The girls had made it just in time for the meeting, which had been a long and boring affair. Elena was glad to have escaped to her bedroom, mostly because she could no longer endure the looks Naomi kept throwing at her throughout the entire meeting. Her cover was blown, Elena knew it. She could always deny Naomi's observations but she knew her friend would see straight through her. The princess sighed as she lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She saw no way out of this.
There was a knock on the door and Elena slowly got on her feet. She crossed the room and opened the door, gasping at the sight of Naomi. Elena stepped back as Naomi came in and closed the door behind her. The princess kept moving backwards until the back of her knees hit the edge of her bed. She slowly sank down upon it and watched her friend approach her.
"Okay… Let me have it," Elena said, sighing in defeat.
"You look like you already know what I'm going to say," Naomi replied.
"I think I do."
"Well? What am I going to say, then?"
The princess took a deep breath. "If," she said slowly, "you suspect that I'm in love with Mateo, you're right. I am in love with him."
Naomi remained silent and unmoving for so long after those words that Elena began to fear that she had been wrong in assuming that her friend had deduced her feelings for the young wizard. But that fear was soon erased when Naomi let out a cheer and nearly flattened Elena with a hug.
"I knew it!" Naomi exclaimed cheerfully. "I knew you were in love with him! Today confirmed it!"
"T-Today? You mean you've known all along?" Elena asked incredulously.
"Come on, Elena. Did you really think no one would notice the way you look at him? I've suspected it for months!"
"I'm surprised you didn't say anything sooner."
"Hey, it's not something you just spring on someone."
"I know that my grandparents and Esteban haven't noticed. If they had, I would be in so much trouble."
Naomi frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Because… Because I shouldn't be in love with Mateo. It's against the law for a royal to be with the royal wizard," Elena said, her shoulders sagging.
Her friend gaped at her for a full solid minute before exclaiming, "What?"
Elena nodded and let herself fall back onto her bed. "The law originally just said that members of the royal family could only marry another royal –"
"But Mateo is royal! He became royal when you appointed him as royal wizard!"
"I know, I know. When the law was originally created, the members of the royal could marry the royal wizards. But then an incident took place that made the Grand Council change the law to what it is today."
Naomi raised her eyebrows and Elena could tell that her interest was piqued. "What happened?"
"One of my ancestors married the royal wizard of the time. She was in love with him and everyone thought that he felt the same way about her. But it turned out that the only thing he was in love with was power: he took over the palace and turned the whole kingdom upside down. He was eventually defeated by a wizard-in-training who, as I'm sure you've figured out, became the new royal wizard. But the Grand Council was determined to never let something like this happen again so they banned all marriages between the royal families and royal wizards."
There was a stunned silence.
"But – But that's insane," Naomi said. "Mateo doesn't have an evil bone in his body; he would never try to take over Avalor. Why punish all the royal wizards for the actions of one?"
Elena shrugged helplessly. "It's a precaution, I guess," she said.
"Can't you change the law?"
"The Grand Council would never let it happen. There might have been a chance for change if Shuriki had not attacked the palace but…" Elena trailed off, sighing heavily.
"Her attack will have ruined any chance of changing the law," Naomi stated. Elena nodded. "Well, I'm on the Grand Council and I'm on your side on this."
"Thank you, Naomi. That means a lot to me," Elena said, smiling.
"What are friends for? Now, are you going to tell Mateo how you feel about him?"
If Elena had been holding something, she would have dropped it. She sat bolt upright and stared at Naomi with wide eyes.
"Are you crazy? I'm not telling him!" Elena cried.
"Why not?" Naomi demanded.
"Well, for starters, what if he doesn't feel the same way? And second, what's the point in telling him when I can't be with him? He doesn't need to know."
"I think you should tell him. And who says you can't be with him? Just go out with him in secret."
"Naomi, I have to marry when I come of age. What if I go out with Mateo and we're still together when I'm eighteen? What am I going to do? Break up with him so I can marry some prince? I'd rather avoid the heartache, thank you very much."
"You won't avoid the heartache if you're forced to be with someone you don't love. You don't want to be asking yourself how things would have turned out if you had taken a chance with Mateo. He might make you really happy."
Elena bit her lip. "That's what I'm afraid of," she whispered.
Naomi threw an arm around the princess's shoulders. "Hey, taking a risk is always scary, but it can be totally worth it. Whether you tell Mateo that you love him is up to you. I think it would be a mistake if you didn't," she said wisely.
Elena remained silent for a long moment. Naomi did have a point, but the princess was worried about the impact this would have on her friendship with the royal wizard. Could their friendship survive a romantic relationship or a one-sided love? Elena hoped it could, but she was far from certain.
"I'll… think about it, I guess," Elena mumbled.
"Good. Who knows, you might be able to change that law in the meantime," Naomi said cheerfully.
"I doubt it. There's something I didn't tell you."
Naomi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Out with it, then."
"Changing the law isn't the only way I can be with Mateo…"
"It isn't? What's the other way?"
"Giving up my crown."
Another stunned silence followed these words. Naomi stared at Elena, wide-eyed and gaping. The princess awkwardly rubbed her arm, waiting for her friend to recover her wits.
"Whoa…" Naomi said in disbelief.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" Elena replied feebly, trying and failing to lighten the mood.
"That's the understatement of the century. You seriously have to stop being crown princess to be with Mateo?"
The princess nodded. Naomi let out a low whistle.
"That's insane. They really wanted to make sure that no royal wizard came near the throne again, did they?" she said.
"Yep." Elena sighed heavily. "And it's not just giving up being crown princess I have to do, either: I have to stop being a princess altogether. Still think that telling Mateo how I feel is a good idea?"
"I do. Just trust me on that, okay?"
"I'll try…"
"Good. Like I said, you might be able to change the law within the next two years without doing anything drastic."
"Yeah… Maybe…"
Naomi patted Elena on the shoulder before getting up. "I should go. It's getting late and Dad will wonder where I am. Let me know what you decide to do, okay?" she said.
"I will," Elena said. "I promise."
"Excellent. Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Naomi."
Naomi smiled and waved before leaving the room. Elena sighed and let herself fall back onto her bed again, staring up at the ceiling. She was completely torn: part of her wanted to tell Mateo that she loved him but the other part of her wanted to hide her feelings forever. She was going to have to think long and hard about this, and she hoped that whatever course of action she decided to take was the right one.