Seconds in Time

Page 10

"I would be lying if I said I was." I answered with a sigh.

The man nodded in understanding and then seemed to remember something.

"I'm Francis Galahad, loyal servant to the House of Valois." The man finally told me. Now that I wasn't in shock I could see that he was probably in his mid to late thirties. He seemed kind enough, which came as a relief. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier." Wouldn't it be a relief if Alexander turned out to be this nice?

"Oh its fine, I understand." I waved his apology off and glanced out the small window.

"You're princess training is going to be a joy isn't it?" Francis teased, which came as a bit of a surprise. Before he had been so respectful that I never imagined that he would be so lenient with what he said.

"I would assume so." I agreed unhappily.

"If I were you I wouldn't worry about that too much now. After all, there are more important things at hand." He said and gave me a knowing look. "If he weren't so picky Prince Alexander would have been married by the time he was your age. Queen Victoria has decided that if you can't make him happy then no one can." I had to stop myself from groaning at his statement.

There is no way there could be more pressure on me. I'm being forced to marry a man whom I am ninety-nine percent sure will never love me. I have to somehow remain sane. I have to learn to be the image of innocent perfection. On top of that, I'm apparently the only hope to evoke any happiness in the cold Prince of Pandora. What did I ever do to deserve this?

Francis and I didn't speak for the rest of the ride to the castle and I forced my nerves to settle. I made myself think that perhaps this wouldn't be all bad. I mean, not everything about this situation can be insufferably horrid. They have to at least have a library somewhere in there right? I may never leave there.

When we stopped and the gate was opened for us, the nerves came flooding back. I'm assuming Francis could tell because he started talking again.

"If ever you're too stressed I would recommend spending some time in the stables. There may be people working there, but the horses always calm me down a bit." His suggestion seemed very helpful to me.

"I'm sure I will." I responded with a small smile.

My gaze jumped from one shape outside the window to another. I tried to take it all in but nothing seemed to register. I kept playing habitually with my ring and had to keep reminding myself to breathe. My heart was in my throat and it felt like the butterflies in my stomach were going to beat themselves to freedom. It only got worse when we finally stopped.