In a Heartbeat

“No you are not… You are a servant to the royal family…” Evangeline said slowly. I could tell she thought I was insane and doing anything to try to get her to love me back, but it was not the case. I was telling the truth!

“Well… Yes, I am… But… my grandmother… Do you remember the last King from the Kingdom Hertia that once neighboured us?” I continued, hoping I still had her trust.

“King Henry the Fourth? Of course.”

“You know how he mated with a lot of women when he was younger and not yet married?”

“Yes, everyone knows that… What are you trying to say Brian?” she questioned. I think she was realising where I was taking this part of the conversation.

“He mated with my grandmother and my father was born. He is half royal blood, and that makes me one quarter royalty,” I told her as I watched her eyes widen. “I could be your King, Evangeline…” She paused, looking down at the flowers as if she was reconsidering my offer.

“I still cannot accept the bouquet, Brian… I am sorry…” So that was not enough. I had almost convinced her, but not quite.

“I know you do not love Matthew. I do not know how much he loves you, but it will never be as much as I do, my Princess…” I trailed off with tears in my eyes. This was not going to be enough for her either. What was I thinking? A pathetic useless slave like me could convince the Princess to marry him? I was insane! Depressed, I lowered the bouquet to my side, closing my eyes in an attempt to hide my tears from her. “I thought you would understand… I thought you, like I am, were a believer in true love…” I was about to turn around and leave her be when I felt her soft touch on my hand with the flowers in it.

“I do believe…” my Princess whispered. She pulled at the flowers and I met her eyes. What was she doing? Was she trying to accept them from me? I loosened my grip to see if she was, and the bouquet was transferred from my hands to hers. Evangeline smiled as she put the flowers under her nose, taking a long smell of them. “These are beautiful, Brian. Thank you.” I managed to smile, though the rest of my body was frozen with disbelief.

“My Princess, I will not let you down. I promise, this will work, and I will always love you,” I told her sincerely once I found my voice again. She beamed at me from above her flowers.

“No more ‘Princess’ when we are alone, alright?” she ordered and I nodded. “Now, you should leave. I need to prepare for sleep.”

“Before I leave, may I ask of one more thing?”

“Yes.” I leaned in to her face and she lowered the flowers, giving me more room as well as signalling that she was content with what I was going to do. I pressed my lips against hers and she kissed me back sweetly. Not desiring to risk making her uncomfortable, I pulled away soon after and smiled at her.

“Goodnight, Evangeline,” I whispered before walking back to the door.

“Goodnight, Brian,” she called out, her happiness evident in her voice. I exited the room and saw that Zachary was still outside waiting for the Princess.

“So…” he said once I closed the door behind me. My smile broke out across my face, and I must have been showing all of my teeth to him as I pulled him into a friendly embrace.

“She is mine!” I told him quietly and he hugged me back.

“Congratulations!”

“Oh, I cannot believe this…” I whispered as I pulled away from my friend.

“You do realise she is not completely yours yet, correct?” Zachary questioned.

“You do realise that you are such a pessimist sometimes?” I retorted jokingly, yet truthfully.

“I do know. But I wish I was more like you. If I took risks and always hoped for the best, I would be a lot happier…” he sighed. The door behind us opened, Evangeline standing there.

“Brian, I ordered you to go. Please, do so, you need to rest,” she said with a small smile at me.

“Of course, my Princess,” I said, being careful to address her formally. After all, Zachary was not supposed to know of the events that had just happened…

“Zachary, I will now be heading to my sleeping chambers,” she told him as I walked away down the corridor. It was hard to contain my happiness from the guards who would become suspicious if they saw me acting bizarrely, but somehow I did it and got to the servant’s sleeping chamber without being questioned. Quietly, I undressed and slipped into bed, Evangeline not leaving my mind. I hardly slept, as I was too busy reliving the moment over and over again and being excited about it. Evangeline was mine!

Prince Matthew’s POV

“Prince Matthew, my King wishes to speak to you now,” a slave said after I granted him permission into my temporary sleeping quarters at Evangeline’s castle. After reporting back to Evangeline’s father last night, he had requested that I meet with him again in the morning to discuss the situation again in a bit more depth, and I was slightly nervous. I was certain that he was only going to say positive things regarding the relationship, but nonetheless, I worried in case something was not quite right for him. I followed the slave to the dining room where the King was eating breakfast alone.

“Your Highness,” I said to announce my presence. He smiled up at me and swallowed his food.

“Your Highness,” he said back cheerfully. I chuckled a little bit at how he used the formal way that fellow Kings use to address each other.

“I am not King yet,” I commented as I took a seat next to him. He passed a plate with bread on it over to me and gestured at the bowl of fresh fruit and jars of jams.

“Please, help yourself. And you will be soon. I sense that Evangeline has accepted you now, and she is behaving maturely again,” he informed me. “I think she now knows the value of this marriage to her Kingdom.”

“That is pleasing to hear,” I remarked. “I too have noticed how she is more warm around me, and I am finding that our relationship is becoming more natural, which is what she desires.”

“I think she is concerned with the consequences of this relationship not being perfected… Speaking of which, I would like to address some future plans for the continuation of you two bonding.”

“I assume that you are preparing her transportation to my Kingdom next week?”

“Yes, that will be completed today. I am certain that after spending a night at your home she will relax even more. She will further realise how much of a great Kingdom you will soon be in charge of,” the King told me and I nodded along in agreement. “I was also hoping that we could discuss more actions for after that night that will aid the relationship…” Now that was what I wished to talk about…

“What did you have in mind?” I asked slyly. I wished to do everything possible to make Evangeline completely mine.

“Well…” the King begun. As he talked, my smile grew and grew. His ideas were flawless. He really knew his daughter well, and with this help, she would be all mine… My Queen…