This is a Cinderella Story, but from two very different perspectives. This is for everyone who believes that it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. Please read and review.
Promises I Could Not Keep
~~~Loria~~~
My black horse was galloping through the countryside, the wind blowing through my long brown hair. The scent of magnolia blooms was in the air, as well as the mixed scent of the iris and lilacs that grew across the wild fields of flowers. Today there was just something that seemed to be in the air. Spring had come after a long hard winter, and I was ready for the joys it brought. Life had been coming out from a dark tunnel for all of us in the kingdom of Fiore.
As I reached the top of the hill, I spotted another horse by an old tree. The tree was just on the edge of a forest that bordered the royal lands. Grinning, I rode my mare right up to the other horse. This horse, was a rich chocolate color and was patient and unflappable. It could not have been more unlike its owner.
"Loria!" came a shout from above. As I turned around, my best friend dropped out of the tree he had been hiding in. "I've been waiting for you."
"I got your note," I said, holding it up. "You said that something was wrong, so I came right away." In the note, I had gotten the message that we needed to talk in the privacy of out special place. Just recently, my best friend's father had taken ill. The winter took many of the people in the capital city, the cold getting to everyone a little. I myself had gotten a bad case of sniffles when the wintry weather swept through.
My friend stood before me, looking a little worried. It made me a bit uneasy, for he never looked worried. This was the person who started the great snowball war and tumbled me down a snow drift. This was the person who I plotted practical jokes with. This was a young person whose father was dying and needed help. I didn't understand what I could do, but my best friend seemed to have something in mind.
Suddenly, he took my hand, pulling me into the woods. I knew right away where we were headed- to our special place. Deep in the woods, there was a place that we had made, just for us. When we were still young and just friends, we cleaned it up and started to work on it. By now, after 10 years of friendship, it had grown into quite the area. Both of us raced through the wood to the place where flowers grew in the rays of sun that shone down between the trees. Just beyond it, I could make out the sparkling waters of the lake and the island with its weeping willow.
By now, I was getting rather excited. Coren was acting so silly today. At last, we halted in front of the lake. He was making himself busy untying the small raft that was bound to a tree stump that we used as a stake. I walked over to the raft, getting ready to sail across the lake. "Do you want to wait until we get on the island?" I asked, teasing him about waiting to tell me for so long.
"Yeah," came the quick answer as the last knot came untied. Coren stepped onto the raft and reached out a hand to help me on. I accepted it, and he helped pull me onto the homemade raft. Wrapping an arm around me and holding onto me as we pushed off, we lingered a moment. Coren looked in my eyes and I could tell then that his news was important.
We broke apart and he began to pole across the rather shallow lake. He was always such a gentleman, doing the rowing for us. We used to share the duty equally, but he was going through a chivalrous phase, and who was I to argue about doing more of the work? I sat down on the raft, reaching down to let the sparkling silver blue water run across my hand.
"It sure is a nice day," I remarked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I guess," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's better than what we have been putting up with."
"I am glad the rain stopped," I agreed, wondering why he was being so serious. He was usually a ball of energy, going all over the place and pulling me after him. At last, we landed against the shore of the very small island. It was just big enough for the tree and a crude bench with a little room left over. I climbed off the raft up onto the shore, letting skirts drag in the dirt as I went.
"Oops," I muttered, a little too late to avoid getting dirty. Behind me, Coren was chuckling.
"You always do manage to get yourself dirty," he said with a grin, climbing off the raft and onto the shore. I helped pull him up onto the bank and he tied the raft to a tree branch.
"You're one to talk," I said. For good measure, I took a little bit of dirt and painted it in a line down his nose. He laughed, and both of us just stood there enjoying the closeness we could share out here. Both of us were truly alone, truly free. I loved watching him smile, for it happened far too rarely. Coren was rather handsome before; with his smile he was even more handsome. "You ought to smile more," I remarked.
"I know," came his answer. "You need to grin and cackle less."
"You know you don't mind my 'cackle' at all," I shot back, walking over and sitting down on the bench. We had made a bench out of a few stumps of wood and a plank we had lain across it and nailed down. It was very crude, but it worked well enough. Coren sat down beside me.
"I really don't. It's just so unladylike."
"Since when do I need to be ladylike?" I asked. He just shook his head, but I knew that I was right. I didn't need to be cultured or well mannered. My position was one of an animal keeper on the palace grounds. I spent my days brushing and feeding horses, running with the royal hounds, and playing with a royal barn full of kittens. It was not a bad job, in fact I rather enjoyed it. It gave me the freedom to do what I loved. There were times when I helped in the kitchen as well. My mother had been a cook before she died.
My parents had died a few years before of a short illness. Both had worked at the palace, just like I do now. My mother was one of the cooks and my father held the title of Royal Groom. He always knew the ways of animals, and taught me the same. I loved learning about them, never really connecting the fact that people were much like animals in many ways. One thing in particular I had learned was that the key to truly seeing someone's nature was through their eyes.
Right now, Coren's stormy blue eyes seemed to be more stormy than ever. My happy, excited mood ceased. "What's wrong?" I asked cautiously. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. That was when I knew things were going to be bad.
"I just want to hold onto this as long as I can," he said softly. I frowned, taking his hand in mine.
"We will always have this. This will always be our place. Just remember- whenever the world outside gets to be too much, come here, to our special place. I will be waiting for you," I reassured him as he lay his head on my shoulder.
"It cannot always be that way," he said miserably. "Only for now, for these last few precious moments of Spring." The finality of his tone unsettled me.
"What do you mean, only now?" I asked him. "Is something wrong?" He sat up again, taking my hands in his.
"You know that what we have is going to end someday, don't you?" he asked. That took me aback. He never talked like this before. With Coren, it was always the here and now. Our future planning went maybe as far as planning another prank on the guards at the palace.
"I don't know what you mean," I told him. "Why would it have to end? This never has to end if we don't want it to." My heart was growing more and more confused, fearing the outcome of this conversation.
"My father has announced that it's time I got married." That shocked me.
"Well then, let's get married," I said, thinking I had found the solution to that. "We're 18 and we've known each other for years and years. Why can't you just tell your father that?"
"I tried," he admitted. "Father wanted me to marry someone more..." He paused, not wanting me to hurt my feelings. "Someone else," he recovered. I hung my head. I knew what he was talking about.
"I wish you weren't a prince," I complained, leaning my head on his shoulder this time. It gave us so little freedom, so little time. No one had cared when he was a very young boy. He had been allowed to run free and practice with his wooden toy sword. It so happened that I like fencing with sticks and branches, so we made good play mates. No one thought anything of letting two small children play together. As a child, there is no class, only playmates. It was growing older that made everything worse.
Lines are always drawn when you grow up. By the time we were twelve, we were beginning to realize our differences. He was the prince of Fiore and I was just an orphaned servant girl. The entire world seemed to be against us. Still, we did what we could while they let us. Our free time could still be spent together, here in our special place. Now, his words were shattering the world we'd built together.
"You have to marry someone else? Are you going to do it?" I asked, extremely upset that his father had suggested it. "Wouldn't your father know better than to split..."
"I haven't told him about us being together," came the reply. "All I did was suggest that I marry you, someone that I sort of know. I was too afraid to tell him how much I really do care. If I did, I wouldn't be here now. He believes in the old traditions, my father."
"I know," I said softly, letting the reality of it sink in. "I know."
"I wish it were different," he told me, trying to soften the blow. "I really do, but it can't change it. All we've got is the time we have left." The tears threatened to come, but I held them back. Coren would need my strength to face this. He had always needed my strength and his to face the future he knew he had. He wasn't the type of person who really craved being a leader. Never wanting to be a figurehead, he just wanted to be normal.
With me it was the opposite. I figured that to be together, I would have to be a noble. I'd already confronted the fact that I wasn't exactly a well bred lady. My face was a bit sunburned from riding horses and my hands were rough from working in the earth. I wasn't fine and pale like a lady and I was not as graceful and elegant as a lady. Coren always protested that there was beauty in all things. He held that the way I worked in the earth outside the stable planting flowers was beauty. He told me that grace was in the way I could ride a horse across a moor, galloping into the wind and being almost at one with my black mare. I always disagreed. I haven't forgotten the one time he decided it would be funny if I went to one of the formal balls.
That had been an escapade. I ended up lapsing into a very uncultured accent and stepping on several toes before tripping over the train of the dress he stole for me. That had been so embarrassing. When I thought about it, I did not feel like facing a life of that kind of thing. I truly hated the laws and customs that bound Coren to the throne of Fiore.
"I wish things could be different," I told him. He nodded in assent.
"So do I. You have no idea how much I wish the same thing." He sighed in frustration. "It will be so hard to have to choose another when I already know who I want." The unfairness of it all was just too much.
"Why do we have to choose? Just tell your father that we are going to marry each other."
"I already tried," he told me again. No matter how many times he had to tell me, I would never accept it. I felt as if my life were on the brink now. Our lives and love were like being on this island- isolated and happy, but always having to return to the outside world where the happiness could not be.
"Is there any way at all?" I asked finally.
"I will search for one for the rest of my days," he answered. he shifter and I sat up, looking him straight in the eyes. His eyes were so sincere, and he said something that I think I have been waiting all my life to hear from him. "I promise that no matter what happens, I will love you and only you for all my life."
"And I will always love you, as long as I live and beyond."
*************************
~~~Lucian~~~
I was waiting in the market, holding onto the tiny package in my hands. People bumped me on either side, which startled me at first. I'm not much of a fan for places this crowded, but it was just about the only place we could arrange to meet. Scanning through the endless hordes of people, I searched for my target. At last, I spotted it and walked over. All around me, there were people, haggling over the costs of the wares each merchant had to sell.
"How much for that yarn?"
"Will you buy this milk?"
"Two pieces of silver and that's my final offer."
"Excuse me," came a gentle voice from behind me. "Would you buy these chickens? They've been raised on pure grain, and are all beauties, I assure you." I turned around and watched as she bargained with the merchant. "I couldn't sell for under five silver pieces of course."
"Five? What about four?" came the rough answer.
"No less than five. This particularly fine hen ought to sell for about seven pieces. That was what I was offered for it at first. The man said he could sell it for as much as sixteen silver pieces. However, I thought that I would come here to see what a fine merchant like you would give for this prize chicken."
"A chicken worth sixteen silver? Eight, then, and that's my final offer."
"Thank you sir," she said, handing him the cage with the hen in it and taking the silver he offered her. I grinned as I watched the exchange. She always appears to be such a gentle and meek young woman, but she was the best bargainer in Fiore. As she went to walk away, I saw her looking for me. Our eyes met and I began to move towards her.
"Hi, Ella," I said, my grin remaining on my face. I know I must have looked so silly, but she smiled back. She always smiled so easily, especially when we could spend time together.
"Hello Lucian. Thanks for walking me home again." I nodded and we set off through the market.
"How are you?" I asked right away. I always have to worry about her. Brushing a stray wisp of her immaculate blonde hair back, I looked at the fading bruise on her cheek.
"I'm fine. They've all managed to keep their tempers this week." She said it so nonchalantly, but I was getting truly worried.
"How can they do this to you?" I demanded, getting a little angry at those who had hurt her. "I thought they were your family."
"Step-family," she corrected. "It's all right though. They really can't control their tempers. They were never taught to control them."
"That doesn't mean they can hurt you as they please. You deserve more than that, Ella." She just shook her head like she always does. It tears me apart every time she just shrugs me off. She builds more barriers than anyone else I've ever known. On the outside, you would never guess what kind of person Ella really was.
The thing that seemed to draw me to her at first was some sort of magnetism. She is just personable and friendly. When you meet her, she makes you feel comfortable and at ease, as if you've known her for years and years even if it has only been a few minutes. Besides that, she is beautiful in ways that others can never be. Ella was gifted with thick, soft blonde hair that seems to sparkle like gold in the sunlight. Her eyes are as blue as the summer sky. Her complexion is rather amazing, for she rarely gets sunburns and has no freckles. I suppose it can be attributed to all the years she was kept inside.
"How are your stepmother and sisters?" I asked politely, trying not to let my anger at them show through in my voice.
"They are fine," she answered, just as politely. "Anastria and Decilia are terribly excited about the prince's ball in a few more days."
"It's gotten everyone excited," I said. All the young men in the city were cursing the prince right about now. Every eligible girl in the kingdom had her hopes up about the ball. Even commoners would be coming, I heard. It was a pity that the commoners would have no chance of living out 'every girl's dream.' Only nobles would even be considered for the prince's hand.
"They've already planned out what they're going to wear," Ella continued. "Verisa has commissioned two necklaces bearing the family crest to be made for them to wear." Her stepmother, Verisa, was of a noble house. She had married Ella's father, also a noble. However, in the chaos of the funeral preparations for the belated Lord Andrius, his daughter Ella was lost into the inner chambers of their mansion. Everyone outside seemed to forget her.
That was when Verisa turned her into a servant in her own home. I met her about four years after her servitude began, when we were both fourteen. She was so quiet and polite when she delivered a package to our small manor on the corner of town. I had answered the door, fortunately. She was charming and friendly, and it was getting late. I did what manners obligated me to do. I walked her home.
Since then, we've had a friendship like none I've ever had before. "Everyone's getting so nervous about this whole ball thing. Amazing how one eligible guy can create such a stir," I remarked, thinking about the situation.
"He is the prince, Lucian," she told me, a certain musical note to her voice. I know that I must have frowned a bit. She went on, though. "I suppose it would be nice to go to the ball. I haven't been to one in ever so long. They were so wonderful, too. I did love accompanying Mother and Father and dancing until I was shooed back with a nurse to go to bed." She sighed in remembrance.
My mind darted back to those days. I had attended the same balls, finding them terribly frightening. There were just too many people bustling around and asking questions of me. I must have been asked who my parents were thirty times. I always hate that. It is as if we are determined by who are parents are.
My parents are not so bad, being a minor lord and lady from a country manor. They are kind enough not to care much about what I do, as long as my education is good and my manners are proper in front of them and company. They seem to understand that there is life beyond balls and cotillions. I am ever thankful for that. If it weren't for my parent's wonderful laxness, I would not be out here walking Ella the servant girl home.
Then again, Ella really isn't a servant girl. She ought to be a fine lady, and still is despite the lack of formal title. She had the grace of a lady and the poise of one twice as wealthy as she was in reality. Years of balancing baskets of laundry lent her a grace like no other. Waltzing about and dusting was like a complicated dance. Even when she was forced to do such degrading tasks, she could make them look easy and lovely.
We continued to walk on the road to her house. She was rather quiet, only breaking her stride to stop and push a single rogue wisp of hair behind her ear. It frustrated her enormously to have her hair misbehave. To me, she had confessed it was her one proud vanity that she allowed herself. It didn't not seem overly proud to me, but then again, I believed that everything about her was beautiful.
I had told her that once, a long while ago. She laughed and threw her arms around my shoulders and told me that I was wonderful as well. We had been together almost constantly since then, walking between our houses with the excuse of some errand or another. My parents never questioned me too much. They must have accepted that what I was doing was the work of a young man in love. They were perfectly correct.
I had come to visit her once and heard her sweet voice resonating through the hall as she scrubbed the floor. Timidly, I had knocked on the door, not wanting her to stop. Her voice was sweeter than any bird's to my ears. She was like this perfect being, almost. That was why I admired her so much.
"I do wish I could go to the ball," she said with another small sigh. "It would be so wonderful, just to go to another one again. Just to be free of all their orders and tempers and everything and just be myself. How I wish I could go."
"If you want to," I said, feeling a little bit braver, "then you will. If you choose, you shall go and spend the entire night there." She looked up at me with a sparkle in her blue eyes.
"But how?"
"I will see to it. There's no point in being a lord's son if you can't do something with the title. I'll find a way to get you there." Before I knew it, she had flung her arms around me.
"Oh, thank you, Lucian. I'm ever so grateful to you."
"You can thank me later," I laughed, pleased to see her reaction. It was gratifying to be able to help her. In a way it made me feel a little bit better. "Just save a dance for me," I told her as she stepped away again.
"I will. I promise." Her smile was enough, and a dance with her would be all the thanks I wanted or needed. I knew that I was foolish to fall in love with her, but there everyone who knew Ella realized that there was just something about her. We continued on for a way, with her being abnormally quiet. The only noise that pierced the silence was the sound of her humming. I really hate awkward silences. It's so hard to figure out just what to say to interrupt it without sounding rude. Therefore, we just continued on in silence.
In my head, I was thinking of how to help her with this ball business. There were certain things that women needed for balls. I thought through the things that Mother always wore. Ella would need a dress of some sort. My mother would have that covered, of course. She was good at finding things like that. It was also fortunate that my mother had something of a soft spot for Ella, having known her parents and her present condition.
At last, she spoke up. "I'm getting close to home now, Lucian," she told me, her voice sounding a little upset.
"Oh," came my response, looking back at her. "I suppose we are getting close." Both of us paused. Usually, she would turn and go now, but now she was hesitating. Then, she spoke again.
"I want to thank you again for helping me, Lucian. It's so wonderful to have someone I can trust, someone that I know can take care of me."
"I would always take care of you," I found myself saying. I didn't know what made me so brave, but the words flew out before I could stop them. Ella just stopped, a strange light in her eyes.
"You mean that?" she asked, her voice small and quiet. There was something more to it, though. Could it be hope?
"Of course I did," I reassured her. Now that the subject had come up, I might as well be honest. "You deserve someone to care for you Ella. I know you can care for yourself, but you deserve a little help, No one should be alone in this world." She moved in closer, leaning on a fence and listened as I talked. I leaned on the fence as well, the world seeming to stop as we stood there.
"What about you?" she asked finally.
"What about me?" Now I was just confused.
"Don't you deserve someone as well? You're always so wonderful to me, Lucian, and I've been so awful to you."
"No you haven't," I objected right away. "You've been wonderful. I'm happier when I'm with you, Ella."
"Thanks you," she said again. "You really do deserve so much, Lucian. Only I know that you don't need my help to find it."
"What if I do?" I asked her, hoping I wouldn't have to come right out and say it.
"Then I will help you as much as you helped me. Promise." She smiled, a true smile. Then, she spoke again. "I would love it if you would accompany me to the ball."
"I would like that too," I finally managed to say. Still smiling, she stood up straight.
"Should I come over to your mansion, then?" she asked. "Since you will have the dress and all?"
"No," I told her. For a moment, the smile dropped and I worried that I had said the wrong thing. "I'll send a carriage for you once your stepmother and sisters leave." With that last comment, Ella threw her arms around him.
"You are wonderful, Lucian." Then, she stepped back. "Thank you for everything you've done." I just stood there, watching her go. Still, I had a question in my heart. Did she really feel for me the way I felt for her? As a young man that had long admired someone, I fervently hoped that she did. It is so easy when you are young and foolish to fall in love. It is so easy when you are in love to fall. What I fool I was, to think that happiness could last.
Promises I Could Not Keep
~~~Loria~~~
My black horse was galloping through the countryside, the wind blowing through my long brown hair. The scent of magnolia blooms was in the air, as well as the mixed scent of the iris and lilacs that grew across the wild fields of flowers. Today there was just something that seemed to be in the air. Spring had come after a long hard winter, and I was ready for the joys it brought. Life had been coming out from a dark tunnel for all of us in the kingdom of Fiore.
As I reached the top of the hill, I spotted another horse by an old tree. The tree was just on the edge of a forest that bordered the royal lands. Grinning, I rode my mare right up to the other horse. This horse, was a rich chocolate color and was patient and unflappable. It could not have been more unlike its owner.
"Loria!" came a shout from above. As I turned around, my best friend dropped out of the tree he had been hiding in. "I've been waiting for you."
"I got your note," I said, holding it up. "You said that something was wrong, so I came right away." In the note, I had gotten the message that we needed to talk in the privacy of out special place. Just recently, my best friend's father had taken ill. The winter took many of the people in the capital city, the cold getting to everyone a little. I myself had gotten a bad case of sniffles when the wintry weather swept through.
My friend stood before me, looking a little worried. It made me a bit uneasy, for he never looked worried. This was the person who started the great snowball war and tumbled me down a snow drift. This was the person who I plotted practical jokes with. This was a young person whose father was dying and needed help. I didn't understand what I could do, but my best friend seemed to have something in mind.
Suddenly, he took my hand, pulling me into the woods. I knew right away where we were headed- to our special place. Deep in the woods, there was a place that we had made, just for us. When we were still young and just friends, we cleaned it up and started to work on it. By now, after 10 years of friendship, it had grown into quite the area. Both of us raced through the wood to the place where flowers grew in the rays of sun that shone down between the trees. Just beyond it, I could make out the sparkling waters of the lake and the island with its weeping willow.
By now, I was getting rather excited. Coren was acting so silly today. At last, we halted in front of the lake. He was making himself busy untying the small raft that was bound to a tree stump that we used as a stake. I walked over to the raft, getting ready to sail across the lake. "Do you want to wait until we get on the island?" I asked, teasing him about waiting to tell me for so long.
"Yeah," came the quick answer as the last knot came untied. Coren stepped onto the raft and reached out a hand to help me on. I accepted it, and he helped pull me onto the homemade raft. Wrapping an arm around me and holding onto me as we pushed off, we lingered a moment. Coren looked in my eyes and I could tell then that his news was important.
We broke apart and he began to pole across the rather shallow lake. He was always such a gentleman, doing the rowing for us. We used to share the duty equally, but he was going through a chivalrous phase, and who was I to argue about doing more of the work? I sat down on the raft, reaching down to let the sparkling silver blue water run across my hand.
"It sure is a nice day," I remarked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I guess," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's better than what we have been putting up with."
"I am glad the rain stopped," I agreed, wondering why he was being so serious. He was usually a ball of energy, going all over the place and pulling me after him. At last, we landed against the shore of the very small island. It was just big enough for the tree and a crude bench with a little room left over. I climbed off the raft up onto the shore, letting skirts drag in the dirt as I went.
"Oops," I muttered, a little too late to avoid getting dirty. Behind me, Coren was chuckling.
"You always do manage to get yourself dirty," he said with a grin, climbing off the raft and onto the shore. I helped pull him up onto the bank and he tied the raft to a tree branch.
"You're one to talk," I said. For good measure, I took a little bit of dirt and painted it in a line down his nose. He laughed, and both of us just stood there enjoying the closeness we could share out here. Both of us were truly alone, truly free. I loved watching him smile, for it happened far too rarely. Coren was rather handsome before; with his smile he was even more handsome. "You ought to smile more," I remarked.
"I know," came his answer. "You need to grin and cackle less."
"You know you don't mind my 'cackle' at all," I shot back, walking over and sitting down on the bench. We had made a bench out of a few stumps of wood and a plank we had lain across it and nailed down. It was very crude, but it worked well enough. Coren sat down beside me.
"I really don't. It's just so unladylike."
"Since when do I need to be ladylike?" I asked. He just shook his head, but I knew that I was right. I didn't need to be cultured or well mannered. My position was one of an animal keeper on the palace grounds. I spent my days brushing and feeding horses, running with the royal hounds, and playing with a royal barn full of kittens. It was not a bad job, in fact I rather enjoyed it. It gave me the freedom to do what I loved. There were times when I helped in the kitchen as well. My mother had been a cook before she died.
My parents had died a few years before of a short illness. Both had worked at the palace, just like I do now. My mother was one of the cooks and my father held the title of Royal Groom. He always knew the ways of animals, and taught me the same. I loved learning about them, never really connecting the fact that people were much like animals in many ways. One thing in particular I had learned was that the key to truly seeing someone's nature was through their eyes.
Right now, Coren's stormy blue eyes seemed to be more stormy than ever. My happy, excited mood ceased. "What's wrong?" I asked cautiously. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. That was when I knew things were going to be bad.
"I just want to hold onto this as long as I can," he said softly. I frowned, taking his hand in mine.
"We will always have this. This will always be our place. Just remember- whenever the world outside gets to be too much, come here, to our special place. I will be waiting for you," I reassured him as he lay his head on my shoulder.
"It cannot always be that way," he said miserably. "Only for now, for these last few precious moments of Spring." The finality of his tone unsettled me.
"What do you mean, only now?" I asked him. "Is something wrong?" He sat up again, taking my hands in his.
"You know that what we have is going to end someday, don't you?" he asked. That took me aback. He never talked like this before. With Coren, it was always the here and now. Our future planning went maybe as far as planning another prank on the guards at the palace.
"I don't know what you mean," I told him. "Why would it have to end? This never has to end if we don't want it to." My heart was growing more and more confused, fearing the outcome of this conversation.
"My father has announced that it's time I got married." That shocked me.
"Well then, let's get married," I said, thinking I had found the solution to that. "We're 18 and we've known each other for years and years. Why can't you just tell your father that?"
"I tried," he admitted. "Father wanted me to marry someone more..." He paused, not wanting me to hurt my feelings. "Someone else," he recovered. I hung my head. I knew what he was talking about.
"I wish you weren't a prince," I complained, leaning my head on his shoulder this time. It gave us so little freedom, so little time. No one had cared when he was a very young boy. He had been allowed to run free and practice with his wooden toy sword. It so happened that I like fencing with sticks and branches, so we made good play mates. No one thought anything of letting two small children play together. As a child, there is no class, only playmates. It was growing older that made everything worse.
Lines are always drawn when you grow up. By the time we were twelve, we were beginning to realize our differences. He was the prince of Fiore and I was just an orphaned servant girl. The entire world seemed to be against us. Still, we did what we could while they let us. Our free time could still be spent together, here in our special place. Now, his words were shattering the world we'd built together.
"You have to marry someone else? Are you going to do it?" I asked, extremely upset that his father had suggested it. "Wouldn't your father know better than to split..."
"I haven't told him about us being together," came the reply. "All I did was suggest that I marry you, someone that I sort of know. I was too afraid to tell him how much I really do care. If I did, I wouldn't be here now. He believes in the old traditions, my father."
"I know," I said softly, letting the reality of it sink in. "I know."
"I wish it were different," he told me, trying to soften the blow. "I really do, but it can't change it. All we've got is the time we have left." The tears threatened to come, but I held them back. Coren would need my strength to face this. He had always needed my strength and his to face the future he knew he had. He wasn't the type of person who really craved being a leader. Never wanting to be a figurehead, he just wanted to be normal.
With me it was the opposite. I figured that to be together, I would have to be a noble. I'd already confronted the fact that I wasn't exactly a well bred lady. My face was a bit sunburned from riding horses and my hands were rough from working in the earth. I wasn't fine and pale like a lady and I was not as graceful and elegant as a lady. Coren always protested that there was beauty in all things. He held that the way I worked in the earth outside the stable planting flowers was beauty. He told me that grace was in the way I could ride a horse across a moor, galloping into the wind and being almost at one with my black mare. I always disagreed. I haven't forgotten the one time he decided it would be funny if I went to one of the formal balls.
That had been an escapade. I ended up lapsing into a very uncultured accent and stepping on several toes before tripping over the train of the dress he stole for me. That had been so embarrassing. When I thought about it, I did not feel like facing a life of that kind of thing. I truly hated the laws and customs that bound Coren to the throne of Fiore.
"I wish things could be different," I told him. He nodded in assent.
"So do I. You have no idea how much I wish the same thing." He sighed in frustration. "It will be so hard to have to choose another when I already know who I want." The unfairness of it all was just too much.
"Why do we have to choose? Just tell your father that we are going to marry each other."
"I already tried," he told me again. No matter how many times he had to tell me, I would never accept it. I felt as if my life were on the brink now. Our lives and love were like being on this island- isolated and happy, but always having to return to the outside world where the happiness could not be.
"Is there any way at all?" I asked finally.
"I will search for one for the rest of my days," he answered. he shifter and I sat up, looking him straight in the eyes. His eyes were so sincere, and he said something that I think I have been waiting all my life to hear from him. "I promise that no matter what happens, I will love you and only you for all my life."
"And I will always love you, as long as I live and beyond."
*************************
~~~Lucian~~~
I was waiting in the market, holding onto the tiny package in my hands. People bumped me on either side, which startled me at first. I'm not much of a fan for places this crowded, but it was just about the only place we could arrange to meet. Scanning through the endless hordes of people, I searched for my target. At last, I spotted it and walked over. All around me, there were people, haggling over the costs of the wares each merchant had to sell.
"How much for that yarn?"
"Will you buy this milk?"
"Two pieces of silver and that's my final offer."
"Excuse me," came a gentle voice from behind me. "Would you buy these chickens? They've been raised on pure grain, and are all beauties, I assure you." I turned around and watched as she bargained with the merchant. "I couldn't sell for under five silver pieces of course."
"Five? What about four?" came the rough answer.
"No less than five. This particularly fine hen ought to sell for about seven pieces. That was what I was offered for it at first. The man said he could sell it for as much as sixteen silver pieces. However, I thought that I would come here to see what a fine merchant like you would give for this prize chicken."
"A chicken worth sixteen silver? Eight, then, and that's my final offer."
"Thank you sir," she said, handing him the cage with the hen in it and taking the silver he offered her. I grinned as I watched the exchange. She always appears to be such a gentle and meek young woman, but she was the best bargainer in Fiore. As she went to walk away, I saw her looking for me. Our eyes met and I began to move towards her.
"Hi, Ella," I said, my grin remaining on my face. I know I must have looked so silly, but she smiled back. She always smiled so easily, especially when we could spend time together.
"Hello Lucian. Thanks for walking me home again." I nodded and we set off through the market.
"How are you?" I asked right away. I always have to worry about her. Brushing a stray wisp of her immaculate blonde hair back, I looked at the fading bruise on her cheek.
"I'm fine. They've all managed to keep their tempers this week." She said it so nonchalantly, but I was getting truly worried.
"How can they do this to you?" I demanded, getting a little angry at those who had hurt her. "I thought they were your family."
"Step-family," she corrected. "It's all right though. They really can't control their tempers. They were never taught to control them."
"That doesn't mean they can hurt you as they please. You deserve more than that, Ella." She just shook her head like she always does. It tears me apart every time she just shrugs me off. She builds more barriers than anyone else I've ever known. On the outside, you would never guess what kind of person Ella really was.
The thing that seemed to draw me to her at first was some sort of magnetism. She is just personable and friendly. When you meet her, she makes you feel comfortable and at ease, as if you've known her for years and years even if it has only been a few minutes. Besides that, she is beautiful in ways that others can never be. Ella was gifted with thick, soft blonde hair that seems to sparkle like gold in the sunlight. Her eyes are as blue as the summer sky. Her complexion is rather amazing, for she rarely gets sunburns and has no freckles. I suppose it can be attributed to all the years she was kept inside.
"How are your stepmother and sisters?" I asked politely, trying not to let my anger at them show through in my voice.
"They are fine," she answered, just as politely. "Anastria and Decilia are terribly excited about the prince's ball in a few more days."
"It's gotten everyone excited," I said. All the young men in the city were cursing the prince right about now. Every eligible girl in the kingdom had her hopes up about the ball. Even commoners would be coming, I heard. It was a pity that the commoners would have no chance of living out 'every girl's dream.' Only nobles would even be considered for the prince's hand.
"They've already planned out what they're going to wear," Ella continued. "Verisa has commissioned two necklaces bearing the family crest to be made for them to wear." Her stepmother, Verisa, was of a noble house. She had married Ella's father, also a noble. However, in the chaos of the funeral preparations for the belated Lord Andrius, his daughter Ella was lost into the inner chambers of their mansion. Everyone outside seemed to forget her.
That was when Verisa turned her into a servant in her own home. I met her about four years after her servitude began, when we were both fourteen. She was so quiet and polite when she delivered a package to our small manor on the corner of town. I had answered the door, fortunately. She was charming and friendly, and it was getting late. I did what manners obligated me to do. I walked her home.
Since then, we've had a friendship like none I've ever had before. "Everyone's getting so nervous about this whole ball thing. Amazing how one eligible guy can create such a stir," I remarked, thinking about the situation.
"He is the prince, Lucian," she told me, a certain musical note to her voice. I know that I must have frowned a bit. She went on, though. "I suppose it would be nice to go to the ball. I haven't been to one in ever so long. They were so wonderful, too. I did love accompanying Mother and Father and dancing until I was shooed back with a nurse to go to bed." She sighed in remembrance.
My mind darted back to those days. I had attended the same balls, finding them terribly frightening. There were just too many people bustling around and asking questions of me. I must have been asked who my parents were thirty times. I always hate that. It is as if we are determined by who are parents are.
My parents are not so bad, being a minor lord and lady from a country manor. They are kind enough not to care much about what I do, as long as my education is good and my manners are proper in front of them and company. They seem to understand that there is life beyond balls and cotillions. I am ever thankful for that. If it weren't for my parent's wonderful laxness, I would not be out here walking Ella the servant girl home.
Then again, Ella really isn't a servant girl. She ought to be a fine lady, and still is despite the lack of formal title. She had the grace of a lady and the poise of one twice as wealthy as she was in reality. Years of balancing baskets of laundry lent her a grace like no other. Waltzing about and dusting was like a complicated dance. Even when she was forced to do such degrading tasks, she could make them look easy and lovely.
We continued to walk on the road to her house. She was rather quiet, only breaking her stride to stop and push a single rogue wisp of hair behind her ear. It frustrated her enormously to have her hair misbehave. To me, she had confessed it was her one proud vanity that she allowed herself. It didn't not seem overly proud to me, but then again, I believed that everything about her was beautiful.
I had told her that once, a long while ago. She laughed and threw her arms around my shoulders and told me that I was wonderful as well. We had been together almost constantly since then, walking between our houses with the excuse of some errand or another. My parents never questioned me too much. They must have accepted that what I was doing was the work of a young man in love. They were perfectly correct.
I had come to visit her once and heard her sweet voice resonating through the hall as she scrubbed the floor. Timidly, I had knocked on the door, not wanting her to stop. Her voice was sweeter than any bird's to my ears. She was like this perfect being, almost. That was why I admired her so much.
"I do wish I could go to the ball," she said with another small sigh. "It would be so wonderful, just to go to another one again. Just to be free of all their orders and tempers and everything and just be myself. How I wish I could go."
"If you want to," I said, feeling a little bit braver, "then you will. If you choose, you shall go and spend the entire night there." She looked up at me with a sparkle in her blue eyes.
"But how?"
"I will see to it. There's no point in being a lord's son if you can't do something with the title. I'll find a way to get you there." Before I knew it, she had flung her arms around me.
"Oh, thank you, Lucian. I'm ever so grateful to you."
"You can thank me later," I laughed, pleased to see her reaction. It was gratifying to be able to help her. In a way it made me feel a little bit better. "Just save a dance for me," I told her as she stepped away again.
"I will. I promise." Her smile was enough, and a dance with her would be all the thanks I wanted or needed. I knew that I was foolish to fall in love with her, but there everyone who knew Ella realized that there was just something about her. We continued on for a way, with her being abnormally quiet. The only noise that pierced the silence was the sound of her humming. I really hate awkward silences. It's so hard to figure out just what to say to interrupt it without sounding rude. Therefore, we just continued on in silence.
In my head, I was thinking of how to help her with this ball business. There were certain things that women needed for balls. I thought through the things that Mother always wore. Ella would need a dress of some sort. My mother would have that covered, of course. She was good at finding things like that. It was also fortunate that my mother had something of a soft spot for Ella, having known her parents and her present condition.
At last, she spoke up. "I'm getting close to home now, Lucian," she told me, her voice sounding a little upset.
"Oh," came my response, looking back at her. "I suppose we are getting close." Both of us paused. Usually, she would turn and go now, but now she was hesitating. Then, she spoke again.
"I want to thank you again for helping me, Lucian. It's so wonderful to have someone I can trust, someone that I know can take care of me."
"I would always take care of you," I found myself saying. I didn't know what made me so brave, but the words flew out before I could stop them. Ella just stopped, a strange light in her eyes.
"You mean that?" she asked, her voice small and quiet. There was something more to it, though. Could it be hope?
"Of course I did," I reassured her. Now that the subject had come up, I might as well be honest. "You deserve someone to care for you Ella. I know you can care for yourself, but you deserve a little help, No one should be alone in this world." She moved in closer, leaning on a fence and listened as I talked. I leaned on the fence as well, the world seeming to stop as we stood there.
"What about you?" she asked finally.
"What about me?" Now I was just confused.
"Don't you deserve someone as well? You're always so wonderful to me, Lucian, and I've been so awful to you."
"No you haven't," I objected right away. "You've been wonderful. I'm happier when I'm with you, Ella."
"Thanks you," she said again. "You really do deserve so much, Lucian. Only I know that you don't need my help to find it."
"What if I do?" I asked her, hoping I wouldn't have to come right out and say it.
"Then I will help you as much as you helped me. Promise." She smiled, a true smile. Then, she spoke again. "I would love it if you would accompany me to the ball."
"I would like that too," I finally managed to say. Still smiling, she stood up straight.
"Should I come over to your mansion, then?" she asked. "Since you will have the dress and all?"
"No," I told her. For a moment, the smile dropped and I worried that I had said the wrong thing. "I'll send a carriage for you once your stepmother and sisters leave." With that last comment, Ella threw her arms around him.
"You are wonderful, Lucian." Then, she stepped back. "Thank you for everything you've done." I just stood there, watching her go. Still, I had a question in my heart. Did she really feel for me the way I felt for her? As a young man that had long admired someone, I fervently hoped that she did. It is so easy when you are young and foolish to fall in love. It is so easy when you are in love to fall. What I fool I was, to think that happiness could last.