Emilie of the Royal Heart

Chapter 20: The Princess-to-Be With Someone on Her Mind

 "That's a beautiful necklace, Emilie," Lady Diselle commented, taking a finely cut sandwich from an overdressed platter and delicately nibbling on the corner.

"Thank you," Emilie replied, trying not to look to her immediate left. Her fingers found the topaz gem and she touched it as though she could use it to will Aurora into the room, "it was a gift from my husband."

She choked.

"My fiance!" she sprung back in horror, eating back a panicky giggle, "my fiance! Of course! I guess that wasn't so wrong of me to mix them up, seeing as we are going to be married and he will be my husband someday. Apparently my vocabulary is a bit eager for the date."

Tiago, sitting on her immediate left, glared at her while Lady Diselle was distracted. Emilie tried not to engage him. In fact, she kept her eyes always on her plate of snacks and her drink because she was paranoid that Tiago might spit in her wine or poison her sandwiches. This was a private social circle and her attendants couldn't join the three of them for their sunset delights. There was no one here to play buffer for her and keep Tiago away.

Lady Diselle laughed in her clear and ringing voice. She dusted the crumbs off her gloves onto her plate. Then she looked across the round table at Emilie and said, "oh my dear, you are most charming. I'm sure the Prince would savor hearing that you are looking forward to becoming his bride. When I heard about a Zuhian commoner dropping out of the sky and capturing our Prince's heart, I was inundated with rumors that you were abusing his position, but now that I've met you, I can say certainly: he is lucky to have found you."

Emilie's stomach bubbled up with a fuzzy feeling. She didn't know what to do with it. She didn't understand her thoughts. She liked hearing that she and Aurora were a good pair -was that wrong? Whether improper or not, it must be because she was proud of herself for making their engagement so believable. It must be. There was hardly any other impetus that could put these fond feelings inside her.

In her mind, she heard an echo of his voice saying, "Emilie, please, come here.". Her eyes closed for a brief moment and the wind picked up and danced about the pavilion where they sat. The breeze was warm and it swept across her back. She remembered vividly the feel of his arms around her.

Did reluctant allies daydream wistfully after each other? Emilie couldn't think about it.

Except that's all she could think about. Elias had said that Aurora might have some kind of genuine affection for her. How could she forget that? She wanted to say it wasn't real, but thinking back to that night, without that piece in play, she was left with question after question. Why was he so jealous of her and Elias? Why did he need to kiss her in private? Why did he look like he was about to murder Tiago after she accused him of locking her in the bath?

"Thank you, Lady Diselle, you are very kind," she hummed, opening her eyes, "I hope to be such a fine match for him."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to know more about your background," Tiago interjected. Emilie turned into ice even in the eye of the blazing orange sun.

"Oh yes! Please tell us about your life in Zuhia, Lady Emilie," Lady Diselle clapped.

"It's not so curious. It's... it's rather plain," Emilie murmured, tangling her fingers together down in her lap under the table, "I'm... rather... plain."

"What's plain for you is bound to be foreign for me. Please, won't you share something?" Lady Diselle batted her eyes.

Until now, Emilie had stayed away from thinking of Zuhia how it was. Before the fires and the raids and the refuge march. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about her family who burned to death in their family home. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about the nomads invading the backcountry. She wasn't sure she was ready to talk about the merchant's daughter who saved her life. Not to them. Not to herself. Not to anyone.