Chapter 10

Eliza decided not to arrive at the rendezvous point in advance because she didn't want to wait. So she took her time in getting ready. Samantha helped her put on her riding outfit, and styled her hair in a tight braid down her back. At exactly two o'clock, she was ready and headed out the door, and down the steps to the main entrance. The German guy was already there, waiting with his translator. He was still wearing fancy clothes, but not as fancy as before. It was a black outfit with a long black coat.

"Good afternoon," Eliza said, talking directly to him and ignoring the third wheel.

"Gutafternoon," Christian said with a thick German accent. At least he tries, Eliza thought. He looked at her outfit. "Are we going to, um, Pferd…" he looked at his translator for help. "Horse?" he said, finding the answer on his own.

"Yes, we are," Eliza replied. "I understand you like horse riding."

The Earl nodded. "Can I you something ask?" he asked, literally translating the question from German.

"Yes," she said confused at the order of words, inviting him at the same time to step outside. The Translator trailed behind them, ready to be of service at any moment.

"My name is Hans."

"Oh? I thought it was Christian?"

Hans looked at Mr. Muller, the translator and asked him to explain. It would be easier that way.

"Everyone calls him Hans, back home, and he prefers it."

"Oh, okay. Very well. But only if you call me Eliza. Elisabeth is quite the mouthful and my mother usually calls me that, and she uses my whole name when she's angry." She looked up at her date – because he was towering next to her – and grimaced at his confused face. "I'm so sorry. I tend to babble when I'm nervous." She mentally kicked herself.Idiot.

Hans looked at Mr. Muller and he explained what she had said about her name and all she said after that. Hans let out a single chuckle. "It is gutfor me, you speak English. I can learn."

She nodded and they walked silently to the stables. It was a large fancy wooden building at the end of a grass walkway, with paddocks on both sides. Some horses were out grazing, and two saddled horses were waiting for them. She went inside and exchanged her sneakers against her personal pair of boots, offering a pair to Hans. They had a pair of each size from kids' size to men size.

Hans took a pair for him and slipped then on, too, walking outside. Eliza grinned. Boots on men were definitely a thing she liked, and she wasn't going to stop staring.

"Your Royal Highness," a male voice said, coming out of a horse stall.

"Lord Tomlin," she said, recognizing him. "What are you doing here?"

He chuckled. "I came to see if Lady was okay."

"Wait. Lady? You brought your horse?" she chuckled.

"Yeah! Well, I didn't at first. But when I saw how many of the Selected took their pets with them, I had her shipped in as soon as possible. She just came in this morning."

"Oh wow, that was fast," she said. "I'll definitely come and see her. But not right now, I'm afraid."

"Of course," he said. "You have a date. I wouldn't have come here had I known you were coming here with Christian."

"Hans."

"Hans. Whatever." He chuckled. "Have a nice afternoon."

"Thanks, you too." She smiled and headed outside where Hans was waiting for her in his shiny boots. She smirked and walked up to her grey dappled mare. She buckled her velvet riding helmet under her chin and climbed on Luna. Hans followed suit, and both walked away, leaving poor Mr. Muller all alone. At least it would give him a break for a while. And Eliza did not want a third wheel on her first Selection date. He knew a little English, so they would try to understand each other and not make things too awkward.

They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the summer Los Angeles sun and breathing in some real fresh air. Eliza's horse was just a little ahead of Hans's, so he had a clear vision of her back and her red braid falling in her back. He urged his horse to go a bit faster, until he was next to her.

"What name my horse?" he asked out of the blue, which started Eliza.

"Uhm," she trailed off and looked at his brown stallion. "Apple Pie, I think." She chuckled. "Millie used to give him tons of apples and so we named him that."

"I know what apple is. What is Pie?"

"Oh, it's some kind of tart? A cake?"

He smiled. "Cake I know." They chuckled. This conversation was really going to be hard. "Your horse?" he asked.

"Luna. She has a big white spot on her forehead" – she showed on herself where the forehead was – "and it looks like a moon."

"Moon?"

"I have no idea how to say that in German," she mumbled. "The sky at night, there are stars," she paused, and he nodded, understanding so far, "and the moon. Big white circle?"

"Oh!" he said, understanding. "Der Mond, in German."

"Mond," she repeated. "That's fair. You learn English, and I learn German."

Hans chuckled, and they ended up asking each other words either in German or in English. Not so bad for a first date, Eliza thought. At least I get to learn a new language.

He even taught her how to say the whole sentence 'We are horse-riding and having fun', which was 'Wir reiten und haben Spass'. Eliza tried to memorize it and Hans was warming up to her. At least she was trying and not dismissing him because he didn't speak English very well. There were lots of words he didn't know, but couldn't really ask her, either. Like how do you say beautiful? Or red hair? Or I'm really enjoying this date in English? He decided he would ask Mr. Muller for a little glossary for their next date. This one was so quick, he hadn't had time to really prepare. And he'll organize it, too, next time.

They came upon a vast meadow, a place Eliza loved and which was still on the Palace compound, and Eliza suggested they pushed their horses to a trot, and then a galop. It felt good to almost fly and feel freer than she had been in the past weeks!

When they slowed the horses down, Eliza's cheeks were flushed from the speed and something else Hans couldn't quite put his finger on. After a moment, he realized it was happiness. And to see the Princess happy in his presence was something he really wasn't expecting. A warm feeling bloomed in the pit of his stomach, and he realized he hadn't seen true happiness on someone in a long time.

She looked at him and blushed even more when she noticed him already staring. "That was fun, right?" she said trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes," he said, a smile cracking up.

She checked the time on her phone and noticed it was soon time to get home. She laughed.

"What? What is funny?" he asked.

"I just had the craziest idea," she said and brought Luna next to Apple Pie. "Selfie?"

Hans snorted. Nobody had asked him to take a selfie in years. But why not? "Okay," he said shrugging, and unable to wash off the grin from his face. It felt so good, surprisingly.

They leaned towards each other and Eliza snapped a few pictures of them. One smiling, one making funny faces, and one with their horses. She wanted to make a photo album of the Selection so she could look back on it. Just like her Grandmother had done.

And also as a reminder never to let her own children go through such a thing. They would have a normal Selection, that was for sure.

They made sure the pictures were okay enough and headed home in a companionable silence. From time to time, Hans would ask her how to say this or that word, and she would answer.

Two stable men came out of the wooden building when they saw them coming and took their horses. Mr. Muller was there as well, waiting.

"I usually take the time to brush Luna after riding her," she explained. "But today is a bit late. We need to head back home."

Mr. Muller started to translate when Hans told him he had gotten most of what she had said, already. "I didn't see it was this late," he said, getting better and better in English.

"Neither did I," Eliza replied. She honestly didn't think this date would take all afternoon. She only had an hour to prepare before dinner. They walked back to the Palace in silence. "Thank you, Hans, for this lovely afternoon," she said.

Hans took her hand in his and kissed it. "My pleasure," he said.

Then Eliza excused herself and headed directly to her room. She fell on her bed just as her phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and read the message.

Grandma: How was your date? I saw you walk back to the Palace with him.

Eliza: Fun! I learned some German, too. And we took a selfie.

She sent Andromeda the selfie where they made a smile – in case she made a wrong manipulation of her phone and sent it to someone else. It had happened before. Ah, grandmothers and their phones.

Grandma: Nice! Can't wait to hear all about it, dear.

There was a particular knock on the door, and Samantha came in. "Good afternoon," she said. "I'll prepare your bath."

"Thanks," Eliza said, rolling on her belly and going through her phone. She went on the Illéan Feed and noticed a lot of mixed comments on a picture of her with a glass of Champagne and talking to Cian, the Irish Prince, at the Ball the previous night. How did that get out? It was supposed to be exclusively shown only on the Report. She went through the article. Must have been a guest. She sighed. She would have to check this out with Ruby.

And then she thought of the interview and facepalmed. How ridiculous! She hoped they would edit all the tipsy and drunk parts out. Because the King would never let that pass.

"The bath is ready, miss," Samantha said.

"Great, thanks." She headed to the bathroom, took off her riding clothes and slipped in the rose-scented warm water. Back in Waverly, she never took baths. One, because they only had a shower, and two, because she wouldn't have had the time, anyway. But this was actually something she had missed, without realizing it.

-x-x-x-

Duke Henryk, from Poland. Room 209, Illéan Palace.

Henryk stood in front of the mirror, trying to comb his unruly hair, but to no avail. His dark blond curls just wanted to do their own thing, that evening. He shrugged and decided to wear something that would take all of the attention, so no one would notice his hair. He chose a coal grey suit with a colored shirt – yellow – and a tie with some crazy Art Deco graphics on it. People wouldn't see that he was having a bad hair day.

He checked the time and decided that it was time to go. No use being late for the first official dinner with the Royal family, right? He closed a button on his suit and headed out the door. His two neighbors from room 207 and 211 came out at the same time, Alexander and Rafe respectively, and they nodded at each other. They walked down the steps and waited with the others outside the Dining room, as instructed by that bullet journal guy. What was his name again? Ah, yes. Henri. Just like him.

A few minutes later, the butler invited them to go in and find their seats around the table. They were seated with little name tags above the plates. Great, Henryk thought. We couldn't even choose where we sat. He found his place and took a seat. He was in between Rafe and Alexander, so they were probably seated by room order.

They waited.

When the butler announced the Royal family a few moments later, the Selected all stood as one, welcoming them. They sat at the table on the small stage, so they could have an eye on the boys, Henryk noticed. He also noticed that Eliza was not wearing the short shorts from earlier that day, but rather a navy-blue sleeve dress with a very complicated hairdo that must have taken ages to do. He ran a hand in his own curls, thankful he could just let them be if he wanted.

Once the first plates had been served, small talk and gossip emerged all around the table. Henryk kept his ears opened for anything interesting that might come up. And the German guy was only two seats away, so maybe he could hear him.

"How was your date?" Rafe asked Hans.

Hans nodded and smiled. "Gut. We did horse, uh," he trailed off, not remembering the word.

"Pferde-Reiten?" Henryk asked. The little German he knew came out easily.

"Ja," Hans said, grateful for a German-speaker among the boys.

"Horse-riding," Henryk translated.

"Oh," Rafe said. Then he lowered his voice: "And how does the princess look in tight riding pants?" he smirked.

The boys around the little group chuckled and leaned in to hear the answer. But Hans only understood part of the question, so he looked at his fork. But since Henryk wanted to know the answer as well, he translated the question in German. Hans' cheeks became pink in an instant, contrasting with his black outfit.

"I did not see," he said.

"Oh, come on," Rafe said, making his mouth pop. "You can't miss a girl-" someone kicked him under the table and shushed him. He wasn't sure who it was. "You can't miss a girl," he repeated in a whisper, "in tight pants."

Henryk chuckled. "Then you should ask her to go horse-riding, too."

"Nah," Rafe said. "I'm not cut out for that."

"Why?" Henryk said. "You don't look good in tight pants?"

The boys burst out laughing, which made the royal family look up.

"May we know what you're laughing about?" Andromeda asked. "So we may laugh with you, too."

The boys all stopped laughing at once. If the Illéan Royal family knew that they were talking about Eliza in tight pants, the King would start a war with the whole world.

"Nothing important," Tomlin said. He had followed the whole conversation from a few seats away. "They're just making fun of Rafe, Your Majesty."

Andromeda smirked. "And may we know what, about Rafe, was so funny?"

"It's inappropriate, I'm afraid." Tomlin said, trying not to laugh himself.

"Too bad," Andromeda said. "I haven't had a good laugh in ages."

Henryk noticed Eliza trying hard not to laugh. Clearly, she was very fond of her grandmother.

The rest of the dinner went on without any other incident. The boys tried to keep to small talk and not burst into laughter again. They would pick up where they left off in the Men's Parlor.

When dinner was over, the boys trickled out of the room and headed to various places. Some back to their rooms because either they were still jetlagged and needed to sleep or because they were antisocial at the moment; others went to the Men's Parlor, or outside for some fresh air. Henryk stayed behind a little, waiting to see what the Illéan Royal family would do. Princess Emilia headed upstairs, while Eliza went outside. She thought no one saw her and went to the gardens. Henryk watched her from the window and followed her with his gaze until she stopped. He squinted and noticed she stopped just in front of the small lake. She didn't move.

He followed his instincts and walked the same path she had. Only he walked on the grass and not the gravel path, so she didn't hear him coming.

"Everything alright, Highness?" he said in the silent night.

Eliza jumped and turned around. "Henryk," she blurted out. "I mean Duke Henryk".

"Henryk is fine," he said, coming next to her, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Nice lake."

Eliza chuckled. "Yeah. I used to come to swim here all the time when I was a kid."

"You don't anymore?"

"No. I haven't in years, being away all the time."

"Right. I forgot you weren't in the spotlight anymore. Did you like it?"

"What? Being out of the spotlight?"

"Yeah, all of it. College?"

"I loved it." She paused, thinking of her past five years, how she could do whatever she wanted. As long as Linus didn't drag her home because she was drunk. She smiled, thinking of all of it. "They probably were the best years of my life, to be honest."

"I can imagine that." He paused, breathing in some fresh night air.

"You studied, too, right?" she asked, rummaging through the files in her mind.

"Yes. Law." He chuckled. "And I'm going to be the best lawyer in my country, one day." He proudly lifted his chin and smiled smugly.

"I don't doubt it one second," she replied, smiling. "Unless you end up staying here."

"Yeah," he said. "But I wouldn't mind it either."

There was a light breeze and Eliza shivered. She hugged herself, trying to keep warm. But she didn't want to go back inside just yet. The fresh air did good to her nerves.

Henryk took off his suit jacket and placed it on the Princess' shoulders.

"Oh, thank you," Eliza said, surprised. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Then expect it from me, next time, and maybe more." He grinned at her and they stared at the shining lake a few more minutes after heading back to the Palace. Eliza cursed out loud her high heels in the gravel and almost twisted her ankle. Henryk caught her just in time.

"Maybe you should walk in the grass?" he suggested. Eliza took his advice and continued in the wet grass. Millie wouldn't be happy to see the shoes wet.

-x-x-x-

Eliza walked up the steps and gave an enormous yawn. She was exhausted!

"You look tired," a familiar voice said.

She looked up. "Oh, hey, Linus." She smiled and held the jacket tighter around her shoulders.

"I'm not sure that's yours, is it?" Linus asked trying not to laugh. He pointed at the suit jacket on her shoulders.

"Oh, no, you're right. I totally forgot to give it back." She chuckled nervously and took it off. "I should go give it back, though."

"Nah, let me do it," Linus said, offering to take the charcoal grey suit jacket. "Who's is it?"

"Henryk. The Polish guy. I don't remember his room number, though," she replied, handing him the garment.

"I'll find out." He paused. "So, how was your day? I don't see you as much, now."

"Fine, I guess." It was awkward to talk to Linus about her dates or time spent with the boys. She missed him, she realized. "I think I just need to get used to all this." She sighed and yawned again. "But I should go to bed. Tomorrow's another long day, with a date and the Report. But coffee soon?"

"I'd like that," he said. "Good night, Liz," he said softly, leaning in and placing a light kiss on her cheek.

She blushed beet red and hurried in her room. She was not expecting that! In all the years they had spent together in Waverly, he had never done that. She fell on her bed and touched her burning cheek.

After a moment of dazed silence, she kicked her shoes off and rang for Samantha who arrived three minutes later. Eliza didn't have the strength to do anything herself, right now. And she was taking on bad habits again. For five years she had done everything by herself. But then again, she didn't wear fancy dresses and up-dos every day. Samantha helped her with the dress and took out every single bobby pin from the complicated bun. She stopped counting after thirty-four, and just let Sam's expert fingers finish the job in her unruly hair.

Once she was ready, she brushed her teeth and slipped under the covers. There was nothing better than some clean, crisp, cold covers to fall asleep in. She closed her eyes and sleep got ahold of her right away. It had been a tiring day, really.

Heyyyy! so here's the first date you've all been waiting for! ;) Hope you enjoyed it.

Some of you already know or saw that I started a "TWIW Companion" story (and the Pinterest board called likewise), and I'm going to post some other POVs there as the story goes. There are already a Salty Millie and an Andromeda POV. And I know some of you are also writing one-Shots for this! Which is so awesome! I can't wait to read them and share them!

So if you want to write a CANON one-shot (or more!) of your Character's POV (either a prequel or a sidequel), feel free to do so! Send it to me through PM, and I'll post it there, giving you all the credit. I know some of you prefer to post your one-shots on your account, which I can understand, but I think it would be more practical for everyone if everything is in the same place.

Also (sorry, there's a lot of info, today!), as you may have noticed on the previous chapter, the guys will be able to choose if they want to organize the first date or not and if it's an afternoon or evening date. If you want to change your "First date idea", let me know! ;)

I think that's all for today. Pfiew! See you soon!