Chapter 7 On one condition

Will leads Lady Maria and Reyna into a comfortable sitting room where they can wait and relax without anyone disturbing them; meanwhile he would be having a few choice words with his parents.

"You should be comfortable in here for now, I need to go speak with my parents but after that I will come back." he gave them a reassuring smile even though he himself didn't really feel sure about anything right now.

After leaving the room and gently closing the door behind him Will walked as calmly as he could to where his parents no doubt awaited him after his discovery.

Upon arriving at the throne room Will knocked on the door to announce his presence before entering.

"Welcome back, I take it you had an enjoyable ride?" his mother said as he approached. It was no secret that Will preferred to go riding when he was upset or needed to think about things so would often be gone for long periods of time, his parents would have obviously known about that, he was just glad they didn't know he preferred to go to the temple as well.

"Why didn't you tell me they would be arriving so soon?" Will couldn't help the edge to his voice; he was beyond annoyed at this point.

"Oh so you did go to the gardens?" his father looked pleased, likely tea in the garden in the open air was his idea, something about the beauty of nature or something.

"You know I didn't want this even before you told me about it you knew I wouldn't like this so why did you send for them already?" Will could almost feel a migraine coming on just trying to implore his parents to understand just how against this he was. It was just so frustrating!

"Can't you just tell them that this whole thing is off and send them back home before they get upset?" he certainly was.

"Will you can't send them away now, they have only just arrived. We already talked about this, they are here until you find someone to marry." his father said.

"I never agreed to that and I am capable of finding someone on my own!" Will said feeling more frustrated than when he had left that morning. Arguing with his parents was like yelling at the sun for being too bright, nothing would change.

"I'm sure that's true but we can't afford to wait for that to happen." his mother said as reasonably as she could though Will couldn't see anything reasonable about this situation.

"Well maybe we won't have to wait that long!" he shouted feeling his aggravation rising over his parents trying to control his life as though he were completely helpless.

Both of his parents were taken aback by his outburst.

"You have found someone? Who is it?" his mother asked.

Will realized then what he had been feeling and what he had unintentionally told his parents. He groans internally, this was definitely NOT how he had wanted this to pan out. He sighed inwardly before taking a deep breath and looking directly at his parents.

"I wanted to discuss something with you aside from this whole ploy the two of you came up with to arrange my marriage. While out today I met someone, her name is Maria and she is a lady of status on the run because someone is after her life. I want to help her and told her she'd be safe here and I brought her and her guard with me to the palace, they're waiting in another room while I came to talk to you.

"I had wanted to show Lady Maria the gardens when we arrived but then I saw your guests and thought it would be better to bring the two of them inside where they could have some privacy somewhere quiet and less crowded."

Both of his parents looked stunned by his story and though they had both looked ready to interject here and there Will carried on and chose his words carefully as to keep them from interrupting and to best explain things to them. Finally he finished and let them speak.

"This Lady Maria, how old is she?" his mother asked.

"About the same age as I am." Will said.

"And someone is after the poor girl's life you say? These really are troubled times… I see no reason why she can't stay, she would definitely be safe here." his father said and Will felt himself release the breath he had been holding, he knew that his parents wouldn't turn Maria away but what with the whole arrangement going on Will wasn't sure how they would feel about an unknown girl in the palace.

"And you say that you might prefer this Maria over the other young ladies that your father and I have invited?" his mother asked.

Will couldn't help the way his pulse quickened as he thought about those beautiful eyes that had captivated him from the first glance and the way he felt so comfortable around this girl he had only just met.

"I believe so, and there's something else, the two of them had been staying at the temple but more of those that were after them had been located in the area, I felt it best to bring them back here where they would be safest, I also told the leader of the Hunters that I could send some of our best female guards over there to help protect the temple.

Both of his parents seemed concerned to learn that dangerous people were so close but seemed willing to go along with his plan.

"I'll send for Clarisse to gather a few volunteers to head over." his father said.

"Thank you." Will said feeling grateful that his parents understood the importance of this situation.

"Also we would like to meet Lady Maria, have her and her guard join us for dinner this evening, in the mean time you may show them to their rooms, all of our guests will be staying in the East wing in their own apartments." his mother said and Will felt his annoyance rising again because his parents were still insistent that the other girls still stay.

"It would be rude to send the girls away now so let us make a deal, you must get to know them and spend time with them and if you still refuse them then you may send them away. All I ask is that you give them a chance Will." his mother said and he knew there was no getting out of it so he reluctantly agreed.

"On one condition, Lady Maria is included among the girls." Will said; if he is forced to interact with his parents guests, then he should be able to spend time with Maria as well.

"Very well, we will speak more of this later at dinner." his father agreed.

With a sigh of relief Will nods his understanding and leaves to return to Maria and Reyna to let them know that they are welcome to stay.

Well I hope this was worth the wait, sorry this took so long guys, I've been really busy with both jobs and now my hours and schedule are changing so I don't know how often I can work on these but I'll give it my best!

Please let me know what you think!