The Princess & The Thief

Chapter 15-Unholy Hollywood

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"Baby, please have mercy on me,"
"Take it easy on my heart,"
"Even though you don't mean to hurt me,"
"You keep tearing me apart,"
"Would you please have mercy, mercy, on my heart?..."
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(Warning-There's a tiny bit of spice in this chapter, so if you're not into that just skip the middle part. It starts and ends in Luke's first POV)

Julie's POV

Julie was waiting in the music studio for the boys to arrive at their show practice when she burst out laughing. They made it there all right, now standing in the doorway, but they were shirtless and covered head to toe in mud.

And that meant head to toe.

Julie ended up on the floor cackling, and if Reggie hadn't joined in laughing, Alex hadn't rolled his eyes, and Luke hadn't scowled, she hardly would've been able to tell them apart.

After she regained composure she showed them a bathroom down the hall where they washed up. Actually, they just did the best they could, cleaning their faces and hands as they explained that they'd been wrestling in the mud pit for training that day. Julie was surprised that they still even had the mud pit, after a handful of guards had switched out mud for manure a few years ago and Kepps had fallen in.

The boys ceased most of their complaining by the time Julie led them back to the studio, but Reggie did keep mentioning how he was feeling mud in really uncomfortable places. When they were sat with their instruments Julie explained that night's performance further. It was going to be their official induction into the RMP as a band, so after they played the guys would be recognized in the ranks. This is what they'd been working towards for months, writing music and rehearsing over and over again. After they passed, they'd actually be able to perform for people all over the lands.

Luke, who always had the bigger dream, still complained. "It's not exactly the Strip."

"And you're not exactly a legal part of this castle until tonight, so you should be happy we have our first gig." Alex chided.

"I wasn't in love with the idea at first either, but it could be a great way for us to build a following, right?" Julie said, "I mean even if it's the RMP we're still performing for some of the most powerful people in the country."

Reggie nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we need to play wherever we can, whenever we can."

"No, you're right.," Luke agreed, furrowing his eyebrows, "let's rock those royal's faces off and then play the clubs."

"And then record a single that gets a billion streams?" Julie reiterated their dreams.

"I don't know what kind of fancy princess shit that is, but hopefully it gets us a manager and a tour."

"Then we release a bunch of hit albums." Alex added.

"Put out a country album that does surprisingly well." Reggie's shrugged at their quizzical glances. "I shred on the banjo, so..."

"Then I'll learn how to fiddle." Julie grinned.

Luke nodded enthusiastically. "And before you know it, we're being inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame."

"But one of us isn't there. Because we had a blowout in 2032." Reggie looked over his shoulder, then stage whispered. "My money's on Alex. He's just so sensitive." Alex flipped him off from the couch behind.

"Point in case." Reggie said.

Alex's face contorted. "That's not—okay."

"What are we waiting for?" Luke's eyes shone. "Let's get rehearsing! Oh! And remind me later, there's some Sunset Curve songs we wanna' show you." He told Julie.