Part One

Roderick had not been exaggerating when he warned her of his work regime. Five hundred years worth of history seemed daunting when Sae was first informed of the task, and once they actually commenced with the revision, the looming mountain of historical accounts seemed to place an invisible weight on her cowering shoulders; she was feeling the pressure.

"Couldn't you give me any further hints about the test?" She sighed. After two days of studying she found herself slumped forward in her seat, her arm and chin resting sluggishly over a dusty worn book, it's leather covering completely tarnished.

"I have told you everything I could, Lady Sae, as you well know." His mouth barely moved and he didn't look up at her, as he spoke from the other side of his desk.

He was looking over some indecipherable paperwork for palace matters. She was impressed how he could keep concentration and still answer all the insignificant questions she was throwing at him. It was becoming an amusement for her a now, a way of avoiding the moment when she'd have to stop resting on the text and carry on with reading.

"Then you couldn't, for example, tell me how many questions I will be asked?" She added.

"There is no specific number. It will go on either until you get three wrong or until the Queen decides to step in and end it, making you successful of the first task."

"Then, it could go on forever?" Sae lifted her head from the book and looked at him in dismay.

"That," he answered after a pause, his eyes still glancing over the paper in front of him, "depends on how much the Queen likes you, to be frank. You have been dining with her every day since you arrived here. If from what she has gathered she likes, she won't wait too long before ending it, thus helping you succeed. Similarly," here he paused and Sae wondered wryly if he was trying to be dramatic, even if he used such a dry, bored tone, "if she does not favour you, she may keep it going until you answer three wrong, ensuring you lose."

"Roderick!" Sae slammed her hands down and a cloud of dust sprang forth. "Why have you kept that information from me? You should have told me that when you informed me of the task. I've wasted so many chances. I've dined with her so many times since then."

"What's this? Are you saying you haven't already been the most agreeable you could with her highness?"

She bit her lip. "No…no, I have been. Alright, I guess that's true then, I have been as obliging as I could be with her. There's not much more I could do to bend over backwards for the Queen of my country."

"Lady Sae…how about you put off thoughts of buttering up the Queen for now and instead concentrate on extracting the information from the text in front of you?"

"Roderick, I told you to call me Sae, just Sae. I've convinced his highness and my lady's maids, except for Beda that is, to call me Sae."

Here he surprised her by looking up from his paperwork and focusing his eyes on hers. "Stop eluding your revision Lady Sae, and get back to work. In a quarter of an hour I'm going to quiz you on that manuscript."

Having his full attention on her, Sae immediately looked back down at her book and resumed reading. She had fifteen minutes and the outlook was not good.

Her ladies-in-waiting helped Sae out best they could during the evening when she was expected to review everything she had learned from the day. Alesia had a sharp mind and Phèlie a good memory. Even Beda was quite knowledgeable and always seemed to know an obscure fact when the rest of them couldn't remember what it was and where they had read it from. Every morning the ladies would put her volumes of books into piles depending on which she had already read, which she would be needing for the day, and which she would read later on. The Royal Advisor had been quite helpful in allowing her to take the books from his personal study back up to her quarters for further study, with the exception of five specific books filled with a complete account of the last five hundred years that he insisted stayed in his study. She had to read them in his study during the afternoons.

After the first couple of days Sae became quite familiar with the warm tones of the study, the large smooth desk she sat by and the walls of books. She tried not to longingly look out the stain glass window with the clear side panels, which showed a peek of the tempting strawberry fields. They would be there for her after the first task. One thing she could not become accustomed to however was the presence of the Royal Advisor. Was it his chilling sapphire eyes, or his cold, dry demeanour that made her more restless? Whether it was either or both, or even more than that, she could not sit there and relax the same way she could at home, or in her quarters with her lady's maids. When he wasn't quizzing her, or asking her to repeat the last passage she has just read and explain it, he just sat there on the other side of his desk, going over his paperwork. Always busy, always getting things done and taking charge as an advisor to the future king of the country. She wondered if he was happy with his life, or perhaps a little depressed.

These were the thoughts that were on her mind the evening before the test as she stared into space, a neglected book on her lap.

"Sae, stop doing that." Alesia's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Doing…what?" She mumbled, looking to her left.

She was sitting her on bed with the book she was supposed to be reviewing resting her on crossed legs, which were covered by her nightgown. All four of her lady's maids and Mayah stood around her bed.

"You keep blanking out milady, you have got to concentrate for the test tomorrow." Beda answered, her voice dripping with disproval.

"Right. Right…." Sae nodded, looking back down at her book in defeat.

"I've come to see how you are doing Sae." Mayah said warmly. "I've also brought you some warm milk and honey. You mustn't stay up too late though, rest is important for your brain."

"Yes, thank you." Sae smiled, accepting the chalice.

"It is getting on in the evening, so I think you should all leave her to sleep now." Mayah continued, turning to Sae's ladies-in-waiting.

"Alright…" Phèlie said, reluctantly, "just remember to go over the War of 1428 Sae, you seem to forget a lot of things from that one."

"And don't forget the Great Nimbada either," Alesia added.

"And Gali the Grave and his reign, you always forget him in the ruler timeline." Beda added with a murmur.

"Alright, out with you all now before you give the poor girl more things to worry about when she needs her rest most." Mayah said, shooing them out the door.

Once the room was cleared of lady's maids Mayah sat on the edge of her bed and said, "Listen Sae. I have every faith that you will pass tomorrow's test. You chose the best assistant in the palace for this task, and your ladies-in-waiting care enough about you to have really helped you out these past days." Her eyes glinted knowingly a moment later. "I also happen to have it that the Queen has taken a liking to you."

"She has? Really?"

"Really." Mayah grinned. "So rest my dear. Not that looking up those three points your maids mentioned wouldn't hurt, but just a glance through. You should not be up for another hour when you can always continue tomorrow morning. The task is not until noon, after all."

Once Mayah left Sae did her best to commence studying, but after half an hour she blew out her candle and waited for sleep to claim her. Only, her anxiety did not make this an easy task either. Regardless, she did eventually find sleep, and woke up before dawn to proceed with her studying. Roderick had quizzed her for the final time the late afternoon before, so for the remainder of the morning she had nothing to do but cram into her head what she could and hope there was room for it all.

Noon seemed to come sooner than she expected. She arrived promptly in the throne room, and was taken aback by the number of people there. Though it seemed silly now, she had envisioned the task involving herself, the Queen as the judge and a third faceless servant asking the questions in an empty throne room. Much to her surprise she realized most of the palace residence was now waiting patiently for the test to begin. She spotted her lady's maids all sitting together, a group of knights including Sir Lisario near them, more servants and servant children all looking curiously at her. Even Condor the Stable boy and his fellow stable workers had shown up, and next to him sat the palace brats Con and Wit, both looking like they were getting ready to see something entertaining.

On the throne sat the Queen, next to her the crown prince Sevastian, and on the other side Prince Fabian. Roderick stood near them with bunched up scrolls in arms and with a lifting feeling Sae realized he would be the one testing her in front of everyone as the Queen judged. Then perhaps he would go easy, would choose questions he knew she'd get right? Was this why all those other girls who chose him were successful? Then she caught his eye and from the cool, unfeeling look she intercepted from him she realized he was not going to go easy on her.

"I now call for silence." Said the Queen in her misty voice, rising from her throne. "The test will now begin. I ask not a word is said from this point on, save the questioner, the contender and myself. Not a word from any other soul until the task had ended."

She then turned to Sae and gestured to the vacant gold chair not far from her. "Please, be seated."

Sae did as she was told, and Roderick placed himself by a podium off to the side. "I shall now begin the questioning." He declared, clearing his throat. "Lady Sae, please name the year and village in which the Red Ambush took place."

Sae bit her lip. This was familiar of course…she had a sinking feeling that every question she was about to be asked would seem familiar to her…but could she actually remember the answers to them? The Red Ambush…something clicked in her mind when she realized he had just said, "which village". This was a hint he was giving her. He had told her during one of their study sessions that in the earlier days they had categorized events by village, but in the past three hundred years they no longer deciphered by village but broke up the country into four main regions, the north, south, east and west, especially since most of the old villages had merged with others to form bigger regions of the country. Then she remembered how he had told her of the ways villages used to associate themselves with colour. But wait, that meant—

"Wasn't the Lei Pon village associated with the colour red?" She asked dumbly. "Is it Lei Pon?"

Roderick gave a quick nod. "You must now answer which year it took place in order to get the question right."

Lei Pon…she knew it was a village that no longer existed. It had merged with the surrounding villages in the west back in the 1500's. Besides that, she hadn't ever heard of it…besides some little snippet about it in the 1300's, 1357 to be exact because of some uprising. Wait, hold on—

"The Red Ambush," she said, her voice suddenly confident, "took place in the Lei Pon village in 1357."

"Correct."

She felt such a wave of relief that the next question caught her off guard again. "Who was the reigning sovereign during the Marsh Draught?"

It had been one of those few times in Fu Naru's history in which the natural disaster has plagued the land. Something in her mind told her that the ruler was a decent one who made due with what they could for their people during those hard times. She remembered picturing herself as the ruler, as that Queen. Her memory was slowly coming back to her. It was a Queen who dealt with it, one with a sickly husband similar to the present Queen, and no heirs to carry on, though when her husband recovered from his sickness months later she would soon become the mother to a future ruler of Fu Naru.

"Queen Bultina." Sae said without thinking. Thankfully though, she was right.

And so the questions continued. Sae wasn't doing too badly at first. She took her time with most of them, some of them really stumped her but once she got her mind working the answers just seemed to spring from her lips. It must have been all of Roderick's great tutoring she realized, as she answered a particularly difficult question.

And then she got the next one wrong. Though no one uttered a word she could hear the general intake of breath all around her when Roderick said, "that is incorrect."

Confidence breaking, she struggled with the next set of five questions, wondering how many he was going to ask before she either lost or the Queen called it off.

Then when he asked for the cause of the Cross Resistance of 1689 and she fumbled on that question she really began to lose hope. One last shot, she realized. One more mistake and I lose the first task.

She looked at Roderick as he began to ask her another question. How could he look so uncaring she wondered. He had been the one to train her, if she lost wouldn't that reflect poorly on him. Didn't he want her to win?

She got her answer when his next question was, "Name the dates ruled by his late majesty, King Archibald the fifth."

She couldn't help but smile. Almost everyone in the kingdom knew that. After all, Archibald was Prince Sevastian's Grandfather, the current king's father, and he was famous throughout the land for being one of the greatest kings. His death decades ago was a very big deal in the kingdom.

"He reigned from 1721 to 1754, and his reign was known as the Age of Brilliance."

Roderick said, "correct" and Sae could have sworn she saw his mouth curve slightly upwards.

"That is enough." The Queen said suddenly, standing up from her seat.

Roderick put his papers down and Sae let out a sigh, trying to steady her heartbeat. She had done it. Task one was complete.

"Very well done Lady Sae," Queen Ryona said, sitting herself back down. "You know your history, an important aspect for a future ruler. You are free to go. The test is now over."

As soon as the words came from her mouth, the room was filled with voices and voices and Sae was overwhelmed by the people speaking all around her, the sudden volume change of the room.

"Might I suggest we get out of here." Someone said behind her and she turned to see her maids.

"Yes, please." Phèlie took hold of her hand and started pulling her away.

Sae looked back to see if maybe she could catch the Royal Advisor's eye and thank him with her gaze but instead she caught Prince Sevestian looking at her, and he smiled and mouthed, "Good for you."

Her ladies ushered her out of the room and back to her quarters where they all congratulated her and complimented her on getting task one done.

"Just remember," Phèlie smiled, "you only have six tasks left."

Sae laughed. "You mean five. I just finished the first one and there's only six in total."

Phèlie blushed and Alesia playfully smacked blonde girl's head saying, "Phèlie, Phèlie, what will we do with you and your forgetfulness? Anyway, yes Sae, just think, you only have five tasks left. Who knows, you may even pass them all."

Just then the very thought dawned on Sae. What she had just went through, all the preparation, all the work, all the anxiety; she'd have to go through with it again…five more times.

"Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?" She frowned to herself.

"A chance to marry the Prince of your country, that's what." Beda said as if it were obvious.

At the very moment there was a knock on her door and a pleasant masculine voice on the other end spoke. "Sae…you did say you wanted me to call you just Sae? Well, hello it's me, Prince Sevestian."

Her ladies-in-waiting immediately retreated to her bedroom, leaving her there standing alone in the main room of her quarters. Sae went to the door, opening it up and saying, "Well hello your highness."

"Please," he said, his eyes sparkling and his smile as big as ever. "If I am to call you Sae you must call me Sevastian."

"Alright…Sevastian." It felt awkward coming from her but she supposed she would get used to it soon enough.

"I have come to ask you if you would like to take a walk in the gardens with me, that is, if you are not engaged in any other activity at present."

"I am free, and would love a walk." She nodded, gesturing to the door. "Shall we go then? I'm still a little anxious from the task but I think a walk would relax me."

"Then I'm happy I suggested it." He was positively glowing now.

Sae wondered if a human being could constantly look that happy, but even if it would be annoying with anyone else, she felt it was just adorable on the Prince.

The gardens were, like everything else at Fu Naru, spectacular in their simplistic fashion. When the Prince had said garden, Sae had imagined something similar to the one she had back at home. Her stepmother had dedicated years to the carefully structured landscape of specifically chosen plants, letting no weed go unnoticed. Under Countess Kiva's watchful eye Count Arland gained a country garden he could boast about at social gatherings. It was Sae's and her sister Mealina's favourite place to be at home, and the Countess minded not in the least that the girls liked to pick flowers once in a while from her treasured creation…They were meant to be enjoyed and she would have her children enjoy them.

Fu Naru's gardens however were not the same. There were more than one; the rose garden, the apple tree garden, the honeysuckle and jasmine garden, the song bird garden, the butterfly garden, even a frog-pond garden, and a few more.

"My personal favourite, which you will usually find me taking strolls in during the evening, is the lady-bug garden." He mentioned, leading the way.

"Lady bugs?" Sae said doubtfully.

As a bug on its own, it was cute enough, but the idea of a garden filled with ladybugs made Sae squirm.

The Prince laughed at her expression. "Tis' just the name of the garden milady. It is true perhaps you will see a fair amount of ladybugs nesting on the leaves but there is so much more, and the crickets play louder there then any garden as the sun sets. It's music to my ears"

Sae nodded and admitted. "I too like the sounds of crickets at night."

Then she could not look at him, for his smile had now become too much to bear. "Then we must spend an evening or two together in my ladybug garden. I am very delighted to know we have that in common."

Yes, she thought, but what else did they have in common? It was true, they seemed to share a partiality for spending time outdoors, taking walks in gardens particularly, but besides that, any way Sae looked at it, he seemed to be the carefree ever smiling Prince of perfection, whereas she was the reserved quiet-minded simple lady. What was it that they said in those ridiculous fables Mealina was obsessed with? Love could happen in strange places and between strange matches? Yes, and what was it her stepmother used to tell Mealina in response? Opposites attract.

Once they were in the ladybug garden Sae really began to appreciate the Prince's preference. From the direction it was positioned, it was perfect for the setting sun. Of course, at the time it was only a couple of hours past noon, but it didn't take much for her to imagine how spectacular it would look with a few more hours to go.

"Sae, I must congratulate you again on your performance today." He said, turning to her in a friendly manner.

"Thank you." Sae sighed. To be honest, she didn't feel as if she had accomplished such a great thing. Not when she had five other tasks before her.

"I want you to know Sae, as the Prince of this country, and the future ruler of Fu Naru, I appreciate every effort you are putting into this right now."

Here she was surprised by his tone, more serious, just as warm, but less cheery somehow.

"I have seen six ladies go before you. I had wished them all luck, just as I do you, but I believe I should be truthful with you, with you all, and so I would like to take this opportunity to discuss something with you."

He gestured to the iron love seat adorned with intricate leaf designs not far from where they stood, and together they took a seat.

"This may sound optimistic and foolish coming from me," He began, "especially being the heir to the throne, but I was born a lover of love, a hopeless romantic like many before me, and I do hope to find that one day."

Sae opened her mouth but wasn't sure what to say. Love? How could he expect to find love in his position? He had even less chance than she did, being a Prince of a country and made to marry whoever was eligible and suitable for Queen, not for his heart.

"I know, I realize," he said shaking his head to himself, "it is not a wise thing to hope for, to long for, but who am I to suppress what my very soul cries out for? Do you know what I speak of Sae? Do you know this desire for love as I have? I confess, I have been infatuated before, but never in love. And I know, I will not be choosing my wife, though I hope to fall in love with her regardless. Does that make me a fool?"

"I…" At a loss for words, she took the moment he graciously gave her to compose her thoughts. "To want that…to believe in true love and want to find it in your future Queen, I do not think it wrong."

He nodded. "I thought you might understand."

Though of course that was a lie. She did not understand. She was sympathetic for him, felt he had his right to long for love, but she did not understand why, even how he could. It was a desire she herself had never felt.

"This is why Sae, I tell you this. I want you to know, that if you are to succeed and we are to be married, I want you to know I am determined to either fall in love with you, and if that can't happen, then I will still marry you, but my soul will be unsatisfied. This is why, I ask of you Sae, because I do want to find love, I ask of you, even if you succeed, if you do not love me, please do not accept a marriage with me. I know it would be beneficial for you to become Queen, and I would treat you the best I could whether I loved you or not, but it would not be fair to either of us."

This is madness, she thought. How, how can he talk of love? Are we commoners? Are we not noblemen? Is he a Prince or is he a little boy who has been read too many fairy tales?

"I would think though," she replied carefully, "that if we did not love each other, we would get along tolerably well regardless."

"Oh, there is no doubt in my mind." He said at once. "We would work well as a married pair I think. But I yarn for love."

"Does your mo—I mean, does her highness know of this?"

"She…" He paused truly looking stumped. "Well, let's just say as far as she knows her son is not interested in love in the least. Maybe even…he thinks he is not capable of it"

"You think…you are not capable of it?" Her heart skipped a beat, for this was the exact way she felt about herself.

His laughter however was like cold water poured down her back. "No, no, I am very capable, I told you, I can feel it in my veins. I only meant, the Queen, she thinks I think I am not capable of it. We do not talk much, you see."

Apparently, Sae thought, because it was pretty obvious Prince Sevastian was more than ready to fall in love given the right girl.

"Putting my mother aside, please do think of what I have said. I do not know your views on love and I will not ask them of you unless you are ready to give them, but if you are also looking for it I want you to know I am."

o-o-o

Later in her quarters Sae sat at her writing desk with plans of writing to her family. However, she just sat staring at the paper, thinking over the Prince's words. He was such a kind man with such a warm, happy heart and an innocence about him that made her feel so old. It was then she made her decision.

He was looking for love. She would be the one to give it to him. Though she still believed herself incapable of love, that didn't mean she would be unwilling to accept his love. She would have to make him fall in love with her. If he were to love her, she would do everything she could to make him happy, pretend she loved him back if she had to. That way she could be Queen, she could appease her family, she would have a comfortable, stable future. Of course, there was the possibility that no matter what she did he could not love her. If that were the case, she'd do as he had asked and she would go home, whether she passed all six tasks or not. She'd give him the chance to find it in someone else if he couldn't find it in her. But she wouldn't give up without at least trying first.

Her letter was soon written and she was soon dining with the Queen. As usual Queen Ryona's words were short and few, though they were courteous and satisfied as little pleasantries. That evening she went to bed with the one thought on her mind. How am I to make him love me?