ROYALTY

Chapter 42

"I would not want to be in the shoes of whoever gets to be in front of that." She put it away and picked up an apple. "I heard that the princess was shouting this morning, but I cannot tell or say as to why she was shouting. Do you know anything?" Well yes, I do she was shouting because she heard word that I was offering her brother the prince, the same man your dying for my body.

" No none whats so ever, though I heard she was complaining about a maid spilling some wine on the rugs." She shrugged. "My father would have the head of any servant that spilled wine on his rugs."

The mention of heads brought a shiver to my body. "Lady Naomi, are you alright,?" she placed her hand on my shoulder, and I could not help but think back on the words the princess had said. He had already presented the names of the ladies he had an interest in and I was not among them. I looked at Gianna, she was kind and sweet, she always kept to a smaller crowd and always laughed and smiled. She never got into trouble or ever got scolded by the princess, and most importantly she did not sneak into the princes room and share a bed with him.

I looked down at my folded hands. "I am alright, it's the headache from all the crying from yesterday. I still cannot believe the king is gone." She looked sad, genuinely sad, with puppy eyes, "I cannot believe it either." And she went on to ramble about the tight connections her father had with the king, I was not paying attention, my mind skipping miles upon miles into the distance.

***

I walked along the empty hallways, most of the portraits had been taken down, new curtains and drapes hanged. The whole palace had a stench of death and danger looming about it, my shoes made noise along the cold, hard marble floor. At least the sound was better than nothing, feeling the silence. Not even a maid or servant walked by.

" Naomi?" I turned around. "Lord Donovan, what brings you here?" I curtsied as he took my hand in his and kissed it. "I saw you walk by and decided to say my greetings. How are you fairing?" He tucked my hand in the crook of his and led me outside, the same way I came. "I am alright I guess.."

" If did not know any better, I would say you are not." We sat down in silence, the birds cheeping in the distance. "Why did you attack the princess after the timer ran out? You almost killed her." He let go of my hand and ran his hand through his black hair, which was still jet black and styled with jell. "She can be annoying sometimes, and gets on my nerves, always claiming she is better than me and all that. Honestly, we had been practicing the match for some time now and she had always beat me, so I decided it would be better to catch her off guard and she how she reacts, she handled it well, meaning I need more practice."

I crossed my leg over the other. "I must say you had all the girls falling for you."  "Did I capture your attention my lady?" He turned to look at me, chocolate brown eyes reaching into my soul. He did not have his fake smile on, and I felt comfortable being around him. "Well you-"  "I knew it." He jumped up and swirled around almost tumbling down.

"I knew I had captured the most beautiful lady's attention." A blush reached my cheek, I was not supposed to be blushing. He bent on one knee and offered me a pink rose. "For the fairest woman to have ever walked the earth, I offer you this, my lady, as a token of my appreciation, for your beauty, your smile, your blush." I did not know I was grinning like a mad woman, he placed the rose in my open palm and kissed my hand on my bare skin, it felt good.

"Walk with me." He set his hand out for me which I took. He held a parasol over my head, shading me from the blazing sun. "It is hard being a duke, I am sorry if I seem so frank, but-" He heaved a sigh. "I have so much to do and so little time, I barely take good care of myself."

I looked at him from the crown of his hair to the sole of his shoes and raised an eyebrow. "Alright, fine maybe the last part was not true, but I barely have time and I need, I need a woman, a bride. I am not getting any younger."  We were in the love garden now, surrounded by thousands of flowers and trees, maid servants stood here and there along with the gardeners. They stopped to stare at us, and then they went back to their work, though I did not miss the whispering.

Donovan bent down to pluck another white rose, the fourth to my collection that I had already been given by him. "And I have set my sights on a fair maiden, every male with brains definitely have their eyes on her but no one has the balls to confess their love, I know she is way out of my league, but I cannot help it, it is true love. Love Naomi, true love. Do you believe in love?"

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