Part 7. Spell on me

As they continued exploring, Talia turned to him, a glint in her eyes. "Umm...This is embarrassing, but I am kind of hungry."

The Prince sent a pointed look to Cruis, which was enough to make him alert. Lukas had almost forgotten that he should have taken her to the dining room after the tour of the first floor. His friend immediately turned around. "Alright," He said, shaking his hands over his head. "Sit tight, Talia, I'll set the table for both of you."

"Thanks," The moon princess smiled at him to which he shrugged and waved as he walked off, leaving them still in the hall.

She giggled, appreciative of the effort he was making to lighten the atmosphere on the way to the dining room. He noticed that she was beyond hungry at this point even to look around and appreciate the paintings in the room.

"Let's eat."

Talia sighed, and there's a bounce in her step as she goes to take a seat.

The beginning of their meal is quiet. For all their combined diplomatic experience, neither Lukas nor Talia could broach a topic of conversation. At the very least, it wasn't awkward. The huge feast didn't surprise Talia; however, the myriad of unfamiliar flavours hitting her tongue made her sigh. She took a moment to fully appreciate the tastes before her—the sweet, juicy fruits, the earthy nuts, the spiced meats, the soft cheeses, and the buttery loaves of bread.

The two of them could only proceed without conversation for so long, however, and as the pace of the meal slowed down, the expectancy of adequately engaging in conversation with one another rose. Lukas racked his brain for topics to open up a dialogue between himself and Talia and was just about to resort to discussing the weather when she spoke up. 

"I think this might be easily one of my favourite feasts of all time."

The tension eased from Lukas's shoulders marginally. He thought that with all the staring he's been doing since they stepped foot on earth might have weirded her out. After all, he did have the tendency not to fit in quickly and observe people for a while. 

"Really? That must be because the chef who made this is from earth."

Talia delicately set down the knife she had been using to cut and spread cheese on her bread and took her time to stare at the dish. "No wonder! Does he know the truth then? You being the heir of Sun God and running one of the best inns on earth?" 

There was a teasing tone to her voice which was easily detectable. A small smirk curled the corner of the Prince's mouth while a red flush sat across Talias cheeks, and he wondered if it was deliberate or not. Lukas supposed once he's had a chance to know her quirks fully he'll also learn whether or not she's the sort to insert teasing remarks into her speech or if it was a simple coincidence. 

"Sadly, no. The poor mortal has no knowledge about any of it" The Prince swallowed, his mouth dry as he tried to not stare at the butter glistening on her plump lips. "I assume he would suffer a stroke once he finds out."

Talia shook her head. "Sadly, true." 

***

After they were done with lunch, Talia insisted they explore more of his estate. Start with the library he had. 

"So do you have loads of friends in Olympus then?" The Prince asked as he led them to the library on the second floor. A fire was burning in the fireplace, and he sat down at one end of the sofa in front of it, Talia the following suit on the other end, curling her legs. 

"Not particularly. Most people call me Zeus daughter and leave it at that."

The Prince raised his brow. "Yeah but you are his daughter"

The moon princess rolled her eyes, letting out a loud exhale. "Well yes, but that's not the only way I want to be recognised."

"Oh"

After that, Talia was content to browse through the books in his library for two hours straight, delighted to find earth literature among his collection. He promised that she could take them with her or stay back and read.

She chose the first one, of course. 

Lukas decided he would take her to the terrace of his Palace, show off the scenery it provided. Both of them sat down on the wooden bench facing the sky. A cold breeze blew past them, and he noticed Talia wrapping her arms around her torso, legs pressed together. Goosebumps prickled at her arms as she rubbed her palms together. 

"Feeling a little cold?" The Prince asked. Even though he had an amused look on his face, there's an undercurrent of real concern for Talias comfort, too, that she appreciated.

The moon princess shrugged. "Yes. These temperatures on earth are colder even though it's not supposed to be that way." She gestured towards her attire, "Even my attire is too cold for this climate. I won't deny that it's uncomfortable, but not unbearably so."

Lukas blinked at her, noticing the quivering of her lips and legs shaking slightly to warm herself. "The weather here is unpredictable like that. Would you like for me to arrange for a toga for you? I'm sure there are some spare ones around. Otherwise, you're more than welcome to borrow mine until we've acquired you your own. It would help to keep you warm in this weather."

"Yours would be wonderful, thank you," Talia blushed, avoiding staring at him.

The Prince stood up and tugged at his own toga wrapped around him, unintentionally showing off a sliver of his skin by the waist. He felt her brows furrowed at that. 

"I was a clumsy child," Lukas grinned, as though he's not still coltish in his movements, grown too fast into long limbs and a broad chest. He stilled when Talia laid a hand over the scar, though, the dark skin cooler at the sharp curve of his waist.

"What happened?"

"I tripped and fell next to the fireplace back at my childhood home. A log rolled off the fire and burned me." His voice was carefully casual, but Lukas could hear his heart ricocheting in his chest, all because of her hand pressing against his sensitive skin. 

She quickly withdrew her touch, as if being aware of her impact. His heartbeat settled back into something more regular.

"Good thing you outgrew that clumsiness, right?" She teased.

"Yeah" 

When handed the toga, Talia tried to wrap and re-wrapped the cloth around her body in a variety of ways, but each time the moon princess failed to do it correctly. Sometimes, the wrap wasn't secured properly and fell the floor; sometimes, she's managed to wrap in such a way that she's somehow taken away her ability to move. It's too loose, it's too tight, and the cloth just looked wrong.

During all that chaos, she felt his solemn stare following her every moment. The Prince came to stand in front of him. 

Blood rushed to her face and heated her ears red. She wanted to jump off the balcony and into the water that crashed against the cliff, atop which the entire Palace was built. The day had started off so well, only for her to make a complete fool of herself in front of Lukas.  

When they locked eyes, a laugh escaped his throat to which she joined as well. Lukas raised his hand to his mouth in order to suppress the noise, eyes crinkling shut-in mirth. For a second she thought it's okay to embarrass herself like this if it meant to laugh with Lukas. 

"Do you need some help?" He asked, voice breathy.

Her gut swooped, and cheeks burned with a renewed heat. She sighed, glancing around to the side, and mumbled a quiet, "Yes."

Lukas walked over to her and lightly, ever so lightly, turned to lift her face up with his knuckle under her chin "Hey now," His voice echoed softly in her ears. "There's no need to feel embarrassed. Everybody has trouble with these before they learn how to put them on, and even then we all still have our days. It's not like you've ever had the chance to learn how to wear a toga before."

"Exactly! It's not like I had the chance to wear them!" Talia barked out a laugh. The moon princess knew she's in too deep when she forced herself to stop feeling embarrassed and laugh so that she can hear his melodic one. 

"Talia?"

Smothering her laugh, she schooled her features and blinked at him. "Yeah?"

He took a step forward and stared into her eyes, his other hand wrapping around her wrist. "I think you have got a spell on me."

At that, the moon princess stopped breathing for a few seconds, smiling so beautifully, so wonderfully, her stomach fluttering as those words sank in. "It appears so"

***