"Poor little rich prince."
I meant it sarcastically, but something flickered across his face that made me regret the words.
"You're right," he said."It's not exactly a hardship.But it does make you wonder if you're actually good at anything, or if people just tell you what you want to hear because of who you are."
The honesty caught me off guard.This was the kind of thing Peter would have said, genuine and a little vulnerable, and it made me remember why I'd started falling for him in the first place.
Then I remembered that Peter had been a lie, and the warm feeling curdled.
"Is this the part where you try to make me feel sorry for you?"I asked."Because I should warn you, my sympathy reserves are running pretty low after the whole identity deception thing."
"No.This is the part where I try to have an actual conversation with my wife instead of just exchanging hostile remarks until we run out of wine."
"We could always order more wine."
"We could.Or we could try something radical like getting to know each other."
"I thought I was getting to know you.Turns out I was getting to know a fictional character you invented for my benefit."
He winced."That's fair."
"I know it's fair.That's why I said it."
The first course arrived before he could respond, some kind of seafood soup that smelled incredible.The server placed the bowls in front of us with the kind of silent professionalism that suggested he'd been trained to be invisible.
"Thank you," I said to him, because I'd been raised to acknowledge people who did nice things for me.
He looked surprised but pleased."You're welcome, Your Highness."
After he left, Archie raised an eyebrow."You're not supposed to thank the serving staff during formal meals.It's considered distracting."
"Then it's a good thing this isn't a formal meal."I picked up my spoon."Besides, I'm never going to be the kind of princess who ignores people just because they're doing their jobs.If that's a problem, we should probably discuss it now."
"It's not a problem.It's refreshing."
"Is that code for 'charmingly inappropriate'?"
"It's code for 'I like that you have principles and you're not afraid to stick to them.'"He took a spoonful of soup."Even when those principles include being relentlessly honest about how angry you are with me."
"I prefer to think of it as keeping you informed about the state of our relationship."
"And what is the state of our relationship?Beyond hostile and suspicious, which you mentioned on the plane."
I considered the question while I ate.The soup was incredible, rich and complex with flavors I couldn't identify but definitely wanted more of.
"Undetermined," I said finally."I'm still angry about the lying.I'm still not sure I can trust you.But I'm also stuck here for six months, and spending all that time being miserable seems exhausting."
"So you're open to the possibility of not being miserable?"
"I'm open to the possibility of seeing who you actually are.The real version, not the performance."I pointed my spoon at him."But I should warn you, if I find out you're hiding anything else, I'm done.No more chances.I'll smile for the cameras and play the dutiful princess in public, but privately you'll be dead to me."
"That's fair."
"Stop saying that's fair.It makes it hard to stay angry."
"Would you prefer I argued with you?"
"I'd prefer you hadn't lied to me in the first place, but since we can't go back in time, I'll settle for honesty going forward."
