WARNING: There might be something wrong with this chapter. I mean, instead of quotation marks, it has these weird signs and symbols.I'm trying to fix it. I do apologise if that's what you're seeing.
A/N:
Hi everyone! I finally updated right? Yeah, I know. Thank you for sending in descriptions! And thanks to:
sonchika
Gemm'n2590…Yeah, I hate it when that happens!
New York Yankees
ang…Lord Gavin will appear some other time. And yes, I have a plot ready, though sadly, it's SLOWLY getting there…which isn't what I want.
turkishjones35
trulyshine
Mara
Vende ned Sere
Ilenya the fair…Um, this may seem to be a really stupid question (PLEASE don't judge me for it!)…but did Aragorn have a sister? I never knew that! Awesome! Or did you just make it up? I read all three books, but that was a long time ago.
DivineLevine
starry-eyes184
LilliannaRose…Okay, I'll say something…um…when are you going to update?!
SourJellyBeans56…You said: "Dudes with dark hair are way better than blonds!" My answer: I wouldn't know because I'm a guy…just joking!!! Hahahahaha, did I scare you? So sorry if I did! I'm in one of those weird moods. But anyway, I completely agree with you. Dark-haired guys are way better. If you go to all my stories, both on ficpress and fanfic, all my main guys have dark hair (mostly black). And sorry again for scaring you (if I did).
Pointy Objects
AuthorFairy&
Rowenhood…Are you serious? You waited for half a year and only got two chapters? (does counting with her fingers then finally gives up) Sorry about that…I'll try to keep updating more frequently.
Tamaran Girl…Hahahahaha, your review was hilarious!
cutie20
Pacem…But not like a skyscraper…that had me laughing like crazy! :)
Revi
Tallemera Rane…No, I don't hate it! I'm not the type of girl who hates, hahaha.
Untamed…Cool. I did not know that!
Currently Nameless…Wow. That was a nice description. Thanks for sending that in! And to tell you the truth, I wasn't planning on having this much romance in it…it just happened. But more adventure will certainly come later on. Anyway, don't worry, I will DEFINITELY keep my stories clean. I'm not that type of girl, if you know what I mean.
Miss Piratess
Crazayladay…You stayed up until 1 am to bowl with your friends? That's crazy! (Hence, your name…which is a lame joke, so just forget it.)
CrypticMaidenRK
francesca
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jennifer the anarchist
Belle Quest
fairypixie3
CrimsonEnchantress…I'm adding this character here. Um…I think that's all I can say. I can't reveal a lot, you know? Though I think it's already obvious what her role is.
lilsakura…Yes, I will be doing a Jerrold/Christian POV later on.
cHayE710…Okay, I'll take it out. If you still see it, remind me again, k? I'm so horrible at remembering things.
Soccergirl…Don't worry! I already had a castle scene planned way before. :)
awaiting impatient person
Shima And Tempis
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sealednectar
wonderxwoman…No, I didn't forget you! Check again. You're there. And I SWEAR I didn't change it after reading your review.
slickchick650
caronee…Awww…you like Christian more? That's challenging…for me, I mean. I somehow have to convince you to change your mind. Because you know, she does end up with Jerrold. Well, obviously…
secludeddark
It's been how many days since my last update? I don't even know. Read on…do you need a recap? Okay, basically Daria got her bracelet back and she's still confused about Jerrold (haha, what's new?). Read on…
Chapter Twenty
Just One Meeting
Daria was more than confused. She just couldn't understand why it was HIM she first thought of when her father told her the very shocking news. When she did, she was more than angry at herself. She was boiling mad.
It all started during breakfast this morning…
"Good morning," Daria greeted brightly as she at down at Lord Ormand's left side at the breakfast table. Said person responded with a fatherly grin, while Lady Gina responded with a very cheerful "Good morning."
Daria began to help herself to a good amount of bacon and eggs, then a loaf of bread. When she looked up amidst this task, she found herself looking confusedly at the thoughtful expressions on her parents' faces.
She shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Did I…er…get too much bacon?"
Lord Ormond emitted a deep chuckle. "No," he replied, a smile quirking his lips, "I was just thinking about something."
"Oh? What about?" She paused, then gave them a suspicious look. "Does it have anything to do with me?"
Her father's answer was simple. "Yes."
Daria wasn't sure if that was good or bad. But a feeling did creep inside her, telling her that it was sadly the latter. However, that was just a small, tiny, miniscule gut feeling. Perhaps she was wrong…? She certainly hoped so.
"So…um…care to enlighten me?"
Her parents exchanged looks. Then they nodded simultaneously.
"Well," Lady Gina began awkwardly, "we've been talking…and…."
Daria was about to groan in frustration when her mother trailed off like that. Come on! She was at the verge of finding out something that was supposedly BIG!
"Yes?" she said, trying to hide her impatience.
Lord Ormond spoke up. "We've been talking, Daria, and we decided to tell you that…" He paused to wipe his mouth with a napkin. Daria almost smacked herself on the forehead. However, she maintained her composure by sticking to wringing her poor napkin to death.
"And…?"
Lord Ormond smiled at her. Then he said it: "And we've decided that you should marry soon."
It was as if one hundred long years slowly passed by the moment these unbelievable words flew out of Lord Ormond's mouth. Daria sat there, entirely frozen. Her face portrayed complete shock: wide eyes and a gaping mouth, which was extremely unattractive and unladylike. (Madame Edith would have fainted.) She could hardly believe what she had just heard.
"W-what?" she said softly, disbelief etched in her voice. "You want me to marry soon?"
"Oh, Daria," Lady Gina said quickly, "we're not going to arrange a marriage for you! What we're trying to say is that you should…er…start looking. Do you understand?"
"Unless, of course, there is already someone," Lord Ormond piped up.
Here. It was during this precise moment when his face popped in Daria's mind. Daria could have sworn she jumped back a whole mile when his stupid image appeared all of the sudden…all right, maybe she wasexaggerating, but she did jump. She knew because her parents exchanged pointed looks when she did so.
"It is your job to carry on our name, Daria," Lady Gina said, breaking the intense silence. "The lineage of the Loncrars cannot stop. You need to produce an heir. Actually, heirs," she said with a grin. "I prefer heirs."
Silence.
More silence.
Silence.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock……….
And then, after what seemed like forever, Daria responded. She forced on a smile and nodded very slowly. "I see…" She paused. "…So you want me to find a husband?"
Lady Gina looked uncomfortable. "Erm…yes. Basically," she said sheepishly. "I don't want to put pressure on you, Daria, but you're sixteen! You are in the marrying age. Once you go past that, barely any of the men out there will court you. They'll consider you old."
"That's nice," Daria said dryly.
Lord Ormond cleared his throat. "So," he said, a mischievous gleam in his eye, "anyone in mind, Daria?"
The tenseness in the previous silence was nothing compared to the tenseness present at that moment. It was as if there were dangerous sparks of electricity in the air. Daria, who was the centre of attention, had her whole body stiffer than a board, and she had a dark expression on her face.
Lord Ormond cleared his throat again. "So, Daria," he said cheekily, "anyone in mind?"
It hurt a lot when Daria swallowed the lump in her throat. "No," she said hoarsely, "no one."
And that was why Daria was sitting on the boulder (where she had kissed Jerrold…but she was NOTgoing to think about that), looking at Frell with a deep and pensive frown on her face.
So now they want me to marry, she thought grimly. They want me to start LOOKING! I do not want to LOOK for a man to marry like some…predator!
"Daria?"
She jumped. She was so jumpy today. But she couldn't help it! Any feelings or thoughts connected to him made her so…edgy. And definitely confused. She hoped that it was a mere phase. She didn't want to be like this throughout her life…always feeling anxious, wondering how tense the next meeting would be. And always at the dark side, unable to understand many things.
"Jerrold," she greeted with a short nod. Her voice was void of any emotion.
"Strange how I've been getting free time now," he said as he dismounted Cerrus. "I suppose winter slows everything down." He grinned at her.
Daria frowned, wondering how he could be so laid-back. Did she not have the same effect on him, as he did on her? It just wasn't fair!
"May I sit there?" he asked, looking at the spot next to Daria.
She felt her heart skip a beat. The boulder, after all, was not that big. However, it was rude to say no, so she forcefully put on a smile and nodded. "Yes."
His lips curved into a charming smile, one that certainly would have made more than a dozen girls swoon. He very easily hoisted himself up, with Daria mentally screaming at herself not to stare like some idiot at his graceful movements.
"So," the prince began as he made himself comfortable next to an edgy Daria, "been here long?"
"Not too long," Daria replied, avoiding his eyes.
"Do you always go here?"
"Of course. It is very peaceful here."
He nodded. "I always go here. Though it is odd the way I only saw you here once."
She felt her cheeks heat up at the oh-so-casual mention of that eventful night. "Yes, well, I usually go here in the morning."
He released a soft, pleasant chuckle. "That explains it," he said. "I usually go here at night. And you're right." He grinned at her. "It is very peaceful here. I told you that I found this place when I was eleven, didn't I?"
She nodded in response. "You did."
He smiled. "It was by accident. I was very mad about something, so I decided to run away from the palace. A couple of minutes later and I somehow found myself here. I spent almost an hour, just thinking about whatever came to mind." He paused and sighed, reminiscing to that day. Daria just watched him, noticing his guarded expression. She still couldn't tell which emotions played on his face. She wondered vaguely how someone could be so closed, not knowing that she was also like that in a similar way.
He continued. "After that, I returned to the palace, knowing that they were all very frantic at my disappearance. I was right. People were running about in a disheveled and panicked state. When they caught sight of me, I could have sworn a few people almost bawled with joy."
Unexpected laughter escaped Daria's lips. Jerrold smiled and looked at her appreciatively.
"They kept a closer watch on me after that," he said with a chuckle.
She shot him a curious look. "What were you mad about?"
There was a swift and immediate change in him. The laughter in his eyes vanished in a second, replaced by that same guarded expression. Daria was surprised that such a rapid change could occur, and she instantly regretted asking that question.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down on the ground. "You don't have to answer that."
She was met with extreme silence. She felt the hairs on her arms and neck rise at the sparks of tension in the air. She could tell that his piercing eyes were on her, staring intensely.
"Daria…"
The way he said her name made her look up to him. When she did, she almost looked down again after seeing the power in eyes. They were intimidating, and she felt as if he was calculating her. He was going to be a well-respected king, she was sure of that.
"Daria," he repeated, his voice deep and quiet, "know that just because I'm a prince, doesn't mean that I'm happy."
Daria didn't dare speak when he paused after that. She wanted to know what he meant, but she didn't dare probe him. She almost decided to accept that she would never know when he continued.
"My parents are kind, forgiving, and fair," he said. "They are good rulers." His expression then turned grim. "But they are not good parents."
Daria felt herself frown at that. What exactly did he mean by that?
"They don't know me," Jerrold said. "They never did. I barely saw them when I was child because they never spent time with me. They were either away or busy. It's still the same now, I think, though my father is now spending more time with me, since I am the future king. But it is in a formal way. When he talks to me, he talks as if he's speaking to his general and not his son." He released a dry laugh. "And my brothers are going through the same thing. Only they have me to take care of them. I had no one."
Daria's reply sounded pathetic to her own ears. "I'm sorry."
He responded with a small smile. "And my mother…she saw me as nothing but a mere heir. I wasn't her son; I was just an heir."
He paused and let this all sink in. Daria was surprised. For the first time ever, she was able to understand him. His barrier was down for now, and she could actually see the pain engraved deep within him. His dark eyes, which were usually unreadable, showed years of loneliness. Years of being in isolation. She suspected that he spent most of his time alone, with teachings, obligations, and expectations being piled on his shoulders day after day, the load getting heavier and heavier after each year of being the Crown Prince.
"But I guess there is good side to this," he said with a dry tone in his voice. He looked at Daria and smiled grimly. "I have years of experience to shape me and guide me. I know what it is like to be neglected, and it is something I don't want my children to go through. So I have promised to myself that I will be a very good parent."
Daria found herself so drawn to him when he said this. Being a girl who never experienced a parent's love during the most crucial point of her life—her childhood—she felt gratitude towards him. She was grateful that he actually cared about something like that.
And because of this, she found herself telling him her story.
"I never knew my parents," she confessed quietly. "I don't even remember them."
Jerrold turned abruptly, surprised at this. Sure, she was adopted, but he had assumed that she had at least a few memories of her real parents.
"I was brought to the Delarin manor when I was two. The only person who cared for me was the cook, Afrella. And when I was old enough, I was put to work immediately, as a servant. That was all my life was about: being a servant. Working for someone."
Jerrold stared at her in shock. Here he was, complaining about his life as a prince, while Daria went through much, much more than him. At least he had some comforts. She had none whatsoever. He mentally cursed himself for being so idiotic and damn selfish.
"Daria," he began, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I…"
"It's all right," she cut in, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "You may not think so, but we went through the same thing. Having no parents and having burdens on our shoulders…it's the same, Jerrold. Only different situations."
"But you went through much more," he argued.
She shrugged. "In some ways yes, but in some ways no." She smiled, hoping that it would reassure him. "Look at it this way: I was carrying my own burden, while you were carrying the burden of Kyrria."
A heavy silence engulfed them after that. They looked on as Frell beneath them followed the day. But there, on that cliff, it was different. Time was not an element.
Then Daria spoke up. "I'm glad," she whispered.
Jerrold shot her a puzzled look. "Glad?"
She turned to him. "Yes," she said. "I'm glad for your future children." A trace of a smile graced her lips. "Because they will have a good father who will love them." She paused. "I will do the same as well. That is, if I ever get children."
"You will," he replied confidently. "And you will be a great mother."
Daria laughed at that. "Me? The girl with the short temper?"
He grinned. "Well, we all have weaknesses."
"Even the mighty Crown Prince?" she said jokingly.
He looked at her dead in the eye. "Yes," he said, a serious tone in his voice, "even the Crown Prince."
It was way past noon. Daria wasn't sure exactly how long she and Jerrold had been sitting there, but she knew it was more than two hours. Surprising how the minutes flew by so quickly. It didn't even feel as if an hour had passed.
All they did was talk. Jerrold told her of his days of mischief and pranks, and Daria told him her days with Afrella. There were a lot of laughs, but there were also grim moments as well, especially when they got to their older years, when life became more serious and demanding. Daria didn't tell him the amount of suffering she got—it was in the past, so that was where she wanted it to stay—but she did tell them that she "did a lot of hard work."
And she found herself understanding Jerrold more and more as one story went after another. She found out that he was very protective of his brothers, and as she predicted, hated his studies. Daria even got a feeling that if he had been given a choice, he would have chosen not to be the future ruler of Kyrria. However, since he didn't get a choice, he had learned to accept it.
Jerrold was also slow to anger, an opposite of her. While Daria was easily angered, Jerrold knew how to be patient. However, he also confessed that he was slow to forgive, another opposite of Daria. Daria wasn't one to hold grudges. Lady Valene and Babelle were nothing but small, distant memories to her. She no longer cared about them, no matter how much pain they gave her.
They were silent at the moment, but there was nothing uncomfortable about it. Daria was sort of used to him now. Yes, he still had that unnerving intensity in his eyes, but she decided that that was who he was.
"I have another confession to make," Jerrold said, breaking the companionable silence.
Daria raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
He nodded. "Yes."
She looked at him expectantly. But he didn't say anything for a while. He merely stared at his city, a pensive look on his face.
Finally, he spoke. "I have never talked like this before."
She frowned. "Pardon?"
He turned to her, and when he did, Daria was startled at the mixed emotions that she could see in his eyes. "I've never talked like this before," he repeated. "I've never revealed this much before. You are the first person I've truly spoken to, Daria."
Daria stilled at this. Then she found herself just gazing at him. He stared back, seemingly unperturbed by it.
Then she spoke. Her voice was quiet, almost shaky. "I've never talked like this before too," she said, a ghost of a smile creeping her lips.
Jerrold's whole face seemed to light up when she said this. He grinned charmingly at her and said, "Remember the time when you said we just don't go together? That we're too different?"
Daria chuckled. "Yes."
"Well," he said, inching forward, "you were wrong."
He then smirked and gave her an innocent kiss on the cheek. Daria was too flustered to say anything. She just watched mutely as Jerrold climbed down the boulder, untied his horse, and mounted.
"Daria?"
She gave him a questioning look. "Yes?"
"Do you remember the time when I told you about my parents wanting me to marry soon?"
She frowned in confusion. "Yes…"
He smirked, almost arrogantly. "I will visit you tomorrow, at sundown. Don't forget."
Daria just stared in surprise as she watched him ride off. It wasn't until he was long gone when she realized something: He was back. The Jerrold she first met, the smirking Jerrold, was back. That old, confident air had replaced his serious and impassive one.
Who knew that one meeting could straighten many things out? Daria was glad that she didn't run away this time. She was glad that she didn't avoid him. She could have, she could have just climbed on Ashwin and ride away, but she didn't.
And she was thankful for it.
A/N:
They're finally coming together!!! Yay! And if I get this done soon, I can start another story for Areida! Which I already mentioned before…anyway, hope you liked this. And I was just reading my previous chapters, and I must have seen a billion mistakes. So now I'm sad. Anyway, lesson of this chapter: Don't run away from problems. Hehehehe…aren't you glad this is educational? :)