King of My Heart

We can't

Taylor was in the barn, seated on a stool with her hair blowing gently behind her in the wind from the open barn door.

She hummed to herself, scribbling down the words and notes that came to mind to form a song. The birds hummed softly in the distance, only enhancing her sad melody.

The floorboards of the stable creaked but Taylor was far too focused on her songwriting to pay notice. Suddenly, small hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" the child giggled.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure", Taylor said, playing along.

The small child giggled. "It's me!". Taking his hands off Taylor's eyes , the child revealed himself with a giggle.

"It's me, Benji".

"Oh, you have tricked me", Taylor smiled.

A manly laugh came from the corner of the stable, drawing Taylor's attention.

Taylor looked in the laugh's direction and saw Travis, the stable hand. He was married to a woman named Dorthea but she passed away when giving birth to Benjamin four years ago. Since then, Travis had been the stable hand for the royal family, attending to the royal's various types of animals.

"Yes, I'm very good at tricking people ," Benji laughed. Benji had identical hazel-green eyes to his father but his hair was a light blonde like his mothers had been.

"You are. Now run along and wash your hands for dinner. Tonight we're having leftovers", Travis instructed.

Benji's lower lip curled at Taylor.

"Goodbye Princess Taylor", Benji said sadly. The four-year-old boy walked away, kicking the straw away that lay in his path.

"Leftovers? Why so?" Taylor asked when Benji had left the barn. She leaned against a beam from the ceiling while crossing her arms across her chest.

"Unlike you, princess, we don't have cooking classes we can take so my cooking skills are very limited for a man", Travis explained. He flashed her a smile as he began sweeping the excess hay on the wooden barn floor. Little did Travis know, every time he smiled at her butterflies swarmed in Taylor's stomach.

"I will cook you dinner, it's no bother. But I can't stay for dinner because I have to be on time for dinner because I must go to the palace for dinner with Joseph".

The grin from Travis's face fell at the mention of Joseph's name.

"It's alright, princess, you can head back to your little dinner party. I've got dinner covered", Travis said, looking at the floor as he continued to sweep.

"No, I must insist. In fact, I wish to cook you dinner", Taylor said. She scurried along to the small shack house built beside the stables to the kitchen.

"Princess Taylor?" Benji said, his face lighting up.

"Hello again! I'm going to cook you and your father dinner tonight", Taylor said cheerfully.

"Can I help?" Benji asked in his little voice.

"Why, of course you can! But are you asking if you are physically able to help or if you're allowed to help?" Taylor corrected.

"May I help?" Benji squeaked, practically on his knees.

Taylor laughed. "Of course you can. Now, come along with me and I'll show you how to wash vegetables".

"Yay! Can I help carry the vegetables?" asked Benji.

"I'm so glad you asked. Here's a carrot. Make sure not to drop it", Taylor said, patting the boy's blonde hair before continuing to the water pump outside.