A/N: See Chapter 1 for disclaimer.
Chapter 5: The King of Askana
Seven months went by, and in that time, Liz really went through a lot. She was still devastated inside over what happened with William, but as time passed, she slowly began to pick up and move on with her life. Of course, she had committed the most heinous of sins with Hyacinth – telling her the truth about herself – and Hyacinth had yet to forgive her. But even though Hyacinth was still angry with Liz about what had happened between them during that Saturday morning coffee session, Richard made sure to exchange a kind word and a smile with her whenever they saw one another outside and Hyacinth wasn't around. Even though it was painful and lonely, Liz eventually managed to get comfortable with life on her own once again. She often worked long hours at the bookstore, and in fact her work there proved to be an excellent distraction. And it was no secret that no longer having to put up with coffee sessions and candlelight suppers was a great relief, although Liz really was sad at the way her friendship with Hyacinth had ended. However, even though she had maintained her friendship with Hyacinth all these years out of the kindness of her heart, it was an undeniable fact that a person could only take so much. She always would care about Hyacinth, but enough was enough, and she knew that she ultimately had done the right thing by finally standing up to her and putting her in her place.
However, one evening in late February, just as Liz was getting ready to close up the bookstore and go home, William's friend, Paul Silver, actually showed up there.
"Paul!" Liz gasped, and then she came out from behind the counter, walked up to him, and gave him a hug.
"Hello, Liz," he said pleasantly. Paul was a tall, muscular man in his early forties with blonde hair and blue eyes, and to say the least, he was quite handsome. He was now wearing a gray suit with a blue tie, and he looked quite nice.
"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in so long."
"I'm here on behalf of William and Priscilla."
Liz stiffened then. Hearing their names was an obvious arrow to her heart, and Paul could clearly see that, and he truly felt sorry for her.
After a long pause, Liz finally asked, "How are they?"
"They're well, ma'am. And they've missed you terribly. I must tell you, they felt truly awful having to leave so suddenly without telling you. There's been something of a political shakeup back in Askana. It's a very complicated situation, and William thinks it's best if he explains it to you in person."
"Well alright. Where is he?"
"Because of everything that has happened over the past eight months, he's unable to leave Askana. He and Priscilla are actually staying at the palace at the moment with the King of Askana. And he's made arrangements for His Majesty's private plane to take you and your brother Emmet to Askana so that he can meet with you both in person."
Without a moment of hesitation, Liz asked, "When do we need to be ready to leave?"
"This place is incredible," Emmet told Liz the following evening as they walked the palace corridor together. The palace was located in the capital city of Askana, called Grace, in the Alexandria Province. The tiny country of Askana had four provinces altogether, each province containing two small cities. The Askanian flag was black with four golden candles, one in each corner representing the four provinces of Alexandria, Marina, Bethany, and Charleston. And the palace, which housed the Askanian royal family, was as beautiful as the island of Askana, itself. Almost all the palace floors were made of white or golden marble, and the walls of every single room were painted with the most gorgeous scenery, clearly inspired by the real scenery the island itself provided. It was enough to take a person's breath away.
"It certainly is," Liz agreed. She was wearing a long-sleeved, navy blue dress with a simple string of pearls and a pair of tiny sapphire earrings, and Emmet was wearing the required tuxedo for the event, and they both looked wonderful. "Oh Lord, help me. I'm so nervous. I can't believe William managed to get us both invited to the royal dinner party with the King of Askana this evening. Heck, I can't believe he got His Majesty to agree to let us stay in this incredible palace for a while. Can you imagine what Hyacinth would say if she were here?"
Emmet chuckled and said, "Yes, I know exactly what she would say. She would talk a bunch of nonsense about how she is one of His Majesty's closest friends, and she would try to convince everyone that he couldn't manage his position as king without her, and in the process, she'd make a complete fool out of herself and ruin the entire occasion for everyone unfortunate enough to be in her presence."
Liz laughed and told him, "You're probably right. I just hope and pray I don't spill anything at the royal dinner tonight. How awful would that be?"
"Liz, you'll be fine. I promise you," Emmet assured her.
It was then that Paul appeared in the corridor. "Miss Elizabeth? Mr. Emmet?" he called, and they turned around.
"Yes, Paul?" said Liz.
"It's time."
Liz took a deep breath then, linked her arm through Emmet's, and held onto her brother for dear life as he escorted her into the royal dining room.
Several minutes later, after all the guests appeared in the dining room, Liz anxiously gazed around the room for William and Priscilla, but she didn't see them. Liz certainly picked up on the fact that for whatever reason, she was seated right at the very front of the table, in the seat next to the King of Asana, himself, who of course was sitting at the head of the table. Emmet was seated right next to Elizabeth at her right, and he too was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
Finally, after another painful few minutes of suspense, a man stood at attention in the background and said aloud, "Announcing: His Majesty, William Jacob Charles Spencer, King of Askana, and Her Royal Highness, Priscilla Alexandra Grace Spencer, Princess of Askana!"
Elizabeth's heart rate jumped to three hundred in that moment as William and Priscilla walked into the room. Young Princess Priscilla was wearing a long-sleeved, floor-length mint green velvet dress, and her red-brown hair was done up in a nice bun, and a small, beautiful sparkling tiara donned the top of her head. Liz was mesmerized by the beauty of the young princess. However, when her eyes traveled to William's, her heart just melted. He looked wonderful that night in his black tuxedo, and his brown eyes were just shining that night with so much love for Liz, and when she looked into them, she got lost in them.
All throughout the dinner, Liz simply couldn't stop shaking, and she even spilled a glass of water onto the table, which of course left her utterly mortified. However, halfway through it all, William leaned over and whispered a couple of words of encouragement into Liz's ear, and it did calm her nerves somewhat. Unfortunately, even though Liz was very excited to see William and Priscilla again, the royal dinner was basically torture for her.
When the event was over at long last, William managed to get Liz off to himself, which of course was no small feat for a king with an entire country following his every move. He took Liz out for a walk, with Paul discreetly following them a long distance behind. He took her out to a lovely spot on the palace grounds on that special early spring evening in mid-March where there were evergreen trees and the most lovely, calming waterfall. It wasn't as easy to see it and enjoy it at nighttime, of course, but it was still beautiful.
"William…or should I say Your Majesty?" Liz teased, and William responded with a laugh. "William, why didn't you tell me the truth? And why did you and Priscilla suddenly disappear?"
"Oh my dear, the answers to both questions are long and complicated. But then again, that's part of the reason I sent Paul back to England to bring you and Emmet here, so I could explain myself. In answer to the first question, try and put yourself in my place for a second. I was born the crown prince of my nation. All my life, the only reason practically anybody ever wanted anything to do with me was because of my royal status. Girls were constantly throwing themselves at me, but not because they were ever interested in me. They just wanted to become Queen of Askana someday. When my family and Ann's family got together and introduced us, I thought I'd finally found someone different. Ours was an arranged marriage. Our family needed a royal heir, after all. However, I really thought that Ann genuinely cared about me. As it turned out, she was no better than all the others. When I met you, you were completely different. You actually cared about who I really was. You were genuinely interested in me, not because of my wealth or my royal status. And quite frankly, it just felt so good to get away from the title, the duties, the pressure. It felt good to forget about all that for a while and just live my life as a man, like anybody else."
"I think I get it," Liz said with an understanding nod. "Is the need for a royal heir the main reason you pushed Ann into going through with her pregnancy with Priscilla?" Liz asked out of curiosity.
"I didn't want to lose yet another child through an inhumane procedure. That was my main reason," William told Liz truthfully.
"I understand."
"But yes, the need for me to produce a legitimate royal heir did have a lot to do with it. However, it's not as if Ann was some kind of victim. She knew perfectly well when she married me that it would be expected of her as the queen of our nation to give birth to a royal heir. She didn't go into the marriage blindly. She knew the whole time that having a child was a basic part of the marriage agreement.
"But anyway, I digress. Onto your second question. I know that I really hurt you when I left so abruptly without a word, and believe me, hurting you is the last thing in the world I ever wanted to do. But something happened, and Priscilla and I had to leave very suddenly. We had no choice."
"What happened?"
"When Priscilla and I left Askana for an extended stay in England, I left my younger brother, Prince John, in charge of all the country's affairs. He ruled Askana for me in my place while I was gone. Then one day, a number of the palace guards turned against our family and killed John and his wife Marie. You see, there are some very distant cousins of ours, the Sutcliffes, who are in the royal line of succession. The law was only recently amended allowing a female heir to ascend the throne, and because of Priscilla's gender, they have always tried to challenge her right to rule in the future. Even well before her birth, though, they were constantly trying to take over the throne through the years. They've always resented my being on the throne. When my brother and sister-in-law were suddenly killed, I was certain they were behind it, and I was right. As it turns out, they'd bought out a number of palace guards. Their intent was to kill both my siblings and their spouses and children and then to find Priscilla and me and kill us as well, and to try and make it look like it was a terrorist group that was responsible."
"How awful," Liz gasped. "Oh William, I don't know what to say. I'm so very sorry about your brother and your sister-in-law."
"Thank you. I am too. John was a wonderful man. A wonderful brother. And his wife was a very kind and loving woman. Their loss has hurt us all."
"I know it has. I just can't thank Jesus enough that you and Priscilla weren't harmed."
"Thankfully, the Sutcliffes' little attempt to overthrow our government didn't last very long. Our forces subdued them and imprisoned them very quickly. They weren't able to save John and Marie, but mercifully, Priscilla, my sister Olivia, her two daughters, and my brother's two sons got through it all unscathed. When I learned of my brother's assassination, I had Priscilla sent to a safe house in Europe for several months while I worked to stabilize things here. I launched a thorough investigation of the Sutcliffes and our entire government and palace staff and a great number of staff members have been replaced. I couldn't allow Priscilla to return here, and I couldn't allow you to come here, until I was absolutely certain that the palace was completely safe once again. As a matter of fact, I was afraid to even try to contact you until I was thoroughly certain that all my family's enemies had been dealt with. Given my royal position, any person that I'm close to, any person that I love, can become a target at any given moment. I had to be extremely careful. I couldn't take the chance that someone working for the Sutcliffes, or just some lunatic out there who hated me for political reasons, would hurt you – or even worse. I didn't want people finding out about my relationship with you until I knew you wouldn't be in any danger. You can never be too careful. Do you understand, Liz?"
"Of course I understand. I won't try to pretend that I wasn't heartbroken when you left. I really was. My life just wasn't the same when you were gone. Everything was just so…empty."
"I've felt the same way. Liz, you have no idea how much I've missed you. And I don't ever want us to be apart again."
Getting a vague sense of what might be coming next, Liz locked her eyes with his and asked, "What are you saying, William?"
William then reached inside the jacket pocket of his tux, pulled out a black velvet box, and opened it, revealing a large square amethyst ring surrounded by tiny diamonds on a rose gold band. Liz gasped the instant she saw it, and once again, her heart was beating at about three hundred beats per minute. William's chocolate eyes stayed locked with Elizabeth's crystal blue eyes in that moment as he told her in an emotional whisper, "I'm saying I want you to marry me."