The prince reaches over and pushes my chin back up with his fingers.
“I like you better with your head held high. You’re prettier that way.”
I bat his hand away. “Don’t get grabby, mister fancy pants.”
He laughs. “You berate me for inspiring so much fear. I think my men were more scared of you than they were of their prince just now.”
I smile but quickly force my face still.
I really shouldn’t encourage him.
“If you think you can buy your way into my pants with kindness to my friend, you’re wrong.”
“What would it take me to convince you that I was moved by your pleas? Truly?”
“I don’t know if you can.”
Just for a bare moment he glances at the floor. Then he simply turns and walks, expecting me to follow. I quicken my pace to catch up, and it’s like someone hit a giant pause button. All the activity in the hospital resumes, people just sweeping right back to work as we pass, as if nothing happened.
Almost nothing. I can still taste it on the air, the tension. Like ozone before a thunderstorm. I can sense the relief, too, as we step into the elevator.
“You don’t see it at all, do you?”
“What?”
“These people are terrified of you. Truly afraid.”
“Do you not fear the police in your country?”
“In my country?” I repeat, my eyebrow twitching as I eye him.
He sighs.
“Yeah. I am a little scared of cops if I think I might get in trouble. I don’t come from the land of sunshine and lollipops. But if I was at work and the president came to visit me, yeah I’d be a little intimidated, but I wouldn’t be afraid that he’d murder me if I sneezed in front of him.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“It’s called hyperbole.”
“I don’t murder my people.”
“When you call yourself judge and jury and act as the executioner, yeah, you do.”
“Why does it matter that these things be done separately?”
“One person shouldn’t have all that power over another person’s life. What if you chop off someone’s head, and you’re wrong?”
I almost expect him to tell me he doesn’t make mistakes, but instead he says, “Your country uses the death penalty, too.”
“Yes… But there’s a difference. There are rules of evidence and the court is supposed to be unbiased. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but did you execute that man I watched you kill because the evidence demanded it or because he pissed you off?”
“Both. Wait,” he says sharply. “I don’t know. Do you argue he didn’t deserve to die?”
“No. Maybe, I don’t know. He’s not a good example. He was a complete piece of shit, yes, but maybe whether he deserves to die or not, it isn’t up to you to decide.”
“Yet it is done in your country.”
“Not everywhere. Look, I don’t know if capital punishment is right or wrong. I can’t make up my mind, but the government of my country has that power because the people have granted it to them. The people can take it away, and they have in many states. You only have that power because nobody can stop you. The only difference between you and any other thug is a castle and a fancy armor suit.”
I expect him to snap at me again, but he looks almost thoughtful as he regards me. Then his expression shifts.
“You are very passionate when something angers you.”
I look away, hoping the harsh hospital lighting won’t let him see me blush. I have to control myself. In spite of however I try to make myself feel, I get a little tingle every time he praises me.
The prince opens my door to the car in a gentlemanly gesture and steadies me as I step inside before entering himself.
He sits back in the seat.
“Why did you help her?”
“Who?”
“My friend. You could have just dragged me off if you liked, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I dislike the sound of a woman in distress. It…aggravates me.”
“I think you do care about these people, on some level. Part of you has to see that this isn’t right.”
“I tire of this line of conversation.”
I sigh. “Will you let them go home? Her parents? If she can’t leave, why can they?”
He clenches his jaw. “I don’t know. You make me regret my rash decision.”
“You should let her go.”
“If I let her go, her life is forfeit. Do you doubt me? You think the people who were ready to sell you will protect you? I will protect you!”
I shrink back and swallow hard.
“You’re not protecting her. Locking her in that room forever will kill her as surely as some assassin’s bullet, my prince.”
He leans forward. “I tire of this. We go back to the castle.” He clasps his head between his hands. “You make it sound as if my every choice is between one evil or another. I’d rather not choose at all.”
“We’re not going back to the castle.”
He lifts his head from his hands and looks at me.
“You promised me you’d show me around. Show me people, not horses and hawks. I want to see how people live here. You promised.”