Chapter eighteen:
The next day when Raven made her way down to breakfast, she was delighted to find Darling waiting for her in the castleteria and the moment she saw Raven enter the catleteria Darling smiled, and waved at her joy clear in her eyes.
Seeing her smile and her joy made Raven's heart pitter patter inside her chest, she smiled back at her and returns her wave. Raven grabs her tray, gets some breakfast, she then made her way over to the table where Darling was sitting and set her tray down on the table.
Darling came to her feet and held out a Centaurea to Raven. "A Centaurea, for you my love, to represent my adoration for you."
As Darling presented her with the flower delight travelled through Raven, she placed her tray on the table, Raven accepted the flower from Darling, placed it behind her ear, then kissed her on the cheek and said to her softly. "Thank you, my Charming lady knight."
"You are most welcome my lady princess." Darling told her with sincerity as they sat down at the table together.
As they ate their food the two princesses were quite glad to have breakfast alone together today, not that they hated the other's being with them, it was just nice to have some time alone every so often.
"Oh, we have dance class-ic together today, don't we?" Darling asks Raven conversationally.
Raven nods to her and then answer the question. "Yes, we do. I look forwards to sharing a lesson with you."
"As do I." Darling told her with a warm smile on her face.
When they came towards the end of their breakfast, Darling addressed Raven. "May I walk you to your first class?"
Raven felt absolutely delighted when Darling asked her that and answered the question without any hesitation. "I'd love that."
After they had placed their trays in the correct area, Raven and Darling held hands and made their way through the school to Raven's first class of the day. When the couple reached the door of the class room, they shared a brief loving kiss. As Darling and Raven broke their kiss, they both sighed in delight and Raven said to Darling in a soft voice. "I'll see you in class later today."
"I look forwards to it." Darling assured her in a warm voice.
Raven smiled at her and then made her way into the classroom. Darling then turned away from the door and made her way towards her own first class of the day.
The moment Darling entered dance class-ic she looked around for Raven, as soon as she spotted her, talking to Apple with her back to the door. Darling quickly crossed the room, she joined Apple and Raven and gave the one she loved a wide smile.
Raven was instantly aware of Darling's appearance at her side, she returned the smile Darling had given her and then said to her. "Hello my Charming lady knight. I am very happy to see you."
"I am glad to see you as well." Darling said honestly. She took one of Raven's hands in hers, she lifted it to her lips and kissed the back of it.
Her doing this caused a light blush, coloured Raven's cheeks. Before she could say anything to Darling the teacher started the lesson. Soon Darling and Raven were holding each other close and greatly enjoying dancing a lovely complicated waltz.
"How have your classes been today?" Raven asked her conversationally.
"They went well, but I was very much looking forwards to sharing this class with you." Darling confessed to her without hesitation.
Raven smiled at her and said in turn. "I will admit that I too have been excited to share this lesson with you."
When the dance came to an end the teacher complimented their dancing and told them if they continued to practice then they would become wonderful dancers. At the end of the lesson Darling and Raven left the class room together, as they clasped hands Raven asked her. "Are you ready for lunch?"
"I am." Darling admitted.
So together Raven and Darling made their way to the castleteria, they ate lunch together, when they finished eating and Darling once again walked Raven to her next lesson, before heading to her own lessons for the afternoon.
When Raven finished her last lesson of the day, she made her way back to the door room. The moment she was in the main part of the dorm room Apple instantly came over to Raven. "I thought you'd like an update on how things are going for Saturday."
Raven gave Apple a grateful look. "You are right, I would like to hear how things are going."
"We've started to get all the decorations we will need for Darling's surprise arriving, the flowers have been confirmed to be ready for Saturday morning and I made sure Cerise knew which florist to go to. I thought you might like some music for the event, so I have set up a small music system to be set up for Saturday and I chose some gentle classic music to play in the background."
"Wow you and the others have been working hard! Thank you so much for doing all of this for me! Please pass onto those who are helping you that I am very grateful for their help. Do we have a room booked yet?" Raven asked her curiously.
Apple nodded to her. "Yes, we have the south ball room for our event. I will make sure to tell the others you thanked them for all the help."
As Raven tried to bring the room to mind, she inquired of Apple with a thoughtful tone to her voice. "Is that the ball room which is in a neo-Camelot style?"
"Yes, it is." Apple confirmed to her.
"That will be perfect!" Raven said in joy and excitement.
Apple smiled widely at Raven; she was so glad to see how happy Raven was with the room which she had chosen for the knighting and with all of the work she had been putting in to help her with this occasion.
"Does Darling suspect anything at all?" Apple asked Raven curiously.
Quickly Raven shook her head. "No, I don't think so. As far as she is concerned, we are going to meet up after lunch to go see a movie. We settled on meeting after lunch so that Darling will have plenty of time to spend with her family in the morning."."
Apple clapped her hands together joyfully. "That's great! Hopefully we can keep her from guessing anything is going on until Saturday."
"I hope we can too." Raven said, before she made her way over to her desk. Once there, Raven emptied out her school bag, she organised onto the desk what she needed to do her thronework, put away what she didn't need, Raven then packed her bag for the next day and settled down at her desk to get on with her thronework.
The next day after having breakfast with Darling, Maddie, Kitty and Apple, Raven went back to her dorm room and spent the morning working on what she wanted to say when she knighted Darling. Once Raven was sure that she was happy with what she was going to say, Raven made her way to the ballroom so that she could join Apple and the others in helping to get the south ball room ready for Saturday afternoon.
When Raven had breakfast and lunch with Darling, was very careful not to act normally, so as not to give anything away to her and instead confirmed with her the plans which they had made for Saturday.
As they talked about Saturday Raven was glad to see that Darling was very much looking forwards to their weekend together, she hoped that Darling wouldn't be upset in the change in plans and would in fact enjoy being knighted by her instead.
Raven had also noticed when she saw them through the day, that Daring and Dexter were doing their best not to give anything away to Darling as well. They were not alone, in being careful as to what they were saying to Darling, all of the students in on the surprise were all doing their best to keep it a secret from her.
At the end of the day Raven was tired but happy. She flopped down onto her bed and let out a deep sigh. "It's been so hard to keep everything secret from Darling. I really hope that she enjoys tomorrow." Raven said to Apple with a touch of nerves to her voice.
"Darling will love it!" Apple assured her in an honest voice.
"You really think so?" She asked, clearly becoming more nervous.
Quickly Apple walked over to Raven's bed, she sat down on the side of the bed and placed a hand onto one of her arms. "Raven, Darling is going love being knighted by you, please trust me on this."
Raven closed her eyes for a moment, she let out a deep shuddering breath, before saying to Apple in a slightly shaky voice. "Sorry…I'm just…A little nervous about tomorrow."
Apple, gently rubbed her hand up and down Raven's arm, doing her best to offer Raven some form of comfort. "That's understandable. Everything is organised, nothing is going to go wrong and Darling is going to love the knighting."
Slowly Raven relaxed against the bed, she let out a deep sigh, closed her eyes for a moment and calmed herself down. "It's going to be fine. Everything will go well, Darling will love the knighting, my words and the meanings of flowers I have chosen for her."
"Would it help at all if you told me what you are going to say to Darling tomorrow?" Apple asked her solicitously.
"It might." Raven said in a soft voice.
Raven sat up in bed, she took a breath, before starting to speak. "Darling Charming, my true love today it is my honour to knight you in to the order of the dragon. Doing this makes you part of an ancient order in my home the Regal realm and is recognised amongst all the other realms. By carrying this sword, you are marked out not only as a knight of the order of the dragon, but also as my knight and champion. As flowers are such an important part of our coming together, I wish to present you with the following flowers, Juniper branch stands for protection, Monk's Hood which means chivalry, Oak branches to represent bravery, Helichrysum which means I will value our love forever, Gloxinia stands for proud of spirit, Fennel represents strength, red Verbena stands for being united against evil and lastly Mahonia which means you are everything to me. Darling you are now my shield and sword, do me honour and represent me well."
"Oh Raven! That speech was wonderful! I am sure Darling will love it and the meanings of those flowers are so perfect!" Apple enthuses with delight dancing in her eyes.
Slowly Raven smiles at Apple and then slowly relaxes. "You were right, I do feel a little better now I've said what I am planning too tomorrow."
Apple gives her a pleased smile. "I am happy to hear that telling me your speech has helped you relax. Hopefully knowing we have everything ready for tomorrow will also help with your nerves."
"It does." Raven told her with a thankful look on her face.
"It's getting late and we should get some sleep, after all you want to look your best for tomorrow." Apple said, getting up from the bed and making her way across the room.
"Yes, you are right." Raven agreed, before she got ready for bed, then settled down for the night. Despite her nervousness about the next day, she was fortunately very exhausted from the day's work and soon fast asleep.
