Honor

Chapter Twelve: Sacrifices

The two figures that entered the garden were Princess Annie and Sir Auggie. They walked side-by-side along the winding garden path and quietly made their way towards Reva and Prince Jai.

"You don't have to do this, Annie!" Auggie's urgent whisper rang on deaf ears and Annie didn't falter for a moment. Her steps showed her determination.

"Yes, I do."

The certainty with which she spoke was like a slap in the face to Auggie.

Before Auggie could object again, they reached Prince Jai and Reva.

Jai looked stunned to see Annie again while Reva looked an odd cross between relieved and shocked. Auggie noted with a degree of satisfaction that Jai had Reva's hand in his own. The guard looked at the maidservant pointedly and allowed her to follow his gaze down to where her hand clasped the Prince's. She turned red and shook her head to indicate it wasn't what it looked like at all.

All eyes shifted back to Annie as she curtsied low before Prince Jai.

"Your Highness," she started. Her voice sounded strained to Auggie's trained ears. However, no one else noticed this even as she continued to speak, "I have thought about what you said to me before the ball and have come to the conclusion that I was wrong earlier. I agree with you now. It would be an honor to marry you."

There were audible gasps all around, the loudest of which came from Jai himself. Talk about the last thing you expected. His mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to speak.

"You...want to marry me?" The Prince asked his betrothed.

Something flashed behind Annie's eyes. Reva saw it, but couldn't guess at its meaning.

"It is my duty as the Princess of England," Annie confirmed with a forced nod.

Auggie glared at Jai, and the Prince flinched under the guard's stern gaze.

"Then, as Prince of France, it is my duty to marry you," Jai agreed sullenly.

Victory had been dangled in front of his nose and then snatched away in a cruel trick of fate.

"Shall we return to my chambers then?" Annie ordered her party in the form of a question. She and Auggie turned silently and started to move away. Reva trailed behind slightly.

Jai was forced to sigh, an action he had been doing quite a bit lately.

So much for freedom.

"It is a pleasure to see you have returned," Reva finally broke the group's silence as they made their way down a long corridor towards Annie's chambers, "We were all very worried about you, Annie."

"I missed you, Reva, but I learned something valuable while I was out," Annie told her.

"You mean besides how to lie and deceive," Auggie snapped in a tone that verged on sarcastic. Annie chose to ignore that comment and continued talking to Reva.

"I realized how good I have it here and that I shouldn't let a silly thing like who I marry throw such a turn into my life. It's selfish of me to go against the wishes of my father in such a manner."

Reva's jaw dropped.

"Marriage isn't a silly little thing!" the maidservant protested, "You can't treat this like a game, Annie! This is your life! Your future! Marriage is a commitment and whom you choose to marry could decide the fate of your country," the young woman tried to explain the importance of this decision.

Auggie didn't speak, but was inclined to agree with her.

Annie turned to glare at her maidservant, "Are you arguing with me?"

Reva visibly recoiled.

Annie saw the hurt in her friend's eyes and bowed her head in shame, "I'm sorry, Reva. That was cruel," the Princess sighed, "But this is my life and my decision. I can't fight my father forever and I'm sick of trying to carve my way in this world. It's much easier to change and do what others want. This fight is hopeless. It's over. He won, I lost."

"You only lose if you quit," Auggie muttered under his breath. He was quiet enough that he was sure Annie didn't hear him. He had made the wise decision to stay out of the rest of this particular conversation.

The procession stopped sharply as they reached the doors to Annie's chamber Arthur wasn't outside; that was very odd. Auggie opened the door for Annie and Reva.

Arthur and Joan were on the plush velvet couch that sat by the fireplace engaged in a serious lip-lock. Reva started to giggle loudly and Auggie and Annie made identical 'a-hem' noises in unison. The couple jumped away from each other. Their faces flushed into deep blushes.

"Who's your new friend, Arthur?" Auggie inquired with his trademark smirk.

"Oh, you don't know, do you?" Reva said in a soft voice, "This is Joan. She arrived from England this morning. She's here to help me with my duties."

Joan rose from the couch to approach the Princess, face still scarlet, "Your Highness," She started to bow to Annie, but Annie stopped her with a wave of her hand.

"No formalities, okay?" Annie smiled, "You can speak freely with me, and I will do the same with you, unless you are reporting back to my father, of course."

Joan shook her head vigorously.

Annie smiled brightly, "Well then, it's nice to have you with us, Joan. This is my other guard, Sir August Anderson, or Auggie, as he prefers. And I see you have already met Sir Arthur," the Princess added as Joan and Arthur blushed again, "I do hope there aren't any rules here about servants courting guards."

More blushing.

Just then, there was a knock on the chamber door; it caused both Reva and Joan to make a mad dash for it. Joan won and opened it to reveal that Prince Jai had returned. Both maidservants curtsied low and moved away to allow him space to enter the chambers.

Auggie groaned inwardly, but said nothing aloud.

Tension hung heavily in the air as everyone waited for the Prince to speak.