Chapter 4:
(Pov: Edmund)
As I watch her retreating figure, all I can think about are Emilia's stunning ice-blue eyes. They are the most unique and beautiful eyes I have ever seen. But the thing that intrigues me the most are the emotions that flicker through her eyes. I may not really know her but it doesn't take a genius to notice that Emilia is holding something back. It's like she's hiding something, something that she doesn't want others to know. Maybe I will be able to reach her like the others aren't able to, maybe I can make her trust me. I don't know what it is but something just pulls me to her. The moment that she stepped in front of me, I could feel my pulse quickening and I felt kind of weird. I was so nervous but at the same time ecstatic to meet. Another troubling thing is the fact that her smile did not reach her eyes. I don't know if I'm the only one who noticed it but her smile looks forced. The moment she smiled, I made a promise to myself: I would make her smile a real smile. Her smile and her eyes aren't the only things that I noticed. I also noticed the way Peter looked at her. His whole face lit up when she stepped in front of him, but she didn't seem to notice it. In that moment I got this strange feeling. Was it jealousy? But why should I be jealous of Peter? He is after all my brother. And even though I don't tell him that, I'm really glad to have him as a brother. I think he fancies Emilia… Why does this thought sound so wrong? I don't fancy Emilia, do I?
(Pov: Emilia)
Deciding that it is time to leave, I make my way over to the chambers, the kings and queens were residing in. After getting Lucy, the both of us make our way over to the kings' chambers. We split up, one of us fetching Edmund and the other fetching Peter. I knocked on the door and not even one second passed when Edmund opened the door with a big grin. "Emilia" He smirked at my blush when he kissed my hand for the second time this day. "Edmund" I say in the same tone he greeted me with and together we walk over to Lucy and Peter who already stood in front of the hallway leading to the gardens. I smile at Peter and we all walk to the stables. On our way there I tell them a bit about Archenland and my brothers. I really enjoy their company. They are all so easy to talk to and they don't look at me with pity-filled eyes, which is a nice change. Reaching the stables we mount the horses and start riding into the forest. It is the perfect timing if you ask me. The sun is going down right now and everything has an orange glow. It looks so magical. I don't think that I can ever get over this sight. I'm so distracted by my surroundings that I don't notice a certain king catching up with me. "A penny for your thoughts." Startled I cringe and almost fall off my horse. But Edmund is faster and catches me and helps me to get settled again. "I'm sorry I did not want to startle you. I just thought that we could talk a bit, you know get to know each other better." I look him in the eyes and all I am able to see is sincerity. "Oh don't be sorry. I should not have drifted of like that. Thank you for catching me Edmund." I smile at him and then look down feeling a blush creeping up my cheeks. He is looking at me in a really intense way. It makes my insides flutter."Your welcome. I will always catch you." By now I must look like a tomato."So Edmund, what do you want to talk about?" "What do you think about playing a little game. We ask each other a question and the other has to answer it honestly, then the other person is allowed to ask a question." "Sounds good to me. Do you want to start?" Edmund looks at me and smiles. "What is your favourite colour?" I look into his eyes and notice how enchanting they are . He has such beautiful brown eyes. "Red. Yours?" After looking for a while into each other's eyes he answers. "Blue. What is your favourite time of the year?" "Christmas. My mum always used to bake together with me and my brothers. We always ended having tons of floor in our faces. Mother always used to tell us that we shouldn't play with floor and that we should not waste it. She made us realize that there were people that are not able to bake anything, that we should be thankful for the things we have. We would always go out into the forests one week before Christmas, the whole family together. There we would choose a Christmas tree and bring it home with us. While my brothers played together with my father outside in the snow, mother and I would decorate the Christmas tree. We always enjoyed doing that. In the end the tree always ended up looking over-decorated. Father would always tease us because of that. On Christmas morning my brothers and I would have a snowball fight and we would build a snowman while breakfast was prepared." Edmund looks at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Trying to distract him from whatever he is thinking about, I ask him about his favourite time the year. It was only fair. If he was allowed to get to know my favourite time of the year, then I should get to know his. "My birthday. Every year we hold this big ball on my birthday and I don't even mind. You know usually I'm not so fond of balls. But on my birthday it is different. My friends and my family are around, I'm able to meet new people and my birthday means that I am again one step further away from being a child. I hate it when people tell me that I'm still so young. They always question my decisions and turn to Peter for advice. Don't get me wrong I love my brother but I hate to get babied. And I hate to get compared to him." I know what he means. I would not like it either, if people didn't trust in me. I may not know what it feels like to be in the shadow of my siblings but sometimes I feel like that's exactly why Alessandro is acting so distant towards me sometimes. He may be the youngest but he also is the most ambitious sibling. I don't think that he hates me or anything like that. I just feel like he is angry at me for stealing him the spotlight. People always tend to favour me. I don't know why and truth be told I don't understand why. After mother died I turned into a real prat. I may have been there for my family but I wasn't there for our country. I did not care anymore and made that really obvious. But still after everything that happened, after everything I did, people still believed in me. I may not show how much I really appreciate it but deep down in my heart, I feel proud. Proud of the people believing in me…
"Edmund you are who you are and you should be proud of it. If people don't appreciate you for who you are then they aren't worth your attention. People tend to be prejudiced, they say stupid things and they do stupid things. We all shouldn't care about the things others think of us, but we do. We do care and it does hurt us but that is exactly what makes us human."
(Pov: Edmund)
Wow, she is amazing. She may be very gorgeous but her character is even more beautiful. She is so understanding, so caring and so wise. I would have never thought that I would feel something like this but I think that I really like her, a lot. Peter and Lucy are riding behind us and trying to inconspicuously sneak glances at us. Ha, as if I wouldn't notice that. "You know Emilia your words really make sense. You are nothing like the other women I met." She blushed at my words and looked down. "Well I'm glad that you think like that." I smile at her when a good idea struck me. "Let's race each other back. The one who gets back first is allowed to redeem a favour. "All right. Let`s go!" With that she gallops away closely followed by me, leaving behind a very confused Peter and a grinning Lucy. Close to the palace I am able outpace her. When she arrives, I'm already standing there with a smug look on my face. I won which means she has to do me a favour. She looks at me with a played angry look. "Ok, what is it that you want me to do?"