Solveig had sighed when she’d seen the flare go up. The blonde had been able to spend most of the day sipping wine and ignoring what was to come. As soon as it started though she knew what she had to do. Strapping on a couple guns she stashed before the event she got to work, moving through the guards and disarming them. For the most part she could ignore the dirty looks, but there were a select few she’d found she’d actually grown to like in her time here. “This is inevitable,” she replied to Gio as she pulled his firearm from it’s holster. “You are right about that, though, nobody has to get hurt. Do not be a hero, Gio.” It likely wasn’t true, Solveig doubted this thing could end without someone being injured if not killed, but the fewer people that acted up, the lower the casualties would be. 

He couldn’t help but scoff at her words. Sure, she was armed and had just taken his own weapon from him, not to mention he was pretty certain this girl could kick his ass when it came to combat, but he just couldn’t believe someone like Solveig would do something like this. She had seemed tough but...good at heart. Apparently he had been wrong about her. “Inevitable...why? Because you like to take the easy way out and blame them for all of your problems in life?” He slowly crossed his arms over his chest, moving at a pace that wouldn’t alarm her, before he looked Solveig in the eye. “I’ve promised to protect them with my life. Don’t give me a reason to be a hero, Sol.”

When she heard Gio’s a voice, a smile came across her face. He had been a person of comfort and a great friend in all that had happened, but what he proceeded to do next was unexpected. Setting eyes on the dirty, nearly destroyed blue cover made Alys’ heart stop. Her book. The book she thought was gone forever. It seemed as if all she had been doing since she had arrived in Khatanga months ago was cry, but for the first time, this was happy tears. The man in front of her had done the impossible. Reaching out and slowly taking the book from him, Alys let her eyes move up to meet his, “Gio…you…” Words were few as she clutched the book tightly, before sending a tight hug his way.

Honestly, he should have been expecting the hug but her arms suddenly wrapped around him had startled the guard a little. Automatically, he wrapped his own around her as well, smiling softly. It was worth all the searching to see how grateful and relieved she was to have the item back, even with it as destroyed as it was. “I’m just glad I could find it. I really didn’t think I would.” So many people had been looking for personal items that he’d felt like he’d had a mental checklist he had to go through while searching through the rubble. He was just glad this was the one that hadn’t slipped through the cracks.

The day had been so much more fun than she had expected, but once the flare went up, it was as if the fun had been sucked out of the air immediately, and everyone’s mood shifted to that of terror and anger. Alys knew something was wrong. People she had seen around the castle and spoken to seemed to have changed their demeanor in a heartbeat by the way they stood side-by-side with others who had weapons clearly visible. If today was going to be the day she died, she didn’t want to be alone and laying eyes on Gio, the one person who seemed to understand everything she had been through, left her slowly side stepping closer to him with every passing second. 

He could see Alys out of the corner of his eye moving closer to him and he slowly reached out and took her arm. He didn’t want any of the rebels to think they had cause to harm any of them so sudden movements, or movement at all, were not a good idea. He pulled her slightly behind him so that he was shielding her as much as he could, never once taking his eyes off of the armed crowd. “Probably not a good idea to move around, Alys. Don’t give them any reason to target you.”

Words weren’t needed when he kissed her and Emilia knew that he would stay. One hand fisted itself around the fabric of his shirt in order to keep him close to her. The other hand tangled in his hair, tugging gently. With him so close, she was able to move so that she was in his lap. As if her hands and lips wouldn’t be enough to keep him, perhaps her bodyweight would do the trick. “Now this is the best birthday gift you could give me,” she chuckled softly against his lips, grabbing his hands and bringing them to her hips.

“Ch…chocolate?” Valentin repeated slowly, turning his head to face Gio. Unlike most people, who could be persuaded by many things, Val’s greatest weakness was food and his goat-but mostly food. “You have chocolate?” he asked, dropping his kayak. “You better not be jokin’…I wanna see it before I return this kayak back.” 

He tilted his head at the prince, squinting as the sun started to shine in his eyes, before he pulled out a few candy bars he had stuffed into his pockets earlier that day. He figured her would need something to keep his mind off of things and what better than candy, right? Holding them up, Gio looked toward the kayak before looking back at Val expectantly. “All yours, compagno. Just drop that pesky little thing and chow down.”

With word of a party down by the lake happening, Alys had been a bit apprehensive at first after everything that had happened with the avalanche, but after giving it some thought, the idea of getting out of the castle and being in the sun for longer than just a few minutes seemed to sit well in her mind. She had brood in her own sorrow for long enough, and the crown princess decided she had deserved a little happiness. Throwing on her swimsuit, a pair of shorts, and a jacket, Alys stepped out of her room, towel in tow just in time to see someone walking past her, “Are you going to the party at the lake?” She had hoped she would have a buddy to walk down to the lake with.

Stopped by the very voice of the person who he was looking for, Gio grinned as he turned and saw Alys. “I am, but I wanted to drop this off to you first.” The blue book in hand was almost destroyed, the water damage making it beyond repair and pages ripped pretty badly but when he had seen it in a pile of things about to be tossed out he knew the condition didn’t matter. The page she had spoken of with Alwyn’s note wasn’t as bad as the others and though some of the message wasn’t legible anymore he thought she would still appreciate it. “It was pure luck...me finding it, I mean. They were about to haul it to the trash dump.”

Going to the lake for a party sounded like fun, though he was sad that he couldn’t bring his sailboat to at least sail around…but when his eyes fell to the kayak, his lips turned up into a huge smile. It wasn’t his huge sailboat, but he’ll deal with it. So he went over to the kayaks, grinning from ear to ear and rubbing his hands together as he went over. “A good day to be in the water,” he mused to himself, humming as he picked up his small boat and went to the water. “I bet I can row all the way to the edge then come right on back without tiring myself.” he challenged with a happy smile. 

“It’s never a good day to be in the water.” Gio mumbled the words as he laid back in the sand, hard eyes glaring at the water all around them. He wouldn’t have been there if he didn’t have to be and his mood, for once, showed how unpleasant this all was for him. He looked up as Val presented his challenge and raised an eyebrow at the man. “I’d rather you not but I have a feeling I won’t be able to stop you. I’ll try anyway. I’ll give you chocolate if you drop that kayak right now.” The more royals in the water the more of a chance one of them would need a rescue which meant more of a chance for him to jump in after them.

At his question, she shook her head. “Not at all,” she admitted. What was the point in continuing to hide how she was feeling? It was wrong and Emilia knew that. She was betrothed to Hunter and Gio was just her guard. But there was no denying that her heart pulled for him as opposed to the man who would one day be her husband. Her eyes closed slightly as his palm rested against her cheek. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me,” Mia whispered. “I’ve wanted to ask you to stay the night but I never did.” Taking a breath, her eyes found his. “You should stay tonight.”

The urge to kiss her and not think about the consequences was so strong in that moment, but not as strong as the urge to comply with her request. He wanted to stay. For the first time in his life he wanted to share a whole night with somebody that he cared about. But he was also intensely afraid of doing such a thing. Not only did he fear losing the people he cared for but he knew this, whatever was between them, was never going to last. He would eventually lose Mia to the Canadian prince but for some reason instead of getting up and running he felt like it would be worth it to stay. Maybe...maybe being able to have her briefly was better than nothing at all. Closing the distance between them, Gio gave his answer with a nod right before he kissed Mia gently. 

“You should feel honored. Not everyone could say i’d offer them the same,” Mia teased. She was quite clearly relieved when he said that he was okay. Gio was one of those people who had managed to worm his way into her heart and she wasn’t prepared to let him go. She had been fighting off her attraction for months until they both gave in on Halloween. In the months that followed, she had tried to fight the urge for it to happen again and for the fact that she felt as though her heart belonged to him. There was a word for what she felt, not that she could say it as well. At his words, her eyes found his. “It was memorable for me too,” she whispered. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”

All teasing now lost on him, Gio barely processed her last statement. Having affection like this for somebody was one thing but...having that affection returned was an entirely different feeling altogether. He didn’t really know how to respond but his voice lowered to the same level that hers was at as he subconsciously moved in closer to Mia. “You haven’t?” He felt as if she was having the same feelings as him but it was a problem, right? She was engaged, he was her guard, this wasn’t right. And yet he couldn’t help himself as he reached up and let his fingers sink into her hair, his palm pressed gently against her cheek. “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to kiss you since that night? How many nights I wanted to stay as I left for my room just to be around you more?”

The idea of the lake party had not appealed to him one bit. He hated it. He hated being around the water and he hated the people he cared about being around the water even more. Each time he looked out to the lake he could see the images that haunted him in his nightmares. So Gio did his best to focus on other things while he kept an eye out for the princess he was there to protect. The volleyball did well to distract him for a game or two before he found himself around the food and the bonfire nearby, the guard almost laughing when he spotted Rebekah. “I should have known I would find you near the food. Tell me, what’s the best the menu had to offer today?” Not that he wouldn’t try it all for himself. “I’m looking for something sweet at the moment.”

“Thank god for that?” she questioned with a  laugh. She was glad it had been Gio that had walked in, it felt like it had been months since she’d last seen him. “And besides, any princess that liked having a happy spine would lay on the ground more. How’ve you been by the way, I feel like it’s been forever.” With a little effort she lifted herself off the ground and spun to sit and face him. “I’ve seen you around the west wing too, helping rebuild. I kept meaning to say hi, but they do keep you busy over there,” she said with a laugh. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I love all of you girls, but some of them can get a little persnickety and as fun as it is to make fun of them it gets a little old.” He grinned at Ausra, tilting his head as if asking her to challenge him on that one. He was sure they could all agree that it was the truth. “I’ve been alright. Between looking after Mia and then all of the overtime where everyone has been wanting to go down to the village and help I haven’t had a lot of free time. I don’t mind helping at all though. What about you?” He looked Ausra up and down, drinking in the girl for a brief moment. “Work looks good on you.”

Bee tilted her head to the side at his confession and her lips scrunched up. “Still, not too shabby,” she reasoned. At that point, it felt as if they’d all seen worse than that already. “I think if we round up me and all of my siblings, we would still be coming in short,” though what could she expect when they led such harmless lives in comparison. She watched as a myriad of emotions seemed to go through Gio’s face at that moment, and she tried to drink them all in and dissect them all as soon as she had the chance. Did it mean she wouldn’t blow it out of proportion? Probably not. Deciding Gio wanted to play coy about the situation of the princesses in his life, Bee schooled her features into a sunny and childlike smile of someone who thought they knew too much. “If I were you, I’d start talking. You know it’s always a lot worse when I have to go around trying to fill in the blanks. So, spill it.”

“And I’ve never been more flattered to hear something like it,” she let out a breath in mock relief. “I don’t know how Giulia and Massimo do it, but,” she paused, her features twisting into a scowl. “I also don’t want to find out,” she mentioned, moving her head from side to side. “I know. I know how to plead my case,” Bee smiled sweetly, in a way that made it hard for anyone to be mad at her for long. “Adrenaline does all these funny things, doesn’t it? I thought I was running after you towards safety, and at that moment, it didn’t feel like I had much to panic over. It wasn’t until the door to the cellar locked us in that you weren’t there that everything sunk in,” the details of it were still too vivid inside her mind. “But we don’t have to think about it anymore. We are all right. It’s all gone now. And we’ve made it.”

Deciding to skip over the rest of the family talk to focus on what Bee was trying to pull out of him. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back against the wall and stared down at his best friend. “What exactly am I supposed to be talking about? I honestly don’t know.” She was right though, things were always worse when she went snooping and Alys was a topic he did not want Bee to go near. She couldn’t find out anything about what happened. 

“Easy, Massimo has always had a thing for her. Even when we were kids he wanted to make her his girlfriend. So he never saw her as a sibling like we see each other.” He sent her a look that clearly stated he didn’t believe a word she was saying about ‘pleading her case’ before shaking his head at her, a small laugh escaping. “I don’t mean to laugh but the fact that you thought you were following me without another tiny blonde running around is kind of funny. But you’re right. We shouldn’t think about it anymore. Just another thing to lock away.” He sighed, his mind briefly going to that day on the lake so many years ago.”

The grin stayed on Emilia’s lips as the man came into her bedroom. “If it makes you feel any better, i’d be inclined to shed a tear if you were sent to the stocks,” she assured him. “Pain from the avalanche?” she asked, clearly concerned. While she had come out of that entire fiasco rather unscathed, albeit emotionally scarred, she wasn’t sure that her guard had been so lucky. “Is everything okay? Anything I should be worried about?” the woman asked before scooting closer to him when he sat down beside her. “Because I can go bully the doctor if they’re not giving you good enough care.”

Shaking her head, the blonde took the gift from him and didn’t hesitate to open in, being gentle as he requested. Her eyes took in the painting and the smile returned to her face. “Beast Boy and Raven,” she murmured, remembering Halloween quite well. Her gaze moved to Gio’s face and she found his eyes. “Thank you. I love it.”

“A tear? For moi? Should I feel honored?” He placed a hand on his chest, already looking as if he were proud of that fact before laughing softly. “No need to worry about me. I got the all clear today so no more check up and the stitches are gone.” Oddly, having the blonde worry about him was only making him smile even more, a genuine one, a rare one. He wasn’t used to this. Nor was he used to the look she was giving him or the urge to lean in and kiss her without any goals of moving things further. Shrugging his shoulder, he tried to play the gift off, including the meaning behind it but his words said differently. “I’m glad. I um...I know that night was a really...memorable night for me and I was just hoping it was for you too. If not I would have looked really stupid right now.”

Bekah: Because you're cruel?

Bekah: I suppose you're right? In that case here is my list of who I would want to see naked?

Bekah: Hottest girls - Mia, Niamh and the Dutch princess. Guys, you're hot but irritating. The Mexican princess is definitely good looking and that guard Klaus too.

Bekah: Oh you planning on showing me hmm?? Mocking my princess skills isn't refining them, weirdo.

Bekah: Dude. You're getting cake, what more do you want?

Gio: I am not! I just like to frustrate people. It's like my own form of foreplay without the sex afterwards. Most of the time.

Gio: I would agree with all choices except you calling me irritating, you're starting to hurt my feelings :D

Gio: Do I have to pick? All of you royals are so hot it gets kind of annoying after a while. Show me an ugly prince or princess and that'll be the day I stop bugging the shit out of you.

Gio: If you would like me to. I wouldn't say no. It's showing you what you're doing wrong. (But come on, I'm no prince.)

It had been a long day already and it was only half way over. After checking her watch she frowned, realizing there was still so much more daylight to keep working. Still, she needed a moment, so she excused herself from assisting the rebuild effort in the west wing. Winding through the corridors she wasn’t sure where she was going until she spotted an empty room with a large open floor. With a grin she walked in, hesitating a moment before she lowered herself onto the floor. It did wonder for her back, and as a plus, she wasn’t tying up room on a sofa if someone wanted to sit.  With a relaxed sigh she let her eyes drift closed. That was, until she heard foot step approaching. Craning her head back she grinned at the approaching figure. “It’s actually very good for your spine, laying on the ground that is. Would you like to join me?”

A rare day off in the aftermath meant one thing for Gio: still helping with the rebuild of the castle. It wasn’t like he had much else to do and if he chose to try and relax as people had been telling him to do his mind would wander to places he didn’t want it going. It wasn’t until one of the other guard practically forced him out of the west wing that he decided to sit down for a little bit, if only to appease others. As he passed one of the empty room he noticed the familiar red locks of the Lithuanian princess and grinned, moving inside to stand over her. “Oh, I’ve learned that over the years. Sleeping on the ground is a beautiful way to set it straight.” Gio sat down next to her but didn’t lay back, just placed his arms over knees and gazed down at Ausra. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a princess lay on the ground before. But then again, you’re not an ordinary princess. Thank god for that.”