I felt my stomach twist, because of the excitement. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to marry him, but there is no other solution for it, so I have to deal with it, because he will be my husband until someone of us will die. I leaned a little bit forward, to have a better view on him. After the whole trumpet introduction, which was well known, a really thin, lanky looking young man walked in, with his head held high. The foreign servant took a bow and gestured him to enter. My mouth dropped, as I realized that he was the prince of the Netherlands. My soon-to-be-husband.
"Holy Father in heaven, this cannot be true. Please tell me this is a nightmare and I am going to wake up soon." I muttered to myself, still my mother heard every word.
"Jadelyn, control your temper and treat him with respect. He seems like a kind young man." my mother hissed. I inhaled deeply. Is it possible? Does the world want to punish me? What did I do wrong? I could have gotten Beckett, but I have to get him, Sinjin Van Cleef. The thought of us performing our marital duties makes me shudder.
He came closer and my mother told me to stand up. First my parents stood up and Prince Van Cleef took a bow in front of them. When he came to me, I took a bow and he took my hand, kissing the back of it. On the inside I was more than disgusted, I wanted to vomit, but on the outside, I shyly smiled. Then I remembered Beckett kissing my hand on the same way. My longing for him hasn't been bigger before.
We sat down again and he took a seat next to me. The next to hours went by slowly. Prince Van Cleef was eating like it was the first time he saw food, like he was a peasant. He ate noisily, he burped and he showed us, that he has no manners. Still, nobody dared to say a word. We just remained quietly and waited for him to finish. I can't believe that I have to bear him my whole life, from now on.
"Delicious." he finally said, finishing eating. I quietly sighed in relief. "I am going to marry you?" he asked me. I nodded. He looked down at me and then smiled. "Excellent" I smiled shyly. After having dinner, the men went to another room to play cards and to drink wine. I needed fresh air, so I took Caterina and went outside.
"Have you seen him?" I asked her, after I made clear that nobody could hear us.
"Seen who?" she asked confused. I looked at her in disbelief.
"The prince of royal blood." I acted enthusiastically.
"Oh, yes" she said giggling, putting a strand of her dyed red hair behind her ear.
"Why are you giggling?" I asked her.
"Have you seen his hair? It looks like a big sponge!" she answered, still giggling. I rolled my eyes.
"Caterina, this is not the major problem right now. I have to marry him!"
"I apologize, Misses Jadelyn. I got distracted by it."
"Apologize accepted. But tell me what I should do?" I asked desperately.
"This will probably not make you feel better, but you should get to know him. Maybe he is not as bad as you think" she said, patting my shoulder. I shrugged. Maybe she is right. We took a walk through the garden, which seemed scary at night, maybe because there was nobody. Suddenly I saw a person sitting on a bench. I recognized Beckett and walked over to him.
"Good evening, Beckett." I said, sitting down next to him. He looked up and smiled sadly.
"Good evening, Misses Jadelyn." he answered. Caterina stood next to me, seeing him all sad.
"Why are you so sad?" she asked concerned.
"It is nothing, really." he answered looking from her to me.
"Tell me…us" I pleaded, carefully laying my hand on his.
"Your father told me in the late afternoon, that I have to work somewhere else." he said, remembering the conversation between him and my father.
"Why would he say that?" Caterina asked sadly. I looked at her. This girl shows too many emotions sometimes.
"Where?" I asked carefully, leaving her question unanswered. He shrugged.
"I don't know. He also told me, that I have to leave tomorrow afternoon."
"Why so soon?" I asked, realizing, that I'll lose my love.
"Misses Jadelyn, if I would have an answer, you would be the first one I would tell. Unfortunately, I don't have one." he said, taking my head between his hands.
"Beckett…"
"Misses Jadelyn, will you promise me two things?" he asked me.
"Anything!" I whispered.
"Promise, you'll never forget me."
"I'll promise."
"And promise, that we'll see each other again. Promise it." he said desperately.
"I promise" I said, while tears were running down my cheeks. He pressed his lips against mine. The kiss lasted only a few seconds, before he let go of me and stood up. A single tear exited his eye. He wiped it away quickly and left us alone.
AN: Beck will leave? This can't be true! Will he come back? ;) Find out, by reviewing.
So, this is the first time of me writing something 'old' (well, you know what I mean), but I hope you'll still read and review.
Give me some comments, other characters, will, as I said before, appear in later chapters.
~teddybaer~