In a Heartbeat

“Brian… Brian, wake up…” a pretty voice called to me and I rolled away from it in my slumber. Who was that? I opened my eyes and saw slightly wilting flowers and a part of a room I knew only too well; Princess Evangeline’s. I gasped as I realised that I was in her bed, the memory of last night flooding back to me. Then, I rolled back over and saw Evangeline lying next to me.

“Am I still dreaming, Evangeline?” I questioned, my eyes widening, suddenly in such disbelief that I forgot to call her my Princess. I felt slightly ashamed afterwards, though she did not seem to mind that I had slipped up. A small smile appeared on her face and a light chuckle sounded.

“No, you are not, Brian. It is time to awaken and begin the day, though…” she whispered, seemingly lost as she stared at me. “Thank you for staying with me…” The Princess’ hand reached out to my face and rested on my cheek, a few fingers stroking it gently. I think I held my breath as she did so, not believing what I was seeing. I expected to wake up in my slave bed any second now, get dressed and begin working as her servant, but it was not happening…

“That is more than alright, my Princess… I should… I should get up and start working…” I quickly stuttered as I scrambled to get out of her bed, suddenly paranoid that someone might see us. I threw on my clothes as fast as possible before exiting her room. When I arrived at the cleaning equipment room, Zachary was there getting his own gear.

“Brian!” he hissed to get my attention, glaring at another servant who was getting a bucket off a shelf. “You did not return to the sleeping quarters last night. Where were you? Are you rested enough to work today?”

“You will never guess what happened to me last night!” I whispered back, also keeping my eye on the other male in the room. This was definitely not allowed to be overheard. If it was, both I and Evangeline would be in so much trouble…

“Tell me!”

“I shared Princess Evangeline’s bed!” Zachary’s face turned into pure surprise before he laughed at me.

“You are not serious.”

“I am.”

“No…” my friend breathed. “What was it like?” Neither of us had shared a bed with a woman before, or anyone else for that matter. It was a privilege reserved for couples that had a lot of sentimental value.

“It was amazing…” I beamed, so happy about what had happened. “I cannot believe it… It was warm and lovely and perfect… We even held each other a few times throughout the night, which I adored. Oh Zachary, it feels so good to have a woman in bed…”

“You are so lucky…”

“Can you believe this?” I asked as we walked out of the room with our equipment. “I have loved her for so long I cannot begin to remember when I started, and now… Now she is returning the feelings…”

“You call one evening together her returning the feelings? She could have been unwell and not thinking straight, especially with her arranged marriage. She is probably desperate to find something else that is not Prince Matthew,” Zachary argued very convincingly, making me frown. “But it might not be! It might be real!” He went back to the encouraging friend visage once he noticed my sulk.

“You are too logical…” I mumbled. “I just… I need her…”

“I know. I shall talk to you after work, if you are free,” he said before taking a right to head to the other Princess’ sleeping quarters to perform his work. I continued straight ahead and navigated back to Evangeline’s room. When I came back with a new bucket of cleaning water and my cleaning equipment, Evangeline was already dressed in a casual dress and standing in the middle of her room, staring at me as I entered.

“Brian, I have been made aware that it is my father’s wish that I show Matthew around our township today,” she explained to my back as I shut the door. I did not mean to be rude, though I do not think she thought I was being impolite towards her. “I will leave soon, but I wish to talk to you first.”

“Of course, my Princess. What is on your mind?”

“I would just like to bring to your attention that… that I do like you a lot and do wish you were a Prince so we could have a proper friendship. I find you are better than Matthew. You are very nice to me, as a person, not just a servant, and I really appreciate it,” she explained and I swallowed relatively loudly. I could hardly believe that she was being serious! After I was silent for a while, trying to collect my thoughts into a sentence or two, she began speaking again. “I am sorry…. That was out of place of me. My father would be ashamed. I must leave. Goodbye, Brian.” I suddenly realised that this was a perfect opportunity for me to try to resolve our feelings for each other.

“Princess!” I exclaimed in a desperate attempt to gain her attention, but she did not seem to hear me. Evangeline scurried out of the room, leaving me speechless and slightly confused. Sighing, I busied myself with cleaning, as I was supposed to be doing, but my thoughts wandered. What was happening between my Princess and I? Did she mean what she said? Or was it like what Zachary had mentioned before; she was just trying to escape from a life with Prince Matthew? I would have to be careful from now on, but find out what her true feelings were and what actions she planned on taking. Me, I would do absolutely anything for her in a heartbeat, as my feelings are so strong…

Eventually, it became dark, I had eaten my decent dinner and was once again cleaning my lovely Princess’ room when she returned from her long day.

“Hello, Brian,” she called out as I heard the doors opening and closing from behind me. I quickly stopped polishing one of the many ornaments in her room to look at her and bow slightly.

“Princess…” I mumbled, feeling like I was only a slave to her again. In an effort to change that, I spoke up as she walked to her dressing area. “How was your day?”

“Horrible,” Evangeline groaned, disappearing behind the divider so I could not see her naked body. “I spent it showing Matthew our village, which he enjoyed, but I did not. Again, I ate my last meal of the day with him and my family, but I do not enjoy it… And… there was something else…”

“If you wish to talk about it, I am here to listen.”

“He tried to kiss me, Brian…” Evangeline said ever so softly from behind the little wall, making me hesitate and possibly stop breathing. “I really do not wish for that to happen… I do not love him…” I dropped my cloth on the floor as I walked slowly over to the wall divider, sort of in a dream. After I took in a shaky breath, I knocked twice on the sturdy structure.

“May I come around?”

“Yes.” Her reply came after a short pause, but I walked around anyway, ignoring the wavering in her voice. She stood in just her tight white bodice that was attached to a short skirt. Despite her being dressed in an outfit that I was never meant to see, she seemed fine with it, though still nervous. “I do not wish for him to kiss me, Brian…”

“Neither do I…” I whispered as she turned to face me straight on. Her eyes pleaded with sadness, and it broke my heart. I never wished to see her like this… The only thing I ever wished for was for her to be happy… “I am certain that you are strong enough to do what is best for your Kingdom, though…” Evangeline hugged her own waist, looking down at the floor.

“I cannot… I desire love, but I cannot find it with Matthew… My father has backed me into a corner and is forcing me to marry the Prince. Neither of them understands my need for love!” she exclaimed, her eyes full of tears as she looked back up at me with a frown. “Why can they not understand?”

“I do not know…” I scarcely breathed with a frown of my own. A lock of her brown hair had fallen out of her large bun on the top of her head, so I reached out slowly to gently move it away from her stunning blue eyes. Knowing I could not place it back into her coiffure, I shifted it to behind her ear. Her eyes followed my hand, watching it as I traced the edge of her jawline with the side of one of my fingers. As I was about to stop touching her, I noticed that she had moved her head significantly closer to mine as I had been touching her, as if I had drawn her into me. I had not intended to, but I was not complaining. Evangeline had the prettiest facial features I had ever laid my eyes upon, and now that they were closer to me, I became lost in her again. Her eyelids slowly closed halfway as her head, tilted upwards, came into such close proximity with mine. I leaned in ever so slightly with my head tilted to my right, focusing my eyes on her lips. Our lips were almost touching… How could this be possible? Evangeline’s eyes fluttered shut and I copied, both of us closing the gap between our mouths in a sweet, soft kiss. Once we pulled away after a few seconds of the amazing display of affection, my hand dropped away from her face as I stared at her.

“Brian…” she slightly stuttered as I breathed heavily, sort of not believing what had just happened.

“I- I apologise for being inappropriate, my Princess…” I breathed, suddenly fearing the worst. I felt her hand upon mine and looked down at our touching hands.

“You were not inappropriate, Brian. But I do think that you should leave me for the night now,” Evangeline whispered and I nodded while looking down at the ground. I shuffled out of her sleeping quarters, not looking back. I was just a worthless slave… This should not be happening…