Lover of the Legacy: A Hidden Desire

Chapter 2

The following evening, Satine sat on her bed staring at her ring finger thinking about how her life would change once married to Orrin. She would be the Queen of Surda, showing strong opposition to her father. The move was dangerous, but one that she felt was necessary. As queen, she would have more political power to help the people of Surda, the Varden, and even her country of Alagaesia.

Nasuada wasn't very happy with the arrangement at first, but eventually warmed up to the idea. She has always been friends with Satine, but secretly she loved Orrin, so hearing that her friend was engaged to him tore at her heart. It hurt her even more when Satine admitted that she wasn't in love with Orrin like he was with her. The whole situation was preposterous, but they all went along with it because there was not much that they could really do.

Satine sighed and opened the book that she had set down. Books have been her passion aside from writing. Her favorite books always contained some element of romance which fueled her heart to yearn for such love. The book she possessed that night was entitled, "Tristan and Isolde." She read until her eyelids grew tired and fell asleep with the book on her chest.

King Orrin was heading off to his bedchambers when he noticed that light emancipated from Satin's room. He walked to the door and knocked. When no answer came, he slowly opened the door to peek in. Seeing Satine asleep, he opened the door wider to walk in. He took the book off of her and placed it on the table next to her bed. Then, he lifted the covers over her and kissed her brow. "Good night, love." He severed the candle and left for his chambers.

The morning sun warmed the room and nearly blinded Satine when she woke up. Covering her head, she groaned not wanting to get up. She wanted to sleep in and relax something that she has not done in months. Grudgingly, she got up, dressed, and left heading for the kitchen. Along the way, she met up with Nasuada. "Good morning Satine, I trust you slept well?"

"Well enough, I went to bed late."

"Reading again I presume."

"Aye." The women entered the kitchen. Chef Montgomery prepared eggs, bacon, and toast for them. They sat down at a nearby table and continued their conversation. "I was reading a book called 'Tristan and Isolde.'"

"Really? Why does that sound like another romance book?"

"Because it is. It's about Tristan falling in love with Isolde long before he had won her for his King. You see, Isolde was a princess of a land called Ireland and Tristan lived in Britain, and Ireland and Britain were in a war. During a battle Tristan becomes injured…" Satine rambled on and on while Nasuada ate, nodding her head every few seconds to make it look like she was listening, when in reality she was busy thinking about what she had to do that day.

When she finished, Nasuada stood up saying, "That sounds like a wonderful book, Satine, but I really must be going now. I will see you later. Bye."

"Bye…" Satine said as Nasuada walked away. She sighed and began eating her breakfast feeling alone. No one ever listens to anything that I find interesting, and yet they always expect me to listen to them when they speak of their interests. It's not fair. I just want one person who will listen. In silence, she finished her meal and left.

In the throne room, she met with Orrin and his adviser's where they discussed Surda's supplies and the morale of the people. For hours Satine sat there listening to the men talk, or argue, until finally agreements were made. The adviser's left leaving Satine and Orrin alone in the room, aside from the guards.

"Did I do the right thing?"

Satine looked up at Orrin. He was sitting on his throne with his head in his hands as if he had a headache. "On what subject? Many topics were discussed, so I am unsure to which situation you are referring to."

"I am referring to the situation with the Varden where I cut off their money supply? Nasuada will not be happy, but I cannot afford to spare anymore."

"It is true that our coffers are low, so yes, you had to cut off the Varden, however, you can still help them in other ways. Already you gave them land to settle on, but what about food, clothes, and weapons? Do we have any more that we can give them?"

"I am afraid not. What we have, we already gave them."

"Then there really isn't much you can do. How do you plan on breaking the news to Nasuada?"

"I am unsure."

"Well, be gentle about it, even when she gets mad."

For the first time, he looked up at her, amused. "Aren't I always gentle?" he asked, sarcastically.

"For the record, not always, your temper can be improved on." She chuckled.

"Enough of this, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I am going into town with Brittany; we volunteered to work at the soup kitchen today."

"Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that to me the other day. I should have remembered."

Satine shook her head, "It's alright. You have a lot on your mind; I don't expect you to remember my schedule on top of everything else."

Orrin smiled, "Thanks. Well, I guess I will see you tonight-right?"

"Only if you want to see me." Right after she said that, she mentally slapped herself for saying such a thing. She looked at Orrin and saw hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Of course not." He sighed. "And for the record, I always like seeing you." He Stood up and left through a secret passageway leaving her alone in the middle of the room.

Satine, feeling horrible, left the vast room to look for Brittany. The rest of her day went well, but she still felt bad about what she said to Orrin. She really viewed him as a friend, and soon he will be her husband, so she did not want to ruin their relationship due to a poor choice of words. That night she visited Orrin in his study.

"Orrin," she said softly as she closed the door behind her. He was staring out the window where the moon was hidden behind the clouds. Satine slowly walked across the room until she was adjacent to him. "Orrin, I really am sorry about what I said earlier. I wasn't thinking…" she paused, and then went on to say, "I know that you love me, and I am doing the best that I can. Please, forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you." Her depression sunk in as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Orrin turned to look at her, and upon seeing her cry, he placed his hands on her face to wipe away her tears. "I forgive you, Satine." Orrin's eyes widened as shock suddenly took a hold of him when Satine hugged him. He quickly settled down and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh Satine. You know, I pretty much forgotten what had transpired until you brought it up just now. I was actually thinking about what had occurred between Nasuada and I. I had to visit me in my lab today and that is where I told her that I cannot give her anymore money. To make a long story short, I think she hates me now."

At this, Satine had to laugh. "I don't think she hates you, I think she just hates the fact that you cut off her funds."

"No, I really think that she hates me."

"I doubt that, you are too nice for people to hate." This time, she was not joking with him; her tone was absolutely serious. Orrin caught the change and looked at her wondering where she was getting at. She looked at him and as she looked, an overpowering idea filled her head. She kept staring at him as she bounced the idea back and forth until she was certain that this was something that she wanted to do.

Feeling a little awkward, Orrin asked her what she was thinking. She smiled and said, "I want to try something."

Utterly baffled, he asked, "What do you want to try?"

"This…" she trailed off as she raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed his lips.