?” Wasn’t his grandfather the royal? That would mean his father and grandfather were both gone.
“My siblings have all moved quite far away at this point, but we were never overly demonstrative.” His head seemed to tilt slightly as though he was thinking.
“At least not with me. Maybe more with each other. Mum was before Papa died, but not since. I only see her four or five times a year and even then it’s much more formal than I’d prefer. ”
“The whole king thing?”
He squeezed her hand. “She’s never said, but I suspect so. It was better before my father’s memorial service.”
“I’m sorry it’s been like that for you. I’ll be praying you find someone soon.”
A stray thought flitted through her mind.
It wasn’t very surprising given their current situation and the earlier kiss, but it still seemed so far-fetched.
Why couldn’t she be that person?