At least the press is being good. The paparazzi are here, but they’re not mobbing us. We’re letting them take as many pictures as they want, and we did some interviews earlier in the day, and they’re not being a bunch of total assholes for once. In fact, they’re being downright polite.
“Check this out,” Nolan says, gripping a tree in both hands. “Does this look familiar?”
I groan. “Are you making a penis joke?”
“Yes, yes, I am,” he says seriously. “I’m bigger, right?” He holds the easily –three-foot-tall tree up next to him.
“Yes, you’re much bigger,” I say, laughing. “I like when you have to unroll it.”
He makes a face. “It’s really uncomfortable keeping it caged up all day.”
“Why hide it though? You should flaunt it. Make the country really talk.”
He laughs and drops the tree into its hole, covers it with dirt, and comes over to help me dig.
“I know this isn’t fun,” he says. We alternate digging the hole together. “But we’re getting our faces out there in a positive way.”
“I know,” I say, sighing. “I don’t mean to complain.”
He grins at me. “You’re not complaining. I just don’t want you to murder anyone.”
I give him a playful push and he kisses me. Several cameras go off and I blush a little bit.
“Whoops,” he says.
“Kiss again!” one of the paparazzi calls out. “I missed it!”
Nolan grins and grabs me, pulling me against him. I drop my shovel and put my hands on his chest as he kisses me full and deep, a chill running down my spine. I know it’s just for the cameras, and I can hear them clicking away, but it feels so good.
He breaks off slowly and grins at me. “My, my, princess,” he says softly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess that you liked that.”
I smack him playfully on the chest. “Get back to work,” I say, and pick up my shovel again.
The day passes pretty easily, although we really are doing some serious digging. I plant close to twenty trees, and Nolan probably does twice that amount. The press wanders off as soon as we’re finished, and the volunteers all thank us profusely for bringing awareness to their cause.
Frankly, when it’s all over with, I feel good. I’m glad we got involved with that. I haven’t had many opportunities to donate my time to important causes because I’ve had to work my whole life. But now that money isn’t an issue, I realize that I can help other people.
Nolan takes me by the hand and we walk away from the volunteers that are packing up the vans and trucks. We pause in the shade of a nearby tree, this one fully grown, and Nolan leans up against the trunk.
“You did good today,” he says to me.
“Thanks.” I lean next to him, our shoulders touching.
“I don’t think it’s always going to be this simple, though,” he says softly.
I turn my head toward him. “Why do you say that?”
“I’ve been gathering allies,” he says slowly. “Putting out feelers. Bribing where I have to. But I’m getting a lot of resistance.”
“Why?” I ask him, genuinely surprised. “It seems like everyone hates Julian and his agenda. Why are people supporting it?”
“He has blackmail on them for sure. But I think they’re just afraid of change.”
“You have to show them a better way then,” I say, surprised by my own serious intensity.
He smiles at me. “I know, Hazel. I’m going to.”
I watch him for a moment and I’m surprised that I care so much. I like Polovia a lot, but it’s not my home. I don’t understand its culture or its customs or its politics, so a lot of this seems foreign and strange to me. And yet now that I’m a part of the royal family, I find myself caring a great deal about this country.
And the more Nolan shows me, the more I find to love. Take this charity, for example. Big industry was destroying Polovia’s resources and natural beauty for years, but the people came together and stopped them. Now young people are going one step further and actively trying to put things back together. People are volunteering their time, money, and effort to plant these trees. Most of the people will never see this forest again, unless they come to visit one day in the future, but it’s not like they all live around here.
The youth of this country is full of surprises like that, and I think Nolan can sense that there’s a change coming. The young are tired of the failing policies of the old. People want a change, and Nolan wants to be that change.
I reach out and take his hand. I want to explain that to him, make him understand that I see what’s happening. But before I can say it, a familiar face appears, walking toward us.