In a Heartbeat

Evangeline’s POV

Time moved at incredibly different paces as my wedding day approached. Whenever my family was meeting with a peasant to discuss arrangements for the marriage, from the kind of arch I desired to be made to what produce I preferred to eat afterwards, time seemed to flow ever so slowly. If Matthew was somehow involved in my day, it appeared like it would never end. On the other hand, once I was allowed a day off, I would spend it with Brian, and time would disappear so quickly. I could finally relax and forget about the impending stress of marrying another man, but it never seemed to last for too long.

Despite spending a lot of time with Brian, there was still a nagging thought in the back of my mind. It had a tendency to come to the front of my mind in the most horrible situations too, like when Brian and I were spending intimate time together beneath the blankets. Matthew. Prince Matthew, the man I was going to marry, and my feelings for him. It was becoming harder to ignore them. Not only was I beginning to miss Matthew to some extent, but I also was finding him more attractive and more appealing as a King. Yes, we did disagree sometimes, but he was a powerful man that people would listen to and trust. And he saved me from a highly skilled fighter. Brian rescued me from a sloppy bandit who had not been trained. There was a difference, and the more I thought about it, the more charming Matthew became. Perhaps being wed to him would not be so bad after all. Surely everyone would benefit more that way. I certainly would have no chance of being killed if that were to happen.

The gains of marrying either man were weighing up to be almost equal. I was conflicted. Who would be better for me? And what about the Kingdom? It hurt my head. Someone knocked on my door and I granted them permission to enter. I was merely browsing through my wardrobe to find a style of dress I really liked so my wedding dress could be based upon it, so I did not mind that someone was interrupting me from the boring task and my irritating feelings. A servant appeared and bowed a little.

“My Princess, the priest is here to speak with you privately,” he informed me.

“Oh. Thank you… Tell him I will be in the meeting room shortly to talk with him,” I replied before hanging the dress in my hands back up. Father Jonathon? Why would he be here to speak with me? Was everything alright? I suddenly became anxious as I feared he was here to tell my father about my affair with a man who was not a Prince. The thought made me rush downstairs to the private room where Jonathon was indeed awaiting my presence.

“Greetings, my Princess,” he said as I closed the door behind me.

“Father Jonathon, it is nice to see you again,” I replied honestly. “What is it that you wished to speak to me about?” I took in a deep breath as I waited for him to answer.

“May we sit? I feel that this may take a while,” Jonathon suggested and I nodded, sitting down. “I realise that it is included in my occupation that you are able to trust me to keep private anything that is said between us, but… I was hoping that the roles could be reversed for this conversation.”

“That would have to depend, but I will most likely agree to that.”

“Your confessions to me have spiked my personal interest. You are conflicted with a romantic situation, and…” he trailed off, eyes staring at the floor. It appeared to me as if he was struggling to find the correct words. “I come to you today not as a Father, but the peasant Jonathon. I come to you as my Princess, the soon to be ruler of the Kingdom I belong to. I come to you because I need your help when you are Queen, but whether or not you can give it depends on your decision of which man you will choose. I cannot wait any longer to know who you choose, to know what you will do.”

“So how can I help you? What is your current situation like?”

“I like a certain woman a lot. She is so pleasant to me, and does not simply look at me as the man I am when I am working, but someone outside of that. Every time that I visit the market to buy fish, she serves me and we casually converse. I adore it so much I have been eating fish for months on end! This woman is truly amazing in my eyes, in so many ways, and I believe that she returns feelings too,” he explained and I nodded.

“And what is the problem with that?” I smiled, relating his words to things that Brian had told me.

“She is set to wed another man. Her parents organised it. They wish for her to marry a provider, so chose a rather wealthy farmer,” Jonathon replied with a heavy heart. “She has discussed the issue with her parents, but they do not look highly upon my position. They feel that I cannot support her and a family because I do not harvest crops daily and work hard in that aspect. It appears that her feelings have been completely dismissed. Now that it has happened to me, I know how much it hurts, and how difficult it is to try and move past. I thought that you could understand how I feel.”

“I do… It sounds very similar to my situation, and I know it can be difficult…”

“I believe that you are struggling to choose between the Prince and a peasant, am I correct?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“If you choose the peasant and are successful, there will be lots of repercussions… I was hoping that one of those might be that you personally allow this woman to make her own decision and to marry me instead. Of course, only marry me if that is what she truly desires, but I wish for her to be happy. I know for certain that she will not be very happy if she is to marry this other man instead,”

“What is her name?”

“Andi, with an ‘i’… That is what I call her; a shortening for her longer name,” Jonathon answered with a cute in love smile. “She likes it a lot. The new way of speaking with shortenings is appealing to her.” I grinned, his talk of his loved one once again reminding me of Brian. How could I refuse to help him? He, like Brian, deserved true love. They were good men.

“I will aid you, Jonathon,” I finally told him, a large smile breaking across his lips. “But only if I am able to become Queen. I might not be able to, if things do not go as planned with my peasant, so I might need your help.”

“How can I possibly be of assistance?” he asked.

“You are officiating the ceremony, so you can ensure that I do not marry Prince Matthew and marry the other man instead, if I choose that that is to be my future. If you can do that for me, then I will be Queen with a proper ruler by my side, and that change will allow me to provide the correct help you need to marry Andi,” I clarified.

“But… If things do not go well, I would be in a great deal of trouble… Dead, even…”

“With your help, it is more likely it will go as planned,” I comforted him. “Besides, she is worth the risk, is she not? The happiness that you two would have, the great future? Would it not be worth supporting your future Queen?” My coaxing appeared to work and Jonathon relaxed and smiled.

“Yes… She and her love are worth my life…” he said quietly before looking up at me. “I will support you when the time comes, my Queen.” He bowed his head and I could not help but smile.

“That makes me very happy, Jonathon. I will ensure that your loyalty is repaid after the wedding,” I told him.

“Thank you.” That was all that needed to be said, so Father Jonathon excused himself from the room. I left soon after to go back to my room to continue staring at dresses. Eventually I decided that I desired a simple strapless ball gown style, so went to inform my personal dressmaker. We discussed selection of material, and she measured me once more to confirm her current dimensions. When I returned to my room, Brian was there placing fresh wood in a pile close to the burning fire.

“Excellent news, my dear,” I announced once the door was shut. I bounced over to him as he stood, flinging myself into his lovely arms and pulling him close.

“What is it?”

“Father Jonathon has agreed to ensure we wed, instead of me and the Prince!” I said excitedly before kissing him passionately.

“Oh, that is truly marvellous, Eva,” Brian grinned. “Maybe this fantasy is possible, maybe it can be reality…”

“I promise, it will be…” I whispered as I gazed into his handsome brown eyes.