Conquering The Throne...And His Heart

Chapter VII

It was almost time for our midday meal and the men had still not returned.
Fatima, Amelia and I decided to sit around and knit clothing for Amelia's soon to be born child.
"Ma" Karissa asked, coming into the room with a doll made of yarn in her small hands.
"Yes Karissa?" Fatima answered, not looking up from the hat she was knitting.
"Ma may I go with uncle Dario to the farm? He says that a lamb is to be born today" Karissa said. I looked up and saw Dario appear in the doorway. I looked at Fatima's reaction.
"And what of your midday nap?" she asked Karissa.
"Ma I am a woman, I do not need to take a midday nap" Karissa said standing on her toes proudly. Fatima laughed.
"You will take one when you return, run along now" she said and gently patted Karissa's bottom. Karissa skipped over to her uncle Dario and into his arms.
"Dario, ask Francesca to pack a small bag with bread, cheese and drinks for you two before you go" Fatima said. Dario nodded. He turned to look at me.
"Cornelia, would you like to join us?" He asked me. My heart dropped.
I was curious to see how the miracle of life worked, but I did not exactly wish to be alone with Dario. Although Karissa would be there, she would not understand what was happening if he asked me pressing questions. Besides, what would Guillermo think about this?
"Oh dear aunt Cornelia! Please do! I wish to know more of you and the magical land from where you come!" Karissa said, her big eyes hopeful.
"The men will not be back until after sundown if that is what worries you" Dario said, almost reading my mind.
"I looked at Fatima and Amelia.
"Go! Do not worry about us! We have seen the farm plenty of times" Amelia said. I smiled at them and put my work away.
"Very well then" I said and followed Dario to the kitchen, where we waited for Francesca to pack a bag for us.
"Will the lamb have a small nose? And big eyes? And a mouth only big enough to suckle the milk from his ma?" Karissa asked Dario. He picked her up into his arms and kissed her forehead.
"Only time will tell my sweet" he replied. Francesca returned with a small sack filled with bread, jelly, and milk in a jar. Dario carried the sack and Karissa, leading the way to the barn.
We had to walk through the upper village and away from the beach before we even saw the barn.
Karissa had fallen asleep but Dario insisted that it had been a part of his plan all along. He never would have consented to Karissa seeing the birth of an animal at her age. But he had wanted her to see the lamb once it was born.
It was beautiful. The sheep needed no assistance in delivering her two lambs. Once they were out, they got to their feet and huddled around their mother. She licked her children clean and ate calmly as the lambs drank her milk.
"Would you like some bread and jam?" Dario asked me. I turned to look at him. He was sitting on a bale of hay and was smearing jelly onto a piece of bread. My stomach growled, as if it were answering Dario's question for me. I stepped away from the sheep and her lambs and sat next to Dario, making sure to leave space between us. He handed me the bread and pulled out another piece for himself.
Karissa slept peacefully on a blanket in the far corner of the barn away from the animals, her face glowing from the light of the lanterns.
"Thank you" I said politely, biting into the bread.
"And the child said she did not need her nap" Dario laughed handsomely looking over at Karissa. I smiled.
"She is but a child as you have said. She needs her sleep" I pointed out. Dario grinned and nodded in agreement.
"I will forever hold a place in my heart for that beautiful child. Even when her judgement free days have ended" he said softly.
"So when she becomes a young adult?" I asked.
"Children have a manner, a way of never knowing what goes on around them but the happy. They are too blind to judge people for their actions or faults" he explained to me.
"I see" I said. Although he did not know that I knew, Dario had just hinted at the fact that once Karissa finds out about his birth, she might not be as loving towards him. We sat in silence, the lambs crying out for their mother and the goats blowing air out through their noses.
"How is Guillermo?" Dario asked me as he smeared jelly into his piece of bread. I looked at him.
"He is fine. I have noticed you two do not get along very well" I said studying his face for a reaction. He laughed.
"Nothing gets past your eyes now, am I right?" He asked me. I nodded.
"That is true" I said calmly.
"But nothing gets past my eyes either" Dario said suddenly. I looked at him in confusion.
"That is why when I laid my eyes on you that night on the balcony, I just had to introduce myself" he said. "And I mean not to insult you but Guillermo does not love you the way a man should love his woman" he continued. I quickly got to my feet.
"How absurd!" I said loudly, but making sure not to wake Karissa. Yes, he might have been right but that did not give him the right to point out the flaws in my relationship.
"Absurd as it may be, it is true" he said getting to his feet.
"How dare you disrespect my fiancé" I said in a low voice.
"Not only him, but also you" he said tauntingly. I gritted my teeth together.
"I will have you executed once I become queen if you continue with this mockery" I threatened angrily.
"No you will not. You are not that type of woman, I know it" he said, sounding sure of himself.
"You know nothing of me!" I said defensively.
"I know that you cannot stand the idea of becoming queen to a country so foreign to you. I know that you cannot walk straight in an alyna even if it were to save your life. And I know you definitely cannot resist my charm" he said confidently.
He had caught me off guard. I stared at him in complete shock, unsure of how to respond.
"I am right, am I not?" he teased.
"No you are absolutely not right! Now stop all your nonsense talking before you wake the child" I said and sat against the wall opposite the hay bale where he sat calmly.
"Would you like some milk?" he asked me, a chuckle escaping his lips. I glared at him and then angrily turned away.
He watched the lambs stumble around, a proud smirk on his face.
That second of having caught me off guard was all he needed to confirm his suspicions.
His suspicions that I was absolutely, positively head over heels in love with him.