Of Princes and Promises

by Sandhya Menon

  Today Caterina had snagged a small table for two by the window, though it wasn’t the warmest spot in the shop. There were a few other people around, mostly older, huddled into their coats and hogging tables by the rickety radiator in the corner.

  “Oh, I love it!” Mia looked around appreciatively as she took off her jacket and draped it along the back of her chair. She was wearing a plain white sweater underneath. “I haven’t had a chance to check this out yet.”

  “How long have you been in town?” Caterina poured Mia a bit of tea from the teapot and then returned it to its tea-light heater. “I hope you don’t mind that I already ordered something for us. This one’s ‘Pearish the Thought.’ It’s got a nice, subtle pear flavor.”

  Mia’s nose wrinkled with a smile. “That’s a cute name. And to answer your question, just a few months.” She sipped carefully at her tea. “Mm, this is very good. Good choice.”

  Caterina smiled, glad that Mia liked her tea. “Will you be staying a while, then?”

  “I’m not sure yet.” Mia set her cup down and traced a finger along the top edge. “That all really depends on how things go here. I might not like it enough to stay.”

  Caterina played with the crown pendant at her throat. “Or you might love it. You never know.”

  Mia shrugged. “Maybe. I’m still getting a handle on everything.” She brushed a hand through the air, as if brushing away her words. “But what I really want to hear about is RC, the man of the hour. That journalist could not stop singing his praises before you came to Evanescence the other night.”

  Joy bloomed in Caterina’s chest simply at Rahul’s mention. It was ridiculous. “Really? Well, he does seem to have that effect on people. They just… I don’t know, gravitate toward him.”

  Mia smiled a teasing half smile. “Is that what happened to you? Did he suck you in with his gravitational force?”

  Caterina looked down into her steaming tea. “Kind of. We’ve just been keeping it casual so far, but he asked me out yesterday.”

  Mia cheered and clapped her hands. The other patrons glanced their way, but she didn’t seem to notice. “That’s exciting! So you’re a couple now?”

  “It would seem that way.” Caterina shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe it. It’s just so…”

  “Why can’t you believe it?” Mia asked, cocking her head. “He’s no frog. And you’re exactly the kind of girl the dashing, handsome, rich crown prince of some small kingdom would date.”

  Caterina studied Mia, trying not to smile.

  “What?” Mia leaned forward, the steam from the tea cloaking her olive-toned face.

  “It’s just funny you used a Frog Prince analogy. That’s all.”

  Mia’s amber eyes glittered, as if she sensed gossip. “Why?”

  Caterina took a breath, running her fingernail into a groove in the table. She’d said too much. The only people who knew about Rahul/RC were Pietro and Oliver, and somehow, Caterina sensed that she could trust Mia, too. She wasn’t involved in all the social politics like Caterina’s other friends were. But old habits were hard to break, and Caterina knew she couldn’t divulge the truth about Rahul, not even to Mia. Not yet.

  “No reason.” She smiled. “I’m just happy to be with RC, that’s all. He really is the prince of my heart, as it were.”

  After the slightest pause, Mia put a hand to her heart. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. So what drew you to him? Was it just the debonair charm?”

  Caterina sipped her tea and considered the question. One of the old ladies at a nearby table laughed, her voice high-pitched and honeyed.

  “Well,” Caterina said finally. “That’s hard to explain. RC’s just… different. He doesn’t play games the way the other boys I know do, the way Alaric did. He’s forthright and honest and”—she laughed a little—“I don’t know. When I’m with him, I don’t feel the need to be anything except myself. Oh, and do you know what he did? When Alaric cheated on me last year, when I had nobody to turn to who wasn’t more interested in ‘the scoop’ than how I was feeling, RC asked me to dance. At the winter formal last year.” She felt a stinging behind her eyes and blinked them forcefully, rapidly. Her period must be on its way. That was the only explanation. “Anyway.” She stopped and took a bolstering sip of tea, feeling thrown by all she’d said. She shouldn’t have said the part about the winter formal—RC didn’t go to Rosetta Academy, and it was a specific truth that could easily be pulled at.

  But Mia didn’t seem to be interested in that. She was watching Caterina closely. “Sounds like you had no problem explaining that at all.” She paused, drumming her fingers on the table in slow motion. “It sounds to me like you’re in love.”

  If not for her rigorous etiquette classes, Caterina would’ve sputtered her tea all over the table. “Love?” she said finally, her voice just a touch too loud for the space. Gaining control over herself, she added more quietly, “Let’s not get carried away, shall we?”

  “I think you’ve already been carried away in RC’s manly arms,” Mia countered, laughing.

  And Caterina couldn’t help it; she actually pictured Rahul picking her up and swinging her around, her hair trailing behind her. Feeling her cheeks warm, she shook her head. “Stop.”

  Mia leaned back, tipping her chair. “So what does RC think about you, then? Do you suppose his feelings run as deep as yours?”

  Caterina sipped her tea to buy herself some time. “I think so.…” Biting her lip, she looked out the window on her left, watching as a biker whizzed by across the street, his face red from the cold. She looked back at Mia, who was watching her closely. “I hope so,” she amended. “I really, really hope so.”

  Mia appeared to consider this. “I’ll bet he does. You have that effect on people, don’t you? You draw them in with your charm and your beauty and your air of royalty.”

  Caterina raised her eyebrows. “My goodness. Thanks for the compliment.”

  Mia hadn’t touched her tea in some time. “Where’s RC’s family from? He said Anandgarh, right?”

  Caterina laughed a little and refilled her mug. “Are we playing twenty questions now? Why do you want to know about his family?”

  “No reason,” Mia said easily. “Just wondering is all.” She held her mug up. “A toast. To new love and new beginnings. And new friendships.”

  Caterina clinked her cup against Mia’s, her cheeks warm and her heart singing. “To new beginnings.”

  * * *

  They walked outside once they were done with their tea, both of them bundled into their coats, thick scarves covering their necks and chins. Caterina detested wearing hats, but she’d made an exception for this crystal-cold day. She led Mia down the street, each of them stopping to look in the different shops as they went.

  “This one’s an actual psychic.” Mia pressed her hands against the glass window of one shop and peered in. “But they’re closed. Blast. I would have loved to know what they saw in my future.”

  Caterina laughed as they continued to walk. “Why? Is your future in question in some way?”

  Mia tossed her a half smile. “The future is always in question. Nothing is ever set in stone. Things can change in an instant.”

  “Hmm. I’ve always felt secure about my future, but perhaps that was my upbringing.”

  “My family moved a lot, sometimes at a moment’s notice,” Mia said a little wistfully. “I suppose that’s what being a diplomat’s daughter will do for you.”

  Caterina glanced at her, glad Mia had finally revealed a bit about her family. Now she wouldn’t have to pretend to not know that her father was a diplomat. “Do you have any siblings?”

  Mia looked at her. “No. I was all alone growing up. You?”

  Caterina shook her head and stopped to look in the window of Bookingham Palace, a bookstore she knew Jaya liked to frequent. “No, it’s just me and my father. My mother died when I was very young. I have no memory of her at all.”

  “How u
nspeakably sad,” Mia said, coming to stand beside her as they looked at the travel books on display. “Growing up without a parent. It must feel like you’ve lost a limb.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Caterina countered. “I never knew my mother.” They began to walk again. “I suppose I never felt like I was missing anything. My father gave me all I needed. And I always had friends.”

  “Friends.” Mia smiled. “You know, I was going to ask you if any of your school friends would be joining us at the tea shop. Harper, perhaps?”

  A couple walking hand in hand passed them by, laughing at something.

  “No, Harper doesn’t go to Rosetta,” Caterina explained. “She goes to another private school in Aspen, one her mother attended. As for my other friends…” She thought of Heather and Ava. She had no idea what they were up to this weekend. “I suppose I’m at a point where I’m reevaluating my friendships.”

  “Really?” Mia sounded genuinely curious. “Why?”

  Caterina waved a gloved hand in the air. “I’m not sure they really understand me. Or that I understand them, if I’m being honest.” She shrugged and then glanced sideways at Mia. “What about you? Have you made friends here in Rosetta yet?”

  Mia smiled. “I think I have now.” Stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets, she turned to Caterina. “I want to thank you for being so welcoming to me. I know it can’t be easy for someone like you. You probably always have to be on the lookout.”

  Caterina nodded, allowing that. Maybe someday she’d tell Mia about the background check she’d run on her and they’d laugh. “It does get tiresome sometimes. But there was something about you that I connected with. I like to think I have a sense about people.”

  Mia smiled at her words.

  They got to the end of the street, and Caterina saw Pietro parked in the SUV. “There’s my driver. Would you like a ride home?”

  Mia tipped her head back, enjoying the sun on her face. “No, thank you. I prefer the walk.”

  “Well, thanks for coming out today. Let’s do it again soon.”

  Mia opened her eyes and grinned. “I’ll expect a full report on your date with RC then.”

  Laughing, Caterina began to walk toward her car. “You can count on it.”

  CHAPTER 15

  RAHUL

  “Apparently, a new student’s supposed to start at Rosetta in a couple of weeks,” DE was saying as Rahul rushed into the restaurant, his heart beating wildly with the knowledge of how things had changed between him and Caterina. DE stirred her Coke with a straw, looking pretty… flat. Usually, rumors of someone new would have DE all sparkly and breathless and conjecturing. But that thing with Alaric last year had diminished something vital in her. Asshole had done a number on two women Rahul cared about. “A senior.”

  Rahul slid into the restaurant booth beside Jaya and held his own news carefully in his hands, waiting for DE to finish her story.

  They were at So Sushi Me, a restaurant that Grey and Jaya loved for reasons unknown to him. In spite of the vinyl seating that appeared to have gotten into a series of fights with a herd of cats, perplexingly sticky and greasy floors, and sweeping views of a dirty parking lot, the food was actually delicious, so none of the rest of them minded too much.

  Leo and Grey and he had never fully talked about their fight. Their meals together in the dining hall were stiff and awkward, the girls carrying on most of the conversation. Was this optimal? No. But to be honest, Rahul couldn’t ask for anything else: he wasn’t willing to give up his friendship with Jaya and DE, and Caterina’s group still didn’t know, as far as he could tell, that they were going to be dating.

  “It’s weird, right?” DE continued, a tiny bit of her former curious self poking through. “I mean, we have, like, two or three months of school left. Why is he transferring now?”

  “Definitely weird,” Leo replied, folding his paper napkin into a swan. He’d taken an origami elective last semester. “And I heard he comes from an old mob family.”

  “Really?” DE asked. “Because I heard they were all spies for some elite government agency.”

  “I’m sure none of that’s true!” Jaya laughed, snuggling closer to Grey, who put a big, solid arm around her shoulders. He probably didn’t even realize he was smiling. That’s what Rahul wanted: unnoticed, casual happiness. “He’s probably just your average nice guy who has a perfectly good reason for transferring so late in the year. I think people are just bored. There’s not enough juicy news this close to graduation or something.”

  That was it. Rahul couldn’t have asked for a more perfect entrance. “What about this? I did it. I asked Caterina out.”

  The chorus of exclamations at his news was immediate and deafening.

  “Oh my God!” (Jaya.)

  “What did she say?” (Grey, in a somber tone.)

  “Are you fucking serious?” (DE, whose green eyes were bugging out of her head.)

  “Congratulations.” (Leo, who barely glanced up at him.)

  Rahul looked at Leo and Grey, feeling irritation spark. He didn’t appreciate the vibe he was getting from them.

  Things were becoming clearer to him. Now that he was pulling away from the back of the pack, now that he had his own life—an enviable life—Grey and Leo were beginning to resent him for it. By being the screwup, the one they could laugh at, the one who was always there to remind them that at least their lives weren’t as bad as his, Rahul had provided a boost to their egos. Now he was refusing to play that role anymore. And instead of being happy for him, this was their thought process: How dare he imagine something better for himself?

  But this was big news, and they weren’t going to ruin it for him. Maybe this conversation would just be between him, Jaya, and DE. He turned to the girls, putting the guys out of his mind completely. “Yes, I’m serious. I actually asked her on a date. And… she said…” He shook his head slowly, mournfully, and both their faces fell as one collective, forlorn mass of gloom. Then Rahul grinned. “She said yes!”

  “Oh my God!” Jaya clapped her hands to her mouth.

  “Holy shit, Rahul.” DE was staring at him, shaking her head back and forth. “Holy fucking shit. You tamed the beast.”

  The guys didn’t say anything, but Grey gave Jaya a smile.

  Rahul laughed and addressed the girls. “I know.” Then, his smile slipping, “But seriously, don’t call her a beast.”

  DE held up her hands as if in surrender. “Sure. I’m the last person who should be passing judgment, anyway.” Breaking eye contact, she took a sip of her Coke, her cheeks faintly flushed.

  Leaning forward, Rahul put a hand on hers and held her surprised gaze. “Hey. If you’re guilty of anything, it’s that you loved too freely and too hard. You gave your heart to someone who didn’t deserve it. Yes, you hurt Caterina in the process, but that wasn’t intentional. And I don’t think you’ll ever do it again. So you should forgive yourself.”

  DE stared at him, going completely still. He noticed in his peripheral vision that the others were having a similar reaction. “Who are you and what have you done with my friend?” DE asked finally.

  Rahul laughed, secretly pleased that RC was beginning to push his way into Rahul’s life too. He shook his head. “Same person, DE. Just learning to be a little more connected, I guess.”

  “Wow.” Jaya’s brown eyes sparkled. “That’s really good, Rahul. I can see Caterina’s been good for you.”

  At the mention of her name, Rahul breathed out and laid his head on the laminate tabletop that smelled faintly of vinegar. “Yeah, but now I have to figure out where to take her. This is really hard. I’ve been thinking for, like, twenty hours straight and I have no ideas. Nothing seems good enough.”

  “We’ll help you,” Jaya said immediately. “Won’t we?”

  “Yep.” DE sipped at her Coke again. “ ’Course we will. It’s Rahul’s big day out. We have to make it special.” She paused. “Wait a minute. Does this mean she’s, like, going to be
hanging out with us and stuff?” She looked fearfully at the door. “She’s not on her way over right now, is she?”

  “Relax,” Rahul said. “I don’t think she’d be caught dead in a place like So Sushi Me anyway.”

  “Good point. Let’s just make a pact to hang out in janky restaurants from now on, okay?”

  “I thought you said you were not afraid of Caterina anymore,” Leo put in, speaking only to DE. His body was angled slightly away from Rahul. “That since she feeds on fear particles like a demoness, you would not give her the satisfaction of having any of yours.”

  Rahul raised an eyebrow at this admission, and DE flushed scarlet. She was always cursing her extremely pale skin that gave away her emotions so easily. “I said nothing of the kind.” But she attempted to hide behind her gigantic glass of Coke.

  Rahul mock-glared at her.

  “Okay, I’m sorry,” DE said, reemerging. “What’s the big deal, though, about the date? She said yes, right? That’s, like, more than half the battle right there.”

  “Not really. I don’t have any idea where one takes Caterina LaValle out on a date.”

  Except he did, and that was the problem. Over the past weeks, he’d seen the kind of places she frequented, the kind of thing Caterina was used to. Underground celebrity clubs, galas held in expensive hotels, restaurants that shut down just to serve her crowd. How was Rahul supposed to compete with that? His budget was more Ritz crackers than Ritz-Carlton. He didn’t think Caterina had really considered that part when she’d said yes. He sighed, old insecurities pushing up to the surface like toxic seedlings. “Maybe this was all a big mistake. I should tell her the date’s not going to happen.”