Chapter 11

Eliza knew she had to select another name for the second official date, so she decided to put on a more adequate outfit than the previous day. Maybe something less short? She decided on a pair of Capri loose grey pants, her ever-present white sneakers, and a black and white striped t-shirt. And to think of it, she had lots of striped t-shirts in her closet.

Once she was ready, Samantha gave her her daily schedule, given by Henri. First, breakfast with everyone. Second, pick a name for the second date. Third, join her father for the daily meeting with the advisors. Then, lunch, date, and Report. She sighed.

And she needed to go grab a coffee with Linus, at some point. Her cheeks heated quickly at the memory of his kiss the previous night. She didn't know what to think of it. On one hand, it felt so natural and normal, but on the other, it was awkward. She was having a Selection, for Christ sake!

She folded the paper, stuffed it in her pocket and walked out of her room.

"Hey, Millie!" she called after her sister who was just coming out of her room, too.

Millie broke into a big smile. "Eliza." She joined her sister and both girls hugged.

"We really need to catch up on some sister talk," Eliza said.

"Sure!" Millie replied. "I'd love to!"

Eliza didn't catch the eyeroll her sister did as she stepped down the steps. Oblivious to her sister's thoughts Eliza chatted as they headed to the dining room where a large buffet of breakfast was laid out for them. Eliza headed directly to the cinnamon roll and fruit salad section and filled a plate.

"I didn't know you were the cinnamon roll type," someone said next to her.

Eliza chuckled and looked up at the guy next to her – Prince Latreall, from Spain – and then at his plate.

"Well, I didn't know you were the waffle and whipped cream type," she replied without missing a beat.

"Oh, yeah, I am," he said putting on even more whipped cream. "With lots of chocolate toppings, too." He laughed. "You know who looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you?" he whispered in conspiracy, looking at the Royal table.

"No? my mom?"

"Yeah," he said, slowly, "but I wasn't thinking of her. Your sister, though."

"Are you kidding? Millie looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll," she said, defending her sister.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Latreall said. "But the person who looks like she could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll is your grandmother."

"Oh, yes, definitely!" she said, laughing.

Latreall joined in the laughter and they went to their respective seats. Eliza at the head table on the small stage, and Latreall among the other Selected. At breakfast and lunch, they could sit wherever they wanted with whomever they wanted. Eliza noticed she was the only one at her table in a completely casual outfit, with sneakers. The other women were wearing heels – of course – and suits or dresses. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was not a business trip they were on. This was everyday life. She also noticed some of the boys were in very casual outfits like her, and others in suits. She didn't mind, as long as everyone was comfortable.

After breakfast, she followed the guys in the Men's Parlor. "Good morning, everyone," she said, a little less nervous than the previous day, because she didn't have dozens of pairs of eyes fixated on her legs, this time. "Before you start your morning with Henri, I'm going to select a name for this afternoon's date. I'm afraid you won't have a choice on the timing of this one…" she trailed off as Henri gave her the box. She slid her hand in the small opening at the top and went blindly through the papers. She took one out and read it out loud:

"Alexander Paul Aloupi." The Greek guy. She looked around the room to find him and he raised his hand when she couldn't find him in the sea of young men in front of her. "Ah, there." And she noticed there wasn't any translator next to him. Good. "Would you like to organize the date? Or would you rather it be me?" she asked.

"I can do it," he said in perfect English with a tiny accent.

"Excellent." She put the paper away in a bowl of already-used-names. "Let me know when and where to meet you. But keep in mind that we need to be back by five o'clock to get ready for the Report at six. But Henri's going to go through that with you guys." She smiled and walked out of the room without a glance over her shoulder. She didn't want to see who was watching and who was ignoring her.

She sighed and took out her phone to check the time. Good. I have thirty minutes before meeting with dad, she thought. She texted Linus.

Eliza: Coffee, now? I have 30 min.

But her finger froze above the SEND button. If she did send it, she would have to go over what happened the previous night. And she needed a bit more time to process that. Instead, she sent the message to Millie.

Millie: Not now.

Millie: I have a meeting for the next School I'm working on.

Millie: Sorry.

Oh, well. That was a good excuse. Even if the messages were a bit cold. But she was busy. Eliza sighed. So she ended up sending the message to Linus, after all.

Linus: Sure. Where?

Eliza: Kitchen Patio?

Linus: Okay.

Eliza headed to the kitchens. Everyone was busy, already working on the next meal. She discreetly asked one of the Chef's assistant for two coffees – she knew what kind Linus liked, thanks to all the times they had ordered coffee together in Waverly – and waited for him out the patio door. The kitchen staff had a small patio with a few wrought iron chairs and tables, and with a wall covered in blackberries and raspberries. While waiting for her friend, she gathered some berries and put them on the table. He arrived just then, a grin on his face.

"Hey," he said. "I'm glad we're already doing this coffee thing." He closed the kitchen door, so it was just the two of them, with no one to bother them.

"Me too," she replied, forgetting how flustered she had been just moments ago when she thought about his kiss. She sat across from him. "I got you a black one," she said, pushing the cup towards him.

"Thanks." He chuckled. "So…"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How do you know Russian?" she blurted out instead of asking him about the kiss, which she had intended to do in the first place.

A shadow passed on his face but was quickly gone. "Because I lived in Mongolia for the first seventeen years of my life."

Eliza's eyebrows went to her hairline. "What? How is that possible?"

"I was born there, from two Illéan parents." He paused, but Eliza didn't say anything. The least she could do was listen to his story when she had never asked before. "They were – are still – Twos, and were trained by the CIA. They met there, during training. They got married and then were sent undercover in Mongolia to gather information on New Asia, Russia, and Mongolia. There was talk about the New Asian Emperor at the time that he wanted to make New Asia a superpower. Which Illéa couldn't afford, so they needed intel. Mongolia was in the middle, a good strategic point." He paused, turning his cup of coffee, but not drinking any.

"Then my mom got pregnant, and I was born. For years, I had no idea what my parents were really doing, you know? I just thought we were expatriates from Illéa, wanting to live in another country. As I grew up, my parents made me take martial arts lessons, and my dad taught me everything he knew about knife throwing and firearms and whatnot. I learned Russian and Japanese in school, as well as Mongolian, and we spoke English at home.

"While we were there, I was maybe five or six, the Emperor died in an accident and his two sons took on the throne: one as Emperor, the other as Regent. That's why I listened on that conversation the other night. I had some personal interest in it, too.

"When I was seventeen, my father was followed by someone who wanted to kill him. he was just around the house, and I saw the man behind him. He was about to kill my father, so I stepped in and I-" he took a shaky breath and balled his fist on the table. "I killed that man with a knife I threw that stabbed him in the face. My father's cover was blown, and we had to come back to Illéa, practically as fugitives." He looked away, not meeting her eyes.

"What happened then?" she asked softly.

"When I turned eighteen, I enlisted in the Military, here in Illéa. I got promoted several times, but I wanted to do something more personal, not in the middle of a group of soldiers. So I went for bodyguard training. And here I am. You were my second assignment."

Eliza smiled. "I'm glad you told me that," she said.

"But now you're gonna hate me. I'm a murderer," he said barely above a whisper. And Eliza realized that what would hurt him the most was not being a murderer. It was for her to hate him. But she could never do that. She trusted him with her life and soul.

"I can never hate you, Linus," she said, taking his balled fist in her hand. "There's no place for hate in my heart for you."

He tried a smile, but it didn't turn out really well. It was the first time he talked about his past so openly, and he felt much lighter. Something that he hadn't felt in years.

Eliza's phone buzzed in her pocket and she jumped. Crap. She was probably late to the meeting. With her free hand, she took out her phone. And sure enough:

Dad: You were expected 5 min ago. Hurry.

Eliza: Sorry. Coming.

She quickly typed with one hand. "I'm sorry, I have to go, dad is waiting." She let go of his hand and both felt a coldness creep into their empty fingers.

He nodded. "Of course. I'll see you later."

Eliza left, her coffee untouched, and headed to the meeting room, bracing herself for a lecture in front of everyone.

-x-x-x-

Men's Parlor, 11:30 am.

The "lesson" was over, and the boys now had some free time on their hands before lunch. But Alexander had other things on his mind. He had a date to plan, and he didn't have much time left, especially since he wanted to start the date before lunch. He hadn't really paid any attention to what Henri was telling them – something to do with Illéan History – and he took notes for his date instead. He would ask someone for the history notes later.

"So, what are you planning?" Raphael asked, coming over, watching over Xander's shoulder at what he was writing down.

Alexander shrugged. "Taking her out for lunch is the first step. But I need to make a few calls to organize the rest." He frowned thinking. "Do you know the name of her bodyguard?"

"Uh, no. But some of the guys were talking about him yesterday. Maybe Rafe knows? He wanted to ask around."

"Thanks." Xander stood and joined the loud group of guys talking with Rafe. "Hey, do you guys know what's Eliza's bodyguard's name is?"

"Why?" Rafe said.

Xander raised an eyebrow. "None of your business. Do you know his name or not?"

"Maybe. But I'm not telling you unless you tell me why you need his name."

"Forget it," Xander said and Rafe sniggered with the others. He headed outside and looked for someone who would know. He found a maid and politely asked her.

"Mr. Linus Reagan, sir. Do you need to speak to him?" she asked.

"Yes. Do you know where he is?"

"Try the back door to the gardens, Your Highness. He's often smoking there when the Princess is in a meeting."

"Thank you, miss."

The maid curtsied and walked away as Xander headed for the garden door. And sure enough, the guy was there, smoking a cigarette.

"Mr. Reagan?" he called out.

Linus looked up.

"Yeah?" He recognized one of the boys. "Your Highness?" he said, correcting himself.

"I uh- I've been picked for this afternoon's date, and I wanted to go over some things with you, since you're her security detail, and all."

"Oh, uhm. Sure. Tell me." Linus braced himself. Helping the guys date the love of his life was going to be torture. But he didn't have a choice. They were Princes and Nobles: he couldn't really say no to them.

So Xander went over his idea with Linus, asking him where he could find this and that, and if he could actually go through with his idea. Linus told him he could, but that he needed first to get the green from the King to go out of the Palace compound. He said he would take care of it while Xander organized the rest. He gave him some phone numbers to get his idea ready.

Just before lunch was announced, he sent a small note to Eliza, thanks to a maid. All he needed to do, know, was waiting for her. Everything else was ready, and the King had given his consent for them to leave, on the one condition that Ruby and a cameraman would be following them, along with Linus. Xander wasn't really happy about it, but couldn't refuse that either. So he accepted.

-x-x-x-

Main Hall, 12:00.

As instructed, Eliza arrived in a summer dress, her bathing suit straps showing around her neck. It was a knee-length navy blue dress with some low heel sandals. Xander smiled.

"You look lovely, Elisabeth."

She chuckled. "Thanks. And thanks for letting me wear something comfortable. Also, please call me Eliza."

"Will do, but then call me Xander. There's another Aleksander in this Selection. He's Alek."

"Right. I wondered how I was going to differentiate you two." They chuckled.

"Shall we go?" he said.

Eliza nodded. She also noticed his comfortable outfit: a pair of short that looked like swim trunks, and a plain t-shirt. "Where are we going?" she asked as they stepped outside, where a camera was pointed at her, with Ruby and Linus – both in casual outfits – on the side. Great, she thought. We don't only have a third wheel but the whole freaking train. She kept the smile on her face and ignored them as best she could.

Xander and Eliza walked to the Hangar where all the cars and vehicles were stationed. Linus was going to be the chauffeur on this date, and Ruby and the other camera guy would be following in another car, smaller and more discreet. Xander and Eliza climbed at the back, and Linus turned on the engines. They drove in an awkward silence to the center of Los Angeles and then to the seaside, up north. Linus stopped the car near a small rocky cove.

Xander and Eliza stepped out, and the Princess took in a deep breath of the salty air. "I love this smell so much," she said.

"Yeah, me too," Xander replied. "Back in Greece, this smell is practically everywhere. It's a bit different though. Much more limestone-y."

He popped open the trunk of the car and took out a large bag. While they walked down the stone path to the small beach at the bottom of the cove, Linus drove away. Eliza wondered where he was going, but didn't linger on it much longer. She noticed Ruby and her sidekick stay at the top. They were giving them some privacy, which was very welcome.

Upon arriving on the sand, Eliza immediately took off her shoes and sunk her toes in the warm sand. She couldn't remember the last time she had come to this little cove, but it had been at least six or seven years. Xander took out a large blue and white checkered blanket and spread it out on the sand. Eliza watched as he took out item after item of picnic from the bag. Sandwiches, fruit, veggies, bottles, glasses, …

"Are you hungry?" he asked, sitting down.

"I am now," she said, looking at the food and sitting down on the blanket. "It's really great to be out. I don't know how much longer I could have spent cooped up in that Palace."

Xander chuckled. "Same. I'm an outdoors' Prince. So I figured why not get the hell out?"

"Very wise idea."

"Sorry about the Camera and all. Your father insisted on it. They can keep an eye on your dates in the Palace and around it, but not outside."

Eliza shrugged. "I don't mind. If they stay up there, I think I can forget about them!" They laughed and started on the sandwiches. They chatted lightly about the outside world, and she asked him lots of questions on Greece.

Once they were finished, Eliza noticed Linus coming down the path with a huge gray plastic box. She frowned, half confused, half curious.

Xander grinned. "Now this is the good part," he said. "The picnic was just so we could be out earlier, so we'd have more time."

They waited for Linus to bring the box, and when Xander opened it, Eliza gasped. In it was an assortment of wetsuits and snorkeling gear.

"You're serious?" Eliza said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yep! I thought I could share with you one of my favorite things." He took out a short sleeve and shorts wetsuit and handed to Eliza. "Here, wear this over your bathing suit."

Eliza chuckled and obeyed. Xander politely turned his back to change, too, and Eliza took off her dress. She noticed Linus watching, but he quickly looked away when their gazes met. She slipped on the grey wetsuit and Xander helped her with the zipper in the back, and she helped him with his.

"Where on earth did you find all this gear? We certainly don't have that at the Palace."

"I rented it. Your guy went to get it while we were eating."

"Oh." She chuckled and took out a snorkeling mask and snorkel from the box. They put on some flippers too, and they laughed at each other's bizarre outfits.

"It'll be better to wear the mask over wet hair and skin," he said, heading for the water. "Come on!"

Eliza followed him, having trouble walking with the flippers, and was surprised to see that the water didn't seem that cold, with the wetsuits. He showed her how to put the mask and how to breathe through the mouth. He made sure to show her how not to panic underwater, and how to spit out water that would come into the snorkel, and not to choke on it.

"Okay," he said, his voice different because of his nose clogged by the mask. "You're ready?"

Eliza nodded. She put the snorkel in her mouth and followed Xander in the water. They stayed at the surface for some time, and Eliza focused on breathing through her mouth. She was scared of putting the snorkel in the water and choking on the salted water. But after a few moments, she relaxed. A school of colorful fish swam past them as they swam towards the open sea.

Xander took a deep breath and dived to the bottom of the ocean while Eliza watched. He came back up with a red starfish and both he and Eliza took their heads out of the water.

Eliza took out the snorkel. "Oh, my goodness! It's so pretty!"

"It is. Did you know that a starfish can grow an arm if it got torn off?"

"I thought it was a myth," she said.

"Nope, it's true. But I'm not going to try that now, though!" He dived back and put the animal back on a rock. Each time he came back up, he brought something new to show her. A dollar shell, some sea urchins, and even a huge orange and pink conch. He made sure no animal lived in it. "This one's for you. I'm not bringing it back," he said chuckling.

Eliza smiled and took the conch between her hands. After some more snorkeling and laughing and exploring new things, they headed back to the beach, their flippers propelling them faster than expected back there. They walked backward in the sand to their bags, and Ruby and the camera guy were on the beach, waiting for them.

They had filmed them in the water and now Ruby wanted to get some close-up shots of them.

"Don't mind us," she said. "We'll be in and out."

The camera filmed the flippers, the conch shell in Eliza's hands and their happy smiles with the masks on their heads.

"Oh!" Eliza said. "I almost forgot!" she rummaged through her bag for her phone. "We have to take a selfie!"

Xander chuckled. "Dressed like this?" he said. "Seriously?"

"Yes! I want some pictures to look back on later. Come on!" They took a few pictures, and Ruby even suggested to take a full picture of her and Xander with her phone, which Eliza was grateful about. After that, they headed home to get ready for the Report.

Heyyy! hope you enjoyed this fun date! :)

I wanted to include the Report into this chapter, but it was already long enough.

anyway. don't forget to send me your TWIW companions, if you want! ;) and thanks to all those who have been posting on Pinterest! and to those who only have a handful of pins your board, could you add some pins to them? like outfits, or scenery of their homes, or anything aesthetic,... just pin stuff! xD

okay. See you next chapter!