Disclaimer: Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries belong to Charlaine Harris.

Chapter 22

As the door that led to the royal family's privy chambers was opened, I noticed a few surprised faces when four people came out instead of one or two. There was a rumor circulating that the Princess was unwell this morning, but she looked calm and regal standing next to the King this mid-day.

The lady on the young prince's arm looked nervous and couldn't control or hide her facial expressions as well as the King and Princess could. Anyone watching could see the Prince glance at her very often. I'm guessing the lady in question is Lady Isabelle.

We all watched as the King took more care than usual to seat the Princess and even moved his own chair even closer to hers than usual; his normally hidden sword by his side, carefully propped against his mother's still-empty chair. To this day, no one occupied the late Queen's chair; her two boys were always seated on either side of where she had presided over the vast hall during her life.

The King appears to be very protective of the Princess; for him to have his sword out on display, he must be expecting some sort of trouble. This was emphasized by his relocation of his chair even closer to the princess's than usual.

We looked upon the Royal table, waiting for the meal to be served. The King glanced at one of the guards guarding the doors on our side of the hall, and he went to alert the kitchen staff that lunch was ready to be served.

"Sit." The King's voice echoed around the silent hall, even though he spoke at normal volume. Scrapes of benches and chairs could be heard throughout the hall as people all around sat down and waited patiently for lunch to be served.

The maids came out with the dishes and everything proceeded as normal, but I was watching the king through the corner of my eye as I ate my lunch. As a pregnant lady myself, I recognized the look in the King's eyes as he glanced in the Princess's direction whilst she ate voraciously.

Sophia's Point of View

I've bedded him. He kept calling for me above the other 'ladies-in-waiting' and I know he hasn't been with anyone except the so-called Princess since she arrived out of the blue.

I noticed her posture stiffen as I thought 'what a whore'. I then watched as my Eric looked at her with worry and concern. How come he never showed me that kind of emotion? Or any kind of emotion except when he I've given him his release. What has that whore got that I haven't?

Suddenly his eyes are on me, me at fucking last and I give him my most discreet, flirtiest and willing look in return.

Suddenly I felt my lover tense beside me as the muscles in her leg tensed. I glanced over her profile from hairline to chin. Her facial expression was empty, but her eyes were hard. Something must have upset her for her to suddenly switch into this mood. I leaned in, but she leaned away so I tightened my grip on her and slid my hand over to her other leg, physically turning her just enough so that she had to face me. I leaned in.

"What is it lover?" I asked her.

"Nothing." She said, picking up a piece of bread and chewing on it a little more forcefully than needed.

"Clearly, there's something," I said, prodding her for answers. Sookie glared at me and leaned in - it looked like we were having a whispered conversation between lovers, but in reality it wasn't.

"Your former bed partners are thinking that I'm a whore for taking you away from them," she said in a stiff, cold whisper that made my insides burn with fury.

"Who, lover? Who is thinking the mother of MY child is a whore?" We were all but concealed from court and onlooking eyes with our heads turned towards the wall behind us and half our backs facing the on lookers.

"Sophia, Chelsea and Rhiannon." Sookie said, from the top of her head but then added, "Sophia is the worst. She's crazy, or at least I hope so." I slowly turned around and turned Sookie with me. I wrapped my hand around hers under the table, then brought them up and rested them on the table between us for all to see. I did my usual sweep, whilst Sookie took to ignoring me and our joined hands and went back to eating.

My eyes rested on the bitch in question. I gave her a cold, hard look and the woman had the guts to give me a flirty and suggestive gaze in return that made Sookie stiffen. I'd had enough; I rose, pulling a clearly unprepared Sookie with me, and walked out of the hall, leading her through the entrance doors and not my privy chamber doors. All heads turned in our direction as people rose as we walked past.

I didn't speak until I reached our place - OUR place that I consider to be the location where my son or daughter was conceived; Sookie had named it 'the Secret Garden' after a book she told me she'd read as a child. Our place reminded her of the Secret Garden from the story, so she christened it the Secret Garden. It was a place where my brother and I had originally had created for our parents as a private place away from the court that wasn't an office or bedchamber.

I showed a still-shocked Sookie just how much I loved her and that she was the only woman for me. I proved to her that I didn't care about those whores. I didn't even think about another woman these days. It was all about Sookie; she was the one who'd changed me for the better. She's the one who'd given me the most precious gift a King could ask for; and I asked her the one question that I had also been tossing around in the back of my mind since the first time she yielded to me.

No matter what her infuriating, annoying great-grandfather had been saying, or dropping little hints about, I'd been thinking about it long before he'd even started suggesting it discreetly. Our baby also came to us before Niall's hints. Maybe this was all a sign?

I know I hadn't known Sookie for a long time, but I knew she was my intended, she was my destiny, my soul, my lover, my life - and my unborn child means just as much.

"Marry Me." I whispered in her ear as I rocked my hips into hers and made love to her again. Her eyes locked with mine, open wide with surprise. I moved inside her slowly with long, slow strokes. I asked her again, because I could tell she wasn't sure if I was playing with her or not due to her expression.

"Marry Me." I said again, against her lips this time, looking deeper into her eyes.

Sookie's mouth moved against mine.

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