YENA Luna was late to her own dinner. Or maybe she just wanted to make an entrance. Nolan and I were seated in her dining room when she arrived. Dinner was served and steaming on the table. But the attendants waited to pour the wine until Luna came in several minutes after us, gliding into the room wearing a gorgeous, silky, copper colored gown. To my surprise, she greeted us with a big smile. Nolan and I got up from the table and bowed as she approached. Luna told us to stand. Then as I started to turn back to the table, she put her hand on my shoulder to stop me. Her hand lingered there, lightly, as she looked my body up and down with narrowed eyes. Finally, she looked me square in the eyes and said, “You look good.” It wasn’t so much a compliment as an evaluation. I thanked the queen quietly and looked at Nolan. He was in prince mode, not betraying any emotion on his face. We sat and Nolan offered a toast to his mother.

I left Nolan panting in bed and took another, very quick shower to rinse off all the sweat once we were done with our workout. I put on a comfy nightgown and was brushing my teeth when he came in behind me, looking cheerful. He kissed the top of my head before heading back into the shower himself. Our bed was a mess. The satin sheets were half off the mattress already, so it was easy to pull them aside. Not quite so easy was the task of putting new sheets on, but I got it done. Nolan was still in the bathroom when I slid under the covers a few minutes later. I closed my eyes for just a second, then remembered my phone was still in my purse. I got back up and went to get it. Nolan’s phone was in there too. I took it over to his side of the bed and plugged it in to charge. I was just settling back into bed when Nolan’s phone started going crazy. It turned itself back on when it got enough power, I guess, and all the notifications were now going

ADAN “Let me take you somewhere special,” Adan said. He smiled and stole a glance at Lucy before returning his eyes to the road. She beamed, making her pink lipgloss shimmer in the sunlight.Lucy had her right arm extended out the passenger window. It was cold out, but dry and sunny. Pretty much as pleasant as weather got in this small college town under the shadow of the mountain. “Did you have somewhere specific in mind?” she asked. Adan shrugged playfully. “Maybe. It’s a surprise.” He shifted his weight so he could drive with his left hand and slip the other one over onto Lucy’s thigh. She looked over at him and he knew that she was smiling. He didn’t offer her the satisfaction of eye contact. Just gave a quick squeeze on her leg, making her laugh and squirm. When they got to his place, he opened Lucy’s door to let her out of the car and walked arm in arm with her to the door. They had a catered meal and a couple bottles of Lu

YENA “Sorry I couldn’t come over yesterday,” Lucy was saying. “No problem,” I told her. “Everything okay?” “Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Just this thing I had to go to with my family, out of town.” “Oh, that sounds fun. Where was it?” Lucy looked away and squinted. “Hmm,” she said. “I don’t remember the name of the town. We stayed at a little place on the mountainside. It was very cold.” “Huh.” I couldn’t tell why, but it seemed like she didn’t really want to talk about it. “Anyway, you want to try some stuff on?” Lucy gleefully accepted this invitation, and the work I needed to get done with her kept us very busy for quite a while.The big windows at the short end of my studio parlor were always helpful for telling the time. I watched the shadows move across the room and decided we should call it a day when it started looking like late afternoon. We had some snacks before Lucy got a ride home, and then it looked like she had s

NOLAN “The party tomorrow is very important,” Luna said. Nolan nodded. “You can use some good publicity,” she continued. “And not any more of that secret altruism nonsense. We need an image of you looking like a proper prince, and we need it in the minds of the public as soon as possible.” “I understand,” Nolan said. “Do you?” Luna arched one of her dark, thick eyebrows at him. That was a question that did not invite an answer. Nolan scooted to the edge of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees, putting his hands in a lazy sort of prayer position. “I have invited some associates of your father to the party,” she continued. “People that you could stand to get on your side.” Nolan nodded again. “The time is now to establish allies. Everywhere that you can.” “I agree,” Nolan said, feeling some relief. Finally, she was acknowledging the impending conflict. “These associates…?” Nolan asked, letting Luna fill