Prince Zadkiel had been locked away all his life and had never been seen since the day he was born. That is, until he was whisked away to be wedded to his promised Princess Aria of Oryn.
With the once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience life and fre...
The ballroom was richly decorated in the soft colours, with lights illuminating each corner, while making everything else sparkling under its dazzling beam.
Guests were already scattered about, already enjoying the pleasures of the evening.
Aria's favourite colour had always been blue, simply because of the majestic view she had when she went to her favourite spot in the unfinished church, or even just looked through her window.
The ocean was her most cherished feature of earth, and so from a young age she had always loved blue.
However, she wore a completely different dress. Her dress was golden with glistening flowers at the trail and around the waist band. Her bodice hugged her body and draped around her shoulders. Her hair was pulled in a goddess updo with sparkling pins matching her accessories. And finally, she wore her tiara at the front of her head, and she looked nothing less of a princess.
Her hair was tight but that didn’t bother her. All Ari wanted to do was spend the rest of her evening with her Prince. But she knew she couldn’t get out of this. It was tradition after all.
“You look beautiful my dear,” Sylvia said as she adjusted Aria’s strap on her shoulder.
Aria simply smiled. Her mother had told her this simple fact around a hundred times before they left her room. Now, they were outside the ballroom door, waiting to be ushered in by the servants.
Anticipation had its hold on her. She didn’t know what the inside looked like, and she was dying to see. But most of all, she was dying to see the man she loved again.
The man she loved.
It felt good to finally think that way.
As if right on cue, the door swung open, and Chad hopped through with searching eyes. Once his eyes landed on her, his face immediately broke out in a smile.
“My Prince,” Aria greeted him excitedly, almost running to hug him before she remembered that her mother was close.
“My Princess, “ Chad returned as he kissed her hand. “Queen Sylvia.” Sylvia smiled brightly at him as he bowed before her too.
“May I just say that you are looking dashingly handsome tonight, Prince Zadkiel,” Sylvia said with a knowing look on her face as she watched the young couples’ silent exchange.
Chad’s face brightened at this. He had tried to look his best for Aria’s birthday, and seeing that he no longer had Joshua to help him, he had to make the most of it.
Maybe it was the love, or maybe it was how good he actually looked, but he noticed how Aria had been looking at him. He understood, because he was doing the very same.
“Queen Sylvia,” Chad started, not once dropping his gaze from Aria. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal Aria away for a quick second.”
“Oh not at all.” Sylvia’s grip of Aria immediately loosened. “Just don’t stay out too long. It is her ball, after all.”
They had a feeling that Sylvia knew what had been happening, but she didn’t give it away.
“What is this? “ she asked once her mother was gone. Chad didn’t give it much of a though, he grabbed her in his arms and crashed his lips to hers.
“You are so gorgeous. Gold suits you,” he mumbled huskily against her lips, causing her to blush like crazy.
“You don’t look so bad yourself, Prince Charming,” she teased, biting her lips. It was an odd thing for her to do, but she liked how dangerous it made her feel.
Chad’s eyes darkened, and this of course didn’t go unnoticed by Aria. However, they didn’t feed their desire. If they did then…
“I have something for you,” Chad said instead of what he wanted to. “Come with me.”
He held onto Aria’s hand and pulled her towards his room. She felt like a twelve year old again running away from her ball with her sisters. But she wasn’t twelve anymore. She’s grown, having grown up with people's feelings.
Once they were safely locked in the room, Chad caught her and placed another lingering kiss to her lips. “Happy birthday,” he whispered, and her face broke out in a smile.
“You already said that.”
“I know, but not like this…” soon he was gone again, and when he returned, he was holding a canvas in his hand.
Aria watched him carefully as he slowly approached her with his famous smile.
“What is it?” she asked again. His movements were getting her anxious.
Finally, he relieved her but she was in a gasping mess when her eyes landed on the painting. Her eyes watered as she took slow steps towards him with her hand over her mouth.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered almost inaudibly as she ran her fingers over it. “Wow.”
“You like it?” As if he didn’t know.
“I love it!” she gushed before she flung herself at him in a hug. “Thank you,” she mumbled in his neck. Though he couldn’t hug her back fully, he curved his broken arm around her nonetheless.
She stepped away and wiped her eyes before taking the picture in her shaking hands. He got it perfectly.
The picture was painted of Aria sitting against the columns at the unfinished church, and she was laughing at something that more than likely he said.
She remembered this day. It was the first time she brought him there. She didn’t even know how he remembered what she was wearing, how her hair was and everything so perfectly, that he could paint the picture from memory.
Even the inch of the view of the docks were in the painting. The very meaning of it made her love it even more. It made her love him even more.
“Thank you,” she mumbled again as she continued to admire it.
“Of course.” Chad placed a kiss on her forehead and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Anything for you.”
If she even knew how much he meant those words. He meant them with every inch of his being. If only he had realized sooner.
But it was better late than never.
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