Sam laughed lightly, listening to her question and answering only moments later, “I’m not sure…I think they would be fun, but Alex is already like a brother to me. I’m not sure.” He shrugged, his answer truthful. “What about you? Miss Holly, what do you think of having siblings? You do have a brother if I remember correctly right?”
"Yeah. An older brother." For a moment, her brother's face flashed before her eyes, and she felt a prickle of tears, before she forced them back. He was fine. This was going to be a happy day. "It can be… interesting. They don't spare anything to get you in trouble, and they will do all they possibly can to annoy you, including hurting their own body. But… well, my brother is my brother, and I love him," she said with a small smile. "He can be such a jerk, but I love him."
"What's his name? Will I get to meet him at all during the time you girls are here?" He asked politely, a curious and almost excited smile on his face, "He sounds like an amazing older brother." Sam saw the hint of emotion in Holly's eyes as she first talked about her brother, but he didn't bring it up. She already probably missed her brother, even in the short stay at the palace, and so missing him would be a normal emotion.
"His name is Varin. He's seven years older than me." Holly shrugged. "I'm not sure if you'll be able to see him, though. He's at the border, fighting. I think he got promoted to lieutenant recently, actually." She smiled. "He is. When he actually talks to me. Because you know that talking to little siblings is a shame worthy of death."
Sam nodded, already instantly trying to remember if he had met with any soldiers of that name. "If I make any trips up to the border, I'll make sure to meet him," He said gently, his mind hard at work with the idea of potentially finding a way for her brother to be pulled from the front lines. Maybe it would work out to be a gift, but even if he didn't, he wanted to see the excitement on Holly's face when she saw her brother again. "Is talking to younger siblings that frowned upon?" He asked, a curious smile on his face, "I didn't know that."
"It is, actually. Apparently we're shameful menaces that could embarrass older siblings to the point of death." Holly laughed softly. "That's the impression I got from him, at least." She tilted her head, watching him with bright eyes. "How long have you known Alex? It seems like you guys are really close. And you called him your brother, so…"
"Ah, shameful menaces." He laughed gently at that idea, shaking his head, "You're far from one of those, I don't know what was going through your brother's mind." Sam shifted in his seat, though listened carefully to Holly's next question, a smile settled carefully on his face, "I've known Alex since I could talk. My parents knew of a general whose wife had just had a child only a year before me, and so they suggested that the child and mother come live at the palace while the general was working. We grew up together because of that, and it was arranged that Alex would become my personal guard when we were old enough. We're not biologically related, but he's my brother anyway, through friendship at least..and looks."
Holly laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "You two do look very similar. When I first saw him, I was pretty surprised. I wasn't sure if there had been a hidden prince or what." She smirked slightly. "Imagining Alex having to do the Selection seems horrifying. He would have no idea what he was doing."
Sam grinned, not hiding an amused laugh at the image of Alex running the selection. "That would be absolute chaos. He would run half of the girls out in a week, and only the ones that are strong enough to defy his annoyingness would be left." He shook his head, "He would have a blast though." The prince glanced out of the window of the car, then glanced back at Holly with a sparkle in his eye, "Don't tell him you thought he was a prince, I'll never hear the end of it. He'll take my place without question."
Holly giggled. "I won't, don't worry." She grinned. "Wouldn't that be mutiny, though?" She asked, smirking a little bit at the thought. She was pretty sure the prince was joking. After all, taking the place of the prince was treason… but she knew he didn't really mean it. She was just being weird.
She sighed. Why couldn't she be a better conversationalist, and more interesting? He was probably wishing that he hadn't asked her to do this.
"Nah, he passes as me quite a lot, no one would even know I was gone," He replied, shaking his head, "Thankfully he likes me enough not to do that." Sam shifted a fraction of an inch closer to her as he talked, loving the conversation and just talking to her in general. She was easy to get along with and he loved hearing her voice. It was like music, and her laugh was even better.
"Are you sure he does?" Holly teased, not noticing Sam moving closer to her. "What if he's just been tricking you for all these years?" Her voice was light and joking, so it was clear that she wasn't being serious about these concerns she was voicing.
Sam laughed and shrugged, "I think so. He's not very patient, so playing the long waiting game isn't his style." He studied Holly as he talked, pausing and not realizing the awkward staring. She was gorgeous, and gosh she was fun to be around. Before he stared for too long he snapped back to reality and tried to hide his flushed cheeks by speaking more, "If anything, he'd just ask to pretend to be me for a day and just never give me the title of prince again."
Holly finally took notice of his staring, and her cheeks burned at the intense gaze. She ducked her head, hair covering her face, trying to let her cheeks cool. After she had gathered herself, she lifted her head again and tucked her golden hair behind her ear. "Is it really that difficult to be a prince?" She asked, grinning shyly at him.
"It's definitely not easy," He replied, chuckling, "Though being the King is much more difficult. I barely have a quarter of the duties that my father takes care of and I'm normally worked to the bone." Because of the selection, his workload had become lighter, but he was still required to take care of several things, and on the days he was tired, it was torture. "At least when I'm King I'll hopefully have a Queen to help take care of things. That is, if I don't scare all of you ladies away."
"I think you might scare us all away," Holly said with a small, teasing grin. "You're pretty scary, after all. Handsome people are terrifying." She realized what she had said and blushed crimson, looking down in embarrassment. Had she really just said that out loud?
Sam's own cheeks turned a flaming color at the compliment and he became highly invested in his shoes as he replied, "I…uh..thank you. I didn't know I was considered a handsome person." It seemed rude to just take the compliment without giving one back, and though he was terrified of her reaction, it gave him a chance to say what he thought of her. "I suppose the same applies to gorgeous people. You're pretty scary after all."
(Boop)
"You are handsome," Holly assured him quietly, her cheeks redder than cherries. Her face felt hot, and she wanted to melt into the seat. This thought was made all the clearer when he told her she was gorgeous. She glanced around, trying desprately not to make eye contact with him. "I-uh… are you sure you're talking about me?"
"I am more than confident that I'm talking about the you," He replied in a soft voice, not sure if his cheeks could turn any darker of a color. His eyes had averted almost instinctively to the floor and he didn't know what to do, saved by the fact that he could feel the car roll to a stop and be shut off. That was their signal that they had arrived. He just hoped she would like the place he had picked, especially after he had just confessed that he thought she was gorgeous.
Her face was so hot, she was pretty sure that she had caught on fire. Although, there hadn't been any screams, so…. probably not.
She wasn't' good at accepting compliments from cute guys. And this guy was the prince! She felt flustered, and the butterflies in her stomach felt like they would burst out at any minute.
When the car stopped, she almost felt grateful, so she had a place to look out of while she let her face cool… a little bit, at least.
Quickly, Sam stepped out of the car and made his way to her side of the car, doing the polite thing and opening her door with a tiny smile. His face was still quite red, but he tried to ignore it. "We're here Miss Holly," He said, waiting with a gentle smile as she stepped out of the car. Clearly, the place they were going was now visible. The smell of the sea was in the air, and just a little walk away was a path leading down to what looked like the ocean.
Holly stepped out of the car, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face, face still quite pink.
The first thing she noticed was the smell, and she let out a small, contented smile at the smell and feeling of a slight breeze on her face.
"It's beautiful," she said softly, looking around.
"It gets prettier the closer you get to the water," He added quietly, holding out an arm for her with a smile, "I don't think any paparatzi or news crews will find us, if you're worried. I didn't tell anyone besides the necessary people about this." The guard that had drove the car circled around, holding out a wicker picnic basket to the prince who easily took it.
Holly took his arm, but she found that she couldn't look at him, or else red would blossom across her face again. It was happening a lot. "That's good," she said in relief. "I'm glad. Thank you."
Her dress fluttered slightly, and she smiled at the water around her, which seemed to glow in the sunlight. "How did you think of this place?" She asked.