My friends and I hid in my room all Sunday, keeping out of my father's way. All I was thankful for was that he was heading to France the following Friday and then on to Germany for some meetings with the EU, some meetings that meant leaving us all behind. We spent the day watching Netflix and looking at the photos from the previous night that had cropped up on Facebook, some good and some bad. I'd even shared a photo from MTV that had been posted online of me and my squad on the red carpet. Then there was the picture of Taylor and I pouting, hands on hips, that she'd uploaded to Instagram, earning me more followers. We headed back to school late afternoon and I busied myself with homework, trying not to think about the argument I'd had with the King the night before.

A knock on the window that evening took me by surprise and Lucy grinned as she pulled back the curtain. I raised an eyebrow and her and she giggled. 'It's Zed and I think he wants you to sneak out.'

I glanced at the time; 8.30pm. It would still be dark out, but it wasn't late. What if we were caught? And my security guards might report back to my father.

Zed, we can't sneak out.

Yes we can. Just climb out the window. Lucy will cover for you, I'm sure.

'Come on, why are you just stood there?' Lucy was buzzing with excitement.

'Because my father will be furious if he finds out.' I frowned.

'But he won't find out.' She shrugged. 'Come on, a boy is at your window asking you to sneak out with him. It's romantic.' And he'd done that many times before, except she didn't know that. I glanced at the door, where my guards were stood on the other side. 'They won't come in and if they do I'll cover for you. I'll say your asleep already.' Lucy continued. 'Come on, be spontaneous, Juliet.'

'Okay.' I pulled on my warm coat over my sweater and jeans and then slipped my feet into my warm fur-lined boots. Then I hurried over to the window, pushing it open far enough to climb out. Zed smiled and glanced down to check the coast was clear. He nodded and I climbed out carefully into the tree beside Zed. He helped me done and we landed on the ground, ducking into the shade and away from the lampost lighting the pavement. 'This is completely insane.' I whispered and he turned around, shooting me an arrogant smile.

'Maybe, but isn't that what makes it more fun?' He whispered back, his breath tickling my ear and sending goosebumps across my skin. He grabbed my hand and pulled it up to his lips, kissing it gently. Then he looked around before leading the way through the darkness, away from the boarding house.

We ended up by the lake, sat on a picnic rug in the moonlight, tucked behind the trees where no one could see us. Other than the rustling of the leaves as rabbits ran over them or the ocassional hoot of an owl, it was quiet. Peaceful.

'Lucy will keep the secret, won't she?' Zed whispered, disturbing the silence.

I turned to face him and saw that worry was in his eyes; worried that my father would find out, worried what the consequences would be. 'Yes, she's very loyal.' I whispered back with a smile. 'Although if my father finds out she won't be able to lie to him. She'll be forced to tell the truth.'

'He's a savant, isn't he?'

I nodded. 'Otherwise it would make things a little easier.'

'Was he your mother's soulfinder?'

'He said that soulfinders don't exist, but I think he was lying.' I looked out at the water and sighed and Zed's fingers intertwined with mine. 'Is this going to work? Sneaking out all the time?'

'It's a little bit Romeo and Juliet, isn't it? Forbidden love.'

'It didn't work for them though, did it?' I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and Zed squeezed my fingers.

'It worked for Bella and Edward though.' He said, trying to ease the tension.

I turned to look at him, a serious look on my face. 'I was always Team Jacob.'

Zed wrinkled his nose. 'A werewolf? Really?'

'Please tell me they're not real... just a race of powerful humans with super abilities, right?'

'No werewolves and no vampires, do not fret.' He placed a gentle kiss on my nose and then rested his forehead against mine, his eyes looking deep into my soul. 'I keep thinking of you in that dress last night. Don't get me wrong, you look beautiful right now but that dress... you looked like a dream.'

'A nightmare or a good dream?' I laughed and he smiled.

'Like the most perfect dream there ever was.' He pressed his lips to mine, kissing me softly and then his hand moved to the back of my head, tangling itself in my half-updo as he kissed me more passionately, like it was the last kiss we'd ever have. Fireworks shot through my body, the tingling travelling across my bloodstream and setting off every nerve. My breath deepened and he pulled away slowly, looking at my face carefully. 'That's the New Year's kiss we should have had.' He whispered as a tingling sensation tickled my lips where he had just kissed me. 'Now I know we're keeping this secret but we're going to have to tell Lucy and Nate for this to work because we'll definitely be creeping around, sneaking in and out of windows for sure.' He sighed. 'I just wish it didn't have to be like this. I'd love to have you on my arm, showing you off to everyone.'

'I'm not a possession.' I told him, my eyebrows raised.

'I know but I'd love to be able to shout from the rooftop that you're my girlfriend.' His hand caressed my cheek and I blushed. 'Are you going back to the palace this weekend?'

'I have to, that's my father's new ruling since the shooting.' I frowned and Zed kissed my forehead where the creases were, making me relax a little. 'Although he's leaving the country this weekend so maybe I can stay here or go to my apartment in Kensington.' Hope filled my stomach. I'd have to run it past the Queen but maybe she'd let me visit my apartment. How would I sneak Zed in, though?

'It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it.' He told me and then he kissed me again.

'Well you seem a lot happier this week.' Zoe commented as we ate lunch on Wednesday . She spooned a mouthful of dumpling into her mouth as I cut the beef in my stew and tried to stop my cheeks from blushing.

'Workload has got less daunting.' I shrugged, hating that I was lying to my friend. Lucy and Nate were still the only people who knew about Zed and I and we were planning on keeping it that way.

'How do you get your assignments done so fast? I wish I had your willpower.' Tina sighed as Yves and Nelson sat down across from us. I felt disappointed that Zed was sat across the room, on another table, but his eyes would flicker across to meet mine every now and then and it was hard not to smile at him.

'I've just tried to get them out of the way so I have more time for other things.' Like sneaking out for late night picnics with Zed.

'Like watching the Vampire Diaries? You and Luce must have nearly finished that now, surely, with all your binge-watching?'

'Yeah we nearly have.' Lucy shrugged.

Zoe pointed her fork at us, threateningly. 'I can't believe you've been watching it without us. It's so damn rude.'

'Please tell me you're not any further into Reign yet?' Tina's eyes looked sad.

'No, we're waiting for you for that one.' I smiled and my stomach churned, putting me off my food. Guilt. I hated feeling guilty, but I was protecting Zed and I. The fewer people that knew, the smaller the chance of my father finding out. I closed my knife and fork on my plate, no longer feeling hungry and Tina frowned.

'Lady Clarence isn't telling you to diet again is she? Because you're a perfect size 8 and you know it'll go from your boobs before anywhere else.' My red-headed friend tutted and I folded my arms across my chest, feeling self-conscious.

'I'm just not feeling so hungry today.'

English Literature dragged on that afternoon and it was pretty ironic when our teacher announced we'd be studying Romeo and Juliet for the rest of the half-term. He'd handed out small brand new green copies of the play, telling us to read the first scene before the next lesson so that we could discuss it as a class. He'd also suggested that we make notes on it as it would help with our final assignment when we'd read the whole book. I slipped it into my bag with my notepad as the bell rang and I hurried up the hall to science, Lucy racing to keep up with me. No one was sat in their seats when we got to the lab, but instead everyone was stood at the front of the room.

'Eugh, lab partner day.' Lucy groaned as we filed into the room, joining the over-crowded cluster of classmates.

'Lab partner day?' I shot her a puzzled look but Mrs Jones cleared her throat.

'Okay, let's get this sorted nice and quickly so that you aren't uncomfortable for long.' Mrs Jones clapped her hands together and then picked up the red clipboard she often had with her, the clipboard which we all wondered about. 'I will be assigning your lab partners for up until Easter and you and your partner will be completing some homework and assignments together this term. You will need to work together or I can assure you now that you will be failing the class. Do I make myself clear?' Everyone nodded. 'Good. Now there will be no exchanging partners, even if you beg your parents to call me and they ask me. This is final and has been agreed with your Headmaster.' She started calling off the names and gradually our classmates started to find seats with their new partner in the room. Lucy sighed as she was paired up with Dylan Hawkins, a guy with thick-rimmed glasses who often had his nose buried in a book, and Savannah looked disappointed when Zed's name wasn't called out with hers. 'Zed Benedict and Sky Bright.' Mrs Jones called out and my eyebrows shot up in the air in surprise as I glanced at Zed, who had a smile playing on his lips. We didn't say anything as we found ourselves a bench near the back and sat on it as the last few pairs sat down.

Well I think this works out pretty well. Now we have an excuse to see each other. His voice said as our knees touched under the science bench. I pressed my knees together on the stool, trying not to touch as it only made the fireworks start up inside of me.

You tell that to my father. I replied, pulling my science book and textbook out of my bag.

'So this term, as we spoke about last week before your test, we are studying biology and for the next few weeks we will be focussing on Ecosystems.' Mrs Jones wrote the title of the module on the Interactive White Board and then turned to face us. 'This means we will be going on a class trip.' Cue excited whispers in the room. 'To the Living Rainforest.' Cue more excited whispers. 'We will be going next week and your parents have been informed so they can withdraw your permission from the trip should they wish to. You will spend the day working with your lab partner so I suggest you get to know them a little better before then.' She flicked onto the next slide, revealing a picture of a leopard. 'Okay can anyone tell me what a food chain always starts with?' Hands went up and she looked over at Nate, who was busy staring at Lucy. 'Nathaniel.'

'Erm... producer.' He replied, lucky not to be caught out.

'And Mr Benedict, what would the producer be in this food chain?'

'Grass.' Zed said from beside me as he doodled in his science book. The images were almost tribal symbols and I wondered what they meant.

'I'm calling the school straight away.' My father said on the phone after I had finished that evening. His voice was thunderous and was almost scary.

'Mrs Jones said that we couldn't change partners even if our parents called the school.' I replied, fiddling with a strand of hair that had fallen out of my loose bun. I stretched out on the bed, thankful to be wearing jeans after a long day of school.

'I am not happy with you working with that boy.'

'Neither am I.' I lied. 'Lots of people aren't happy with their lab partners. Lucy's really upset about working with Dylan.' That part was true, at least. Dylan was a brainiac but he'd been nasty to Lucy when they were younger and she was holding a grudge. I didn't blame her.

'Well if Mrs Jones won't change partners then I only want you working in the library together at school or under supervision here. Do I make myself clear?'

'Yes.' I replied, knowing that he couldn't make us work under supervision when I was at school. It gave us more of a reason to be sneaking off together; working on our science assignment... or not.

There was a tap on the window and I glanced up, knowing it was Zed. Lucy had gone out with Nate for dinner so who knew what time they'd be back. I opened the curtain and smiled, holding up my hand for him to wait and I signalled to my phone.

'Maybe you should come to Europe with me.' My father said, catching me off-guard and I frowned. 'It will save you getting in trouble.'

'I'm not getting in trouble and I have a charity fundraiser to plan for four weeks time, remember?' One that I'd hardly planned anything for. I needed to call the Riding Centre and sort out the arrangements with them before I could book things. 'Plus there's a school trip next week and it'll help with my first science assignment so I don't want to miss it.'

'Well next weekend your brother and your... step mother are flying out for the Benefit in Paris. I'd like you to attend. We can fly you over on the jet after school on Friday and that way you will have some time to do some shopping or sightseeing whilst you're here. Plus I'd rather you were close by so that I can keep you safe.' He spoke quickly and a few weeks ago I'd have been dying to go to Paris but now the idea had me less than enthusiastic. 'And there will be lots of suitors attending too.' Even less enthusiastic if that was possible. 'Other Royals have been dying to meet you as have some members of parliament. It would be very good exposure.' That seemed to be all I was good for.

'I'm guessing I don't have a choice exactly.' I sighed.

'I don't understand why you have become so defiant but no, you do not have a choice. I'll get Nina to sort out a dress for you and your outfits for the weekend. It's important for one to look their best, especially in the fashion capital of the world. Goodbye Sky.' And then he was gone. I groaned and opened the window latch, letting Zed climb in carefully.

He frowned when he saw my irritated facial expression. 'What's wrong?'

'I have Royal Duties next weekend.' I wrinkled my nose. 'I'm going to Paris.'

'That won't be so bad, will it?'

'Apparently there will be plenty of suitors for me.'

'I see.' He frowned and took my hands in his, pulling me towards him. He wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat through his hoodie. He rested his chin on top of my head and sighed. 'Well your suitors are going to love you.'

'Short and clumsy me? Don't be ridiculous.' I mumbled into his chest and he kissed the top of my head.

'Beautiful, talented and clever you. I'm going to have some competition.' He was quiet for a moment. 'Do you think this is part of your dad's plan to keep you away from me?'

'Quite possibly.' I moved my head to look up at him. 'It doesn't mean it will work though.' I nudged my iPod, turning it on so that my security guards couldn't hear our voices and Zed smiled down at me, a sad smile. I stood on my tiptoes and reached up, kissing him gently on the lips. He relaxed a little into the kiss and bent down, wrapping his arms tighter around my waist as he kissed me, his lips moving against mine and giving me that familiar tingling sensation. He pressed my back against the wall as he kissed me, keeping me prisoner to his kisses. Not that it was a bad thing. I reached up, tangling my hands in his hair as we kissed and his kisses became harder, more passionate, leaving me breathless.

'Oops, sorry guys.' Lucy's voice interrupted our make-out session by closing the door and I blushed as Zed pulled away from me, running a hand through his hair. 'I would have knocked,' she continued, 'but then I think Ciara and co might have been a little suspicious.'

'Yeah they would have.' I replied, awkwardly, sure that my face was the colour of a tomato or even a beetroot. Some brightly coloured fruit or vegetable anyway.

'I guess I'll be off.' Zed gave me a small smile and I knew that he was thinking the same as me; it sucked that we didn't have more time together. 'I'll see you tomorrow?'

I nodded and he kissed my forehead before ducking back out of the window. I sank into my bed with a sigh and Lucy listened as I filled her in on the Paris trip. She frowned when I had finished speaking, crossing her arms across her chest.

'Suitors? What is this, The Princess Diaries?'

'Feels like it, only worse.' I rested my head against the wall.

'Have you spoken to Sally and Simon about this business?' She asked, cocking her head to the side.

'I could do, but they don't have the same rights because he's my real dad... unfortunately they wouldn't get a say in the situation.' I grabbed one of my cushions and hugged it against myself. 'You know I hated being a princess before? Well now I hate it even more.'

And I hated it even more on Saturday as I walked about the community hall in the riding centre trying to envision a huge, fancy party taking place there. It wasn't easy to imagine. The room was cold with bland peeling wallpaper and dusty wooden flooring. The party planner and Nina scurried around behind me, noting down everything I was telling them that needed sorted, whilst Clara watched me pacing, a worried expression on her face.

'The floors need cleaning, definitely... and the walls... can we cover the walls and ceiling with some draped white cloth like they do at weddings? If we aim lights at them it'll look pretty and quite elegant won't it?'

'Absolutely.' They chorused, nodding and giving me a reassuring smile.

I looked up at the ceiling. 'And some fairylights on the ceiling would be nice.'

'I'm thinking twirling fairytale trees for center pieces? If they're tall enough they'll make the room look like a fantasy forest. It will match the theme perfectly.' The party planner suggested, showing me an image of a wedding reception on her iPad.

I nodded. 'That would work well. Nina, how are we doing for music?'

'Taylor Swift said she'd love to help you and I've got Lady Antebellum's details if you're interested. I can give them a call.' Nina replied.

Lady Antebellum. My favourite band of all time. I tried not to squeal, giving them a calm and collected smile instead. 'That could work.' The door of the hall opened and I blinked in surprise as The Queen walked in. I curtsied as did the other women in the room and she smiled in greeting. 'This is a nice surprise.' I said. Nice or a nerve-racking one. She'd planned many events over the year and I was worried I'd do something wrong or not live up to her high expectations.

'I wanted to see how you were getting on.' She looked around the room and it made me nervous.

'It needs a lot of work, your majesty.' Clara said nervously, referring to the old hall.

'Please dear, just call me Roseanna. I assume you are Clara, the owner of the centre?' She held out her hand and gave Clara a friendly smile as she shook it.

'Yes, m'aam.' She swallowed and glanced over at me.

'It's lovely to meet you.'

'And you.'

Queen Roseanna glanced over at me. 'Your dress for Paris arrived.'

'Oh, lovely.' I said, casually. 'Well I'm just about finished up here and I've got a study meeting this afternoon with my lab partner so I'll head back to the palace later.'

'Why don't we go and collect your lab partner and then we can all have lunch together at the palace?' She suggested, putting on her tan leather gloves. I shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she knew about Zed. 'I'm not planning on supervising you and Mr Benedict this afternoon, I think that's a poor choice on my husband's part, but it will be much warmer in our library then the one at your school and then I can send afternoon tea in for you.' I looked over at her in surprise and she tapped her nose, showing it would be kept between the two of us. 'Well, Sky?'

I gave her a shy smile. 'Sounds good.'

Zed was perhaps even more surprised than me when we pulled up outside the boarding house in the chaffeur-driver car. In fact, he almost looked afraid and that made my heart ache. He hesitantly climbed into the car, sitting opposite the Queen and I as our classmates stared on in disbelief, surprised they'd caught a glimpse of the Queen. Then the car drove back up the driveway as Zed fastened his seatbelt after greeting Roseanna.

'Are you alright dear? You look a little pale.' The Queen commented, giving him a concerned look that reflected his own.

'Sorry your majesty, I guess I've just been taken by surprise.' He glanced over at me before adding telepathically, I was hoping for an afternoon of having you to myself.

You do. I told him. She's told me she doesn't believe in supervising me and she thought the palace library would be comfier for us.

He looked hopeful as he glanced over at me and then back at the Queen, who was watching us both carefully, a small smile playing on her lips. Did she know?

'So Zed, it was your family who took Sky to Morzine then?' Roseanna said, breaking the awkward silence.

'Erm yes...' He stuttered. 'And I'm so sorry for what happened, I'll never forgive myself.'

'Don't be so silly.' She tutted. 'It wasn't your fault.' She gave him a reassuring smile. 'So what are you two studying in science this term then?'

'Ecosystems.' I replied, piping in.

'We're looking at food chains specifically over the next few weeks and we're going on a class trip to the Living Rainforest.' Zed added, relaxing a little.

'I've never been but it sounds exciting.' Roseanna said as we passed through Kingston-Upon-Thames, the police escort now in front of the car.

'Yeah.' Zed nodded. 'It should be pretty interesting.'

The Queen continued to make polite conversation, asking Zed and I questions as we ate lunch with her and then we were excused to the library, armed with the brand new laptop my father had bought me and some books from our school library. I sank down onto the comfy leather sofa that was my favourite and Zed sat down beside me, more relaxed than he had been but still just a little tense. The door was closed by the guard guarding it and he let out a breath I didn't realise he had been holding.

'Now that's better.' He commented, picking up a textbook. 'The vast majority of terrestrial life is powered ultimately by solar energy which is fixed by photosynthesis in autotrophs.'

'I think she's alright you know.'

'Who?'

'Queen Roseanna. She's stuck up for me a few times. I think she's alright I guess, for a stepmother or whatever she is.' My eyes met his and he gave a small smile.

'I'm glad she's not like those stepmothers in fairytales.'

'Me too, but I guess my father's the villain in this story.' I sighed and I looked down at the textbook Zed had been reading. 'Primary consumers feed on the autotrophs; secondary consumers feed on these, and so on: energy is transferred from one organism to another.'

He closed the book and pressed his lips to mine, gently. 'How about we do something other than work for a while?'

I raised my eyebrows. 'What did you have in mind?'

And he kissed me again, showing me exactly what he had in mind.

The Living Rainforest was an hour away from London along the motorway, so the journey was pleasant and I sat next to Zed, claiming that we had lab partner stuff to talk about as we held hands under the warm coat I had placed over our laps. The rainforest was housed in glass houses and was said to be home to over seven hundred species including plants, animals, birds and butterflies. It felt like stepping into another world as we walked into a glass house, the warm and damp air surrounding us and making me thankful that I'd left my coat in the cloakroom on the way in with my satchel. I tapped my pen against my notepad as I looked around in awe at the canopies and large green plants wondering how I'd felt if I ever visited the Amazon Rainforest.

'I'm going to give you half an hour to explore and then we'll meet back here and discuss some of the things you have seen that we can create food chains for.' Mrs Jones explained and almost straight away, our peers rushed off.

'Zed, baby, maybe we can sneak off together?' Savannah suggested when our teacher was out of earshot. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger whilst her partner, braniac Evee, looked bored and irritated.

'We're supposed to stay with our lab partners.' Zed replied, tucking his pencil behind his ear.

'But Mrs Jones won't know that we've snuck off. We can do a simple swap.' She purred and I raised my eyebrows. A swap? Really?

'Savannah, unlike you I'm actually taking this assignment seriously and I'd like to stop wasting time now.' Evee said, clearly not fussed about upsetting our school Queen Bee. Savannah gawped at her in response.

'Don't you dare speak to me like that.'

'Fine, then fail and I'll get the grade by myself.' She turned to walk off and Savannah looked over at Zed, who simply shrugged.

'Sorry, but Sky's my partner.' He said and she huffed before stalking off after her partner. 'She is some serious hard work.' He whistled once she was out of earshot.

'And she was your girlfriend for how long?' I raised an eyebrow as we walked along a path, passing a cute little tortoise en route.

'We weren't really ever official.' He wrinkled his nose and I raised my eyebrows. 'Sorry, too much info?'

'Yeah a little.' An awkward silence hung in the air and a bird squawked from a short distance away. Then I spotted a furry friend watching us with beady eyes from his position upside-down on a branch. 'Hey, a sloth!' I said excitedly, tilting my head to the side. 'You're pretty cute.'

'Thanks.' Zed replied cockily and I rolled my eyes.

'Believe me, this guy is way cuter.' I signalled to the sloth who really moved as slow as they said. He blinked as he watched me and I smiled as I admired his sharp claws that were holding him in place. 'What does he eat?'

'Leaves and insects I believe.' Zed replied, scribbling something onto his notepad.

'So the food chain must go leaves, insects, sloth and then...' I paused for a moment. 'Why do I have this awful feeling he's not top of the food chain?'

'I think you're right.' He chewed on the end of his pencil and the action was kind of sexy. I bit my lip as I watched him, desperately wanting to press my lips to his, but sadly my security crew were stood just a few metres away, watching us and the room carefully. Mood killers, definitely.

'Didn't we read about this at the weekend?'

'We did.' He looked thoughtful for a moment. 'Jaguars. Jaguars eat sloths and the harpy eagle too.'

I looked at the cute furry creature in front of me and frowned. 'You poor thing.' I glanced over at Zed and realised he was watching me, an intense expression on his face. 'What?'

I just really want to kiss you right now.

I swallowed, shifting my gaze. We did a lot of kissing last night. We'd snuck out to our place down by the lake again.

That doesn't mean we've done enough.

I felt my cheeks blush and I quickly scribbled the foodchain of a sloth down on my notepad, diverting my attention away from the subject of kissing.

'So Paris on Friday, huh? Are you packed?' He changed the subject formally, his gaze flickering over to where my security guards watched us, serious expressions on their faces.

'I don't need to... it would be a waste of time because Nina would just repack for me.' I wrinkled my nose at the thought of her packing all of these serious-looking clothes I'd never wear. The joys of having a personal assistant.

'Are you looking forward to it?'

He knew I wasn't. I'd hardly stopped moaning about how much I was dreading the benefit, but this was all for show. The guards were pretending not to listen, but they clearly were. 'Yeah, I guess.' I lied and Zed's eyes became sympathetic as he turned his back to my security team. I glanced at my watch. 'We'd better get back to Mrs Jones.'

Friday came around a little too quickly and I didn't even have time to say goodbye to Zed before the car picked me up to take me to the airport. I'd not even changed out of my school uniform as apparently that could wait until I was on the jet. Lucy gave me a hug and I was ushered into the car, watching Zed's sad face as it drove away and up the long driveway towards the airport.

'Hey sis.' Phillip said when I walked onto the fancy jet, joining him and Queen Roseanna. 'Now you're here the fun can begin.' I sighed and sat down without a word, looking out of the window at the runway. 'Don't most girls usually get excited about going to Paris?'

'I'm not most girls.' I had replied.

'Yeah and doesn't Mark know it.' He chuckled.

I'd changed into some smart black jeans, a cream silk blouse, a brown neck tie and a tweed blazer on the plane, picked out for me to wear with my riding boots, and I'd brushed my hair before pulling it up into a neater bun, as requested by Nina. The reason for changing was because the press had met us at the airport, taking photographs and asking questions as the three member of the royal family left the plane and got into a car together in silence, smiles plastered on our faces. And then we'd repeated the process all over again when we'd arrived at the Grand Hotel, which was just by the Eiffel Tower. I'd watched the streets of Paris flashing past, their lights lighting up the sky as the city buzzed to life behind the glass windows of the car. It was a beautiful city. The reviews, the movies... they'd all been right. It was just a shame I'd not been there under different circumstances. The hotel lobby was decorated with cream ceilings with large chandeliers on them and the polished patterned marble floors were incredibly expensive looking, making me glad my boots had been cleaned so that they were mud-free. A line of staff had greeted us with curtises or bows on arrival and it all felt terribly formal as Phillip, Roseanna and I passed them, greeting them in French with a 'bonsoir.'

Our rooms were on the top floor, suites next to my father's. His room was obvious as there was already a guard stood outside and Roseanna kissed Phillip and I on the cheek before disappearing inside, her luggage following her. Then Phillip exited to his room, his security marking that door. Mine was opened for me by Dimitri and I cautiously stepped inside as my guards did a quick sweep, checking it was safe. They nodded before leaving me to it, closing the door behind me in the foreign room in a foreign land. The floors were made of a thick blue carpet and I slipped off my boots, enjoying the warmth of it as I explored. The room was probably light in the day, with two large windows and a set of patio doors letting in the light of the city, a chandelier over my head. There were two blue armchairs next to a table, where a tea set was laid out, still hot. The bed with its luxury cream linen was king-size and despite looking comfortable, I couldn't help but wish I had Zed to curl up to on it, keeping me company. There was a full-length mirror and then a large wardrobe opposite, where my suitcase was next to, my dress bag containing my ballgown draped over it. Then there was the balcony behind the patio doors... I opened the doors and stepped outside, gasping. The Eiffel Tower was right there. Just past the breakfast table and chairs. I snapped a photo, admiring its beauty even at night, when it was lit up and sparkling like glitter. Then I sent the picture to Lucy and Zed, wishing they were here to enjoy it with me. I stepped back inside, hiding from the evening chill, and found the bathroom with its marble flooring, cream sink unit and large spa bath next to the toilet. It was all heavenly and no doubt very expensive.

It looks fabulous! What's the rest of the room like? Lucy xx

I smiled and sent her a few more pictures before lying down on my bed, sinking into the soft mattress.

I wish I could be there to hold you and kiss you right now in front of the Eiffel Tower- Z xx

I sighed, feeling sad as I looked at the empty space beside me, imagining the sound of Zed's heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed next to me. The feel of his lips on mine...

I wish you were too xx