Blistered Roses

Chapter 8: Two White Thorn Roses Interlocked As One

                  

The air was filled with a sweet aroma and silence flowed throughout it with the exception of a breeze picking up and blowing all the flowers and tall meadow grass to the side. The land was open and surrounded by hills covered by luscious green pasture where goats or sheep claim as their territory. Some dark gray rocks were deep into the hillsides causing a steep territory as the hill got higher.

Tara slid some of her hair behind her ear to prevent the wind from blowing it in her face. She picked at a flower as she sat more on her hip and her legs to the side and Prince Cían sat with his legs crossed under a tree that provided them shade. The Prince leaned back setting his hands behind him so he could hold himself up and he watched as his soon-to-be wife picked at the flower. He noticed the headband that went around her forehead to the back of her head and a part of it started to hang further down in the middle of the forehead that had a tiny gem in it. She was wearing a dark, Latin, green dress, almost matching the grass around them.

Tara enjoyed moments like this, but only because she could feel peaceful and could admire the beauty around her. She and the Prince often went on strolls with the Prince's horse and end up at different beautiful destinations.

She picked the petals of each flower she picked out of the ground and chanted the little limerick in her head 'Does She Love Me, Does She Love Me Not?'. Each time she picked the petals, the last one always ended with 'she loves me'. She thought of Adelaide and how each day they spent practicing what Princesses were supposed to practice and how each night she would sleep next to her, often cuddling her, kissing her, or holding her hand. Each day they would sneak around to a room or corner where they couldn't be seen and giggle before kissing each other for a moment that felt like hours. Each night they grew closer as they talked quietly about their future or how much they loved one another.

"Beautiful day?" The Prince questioned looking up into the blue sky with a cloud nowhere in sight.

Tara looked up from her flower and her concentrations on her thoughts were broken, "Hmm?" She looked at him unsure of what he really said.

"I asked if it was a beautiful day." He smiled at Tara.

"Yeah..." She said looking out into the distance, "Yeah, it is. Very quiet and peaceful out here. I never got to see how beautiful nature could really be until now." She looked at the Prince smiling, wishing it was Adelaide next to her instead of him.

"Nature could never compare to just how beautiful you are." He said to make Tara feel like a woman and he kissed her cheek.

This surprised Tara and she had no feelings or intimate reactions to his lips against her cheek. She had never kissed the Prince before and she doesn't want to, not even when they wed. She politely smiled at him to not hurt his feelings and picked at her flowers again enjoying the outdoors.

The Princess hummed and danced effortlessly around the halls of the castle as she was happy because she was with Tara. She worked on a flower headband she had been working on from outside after taking a walk with Ardan. She spinned around causing her hair to spin with her and the bottom of her dress flared out. She smiled and bit her lip as the thought of Tara kissing her again made her feel warm inside.

The King and Queen came walking down a hall with the Queen's arm wrapped around the King's. They talked to each other smiling and turned their attention to their daughter who was still dancing around hardly paying attention to others around her. They managed to make eye contact with their daughter who was closer to them now.

"Morning, daddy." The Princess said as she approached her parents. She lifted the flower headband up and the King lowered his head allowing his daughter to randomly put the flower headband on his head. She kissed his cheek as he still leaned down and he smiled at how happy his daughter was acting.