TBATE: A Hero's Return

I Wish She Wasn't

Caera took a lock of her hair and began to twirl it in between her fingers. She decided to talk to Arthur to help him sort out his feelings, but she didn't realize he had already come to terms with them. That just made the fact that he wouldn't just simply tell Tessia all the more frustrating to the navy-haired highblood.

"I don't understand. You guys are inseparable. I never see you as happy with anyone else as you are with her. You grew up together. You were trained by her grandfather. Both of your families approve of each other. She is pretty. She is the princess and future queen of the elves for crying out loud! What reason could you possibly have for not being with her, Art?"

Caera watched Arthur look up before a humorless chuckle escaped his lips. Caera never felt like punching him as much as she did in that moment. "That is all anyone ever sees when it comes to her isn't it?"

Caera gave Arthur a quizzical look. "I don't understand what you mean."

Arthur looked Caera in the eyes before responding. "I wish she wasn't a princess. I wish she wasn't an elf. Heck, I wouldn't even mind if she wasn't so drop dead gorgeous. Throughout our entire lives, I always heard people whisper about her status or her inherent beauty, how they all wish they could be with her because of them. No one ever sees her for what she is, her true inner beauty. How empathetic she can be. How she always makes your problems her own, and tries to take your burdens on herself. How she has the most disarming smile ever when she eats something sweet, how her eyes twinkle when you give her even the smallest trinket. How status and reputation mean nothing to her and that she treats everyone the same. How hard she has worked to be ready for the duties of the throne. How despite how nervous she is, she is determined to make her grandfather and her late parents proud of her. How she acts kind and selfless even when she thinks no one is watching. How she wishes she wasn't royalty and wants others to simply treat her like a normal girl."

Caera was honestly surprised that Arthur had been so observant. Where did my knuckleheaded partner-in-crime go? She thought.

He sighed before finishing. "I wish she wasn't either a princess or an elf or pretty. The things that others want her for I could care less about. If she wasn't any of those things, then maybe I could have the standing to tell her to her face how much she means to me. But I love her too much to put her in that situation. Not after I essentially slammed the door in her face when she opened her heart to me so many years ago. So I will watch from afar, never loving another. As long as she has someone by her side worthy of being with her and she is happy, that is all I can ask for. No matter how much I want to wake up every day and tell her that she is the light of my life."

Caera sighed to herself. There he is. "Art, you need to talk to her. She told you how she felt so long ago. She still thinks you only think of her as a friend. Even if you think she may have moved on, she deserves to know how you feel about her now. Let her make the decision of whether or not she has moved on and whether or not you can be together."

"But it was so long ago. Why would she care about it now? She must have moved on. Wouldn't telling her now just hurt her more?"

Caera facepalmed herself. God. I lose in games of Sovereign's Quarrel to this idiot.

She decided to spend the rest of the afternoon convincing her thickheaded friend to confess to the woman he loved.