Memory of You

Chapter Fifteen: Twenty

"After lunch, I have a half hour meeting with Ryan to give him the files for Charon. I think he'll be good to run the district, since his organizational skills are great and he's worked in the budgeting committee a lot."

Mark led the Queen down a long corridor, as she ran through her schedule for the day. Having dismissed five lords, she had the odious task of replacing them with leaders that wouldn't become corrupted so easily.

"Anyway, after that, I need you to meet me in my room. Okay?" She asked him.

"Sure, but why?" He asked, wondering why she was being so cryptic. Her smile told him nothing.

"You'll see." Alexandra said, as they walked.

Before he could ask any more, the castle seamstress barged in on them.

"Ah, Your Majesty! I've been looking all over for you. It's about time you came in and got fitted, you've been growing like a weed, all the hemlines of your dresses have been getting too short for you. It's embarrassing!" She said, taking hold of Alexandra's arm as she started to lead her away.

"Mrs Baker-" Alexandra started only to be interrupted. Mark watched quietly, amused at how she didn't stand a chance.

"Charlotte, please."

"Charlotte, can't I come in later?" Alexandra tried, hoping to get away. Sending Mark a plea for help, he shrugged and gave her a grin. She didn't have anything important scheduled for the next hour, so it wouldn't hurt to let her go, she had been planning to take a quick nap anyway. The glare he got in return told him she wouldn't be forgiving this in the slightest.

"Nonsense, dear. Each time I ask you to come in, you never do. This time, I'll not hear another word of it. What would your parents think of me if they saw you in these rags!"

"But I like this gown, it's new!" Alexandra protested.

"And too small already! I should have gotten you in for a fitting a while ago! Come on, now!"

Marching a sulking Alexandra away, Mark saw the seamstress turn slightly and give him a wink.

Giving her a thumbs up, he held in his laughter walking in the direction of the kitchen. So far everything was going according to plan.

Pulling out the sheets from his pocket as he opened the kitchen door, he saw Nicholas at the stove, while Sophia and Valek stood waiting for him at the table.

"Here are the lists. Step one has been accomplished. She'll be fitted for her dress, and will probably kill me later on today." He said, waving the papers as he walked over to them. Valek laughed as he heard this.

"Don't worry, dear cousin, your next. You're picking her up from Mrs. Baker's, and taking her to the meeting with the Upper House, before lunch." Mark smirked, as his cousin looked sombre at once.

"I forgot about that...damn!" Valek muttered.

"Okay, so Nicholas you are in charge of the food." Mark said, handing the chef a list. "Sophia, you'll be taking care of the decorations. Valek, you have the invites for tomorrow, and I'm stuck with babysitting." He said finally, having given out all the lists.

"Why the rush?" Nicholas asked him, as he looked over the list. "If we move it to next week, we'd have more time to prepare."

"We could, but it's a small gathering with close friends from the country and families of the Lords and Dukes. Her cousins will be there as well. The longer we take, she'll start to get suspicious." Mark explained. "She hates celebrating her birthday."

"There are days when Alex can smell secrets." Valek commented.

"And besides, her birthday is tomorrow." Mark finished. The chef nodded in understanding.

It was good to have Nicholas back from Airidia, the guard thought. The chef was able to talk some sense into the Queen, although it was quite amusing to watch the results of their pranks on each other. Perhaps there was something there, he thought, having seen the two of them together. Still, Mark thought, it felt right to have them all back together as Alexandra turned twenty.

"Everyone knows what they are doing, just make sure Alexandra doesn't hear a word of it. " He told them sternly, returning to the task at hand. They all nodded in agreement.

...

"You know its one thing to allow me to be kidnapped by the resident seamstress, but completely another to forget to pick me up after a meeting." Alexandra said, annoyed at Valek.

"I thought you knew your way back to your room." He said, a smirk forming on his face.

"You're the one who said I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without you or Mark. If you hadn't made up rules, I would not be here."

"Fine time for you to choose to follow rules, Alex." He teased her.

"Urgh, you're not funny." She said, irritated. Spotting the other guard in her room, she remembered her previous grievance. "And you! Who gave you permission to hand me off to Mrs. Baker!"

"You heard her, all your dresses were getting too short for you." He grinned. She gave up, the two of them were enough to drive her crazy.

"Well, fine, then I'm not taking either of you with me now." She told them just to bother them, haughtily going in to her room and grabbing a warm cloak from her closet, she took out a plain looking dress. Heading to the bathroom, she closed the door and changed, leaving them both to stew.

As Alexandra got out to leave, she found both of them blocking the door. Why didn't I just silently leave when I had the chance? She asked, mentally kicking herself. There were times when she knew it would be better to keep her mouth shut.

"Where do you think you're going Lexie?" They asked her, giving her the unnerving stare she was so used to.

"No where..." She tried. "Okay...fine...I'm going in to town. I wanted to see how things were...and stuff."

"What stuff, Alex?" Valek asked.

"Would it kill you to let me go into town to buy some things?" She asked, giving up any pretense. She had originally planned to tell them, but the events of the morning had made her a little less sharing.

"Maybe." Mark answered. "I'm going with you. You know it, so don't argue."

Taking her hand, he led her out of the room, with Valek grinning at her. Alexandra scowled.

"Pointless argument, Lexie." Mark said to her, over his shoulder.

"You let me get kidnapped and he turned up late, forgive me if I'm less than happy to tell you where I'm going."

"You're forgiven. Now why are we going in to town?" Mark said ignoring her sarcasm, looking over at her questioningly.

Exasperated, she sighed, as he led them to his own room.

"I just wanted to go outside for a little while." Alexandra told him. Since David's dismissal, she felt lighter and more sure of herself. She just wanted to go outside and get some fresh air. His departure made her feel like she was starting a new chapter.

She watched as he opened his closet, pulling off his uniform jacket as he pulled out a plain one. Standing before her in a black sleeveless shirt, Alexandra turned around afraid that he would undress further in her presence; she had found herself in the same position one too many times in the past few days.

"You could have told me you were going to change." She muttered.

"And miss seeing that face? Not likely, love." He teased her. She shook her head, with annoyance.

"You can look now. I'm done." He told her, Alexandra turned around.

Mark was pulling on a black cloak, which hid the chain and hilt of his sword, over top of a deep blue jacket, he pulled on his hood. Walking over to her, he pulled the hood of Alexandra's cloak over her head.

"Let's go."

Following him out of the castle, she breathed in the cold crisp fresh air.

"So where to first?" Mark asked her, as they started down the path leading in to town.

"The bakery!"

"That was a given, but after that?" Alexandra pushed him away for the comment.

"I don't know. A little bit of window shopping, I guess!" She said, already happy to be out of the castle. "Who cares? I finally have some time to look around!"

...

"Done, Nick?"

Looking up to find his sister coming over, he nodded.

"Yes, I'm finished." He told her. Though they had started talking, he still felt a bit awkward around his own sister. He still couldn't fathom how his baby sister had let David snake his way in to her bed. Shoving the revolting thoughts into a corner, Nicholas pushed the last of the pastries in to the oven.

Occupying himself with cleaning up the counter, Nicholas avoided meeting her eyes. He was unsure of how to start up a conversation. As the silence prolonged, he heard Sophia tapping her foot. She must have felt the same.

"Err...Nick...I know its been weird between us...but I really am sorry."

"I know..." He mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

"I get that I hurt you, I really didn't mean too. Can we please go back to the way things were?" She pleaded with him.

Finally looking at her, he saw the misery in her eyes. It was the first time in a long time that they were going through a rough patch, and she looked as though she had no idea how to resolve it.

"As much as I want to go back to how things were, I don't know how, right now." Nicholas said, honestly. He saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "It's going to take some time, Soph."

"I don't want you to be angry with me, anymore." Sophia's voice quivered.

"I'm not...I'm just frustrated that you felt you couldn't confide in me when that happened. I was right there, Sophia. I hadn't even left for Airidia then. I know why you wouldn't tell Mom and Dad, but why not tell me?" He asked, the question had been burning a hole in him since her confession.

"I didn't want to disappoint you." She told him.

"I understand that...but you need to give me some time..."

"How much time?" She asked with a watery smile.

Unable to help himself, Nicholas chuckled. He was about to say something when the kitchen doors opened.

"Okay you two? We need to get everything set up...Alex is gone for a couple of hours." Valek swept in to the room, unannounced.

"We're fine. Where did she get off to?" Nicholas asked, since Mark wasn't with them, it was obvious the guard had been tasked to watch over her.

"She wanted to go in to town for a little while, so Mark went with her." Valek told him, before turning to Sophia.

"Did you get all the decorations?"

"Yes. I put them under the tapestries in the throne room." She told the guard.

"All right then, let's go. We only have a short window of time to get it all done."

Nicholas and Sophia followed Valek out of the kitchen.

...

"What is this meeting about exactly?" Alexandra asked, as Valek and Mark led her to the throne room. Having been forcibly dressed into the new creation Mrs. Baker had sent over that morning, Alexandra had been racking her brain trying to think of what official event she had forgotten. Her deep blue gown with a silver chain in the middle swept behind her, the rustling skirts starting to annoy her. Though she had immediately loved the elegant dress, the thought of walking in to the unknown was bothering her a great deal.

"The Lords and Dukes wanted to discuss some matters with you." Valek told her, not expanding on the line he had said at least three times before.

"Can you be any more vague?" She asked, annoyed.

"Relax, Lexie. You'll see in a minute." Mark told her with a grin.

That's not reassuring, this can't be good, she thought to herself. When the two of them knew something she didn't, it meant she definitely wasn't going to like it.

Reaching the Throne Room doors, the two guards turned to face her.

"Ready?" They asked her mischievously.

"For what, exactly?" She asked, panicked.

Slowly, Valek and Mark opened the double doors.

"Happy birthday, your Majesty!" A jumble of voices shouted.

Walking in to the room stunned, she was met with happy faces of some of the country men, the guards, the Lords and Dukes along with their families; and to complete the picture she spotted her cousins, aunts and uncles, and other relatives. Sophia and Nicholas were among the crowd as well, smiling at her surprise.

"Thank you." She said, feeling humbled. "I'm honored you all remembered...even though I didn't..."

They collectively laughed at that, making her smile. The last several weeks had kept her busy enough not to remember her birthday was coming up. Not a big fan of celebrating, especially when she'd be the center of attention, Alexandra had always tried to steer clear of gatherings.

"It means a lot to me that you all came." She told them. "I hope you enjoy your evening."

The crowd clapped, as her guards led her to the long table set up in a corner of the Throne Room, space had been cleared and she noticed the music playing around them, spotting a few couples dancing.

"To think you'd have caught on by now that we surprise you regularly once a year." Valek smirked as the two guards walked with her.

"It's not my fault, I'm always surprisingly busy right up to my birthday. It's like you two plan to keep me so busy that I forget." She countered, smiling.

"Not at all, Alex. We just get lucky." Mark told her, with a grin.

"I'll remember next year." Alexandra told them.

"You've said that the last two- make that three- years now." Valek snickered.

Taking her seat, she saw Nicholas and Sophia come over. Amazed at the work they put into the party, she felt slightly embarrassed.

"Now before you go on saying how you didn't deserve this and other such nonsense, we just want to wish you a happy twentieth birthday!" Sophia stole the words from her. "May you have many more!"

Her best friend took a seat beside her, while Nicholas sat across from her.

"Thank you, so much." Alexandra said earnestly, a lump forming in her throat. "It really does mean a lot."

To keep herself from showing those emotions, Alexandra said the only thing she could think of.

"Does this mean you made a chocolate cake for me?" She asked Nicholas.

It had the right effect, the others laughed, as she composed herself.

"It does, indeed." He smiled at her.

"Save our seats, Nick; We'll be back after we get everyone seated." With that the guards left.

This time, she carefully looked at who had come. Her relatives were taking their seats, each of them happily chatting away, The Lords and Dukes seemed relaxed as they sat down with their families. She was so used to seeing them with tension written across their faces, that at times like this it made her realize how they were all normal just like everyone else. Then there were the families from around her country that had been invited, those she knew personally. There were those whose sons or daughters were doctors or teachers and at her request treated or taught the helpless free of charge; while some families belonged to some of her best guards, and then there were those families who she had tried to help, but had lost a family member.

As dinner was served, Alexandra picked up pieces of conversations going on around her. The jubilant atmosphere was infectious, and the food Nicholas and his staff had prepared was delicious.

As she happily bit into a bread roll, a clinking sound caught her attention.

Valek and Mark stood at the head of the table with glasses of cider raised.

"Before we get to the best part of the night - " Valek started.

"Which includes dessert and dancing!" Mark cut in, with the guests chuckling. Alexandra shook her head at the thinly veiled jibe, Mark caught her eye and unable to help herself, she grinned.

"We would just like to toast to Her Majesty Alexandra, the Queen of our great country of Seraphine. May you live a long, healthy, and joyous life. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" The crowd said together with enthusiasm, clinking their glasses with one another. She smiled as they drank, no matter how hard it was at times to take care of the country; it was moments like these that showed her how much it was worth it.

"And now...for dessert!" Mark told them.

From the corner of the room, Alexandra spotted several of the kitchen staff bringing in cakes, but the one headed towards her was lit with candles.

Nicholas carried a large chocolate cake and placed it in front of her, the candles casting a soft glow.

"Make a wish, and blow them out." He told her with a smile, his grey eyes shone with warmth.

Not entirely sure what to wish for, Alexandra took a deep breath and blew out every last candle. The others clapped, as she sliced the cake.

"So what did you wish for?" Sophia asked her, as she placed a slice in her plate; before placing one in her own.

"If I told you, it wouldn't come true." Alexandra said, coyly.

"I highly doubt that you believe in these things."

"I don't, but just to be on the safe side." She said, as Sophia snickered. Music played softly around them, as Alexandra savored her piece of cake.

As people around them started to finish dessert, several got up and started to dance. Soon the table was empty with the exception of Alexandra, Mark, and Valek sitting there. The lights dimming, as they watched the crowd dancing and swaying to the music.

"Ready to meet and greet, or are you planning to stay with the cake?" Valek asked her, a smirk on his face.

"Funny..." She snickered, getting up. "Let's go."

As the night wore on, Alexandra found herself dancing with her guests and profusely thanking them for coming. From the corner of her eye she saw Nicholas dancing with one of the girls from town. I wish that was me, she was unable to stop herself from thinking. Feeling horrified at her own thoughts, she looked away.

It was late into the night when she said farewell to the last of her guests. As the Throne Room doors closed, she walked back to the table and sat down, her feet tired. Around her Mark and Valek were discussing something, as Nicholas and Sophia along with Nicholas' staff cleared the last of the plates from the table.

"Sophia, you can go to bed. We'll take down the decorations early tomorrow morning." Valek told her friend.

"Thanks, I was starting to feel a bit tired!" Sophia said cheerfully, before coming over to Alexandra.

"Happy Birthday, again, Alex." She said, giving the Queen a hug.

"Thanks. Good night, Soph."

"Good night. See you all tomorrow! 'Night Nick." She said, walking out.

"'Night Sophie." Nicholas called after her.

Mark and Valek walked towards her, having closed the doors behind Sophia.

"So, I have a few guests to escort home. Mark is going to be making rounds and checking your room...which leaves you with Nicholas to open presents." Valek told her.

"Presents?" Alexandra asked with a start. "I thought I told you not to let them bring anything the last few times you did this!"

"We put the 'no present' thing on the invitation, and I even told them...but they ignore it." Valek answered.

"Sophia will be taking down the names and what they got you tomorrow, so that you can write them a thank you note. It's up to you what you decide to do with them." Mark told her.

"Okay..." She said.

"Nick! She's under your supervision. I'll be back soon to take her." Mark called out, as the two cousins started to walk out of the room.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her." The chef called back.

She heard a lock click in to place. Leave it to them to lock me away, she thought. Looking around she saw that it was just her and the chef.

Getting up she walked over to the small table of presents. Her people were too kind to do something like this. Fingering a small box, one with the crest of one of her cousins, she heard footsteps walk over to her.

"You seem to be quite dear to them." He smiled, his voice quiet and calm.

"Their love means a lot to me, I'm glad my country has a lot of open hearted people." She agreed. "I don't think I'd be here if they didn't like me."

They were quiet. Alexandra stole a quick peek, he was dressed in formal attire. The jewel-encrusted hilt of his father's sword glimmered in the dim light.

"So, did you enjoy yourself, Highness?"

"I did. It was a lovely evening." She smiled.

"And the cake, Lex?" Nicholas asked with a grin.

"You outdid yourself...it looked as good as it tasted. I'll be happy for breakfast tomorrow." He laughed at her response.

Silence settled over them, and she could remember the opportunity she missed.

"There's just one thing..." Nicholas said, looking at her, before she could speak.

"What?" She wondered.

"I didn't get a chance to dance with you."

Unable to control herself, she felt her heart skip a beat. So he had missed it too...

"Maybe next time?" Alexandra said, quietly.

"Why not now?" He asked, surprising her.

"Well...there isn't any music..."

"So, we can make our own." He offered his hand.

Shocked at her lack of hesitation, she took hold of his hand, as he led her to the center of the room.

Humming as they started to move, he kept her close as they danced. Alexandra could feel her heart racing when he drew her close. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Nicholas' grey eyes gazed into hers, and all she could feel was warmth.

Leaning over so that their foreheads touched, he smiled at her. He drew her closer to him, and Alexandra was sure he could hear her erratic heart beat. She hadn't noticed that they had stopped going through the motions of the dance, instead they stood still, their faces inches apart.

"Happy birthday, Lex." Nicholas said softly, his arms encircling her waist.

Before she could make the first move, his lips were on hers. The sweet sensation of it caused a pleasant current to run through her, before she realized she had gotten what she had wished for.