Arthur's POV
I began Anne’s tour of the capital by showing my mate more thoroughly around the palace. As I told her about the place, I watched those beautiful green eyes sparkle with interest.
She kept taking quick peeks at me in between glances out the car window and I could not stop myself from being pleased by the affection I could already see in her eyes.
Using alternate routes, I managed to keep us away from anyone I would have to introduce her to for the duration of the palace tour. She would have to deal with that soon enough, but I would buffer the matter a bit.
After we finished with the palace, we went out into the city with Lucas and a team of guards. They followed us, but stayed out of our way as we toured some of the more common landmarks of the city. There were quite a number of attractions that had been commissioned both by my parents and other relatives before them.
She seemed enthralled with everything I showed her, particularly the view from the Lune Tower.
I smiled at her wide eyed wonder and decided that I really had to bring her back at night soon. It was all too easy to picture the reflection of the moon and the city lights in her eyes.
She was such an intriguing mixture of naive girl and cynical woman that I could not imagine ever becoming bored with her.
She handled Lucas with her easy practicality and simply smiled as she let his bad jokes roll over her. I was delighted that my estimation of her had not been wrong.
"Where to next, princess?" he asked her.
"I'm not a princess yet," she corrected simply.
"Well, you will be," he said.
"Don't push it," I reminded him. "Anne will be princess in her own time."
{At this rate it will never happen,} my wolf groused.
I stopped listening to the conversation around me and focused on my wolf for a moment.
{It will. No need to rush it.}
{So you say, because you have her there with you but you deny me the same pleasure.}
{Anne told me she was ready to be marked as soon as she settled in.}
It took my wolf a while to answer. {How soon is that?}
{Well, I did not press her on it, but I think soon. She pointed out it was going to happen either way and so we might as well do it.}
{Our mate is truly a delight, even her human half,} my wolf said with real pleasure. {I knew I loved her for a reason.}
{Me too.}
{Guard our mate well, human,} he directed before he faded off into the realm of wolves without further comment.
Lucas continued driving. Although my parents did their best to manage it well, there were still some unsavoury parts of the royal city.
And for some reason, Lucas was driving us through one of them.
I did not want my mate in such an unsafe location any more than my wolf did.
"Why are we here, Lucas?" I asked him. I tried to keep my tone even, because there was no actual current threat, at least none that I could perceive.
He shrugged. "Because Lady Anne asked and you did not object."
I sighed. It had probably happened while I was soothing my wolf. "Very well," I agreed in spite of my own preference on the matter. As much as I wanted to protect her, she would be miserable if I kept her locked in a fortress.
We had an adequate amount of security following in the car behind us so I had no real reason to be overly concerned.
Forcing myself not to fret, I watched my beautiful mate as she looked out the window.
There were a number of people sitting on the steps of buildings or in the alleys. They wore their weariness and hopelessness as obviously as their filthy clothes.
I would have liked to shield her from such sadness, but if she wanted to look at the problems of our world I would not allow myself to try to stop her, no matter how sorely tempted. I was just going to have to learn to live with the gnawing anxiety in my stomach when her safety seemed in question and act on my protective instincts only when it was absolutely necessary.
"Look at that poor lady," she commented sadly.
I followed her eyes to a poor homeless woman pushing a shopping cart. Her outfit was a clashing mixture of cast-off clothing, topped by a dirty rose-patterned shawl. She was unsteady on her feet, and I could only imagine she was high on one of the various illicit substances plaguing our city streets.
I reached for Anne's hand to offer her the comfort of our connection.
"They all look so dejected," she mused, bringing her sweet eyes to mine.
I sighed. "We try to help. My mother maintains a number of charitable projects, but no matter what we do, we can only help those who are receptive to it," I explained. "Most of these poor people probably are victims of shattered mate bonds, mental illness, or other trauma, and a lot likely also abuse illicit substances to self-medicate their various ills as well."
She paused for a long moment. "I suppose I see the difficulty of the situation. You can't make people who don't want help get help without using force, but should you?"
I nodded. "Perhaps sometimes, if it's for the safety of other people, but figuring out where the line should be drawn is the difficulty." Her insistence on the proper use of power was yet another wonderful trait of my future queen.
There was nothing worse than a luna who went power mad and began treating those around her harshly. Anne’s clarity on the issue was a true treasure.
I slid over closer to her on the seat.
"If you're going to start making out, please warn me first so I can blind myself, Your Highness," Lucas said.
Anne blushed, and it was rather cute although I shot Lucas a glare without real rancour. I did not kiss her, because I doubted she wanted an audience, especially after Lucas's comment, but it was still good to feel her softness against me.
I craved all of her, but I could be patient. I’d promised her father, and I intended to keep my word.
She turned her attention back out the window and looked at the people outside. I smiled as she periodically pointed to things or asked me for clarification on something she saw.
Then she turned to me. "What is going to be expected of me as the princess, Arthur?"
Lucas shot me a wide eyed look of sympathy, but he mercifully kept his mouth shut for once.
She was looking at me, biting her lip slightly. It always drew my attention when she did that, so I made myself look her in the eyes instead of sliding naturally downward where my eyes were prone to wander.
"Well, you will have a few official duties as princess," I explained, "and there will be many more that are expected, but are not exactly mandatory."
She nodded, not looking surprised in the least. "Like what?"
"You'll be expected to attend formal events by my side, and we have to have some contact with our people through controlled contact with the media. My mother runs a rather tight ship in that regard."
"That all makes sense."
I hesitated to tell her the last expectation. "And, well, eventually we'll be expected to produce pups."
I was almost surprised to see her nod as if this was obvious.
Well, it was, but many lunas were a tad reluctant on the matter. I suppose I should not have been surprised that my mate would view the prospect in a matter of fact way. In all likelihood the idea had already gone through her inquiring mind and she had made her peace with it.
The resulting swell of affection almost caused me to confess my love then and there, but I stopped myself. Perhaps she would like a better setting than in a car with my second-in-command driving us through the bad part of the city.
"Then, until we're coronated, we can largely do what we want. A lot of princes and princesses of the past have engaged in charity work. I already do some."
"My mother volunteers," she commented.
I smiled at her. "It’s nice that our mothers will have something in common to talk about."
“Gosh, my mother is going to asphyxiate when she finds out she’ll meet the queen. She’s a bit of a fan.” She glanced at me hesitantly. "So, um, Arthur, how long do we have before that happens?"
"Before what happens?"
"The coronation?"
She looked terribly uneasy, worrying her lip again with her teeth. I wanted to be the one to make her lips swollen, not her anxiety.
"With any luck, it will be a very long time from now. We'll only take over when my father or mother passes away, or if they can no longer manage the matters of the kingdom. It’s ideally a two person job, so when even one cannot handle it, they’ll step down."
She visibly relaxed at the reprieve.
"I hope they live a very long time in good health," she said.
"As do I," I agreed, and then I joked, "I hope we didn’t jinx it."
Her eyes went wide with horror, and then she smiled a bit. "Would saying I hope you're wrong further jinx us?"
I chuckled. "Perhaps you would have to ask Madame Rivera."
I grinned at the look of disgust that crossed her face at the mention of everyone's favourite Moon Goddess adherent.
"Please spare me," she said. “I’d rather ask a wolf hooked on wolfsbane than her.”
"You don't believe in Madame Rivera?" I teased.
She shrugged. "Sorry, I'm agnostic. If the Moon Goddess exists, why do so many mates seemed ill-suited and doomed to misery?"
I smiled at that. I had never had time to give much thought to the matter of who ran the universe. "Well, I don't know either, but whoever picked my mate made a perfect selection."
She smiled and kissed me and I could not have found a complaint about my life if I tried.
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We were still driving around when I got a text from my mother informing me that we had an hour before Anne had her appointment with the royal clothier. There would be time for other tours so we cut it short. Nearly the moment we got in the door, a pair of assistants came and swept my mate away from me.
I was oddly bereft that I would have to be without her for any length of time. I missed the size and peace of her hometown already.
"Whoever picked my mate made a perfect selection?" Lucas asked me with his near-constantly raised sardonic eyebrow activated. "What did you do, look up cheesy mate lines on the internet?"
I laughed a bit. I suppose it did sound rather cheesy in retrospect, but I certainly meant it. "No, I don't need the help of the internet to make my mate happy."
"Well, she certainly was happy," he allowed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Your Highness, I have to go and gouge out my own eyes."
I laughed again, but not because I was actually amused. Lucas hated pity, and joking was a great way to hide any sympathy. I would like to see my friend find happiness, but it seemed unlikely considering his tragic past. Once a wolf lost their mate, they had little chance of finding real contentment.
Ah, the woes of the world. I almost felt guilty for my good fortune, but I could never regret finding Anne.
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