Heat crawledover Aleki’s skin as the harsh lights burned down onto the interview stage, highlighting the artifice of the bright yellow couch, the cheery beach background. And of his deception.
Aleki shifted on the couch next to Stella, running one finger under the collar of his shirt in a futile attempt to ease the discomfort pricking at him. He was not a brave man by nature. The years he’d spent frolicking across the globe avoiding his responsibilities before Manu’s accident would attest to that. But he had never wilfully tried to hoodwink his populace before. Introducing Stella as his soon-to-be-wife on national television would play into every narrative the media had ever suggested about the Playboy Prince of the Pacific’s search for love. For wrong or for right, the announcement of their engagement would be seen as confirmation that he was besotted with his intended, and while it was necessary to keep Tama from running interference in his life, the idea of misleading his people sat heavy in his gut. And besides that, it had been a very long time since he gave a televised interview. His history with the press was acrimonious to say the least. Even now, with assurances given and the questions memorised, his gut screamed at him to run.
“Hey.” Stella nudged him with her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
She was a vision - beauty and brains all wrapped up in one shiny, white cotton package and his apprehension faded away as he smiled at her, noting the anxious twist to her own mouth.
“A little nervous, fafine aulelei.”
“Me too,” she confessed, bending her head towards him so they couldn’t be overheard. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the crisp, clean scent of her hair as it swung forward in a lustrous curtain. “Is it because of your dad?”
“I have never defied his wishes so openly,” Aleki admitted quietly. “But it needs to be done. And more than anything, your place must be cemented by my side. For the country, and also for our pepe.”
Stella glanced at him, quickly, worriedly, a far cry from the beaming smile she usually aimed his way when he mentioned the blessing growing inside her.
“Are we all done canoodling over here?” The voice was sharp, cutting through the illusion of privacy they’d managed to create on the bustling set of Avali’s premiere breakfast show. Aleki wrenched his eyes from Stella’s, an unspoken question on his lips, and glanced up at the owner of the voice.
Tala Tuila was a twenty-three year old graduate of Avali University's media and communications programme. She had straight black hair, a willowy frame and a reputation as being one of the brightest stars of on-air reporting across the island. Lani’s research had determined that her popularity with the under-fifties demographic would be favourable to their mixed-race marriage announcement in ways that some of the older presenters might not manage.
“Miss Tuila, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He didn’t stand.
“Your Highness.” She didn’t bow her head. “Ms Warren. We’re very grateful you’ve given up your time this morning to appear on our show.”
“We’re grateful to you for having us.” Stella’s customer-service smile was sunny, open, and Aleki’s chest tightened as he watched her practiced dazzle up at the younger woman. “Congratulations on your recent receipt of the National Fellowship in Communications.”
Tala smiled slightly in return. “Thank you Ms Warren. It was an honour.”
A stage assistant bustled over and caught Tala’s attention, and Aleki took the opportunity to lean back over and whisper in Stella’s ear.
“I don’t remember seeing that in the info pack Lani provided.”
Stella smirked slightly. “You didn’t.”
Respect for the formidable woman he was going to marry bloomed in him like the roses she loved. Before he could respond, the stage assistant pulled away from Tala and addressed them both.
“Thirty seconds, Your Highness.”
As their host took a seat on the overstuffed saffron chair to their left, Aleki caught Stella’s hand in his own. Squeezing quickly for reassurance, he released it just as the countdown from ten began from behind one of the large cameras.
“Talofa lava Avali, and good morning! I’m Tala Tuila and we’re joined this morning by our very own Prince Aleki and a very special guest. Prince Aleki, would you care to introduce her for us?”
Aleki blinked into the lights and pasted his most charming smile on even as he mourned his corneas. Half-blinded, he recited the introduction Lani had drafted for him.
“Thank you Tala. The woman beside me is one of my oldest friends, Stella Warren. We met ten years ago at university. Stella is the owner of one of New Zealand’s highest profile event management companies and a passionate supporter of various charities and human rights organisations.”
“And do you and Ms Warren have any news to share with our viewers this morning?” Tala’s smirk told half the story for them.
“We do.” Aleki turned himself towards Stella, taking her hand as the blinking red light on the camera moved closer in his periphery. “I am thrilled to announce that I have asked Stella to be my wife, and she has agreed.”
“What wonderful news!” Tala’s wide smile almost met her eyes. “Congratulations to you both. Is that the ring?” She gestured to their clasped hands. “May we see?”
Stella extended her hand coyly towards Tala, ignoring the camera man who lurched frantically towards her.
“People will speculate on why I chose this ring for Stella.” Aleki reclaimed Stella’s hand and lifted, brushing his lips across her knuckles. His blood hummed as he caught a whiff of her crisp perfume, mixed with the coconut oil she’d used to moisturise her skin.
“I was lucky enough to be able to work with our close friend Mae Roselli to design it. The three stones represent our life together of course. Our past, at university. Our present, here together, and our future, looking forward to our life as husband and wife. It is a fitting style for a wife of a Pacific prince. Our ancestors are as much a part of our lives as our children will be.” Staring directly into her eyes, Aleki took a deep breath to settle the nerves that twanged through his system like electricity, alighting with a combination of fear and honesty. Not once had Aleki Esera said these words to a woman, and whether or not she believed he was playing the part of the dutiful fiancé, the significance weighed heavily on him.
Here we go.
He rubbed his thumb gently over the largest stone in the trio, the oval lavender sapphire that sat between his grandmother’s diamonds.
“This stone is for Stella.” Sincerity rendered his voice husky in a way he wasn’t keen to examine too closely as he addressed her directly. “Being with you reminds me of sunsets, and checklists and lavender roses. Lavender symbolises enchantment, and you have enchanted me since the first moment I met you.”
This time he was sure the delicate blush that flooded her cheeks was genuine. The huge emerald pools of her eyes darted between his as the significance of the ring he’d never given voice to registered.
“How sweet. Tell me, Prince Aleki, does your family know?”
Aleki refocused on their host, frowning at the unexpected question. Lani had been crystal clear that no family questions would be acceptable in her communications with the studio. Tala leaned forward in the large presenters chair, her head tilted inquisitively to one side and the ghost of a triumphant smile hovering on her lips.
What is she playing at? Get through this and get the interview back on track. Tapping into the playboy persona he’d once worn so well, he offered her a smile of his own.
“They do now.”
“How do you think they’ll react?” Tala glanced at the prompt cards in her lap, though he had the distinct sense she didn’t need them. Fear roiled in his belly. He knew what was coming. “Your brother in particular. After all, the last time you were infatuated with a woman he was the one to pay the price wasn’t he?”
Time stood still. The thick, heavy silence pulsed in his ears, racing up his temples until it engulfed him, his skull suddenly too small for the fog of rage that enveloped his brain.
“This interview is over.” His voice sounded foreign, ripped out of the hollow where his stomach had been, laid out before them like five miles of gravel road, rough and raw.
“But Your Highness -”
“Over.” Aleki glared at the camera operator, holding the other man’s gaze until the blinking red light went dark.
Aleki glared at Tala, letting her feel every ounce of his anger in the heat of his gaze.
“Bold choice.”
Tala raised her chin slightly, defiance etched into the line of her jaw. “Fortune favours the bold.”
“Does it?” He kept his voice silky even as the beast inside him thrashed. “And how much fortune might one need to cover a sustained period of unemployment?” He stood, ignoring the blanch that stole over Tala’s dark skin and extended his hand to Stella, whose distress was palpable in the tight grip of her fingers around his. “Excuse us, please.”
He strode off the stage into the darkness that matched his soul, dragging his intended behind him.