A/N: Thank you so much for your comments and messages about the formatting. I don't know what happened but I'm hoping this works! I apologize for the wait!
Chapter 9
Time passed and Ella had never felt so happy. Days turned into weeks, turned into months, as Ella prepared for the task ahead. Kit was wonderful teacher, being so loving and patient with her as she learned about his family heritage and the history of their kingdom. Surely, she knew some of the history already, but it turned out she had many details to learn about conflicts and wars.
She was introduced to the family history of some of their most important kingdoms to surround their own, just as she was introduced to the many partners in trade. When Kit had urgent business to attend, he left it up to his most trusted staff to care for Ella's education. They were kind as they educated her in the many old traditions in the kingdom.
When the days came to an end and the sun set upon the little kingdom, dinner was always an occasion to which she looked forward. At least they both knew they would be together in the evening and having missed each other terribly during the day, they greatly enjoyed the secluded time they had for themselves.
Ella soon came to feel at home in the castle. As one of the first things, she kindly rejected the help of maids to dress and bathe. It seemed not only intimidating but also unnecessary to her that she should have help for those more private tasks. The help to clean and cook, she gratefully accepted as she realized that she would soon be much too occupied with other tasks to do that by herself.
With Alice as her lady-in-waiting, Ella soon found that she had a friend for the first time in her life. Alice would assist her with her in choosing her clothes and more importantly plan the upcoming royal wedding. It was a great comfort to Ella, to have such friendship with someone who knew her from when she was much younger. For some reason, it was important to her to have someone who knew her from the days where her father and mother were alive. Of course, she could speak to Kit about them, but as compassionate and loving as he was, he would never fully understand. Alice however, understood and Ella found that having a friend like Alice, was a greater gift than she had ever thought it to be.
Kit kept busy, feeling as if his life was almost complete. Ella was everything he had always hoped for and more. Since the first time he saw her he knew she was the one for him. He had often described the day to Ella, as the day that lightning struck him. The embers of hope had been turned into a roaring fire that still burned within him. He had sworn to himself that he would never let it die. With each day passing, it only grew in strength.
He was more than proud to see her learn and grow. It left him no doubts that she would make a wonderful Queen of their kingdom in the near future. He had come to the conclusion that the ancient tradition of royalty only marrying royalty or nobility, was beyond silly.
Ella was born as an honest country girl but her spirit and personality resembled that of a Queen. It always had. Kit could not help but think that Ella had more grace than many of the royals he had met over the years. Although she would not quite believe him, he wasted no opportunity to tell her this, just as he wasted no opportunity to spend some time alone with her.
Thus a cold morning in the early days of November, Kit surprised Ella by inviting him to join her for a walk around the castle after breakfast. Midst the preparations for their wedding, it had occurred to him that he had forgotten to arrange something very important.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked, giving his hand a gentle squeeze as they walked along the corridors of the castle.
He chuckled at the excitement in her voice: "You will see".
They turned a corner, at went up a flight of stairs to the third floor of the castle. Ella, as intrigued as ever, followed suit, merely enjoying this rare moment of light-hearted alone time with him. The past few months had flown by.
He came to a halt in front of probably the biggest doors Ella had ever seen. He knew that she had never seen this particular part of the castle before. Pulling out a set of keys from his pocket, Kit found a large golden key with a crown on top of it and inserted it into the lock of the door. The lock made a loud clicking noise as he turned the key.
A mischievous smile on his face, Kit turned around to face Ella, offering her his hand, which she took, frowning at him. He opened the doors and they walked inside.
The faint light from the slowly rising sun was the only source of light in the room. He lit some of the many candles in the room, giving her a better view of it. The room was quite a bit larger than she had first assumed it to be, when they entered it. It appeared to have been used as a living room with a lot of furniture and decorations. There was so much furniture and decoration in the room that you would practically have to climb across it to get to the door on the left.
Heavy, dark brown curtains covered the enormous windows and the room was rather dusty. It appeared deserted and a lot of the furniture looked very old and fragile. The walls were covered by large paintings of unfamiliar figures and the massive statues took up quite a lot of space, making the room feel smaller than it actually was.
The room behind the door on the left was in a circular shape and had nearly the same features as the living room, the only difference being the large bed in the far end of the room. To her delight however, Ella found the bedroom to have a balcony facing the back garden of the palace, leaving it entirely private.
"This was my father's private suite," Kit said, noticing the questionable look in her eyes.
She bit her lip, not wanting to hurt his feelings by admitting how absolutely ghastly she found the interior. As so many times before however, Kit seemed to read her mind.
"As you can tell, it could use the hand of a woman with fine taste," he said, smiling at her.
She too smiled, sighing with relief at his words; "now that you mention it, yes it really needs some attention".
"I was thinking that this could be our suite after we are married," he said, feeling as though this was certainly a suite fit for a King and his Queen.
"It has potential," she nodded, looking around, once again cringing inwardly at the decoration. It was so dark and unwelcoming.
He laughed, realizing she still had not understood him. "Ella, love, I was thinking perhaps you would like to redecorate this for us?"
She looked at him, eyes wide as she finally realized what the purpose of the walk had been. It was a gentle way of introducing her to the reality, which was soon to be, that they would be husband and wife, sharing more than responsibilities and breakfasts. It was also a way to show her that he fully trusted her to make a home for them to share.
Of course, planning the wedding and getting ready for her new role as Queen took up a lot of her time but she looked forward to this task, as it would provide her with a break from everything else and not contribute to her nerves on the wedding and the time after that.
"I would love to but on one condition," she said, a smirk spreading on her lips.
Kit looked at her, confused. "Yes?"
"That it stays my secret what this place looks like until I decide you can see it – it will be my wedding present to you," she grinned, reaching out her hand.
He chuckled and nodded, handing her the key to the suite: "As you wish my love".
He was not at all concerned. He knew she would make something spectacular out of their suite and he could not wait to see it.
