- Chapter 17 -
"Then maybe I don't wanna be a princess anymore."
~ Jasmine (Disney's Aladdin)
Being content with just sitting under the shade of a tree and spending the afternoon doing nothing, and most importantly, being in the company of Maxim, was all that Fauna would wish for. She was happy with it, and she only wished it could last longer till night comes, but sadly, it could not be. Well, she could at least enjoy it till it last.
For the meantime, she was telling her dear beloved so many stories that she could think of. Once in a while she'd hear him laugh softly at a joke she'd said or at a particular funny event in her story, but he didn't comment on anything. He just kept sitting there with her, an arm around her shoulders, and he just listened to her.
Once she got tired of his silence, and a little suspicious, she looked up to him, only to find his dark eyes set on her already. She still have to get use to those eyes looking adoringly at her. It never fails to startle her for a reason.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she managed to ask him.
The smile on his face widened, and tilted his head to one side, saying, "Is there anything wrong about simply watching you?"
She took it as one of his teasing games again, and playfully punched him on the shoulder. "How many girls have you said that to?"
He shook his head to her, tilting her head up, her chin pinched in between his fingers. "You're the first."
He took her lips in a deep kiss, brief, but full of love. She could feel it in that kiss.
Once they pulled back, she got another chance to look up into his eyes. No boy had ever looked at her like the way he does, and the more they spend time together, the more she got close to him, and the more she finds herself not just liking him, but loving him. That was another matter to consider. She had never loved a boy before. If only she could do her best to avoid ever hurting this boy with her.
The flapping wings of a bird suddenly caught both of their attention, as they found a dove just landed within two feet away from them.
Reaching over towards the dove, Maxim knew that the bird was there for a reason, that someone had sent it...for him. When he got hold of the dove, he pulled out a rolled piece of paper that was tied to one of its legs. He unrolled the paper, and it had two written words on it: 'Let's go'. He knew who's handwriting it was.
Glancing back once to Fauna, he gazed down back on the paper and tore a half, then threw it away, leaving only the word 'Let's', then he rolled the paper again and tied it back on the bird. After letting the bird fly away, he went back to the still waiting blond girl.
"What was that?" she asked.
"One of Balthazar's messengers," he answered, jerking his head towards the direction where the dove flew away. "I have to go. He's waiting for me out there. We can't go back to the castle unless we're together." She only nodded to him. "Forgive me, szerelmem. But I must go. We still have tomorrow or some other days to come. I promise I'll visit you when I have the time again."
"You've been calling me that. I still don't know what it means."
At one point, Fauna eventually found out that Maxim could speak Hungarian. And he had been calling her in the Hungarian word 'szerelmem', though he never told her what it actually meant in English.
He smiled to her once again, then kissed her lightly on the cheek. When he pulled back to look on her once again, he answered, "It's Hungarian for 'my love'. You don't like it? I have plenty."
This time, she returned the smile with a sweet one of her own. "No. 'My love' would be fine."
After they finally said their goodbyes, Fauna went for her house, where, right outside, her aunt was waiting for her. She tried to avoid her aunt's eyes, but she was mistaken when she thought her aunt wouldn't say anything.
"Have you finally realized what you feel for him?" her aunt asked, as she was four feet away.
Fauna kept her back turned, she still didn't want to face her aunt, especially when talking about this matter.
"I think..I'm beginning to fall for him...truly fall," she answered truthfully.
The aunt nodded. "When do you plan to tell him?"
She shook her head, her hands clenched into a fist. "I don't know. I..I don't want to hurt him."
"The more you keep it from him the more you will. The two of you will never be together. If you truly are falling for him you must let him go and tell him. You simply cannot break from the en.."
"I know!" Fauna was surprised herself from her sudden outburst. But eventually, she was able to calm herself to answer to her aunt in still a respectful way. "I know, aunt Leatrice. I am quite aware it is all settled and I cannot simply break away from it. But please, give me time. I've never felt this way before, let me..." Taking a small pause, she sighed before finishing. "Please, let me love him more."
Fauna finally took the few steps towards the cottage, while her aunt only shook her head to the poor girl.
The relationship would have to end into heartbreak and parting. Fauna was aware of that since from the start, but a young heart falling in love is always as foolish as an inexperienced youth. Poor girl. And most certainly poor, unsuspecting boy.
The place where he had left Balthazar waiting for him with the horses wasn't quite far from where he went off to visit Fauna, so Maxim didn't mind walking from there. When he finally emerged, the blond thirteen-year-old greeted him with a not so happy look.
"What took you so long?"
Maxim quirked up a brow. "I don't need to answer that question."
While Balthazar was about to say anything, he wasn't able to because Maxim rode off with his horse. After having realized what happened, Balthazar quickly mounted his horse and went after the older apprentice.
It didn't take long for them to reach the castle at that speed, as Balthazar took the horse to the stables immediately after they have arrived.
"Hmm, she still isn't here," said Merlin out of more to himself.
"Are you talking about Veronica?" asked Maxim.
"Do fetch her, Horvath. I suppose she's still in the forest at the back of the castle," replied the sorcerer with a meaningful wave of the hand to indicate the direction towards the back of the castle.
Maxim was already on his way. "What is she doing there?"
"She insisted I teach her there," Merlin sighed. "I suppose it is part of her process in moving on. Being surrounded by nature."
Maxim only nodded in return. He understood the girl. When he was still coping with his father's death, he spent most of his time alone not in his room, but outside. Whether it would be on top of a hill, anywhere in the fields, or simply having a stroll out in the streets of town. Then again, there could be a difference since they differ in terms of gender.
Boys have a different way of moving on and coping compared to girls.
Along the way, through the forest, Maxim would have expected to see Veronica any minute now, but he hadn't. He figured that perhaps she went much deeper.
It must have been not easy for her after all, coping with being him and Balthazar. But she'd have to get use to it sooner, since it would seem that the three of them would have to grow up together. He wondered though, what the girl would be like when the time comes that the three of them would train together.
Merlin had mentioned a few times already that Veronica was a faster learner compared to both Balthazar and he in being an apprentice. A sign of favoritism in Merlin's part? Could be. She's the first female apprentice after all.
A few tress and bushes more, he finally caught sight of the dark haired girl, busy animating three rocks circling around in front of her, with her ringed hand outstretched.
"Veronica?"
He startled the girl much that she almost jumped from where she stood, as she turned around to face him, with her focus on the rocks being taken away causing it to drop hard on the grassy ground.
"Apologies," was all that he said to her, both hands held up slightly in front of the middle of his body. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"T-That's alright," she said to him, a hand raised to her chin. "I, thought you were some...danger."
The older apprentice only smiled. "Perhaps you were just thinking deeply about something."
He beckoned her to come along and she did without a word.
On the way back, the silence between them was rather awkward. Both kept glancing at each other with their eyes. Eventually, Maxim thought best that he should be the one to start a conversation.
"So...how do you find learning magic so far?" he asked.
After a quick glance up to him, she opened her mouth to speak. "It is all rather...very...magical."
He nodded.
"How did you find the Circle at first?" he asked again.
"Frightening but, also amazing at the same time," was her reply.
He nodded again, this time a smile appeared on his face. "Breath-taking, you mean." Then, for a reason, he took his gaze off the road and let it wander off the trees.
He could still remember what it felt like the first time Merlin introduced him to the Circle. The green flames roaring upwards, then the symbols appearing all around on the floor, and then before entering the he had to...
"Horvaaaaath!"
The screaming voice of Veronica mad him snapped his head around only to find a large hole made on the ground. He quickly went over to it only to find the girl who apparently fell into the hole.
"Veronica!" he cried. "Are you alright?"
"Horvath help. I think I hurt my leg."
Moments later, Maxim found himself carrying Veronica on his back, using his sword still sheathed on the scabbard as the one for her to be seated on while she had her arms around his neck and shoulders.
"Are you certain you're not tired?" the girl asked.
Unfortunately, her fall had somehow bruised her leg, causing her to feel pain when she walks or try to stands up.
"You're not that heavy," the older apprentice reassured with a smile, though he wasn't certain whether the girl could see it.
"But the castle's still quite far. I could walk from here, I'll try," she insisted.
But he shook his head to her. "No. You are not in condition to walk. You're leg is in pain, and I'm not good with healing spells." Smiling once again, he looked over his shoulder. "Let me carry you, LIGOVSZKAJA. Today, I'm naught but your humble servant."
A frown formed in Veronica's brows. "What? What did you say?"
"I said, I'm naught but your humble servant."
"No, you said something that I didn't quite understand. Li..Ligo..."
"LIGOVSZKAJA?" he finished for her.
She nodded behind him. "What does it mean?"
"It's Hungarian for 'princess'," he answered.
"You speak Hungarian?"
"I have Hungarian blood," he nodded to her, keeping his eyes on the way. Then, her next words surprised him.
"You shouldn't call me that."
Maxim quirked a dark brow. "Calling you 'princess'? And why not?"
She curved her lips, shifting slightly on her seated positioned behind him. "Because I am not such."
"You don't have to be of royal blood for me to call you 'princess'," he chuckled. "Your face is royalty enough. You're a pretty lass. No doubt one day you'll grow up to be a beautiful woman."
Veronica tried to look over her colleague's shoulders to see if he was in any way just teasing her, but his voice sounded rather convincing enough for her to believe that he was only telling the truth, or at least what he thinks.
She then smiled from behind him, squeezing his neck lightly into an embrace.
"Easy, LIGOVSZKAJA. You might choke the air out of me," he said to her, coughing a little for effect.
"Just don't call me Your Highness," she told him.
He only grinned but did not look over to her, having a hand to one of her arms to secure the safety of his own neck just in case.
"As you wish," was his reply. One step at a time, and who knows? Within a few days, she'll warm up to both Balthazar and him.
When they both got back to the castle, Merlin was so worried when he first laid eyes on Veronica. The sorcerer then cast a more effective healing spell on the girl's leg, then she was taken upstairs to have a rest. Her room was still in construction, so for the meantime, she'd have to share the room with the boys and have Balthazar's bed as her's.
When night came, she still couldn't walk without feeling any pain on her leg. She couldn't possibly understand how a simple fall in a trap hole that was probably made for some wild animal could have caused her that much pain. Eventually, she wasn't allowed to go down stairs so she ate dinner in bed with Balthazar's help.
Though she still needed time to adopt with the boys, she was at least beginning to warm up to them little by little. She just had to get use to Balthazar teasing her sometimes, (though she doesn't really mind so long as the blond would stop making remarks that made her blush sometimes), and to Maxim calling her LIGOVSZKAJA or princess alternately depending on the older apprentice's mood. They would have to grow up together, and so far, she found nothing so bad about her new life, and her new family. But she still needed time to heal. It has only been three days, and she needed more time than that to get over the fact that she lost her real family in one day.
When bedtime finally came, she found herself bolting up on the bed in the middle of the night, awaken from a nightmare. While she expected that her colleagues must have gotten awake to, it was only Maxim who got out of bed and Balthazar seemingly in a deep slumber. The older apprentice approached her and sat on the bed with a worried face.
"You had a nightmare?" he asked. Her only answer was a nod. "What was it about?"
Seeing how Veronica hesitated to answer, Maxim took it that it was perhaps best not to know. He might have had an idea what it was even.
"It's alright, princess. Me and Balthazar is here with you," he reassured the girl, tucking her to bed to go to sleep once more. "You need to sleep or you'll lose your beauty. What kind of princess would that make you, then?"
A frown formed in her brows, but she was smiling. "You really think I'll grow up being so beautiful?" she asked, not certain as to the reason why she even asked that question in the first place.
"Yes, I do. I've already told you that," he answered quickly with a nod.
"You think there's a possibility that you or Balthazar would fall in love with me when I grow up?"
Now that was a question that surprised not just Maxim, but Veronica too herself.
"What made you ask that?" the older apprentice asked.
The eleven-year-old shrugged. "I don't know myself. But perhaps it is because of the fact that I'm Merlin's only female apprentice."
Raising a hand to his chin, Maxim thought about it for a moment.
"Well, since you put it that way, perhaps there is a possibility," he said. "But let's hope not."
Shifting on the bed to her lie down on her side, and finally closing her eyes, Veronica yawned as she asked, "Why?"
"Because we have to treat you like a sister. Falling in love with you would be...say...complicated."
"M-hmm," the girl nodded, too sleepy to even mutter back a word. Her hands curled up to her face.
Maxim smiled down on the girl, and slowly got up. He bended down to place a careful kiss on her forehead as he whispered, "Jó éjszakát." (Good night) As he made his way back to his own bed, where Balthazar was sound asleep, he pulled up the covers over him and thought about that it was not only Veronica who had found a new family, but also him and Balthazar.
Well, perhaps in his and Balthazar's case, a second family, but so far, it wasn't so bad for him. He was an only child, but after being apprentice to Merlin then having two colleagues to work with, he then had a brother and a sister looking up to him as this big brother who looks after them, since he was eldest. He then once again fell asleep having such in mind.