Summary: Arranged marriage (noun) - A marriage planned and agreed to by the families or guardians of the bride and groom, who have little or no say in the matter themselves.
After a long search for the most beautiful woman in the land, England's royal family is preparing for a momentous occasion. The King and Queen have arranged for their son, Prince Louis, to be married within a month's time to Eleanor, a young Berkshire girl, born and raised. With no choice, the Prince agrees to the arrangement and soon decides that perhaps an arranged marriage isn't so bad after all. That is, until a certain curly-haired boy is hired as Windsor Castle's new gardener.
Chapter 1:
The dinner in which Eleanor was invited by the Queen had gone extremely well and it was fair to say, that for a while, Louis was no longer worried about his upcoming marriage. Over a meal of the finest lobster in all of England, a side-salad, and a small serving of tiramisu for dessert, Eleanor had managed to charm her way into each and every Tomlinson's heart.
First, the young brunette attempted to connect with the youngest Tomlinson's seated at the table, identical twins, Phoebe and Daisy.
"I don't suppose either of you still plays with dolls, do you?" Eleanor asked, bringing a forkful of the creamy dessert to her lips.
"Oh yes! We –," Phoebe started, eyes wide as her twin cut her off.
"We love dollies! We like dressing them up and –," Daisy continued before Phoebe returned the favor.
"And combing their pretty hair!" Phoebe finished, excitedly.
"Yeah!" Daisy nodded enthusiastically and then added, "Sometimes we like to cut all of their pretty hair off!"
Phoebe giggled and Eleanor smiled. The brunette shook her head in amusement, causing her hair to sway.
"Ooh, Eleanor! Your hair is pretty just like a doll!" Phoebe shouted in awe, pointing at the chocolate brown locks.
"Phoebe, inside voices," Jay reminded her child in a much softer tone.
The twin mouthed an apology before taking another bite of her tiramisu.
Eleanor's eyes followed the interaction between the mother and daughter.
"Thank you," the young woman commented, giving Phoebe a smile of gratitude.
Suddenly, Daisy spoke up, "Can we cut it?"
Eleanor looked up from her dessert and held up her pointer finger, signaling the girl to wait until her mouth was no longer full. Swallowing, the woman looked at Phoebe in confusion. "Cut what, love?"
Daisy tugged at a strand of her thin, blonde hair and answered, "Your hair."
The brunette's eyes widened at the insanity of the question. "I'm sorry, but I've been growing my hair for a very long time," she replied kindly, offering an apologetic smile.
The twins shared a look of disappointment, sinking further into their seats. Eleanor sensed their dissatisfaction almost immediately and within seconds of noticing their pained expressions, the young woman began to feel very guilty. An awkward silence fell around the royal family and their guest, but it didn't last long.
"But!" Eleanor started, determined to turn the twins' frowns upside-down. Phoebe was the first to sneak a glance at the guest and Daisy followed suit, hope swimming in their blue eyes. "I played with dolls too, when I was around your age. If I remember correctly, I packed them into a small box and stored the box on a shelf within my closet," the brunette explained. Daisy and Phoebe perked up in their chairs.
"Now, I'd say that I'm a little old to be playing with dolls, am I right?" Eleanor asked and the twins nodded their heads, furiously. The wavy-haired woman smiled. "Would either of you be interested in my old dolls? They've got way prettier hair than me," the brown-eyed girl said, tugging at a wavy strand of her own.
"Eleanoooor, please can we have your dollies?!" Daisy pleaded, poking out her bottom lip.
Phoebe mimicked her sister's expression, joining in, "Yeah, Eleanor! Can we have your dolls pleeeeaase?"
The young woman smiled and nodded. "Of course! I'll bring them over tomorrow, how does that sound?"
"Yay!" the twins cheered.
"Girls, what do you say?" the Queen questioned, raising a brow at both Phoebe and Daisy.
"Thank you, Eleanor!" the two shouted with wide grins.
"Daisy and Phoebe Tomlinson, what did I say about using inside voices?" the Queen reprimanded, giving her children a look of disapproval.
Despite Jay's criticism, the young blondes burst into a fit of giggles and Eleanor felt herself begin to laugh as well. It wasn't long before the rest of the table erupted in soft chuckles, all except for King Troy, who appeared to be sporting the ghost of a smile.
After dessert, King Troy retired for the night, leaving Louis to drown in a sea of estrogen. The Prince remained with the woman for a few minutes, messing with each of his sisters individually and sneaking glances at his fiancee from time to time. Between play-fights, the Prince was able to pick out a few things from the conversation being held across the grand table. Apparently, Eleanor adored children, knew how to transform a pigsty into a clean room, and was undecided on whether or not she wanted to wear her hair natural or spray it with sea salt in order to "give it a little something extra" for the fast-approaching matrimony.
It wasn't until his mother and fiancee began discussing seating arrangements that the Prince decided it was his turn to retire, growing tired of the girly conversations. Though his siblings, mainly the twins, protested his departure, Eleanor and Jay simply waved him off before carrying on with their planning. He couldn't have been more thankful.
Leaves rustled as a cool, crisp breeze blew over the castle grounds and into the Prince's bedroom window. Stirring beneath his duvet, Louis' eyes opened as his sun-kissed skin was met with the morning air. He attempted to rub the sleep from his blue orbs before exhaling deeply and glancing over to his bedside table, where a clock told him that it was nearly seven o' clock a.m.
The Prince groaned, bringing his hands to his hair as he forced the fringe from his forehead. It had been three days since Eleanor had been hurled into his life and he'd been having trouble sleeping ever since.
The young woman had taken the life of royalty by storm, having already adapted to the mostly unwanted attention that the family received and had developed an almost instant connection with Louis. The King, Queen, and all of England were shocked by the speed and grace in which she molded herself into the Tomlinson family's way of living and Eleanor remained humble whenever anyone were to compliment her on that.
Despite all of the above, something within the young Prince wasn't quite alright with the idea of his arranged marriage to Eleanor and it was really starting to affect his ability to fall and stay asleep.
After a long stretch, Prince Louis stared up at the ceiling blankly as he allowed himself to worry about the upcoming event. The troubled thoughts clouded his mind, making him feel as though someone had placed cinder blocks onto both of his lungs. He bit his lip as hot tears threatened to spill onto his tanned cheeks, searching within himself for an answer as to why he was feeling this horrid about marrying someone as seemingly perfect as Eleanor.
As a single tear made its way down the majestic boy's cheek, a voice that the Prince was not familiar with traveled, just as the morning breeze had, into his bedroom window from the courtyard's gardens below.
The voice was deep, slightly raspy, and sang a song that Louis had never heard before. Trying to place a face to the voice coming from the courtyard, Louis relaxed a little before closing his eyes and listening closely.
"When you were young, you were the king of carrot flowers.
And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees,
In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet.
And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder
And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for."
Louis' brows furrowed as the beautiful voice began to grow quieter and further away and he quickly shot out of bed. When he reached the large window, the voice had faded completely as he looked out over the courtyard. Scanning the area, he noticed a basket of gardening tools placed beside an overgrown flowerbed and several clumps of grass that had been pulled up at the roots. The Prince stood in the window and waited, hoping to lay eyes on whomever's voice had put an end to Louis' tears.
Sighing, Louis began to grow impatient as more and more minutes passed and the owner of the soothing voice did not appear.
"What are you looking at?" Eleanor asked and Louis jumped.
Spinning around to face her, Louis replied, "Jesus, El! You can't sneak up on me like that!"
Eleanor giggled. She wrapped her arms around Louis' neck as she muttered, "Sorry, dear." Kissing the Prince's cheek, she smiled before peeking over his shoulder at whatever he had been looking at. "What was out there?" she asked, returning her gaze to Louis.
"Out where? Oh! Erm, nothing. I just thought I heard something, but it's gone now. So, yeah," Prince Louis finished, forcing a smile.
"Alright." Eleanor nodded in understanding, "Well, I made breakfast. Eggs Benedict is on the table and ready when you are."
Louis smiled at the gesture and pecked the brunette's lips. "Sounds delicious. I'll meet you down there, alright?"
Eleanor smiled and hurried out of the room, leaving Louis by himself. The blue-eyed boy ran a hand through his hair before turning to give the courtyard a final once-over.
Looking over the gardens, the Prince gasped as his eyes fell upon the flowerbed from before. The flowerbed, had been completely rid of the ugly weeds that once filled its soil, the clumps of grass had been removed from the area surrounding it, and the basket full of gardening tools had been moved as well. Frantically, Louis searched for someone, anyone, within the gardens and grew frustrated when no one appeared.
"Lou, are you coming down?" Eleanor called from the bottom of the stairs.
Louis frowned and shouted, "I'll be right there!"
Reluctantly, Louis tore himself from the window and moved over to his bedroom door. The smell of Eggs Benedict made his mouth water as he stepped out of his room and into the hallway. Pushing aside the nagging feeling that the mysterious voice had ignited, Louis trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he was met by a basket of gardening tools and a pair of sparkling green eyes.