In a Heartbeat

Princess Evangeline’s POV

“Evangeline, as you know, you need to find a prince to marry soon. As you have not taken a liking to any of the suitable men I have presented to you, I have taken it into my own hands to find you one,” my father, the King, announced from his throne after supper. I stood in front of him, wearing my simple yet beautiful white Princess dress, paying attention even though I disliked his words. “Your mother and I have both decided on Matthew, the Prince of the Zilani Kingdom.”

“Father, I do not wish to marry that man. I wish to find love,” I stated, doing my best to not sound like I was arguing with him but simply sharing my opinion.

“You will do as I say. You have had a chance to choose a Prince, but you failed. You will marry Matthew, or you will not take the throne.” He had me cornered. I wanted the throne. It was my dream since I was young; to rule the Cardolian Kingdom like the great Queen I was born to be. And I also could not disobey my father. “He is awaiting you in the banquet hall. He is to report back to his father who will tell me how the evening went. Do not let me down, daughter.” A stern look was given to me and I looked away from his strict face.

“Of course, father…” I said quietly before curtseying to him, then leaving the throne chamber. I slowly walked down the long corridors to the banquet hall, really not looking forward to the encounter. All of the previous Princes were not nice, to say the least, and I doubted this one would be any better. I wanted love, not a forced relationship, but my father did not understand that. All he saw was the future of his Kingdom that he had worked so hard for slowly breaking down because of me. The longer I was unmarried, the more I became a disappointment to him and my family. I pushed open one of the large doors that led into the banquet hall, leaving it open behind me. There was a tall man, dressed in fine white Prince attire, standing in the middle of the room. He heard me entering the room and turned to face me. As I got closer, I saw he had nicely trimmed wavy dark brown hair and was a fairly handsome man, especially once he smiled to reveal dimples.

“Princess Evangeline,” he said in a soft voice, extending his right arm to take my left hand in his. He kissed the top of my hand gently. “It is a pleasure.” I gave a small curtsey before he let go of my hand.

“Prince Matthew…” was all I managed to say, my words hardly audible. He had handsome hazel eyes that seemed to bore right through into my soul and I soon found myself becoming lost in them.

“You look well.”

“You too,” I replied while mentally shaking myself out of the trance. He was a healthy young man, which I liked. But nonetheless, I did not want to give in to my father’s forceful ways.

“I assume you have been informed of our situation?”

“Of course.”

“I hope you know this is a great opportunity that we must both seize. Together, our Kingdoms will surely conquer the world,” Matthew said. I could not deny him that. It was true. We stood a very good chance at conquering the opposing Kingdoms if we joined together. Once I had agreed with him, Matthew began to chat about general Kingdom topics, like war, armies and trades, before he told me some more about himself. I learned he had a younger sister, like me, that he liked to ride his horse, swim in his private lake, and, surprisingly, pick flowers from the forest. Matthew did not seem too bad any more, but that did not mean that I was going to be content with marrying him.

“I would like to excuse myself now. It is late and my presence will be needed in my sleeping chambers,” I told the Prince after our friendly talk had become more silence than words.

“Of course. I bid you goodnight, Evangeline,” Matthew said kindly, already missing out the Princess part of my name.

“Goodnight Matthew,” I replied, following his lead since he was male. We shared one last smile before I walked out of the hall and then upstairs to my sleeping chambers. Once I was inside, I shut the doors behind me before heading straight to my favourite window. Here I was able to gaze out at the endless canopy of the forest while also seeing mountains and stars. It was a beautiful sight, one that always relaxed me and put me at peace.

“Princess…” a timid voice whispered from behind me and I turned around. My slave Brian was sitting shyly in his chair in the corner, the shadows hiding him well. The slave uniform was all black clothing, and their hair was purposefully coloured black too, so he was very hard to see. I had seen him before the makeover and he much suited his new look. He was a handsome man, but a slave. Therefore, I was not able to think of him as anything more. His father was a slave to my mother until he recently retired, while his mother cooked in the royal kitchen. Men were always servants, as their jobs were considered too brutal for women, who are the precious life-givers of this world. “I would have alerted you to my presence earlier, but you seemed stressed and I did not wish to alert you. I know you would just want to sit in that window.” I smiled at him, realising how well he knew me.

“Thank you, Brian. Why are you here?”

“It is my duty to be here. Do you desire anything? A warm beverage? Perhaps some food? The curtains to be closed?” he begun to suggest things that I might need done, but I held up a hand to silence him.

“Just preparation for sleep will be sufficient.”

“Of course, my Princess,” Brian said with a bow of his head before he stood up and busied himself around the room, beginning with drawing the curtains shut. As he shuffled around the large room, I moved to the dressing area, hiding behind the wall-like structure that hid me from the rest of the room. Quickly, I took off the white dress and flung it over the top of the dark wooden wall, then began to get dressed in my sleepwear. “May I ask why my King wished to speak to you?” Despite him being my slave, I actually was able to talk to Brian about things. He was a friend too, though no one knew. We would be shamed upon if anyone was to know.

“Father has arranged my marriage to Prince Matthew, from the Zilani Kingdom,” I sighed. “I do not wish to marry him, Brian. I desire love at my own will.”

“I know. I am sorry for hearing that news.”

“Why can he not let me be happy?” I wondered aloud, not expecting a reply.

“I do not know, but you do deserve it, my Princess.” That was kind of him. By the time I was done, so was Brian. Once I had walked out, he hurried over to the dress and took care of it, making sure it would not crinkle or damage. The room was now only lit by the few candles that were scattered around the room, most by my bed, and it made the room seem warm and comfortable. Usually, it was quite the opposite, but it was bearable. I climbed into my bed, pulling the large blankets as far up as I could get them. Brian emerged from the dressing area and begun to blow out the candles that were far away from my bed.

“Brian, you may be excused,” I ordered as I became sleepy. He blew out one more candle before walking over to my bedside.

“Should I not tuck the blankets in first?”

“Oh, yes…” I sighed before my slave fixed up the bed, ensuring I would be a bit warmer tonight. Most slaves pretended to care for their masters, and they were easy to see through, but not Brian. He was different. I knew he meant it. And that was yet another reason why I liked him.

“Goodnight, my Princess…” Brian whispered to me, staring at me with an unrecognisable emotion in his fetching brown orbs.

“Goodnight.” And with that, my slave left, shutting the door silently behind himself.