Elizabeta

"You must take care of you."

I stared at Gilbert, who had just exclaimed his worries as we were waiting at the port. He had asked to privately speak to me – away from prying eyes. As if the situation was not clear enough, his eyes were mustering my face intensely, waiting for an answer.

"I will," I replied a little breathless as his staring did not cease. It was obvious that he wanted to tell me something but was too reluctant to move his mouth.

"Eliz, I-I," he said, a light shade of pink gracing his cheeks as he moved his head nervously around, looking for anyone nearby.

"Yes?" I asked, curious about his next words which did not come out of his mouth. My eyes observed him seconds after my question, before he decided to embrace me in rather rushed manner. My body was reacting on its own: I mimicked his move and hugged him back.

Weeks before, I would have never thought that I would find myself in that position. Although I had to admit that I had felt a strange connection to him the day I had danced with him in disguise of another woman. By now I knew that it was attraction and the common fate we shared: The loss of our dear mothers. I never thought that I would develop feelings for any men, but he had turned my world upside down, showed me how much he cared for me and my people. He, the kind of man who was loud, arrogant and stubborn, had won my heart. But I knew better, all these aspects of his character were not his real traits – except for the last one. It was a wall to protect himself from getting hurt; and he had let this shield down whenever I was with him.

Suddenly, he retreated and his hands moved to my coloured face – which was just as rosy as his.

"I-I really do care for you," he whispered before leaning down. I was unsure of what do to but did not want to stop it; He felt the same towards me. My pulse raced; I was in high spirits and excited.

"P-pardon my intrusion."

The both of us sprang apart immediately, after hearing the voicing apology. Upon realising that it was my father that had almost witnessed our kiss, Gilbert's face was as red as his eyes and his expression screamed mortification.

"I-I," he stuttered heavily, "N-no need to apologise."

I knew that he would have shouted or punished anyone that would have approached us, but seeing that it was the father of the woman he had affections for, his steady voice left him.

"I-I was only," he proceeded his attempt of hiding his former intentions of kissing me, "Beg your pardon dear Sir."

My father's lips were deformed. Some would say that it was a grim expression, but I knew better: He was hiding his amusement rather poorly but did not want to openly laugh at Gilbert. The Prince – who would become King in a few years – had addressed my father as someone who possessed a rank. In addition to that, he had apologised with a stuttering voice. Being caught by my father seemed to have embarrassed him in a way that caused him to beg for my father's pardon and to call him 'Sir'. If I had not been detected in this scene with Gilbert, I would have laughed too. But I felt my heart almost jump out of my body by thinking that my father had observed us.

"You are forgiven," my father commented, his grin now more than visible while his eyes wandered from Gilbert to me. I cringed when I saw his wiggling eyebrows; He was an amusing man and liked to jest but this was so embarrassing for the albino and me that I refused to smile.

"If you don't mind, Your Highness, I would like to have a word with my daughter."

"O-Of course," Gilbert answered before his eyes met mine shortly afterwards, "Take care."

He reluctantly walked away, looking back after some metres. As the distance grew, my father finally spoke.

"What an amusing fellow," he mentioned with a smirk, "and to know that a Prince has fallen in love with my beautiful daughter."

My blush from before, adorned my face again. "F-Father!" I retorted.

"Well I cannot blame him. You are the most wonderful woman in the world."

His compliment made me smile, my face relaxed and it felt as if I was a child again; only the both of us on the beach, playing with the sand. And now, we once again stood near the beach – ready to face a war instead of building sandcastles.

"Elizabeta, there is something I meant to tell you for such a long time," he suddenly admitted, his smile faltering. "I have always waited for the perfect moment to tell you, but I came to the realisation that there is never a perfect moment for such news."

Now I was curious and my questioning expression must have increased his nervousness. "There is a reason why the Borussian King accepted his son's wish of us being pardoned," he murmured before motioning me to sit down. "Liz . . . The Kingdom of Borussia is your mother's hometown."

My heart stopped for seconds. "W-What?" I whispered, stricken by this new information. My mother lived here?

"Your grandparents do still reside here," he breathed before he continued to tell me about the family I never really knew about. His eyes focussed the ground and he took my hand. "Your mother found me on the beach, before the great port was even built. I was a shipwreck and lost half of my crew after a storm that had destroyed our ship. She was such a dear woman and took care of me."

His eyes caught mine again. "I woke up in her house and was enchanted by her from the first moment on. She was generous, caring, lovely and beautiful. How could I not have fallen in love with her at first sight," my father explained with a distant look in his eyes. "Your mother later told me that she had felt the need to take care of me the moment she had found me. Her urge to help had always been present."

I was a little silent afterwards, seeing that my father was caught in his memories.

"B-but," I asked, "what about my grandparents? Did they know who you were?"

"They first did not know. Of course they understood her need to care for me after she had found me in that injured state. I stayed for several months and we came to the decision to officially declare our love for each other."

I watched my father as his expression saddened.

"Your grandmother, who worked at the castle and was the personal maid of the Queen, mentioned our courtship to the Prince's mother."

The Queen and my grandmother knew each other?

My father noticed my pounding face.

"The two of them had a close friendship and after the Queen had heard my name, she had warned your grandmother who in returned confronted me and your mother," he spoke quietly before proceeding, "The guards wanted to imprison me, which of course your mother wanted to forestall. So we decided to run away and left a letter behind for her parents."

"A letter. . ."

"Yes, she asked for forgiveness."

It was an unbelievable story and I did not know what to think of it. My father had never told me about it. I was not sure if I was angry or sad.

"Do they know about me?"

His shaking head told me more than a thousand words. My grandparents were not aware of my existence and I craved to meet them

"Why didn't you tell me?" I inquired, causing my father to scratch his head.

"I am sorry Liz, I should have told you right from the start."

Some minutes passed before a sound disrupted the silence. It was a drum that symbolised the beginning of the war; our signal to enter our ships.

"I will fight by your side, Liz," my father declared, "No harm will befall you."

"Yes," I smiled getting excited to fight along with him. Even if I forbid him to join me on the ship after that torturous experience he had witnessed on Roberts' ship, I knew I could not stop him. My father would do everything for me to save me from death. We had always been a good team during fights. "No one messes with the Héderváry family."

[A/N: The war chapters will not be that long, because I suck at writing fighting scenes :'D. I have already written the next three chapters which will follow after this but I will post them every week. I want to start another story and need some time to work on it :3. I will edit this story when it is complete; I just don't know when I will start correcting stuff, etc. (and I know there are a lot of mistakes :'D.)]

Reply to the review:

Mely-Val: Yey :D they are so lovely together :D