Prince Ezra
Cloud and Thea luckily left the topic alone when I returned back to my seat once the pilot had let us know we were ready for takeoff. They most probably let it go because they could smell the gin and whiskey off my breath.
My words always came out far too honest and harsh when I had alcohol in my system and we all knew I never made my best decisions when I was drunk. That was what got me into this mess in the first place. One too many shots of alcohol at a strangers house and next thing I knew I was running for minister.
As crazy as it sounds, it was one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life.
Everyone kept themselves busy with work and I was glad that the flight to Kommos was not long.
When the jet flew over the crystal blue Mediterranean waters I had done a great job visiting not too often in the past six years, a part of me felt strangely at peace. The forest landscape, shimmering crystal like city of Talos and the fresh smell of the sea never stopped to take my breath away from me just like the first time I had seen it.
It was weird now. That all my life I had known grey skies, rain and pebble beaches, then suddenly to find out this was home. It always felt like a part of my soul had snapped in place. That this was the place I had been searching for.
A part of me I didn't even know I was.
The moment the jet landed on the tarmac of the family's private airport, my entire body felt like it was flooded with memories.
Ones I would never forget.
"Will you be staying at the Palace?" Cloud smiled as we descended the stairs of the jet.
"He has no choice," Thea smiled, "we were going to visit his mother first."
"No worries," Cloud beamed. "I'll see you for dinner then."
"Yes of course," I nodded. Thea and I both bowed as Cloud entered his white Rolls Royce and drove off. Despite all of our protests that he should have his own driver, he had forced to drive himself where he could with security accompanying him of course. He insisted it was the only thing that made him feel normal.
It was a battle to make sure that he had a proper car as well. Not the 1980s, red Mini Cooper he had found on the internet and had it delivered to the Palace. I nearly got a stroke when I saw it and it took a lot of pleading for him to agree to drive anything else.
"Ready?" Thea raised her eyebrow to me as she walked over to the black Range Rover Sport reserved for us.
"Yeah," I nodded, letting the tension roll off my shoulders. One of the royal guards handed me the key and I climbed into the driver's side.
"Remember, you just press the button. You don't need to put a key in," she teased.
I rolled my eyes, "just because you taught me how to drive, doesn't mean I'm completely useless."
"Says the man who gets confused between reverse and neutral," she laughed as I started the engine and waited for security to drive out first.
"It was one time," I mumbled as I followed the convoy. "Did Ma say she'll be waiting for us?"
She nodded, "of course. She flew in specially for you and this week."
"Did Tarek also come?" I groaned.
"He's pretty much stuck to her. You should adore that you have such a wonderful step father," she smiled. "He gifted me a handbag dipped in gold the other day. Your mom hit the jackpot.
"When she said she had met someone, I didn't expect it to be a Shiekh Prince," I grumbled, "who gets married in their sixties?"
"They do," she argued, "it's beautiful. It shows that no matter your age you can find love."
I pressed my lips together and kept quiet. The day Ma had introduced me to Tarek, I thought my brain was going to stop functioning. I had truthfully believed that after everything she had been through, after all the warnings she had issued me to stay away from tangling myself in a royal family she would follow her own rules.
Then she got swept away by a green eyed Sheikh with far too much money for his own good.
Thea was typing away on her phone whilst we drove through the city. I happily welcomed the few moments of silence as we drove through the streets. My mind was all over the place. Pulled between wanting to be happy and partially feeling the gnawing feeling of doubt creep in.
I should have been in Turkey now. Dealing with more important matters than spending the week here. Everyone tortured themselves with wanting to remember whilst I seemed to find solitude in moving on.
Before my thoughts could turn to darker thoughts we arrived at the grand gate of Tarek's estate that he had bought for Ma when he had proposed to her.
The land felt like it stretched on forever and once belonged to the royal family before it was sold off. It felt like an extension of the palace when you saw it.
The moment we parked in front of the mansion Ma was there with a happy smile as she wore a turquoise kaftan. Something new she had also recently become obsessed with.
Her smile made me smile and I found calm in how happy she had been these past few years. The years of worry and pain washed away from her face as her honey eyes shone brightly as she looked at us. She looked younger in the past years and even though I had a long list of reasons on why I found Tarek annoying, I could never hate him for making her so happy.
"Look at you!" She quickly climbed down the stairs and hurled herself into my arms the moment I stepped out of the car. "My handsome little Prince!"