The Arrangement

f o u r

Iaȵ

King Andreyevich curled his lip. 'I think I'll take you up on that offer. What a generous arrangement.'

I spotted Adeline look completely in disbelief. I was, too. Our plans were ruined...

A while ago

Adeline giggled, a melody to my ears. 'Come on!' she dragged me along, as she held my hand tightly.

I let go of her hand and instead, placed mine on her waist, spinning her around, erupting more laughter from the both of us.

'Ian! Put me down!' she shrieked. I obliged. Only to step closer to her, putting my hands on her waist again, and leaning down until our forehead's were touching.

She slightly opened her mouth to speak and I took the opportunity to kiss her softly, under the stars.

We pulled away to catch our breath's. Her eyes sparkled. 'That was...' she started.

'Amazing,' I supplied. 'Absolutely Amazing.'

She nodded. 'Precisely.'

I enveloped her in my arms, she gazed up at the night sky; dotted with scintillas of light.

Gradually, I began hearing faint sounds of music. I took Adeline's hands and placed them on my shoulders, and I placed mine on her waist.

'May I have this dance, Princess?' I asked.

She grinned. 'You may.'

And with that, we twirled in dance on the grass. A few moments later, Adeline lost her footing and tripped; pulling me to the ground with her, causing the two of us to erupt with laughter at her clumsiness. Most likely induced by the wine we had earlier. I shifted all of my weight onto my forearms so that she wouldn't feel uncomfortable, as I had fallen atop her. She caressed my face with one of her hands, before she leaned up to kiss me. I obliged. The kiss soon became more frantic and heated, I felt her tug at the hem of my sweater; which was removed moments later, along with everything else.

A while later, our breaths were heavy due to physical exertion, I rolled off of Adeline; wrapping my arms around her.

I drew circles on her soft skin, which I had pampered with kisses moments before. 'You alright?' I asked.

'Mhm,' she replied tiredly. 'That was...'

'Amazing.' I supplied, causing her to smile.

Her smile quickly melted away and I recognized the worry in her eyes. 'Ian...' she turned to face me. 'You know how I feel about you. I want to be with you properly but in this life... royals don't always have the luxury of being with whomever they please.'

'Don't worry about that now. Who knows what will happen, right? Let's get dressed, before either of us fall ill.' I slid on my signet ring.

I held her hand unabashedly, whilst we walked back to the palace.

'The both of us don't want our parents to arrange our marriages. So... how about we get married?' I offered. 'I could propose at the ball.'

Present day

The solider whom had kicked Adeline down to the ground, still had their attention on her. When she attempted to rise, he swept her legs out from underneath her, again. It took everything in me, every bit of my self-control, to refrain from straining against the soldier who was assigned to me. I couldn't even use my power to help Adeline.