As I gazed down the stone pathway for Francis to make an appearance beside his parents, it was Kenna's tap on my shoulder that alerted me to the lone figure striding across the lush lawn toward us. My breath caught in my throat as Francis drew nearer.
He was strikingly handsome. His sun kissed curls were as unruly as I imagined them to be. They framed his face like a fluffy halo, and brushed the collar of the leather coat he wore. The boyish features I remembered so fondly had developed into rugged ones. A day's growth of stubble ran along his jawline, and a mustache hid his upper lip.
Francis was clothed from head to toe in black, save for the white lace shirt beneath his jacket, and his clothing molded nicely to his lithe frame. He walked with a catlike grace that reminded me of a tiger I'd seen once when I was a small child.
As he came to a stop a few feet away from me, I saw that his eyes were no longer the color of a Loch after a heavy rain, but the deep sapphire of a rare gem.
A moments passed, and then another went by, before I realized Francis was waiting for me to acknowledge him. I felt my cheeks warm with embarrassment. I smiled at him and I was rewarded with a broad one in return.
"Your Grace."
"Oh please, call me Mary."
"Francis."
"The castle looks so much bigger than I remembered. Was it always so big?" I asked not bothering to wait for an answer before I was rambling on about how tall Francis was and how much I had hated his long legs when we were children, but that they suited him now.
I heard giggling behind me and felt my face grow even warmer than it already was. Francis smiled at me again, this time in reassurance. In this smile, I caught a glimmer of my former playmate, and felt my nervousness fade completely away.
"Shall we?"
Francis gestured toward the pathway. I nodded. We fell into step beside one another and started down it toward where his parents awaited us. As we walked down it, I was aware that with each step I took, that I was drawing closer to an unknown future. Oddly enough, I didn't feel scared anymore. With Francis beside me, I was ready to face whatever Fate had in store for us.