Chapter 16

Engaged

Where am I? Ouch, my shoulder hurts! What happened? Sitting up, Nicholas looked around. What he saw shocked him. He was in his own room! How did I get here? Oh no! Clair? Is she okay? What happened to Jeremy? While he was thinking, I almost did not notice the door open silently. "Who is there?" he called to the person standing behind the door.

Slowly, a tiny figure wearing a flowing skirt, walked into the room. "Clair? Is that you?" Nicholas croaked as his eyes tried to focus on who was walking towards him.

"Lord Nicholas, you should be resting, not hopping around your room. Now lay down." A soft, musical voice told him.

Laughing softly to himself, he lay back in his bed. "I was only sitting up, not jumping around my room Princess. I think that of all people, you would know that." Nicholas told her jokingly.

"How many times must I tell you not to call me that?" Clair asked exasperated. "How is your shoulder feeling?" she asked sitting on the edge of his bed.

"It hurts. How did we get here?"

"We rode down here with you half falling off of your horse. We got to the first town and I got someone to help me take the arrow out of your shoulder. You had lost a lot of blood, and I did not think that I could make it all the way here without any help. The man was very nice, and he served as an escort the rest of the way. You owe your life to him. Your father has paid him handsomely for his services."

"That was nice of him to do." Nicholas said, at a loss for words. Finally, he got enough courage to ask what had been on his mind. "What happened up there? Are you okay?" he asked timidly.

Staring at him, Clair did not know what to say. In her mind, she did not want to tell him what happened, but in her heart, she wanted to spill her soul to him. "I am fine." She finally said weakly.

"No you are not. I know you well enough to know when you are lying, and you just lied to me. Please Clair, tell me what happened!" he said, sitting up in bed, ignoring her silent protests to keep him down.

"Nothing that concerns you! If you keep pestering me about it, I will not come back to check on how you are doing." Just as she said that, the door opened and a servant walked into the room.

"Please excuse my interruption, but Princess, I must ask you to please leave. The young sir needs his rest. Oh, I was told to tell you that your father and brother have just arrived. You are being summoned to join them in the library." said the servant, closing the door when she left.

"I must go. My father probably wants to pester me as to what happened, just like you have been doing. Feel better." She stood up hesitating. "Thank you. I probably owe you my life. You were very brave fighting Jeremy like you did, and coming to rescue me. I just wanted to thank you." Walking to the door and left.

Waking up, Nicholas heard a sound in the corner of his room. Listening harder, he noticed that it sounded like someone crying, so he sat up to see who it was. In the corner of his room, a girl sat on the floor with her knees pulled up under her chin. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and her skirt was spread out around her on the floor. Her head was wresting on top of her arms.

Hearing the sound of rustling sheets, the girl popped her head up to see Nicholas staring at her. "What is the matter? Clair, why are you crying?" he asked gently, getting out of bed and crossing the room to sit next to her. He stopped short, noticing something on her wrist. "What are you wearing?"

Looking at her wrist, Clair had fresh tears run down her cheeks. Nicholas quickly walked over to her and put his arms around her, pulling her into a protective hug. "Why are you crying?" he asked again.

Leaning into him, Clair tried to get a hold of herself. Finally she answered him. "This is a gift." She said indicating the chain bracelet on her wrist which had a charm on it. "It is not an ordinary gift though. It is a gift from my suitor! I am to be engaged! Oh Nick, I am too young to be engaged! I am only seventeen!" After she finished, she started to cry again, not wanting to believe what she had just said.

"Is that what your father came here to tell you about? That you are engaged?" Nicholas asked softly. She nodded her head, because she was afraid that if she said anything, she would just start crying even harder. "Did you just call me Nick?" Nicholas asked a little shocked, and feeling silly that he did not catch it right away.

Laughing a little, Clair pulled back and smiled at him. "Yes, why? Am I not aloud to call you that anymore?" she asked.

"No, of course not! It has just been a long time since you have called me that. Listen, I am sure that you will be fine. I bet that this guy is not as bad as you think he is. Did your father say when you were to get married?"

"No, and he also did not tell me who I am getting married too! I do not even know how old he is! For all I know, he could be some rich man in another country who is about to die! All my father said was that I would find out who he was when I figured out the secret of his gift, whatever that means."

"I think that you are over reacting. May I see your bracelet? The charm looks familiar, like I have seen it before." Nick asked.

"I have been thinking the same thing, but I can not figure out why, or where I would have seen it before." Clair replied, handing it to him.

Looking at the charm, Nicholas noticed that was a crack in the side. "I think that this opens! I have a small knife in my desk drawer. Will you go get it for me?" she did as he said and came back with the knife. Taking it from her, Nicholas pried open the locket. On the inside, there was an inscription. "I was right! Look, it says something, but I can not make out what it is. Maybe you could try." he said handing it back to Clair.

Clair read it and gasped staring at Nicholas. "This has to be a joke." she said. "This can not be right!"

"Well, what does it say?" he asked eagerly, his curiosity rising.

So Clair read the inscription aloud:

I'm gonna love you, for the rest of my life, I'm holding you safe here, in this heart of mine, I can't live without you, 'cause my soul would die, and know I'm telling the truth, I'll spend the rest of my life loving you. Know that I will always love your, Nick.

"I remember now! I gave you a bracelet with that charm locket for your twelfth birthday! You were wearing it the night Jeremy kidnapped you, and I remember not believing that you still had it." Nicholas said.

"I didn't know it was mine. One of the maids helping me dress for the ball said that I should wear it because it was pretty, and the girl it used to belong to left it here years ago. Wait, why would me suitor have the locket that you gave me? Or…no. It can't be!"

"What? What are you so freaked out about now?"

"You! You are my suitor! I am going to marry you! You said so yourself that your uncle gave our fathers that idea when we were little, could they have possible gone through with it? No!" Clair exclaimed in shock. "You knew, didn't you!?!"

"No! I had nothing to do with this! I swear, I did not know! Clair, calm down. You are going to hyperventilate and pass out."

"Why? I can not marry my best friend. I refuse!"

"I do not think that we have a choice Clair! An arranged marriage is pretty much set in stone, and we still don't know that I am the one that you are engaged to in the first place."

"Yes we do! You are the one that gave me this charm in the first place, so who else would have it? And no, I will not calm down because I…" Clair was rambling, obviously distressed, so before she could say anything else, Nicholas did the only thing he could think of. He kissed her.

Shocked at his sudden movement, Clair immediately shut-up. At first, she did not know what to think, but then she realized how much she actually like him, and let him kiss her. She put her arms around his neck and leaned into him as he put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

When they pulled apart, they just stared at each other. I never thought that he liked me! I thought that all those other times he kissed me was to make me shut-up! I guess I was just trying to tell myself that so I would not think that I liked him, which I do. Clair thought to herself.

At the same time, Nicholas was having thoughts of his own. I knew I liked her, but I did not know I liked her this much! This is a shock to me that she likes me back also. I guess that our fathers somehow knew, so they arranged our engagement. I think I could get used to the idea of being with her, I mean, we have been friends for a long time.