5,781 Miles Apart

Chapter Ten

Osten's POV 
I run as fast as I can into the garden and head straight for the tree line where Dad hung up the swings for Eadlyn and Ahren when they were little.

"Can't keep up?" I call back to Adalheida.

She laughs. It's a melodic, musical sound straight from the heart, and it sets mine on fire. "Slow down, Mr. Long Legs!" She calls.

"Never!" I yell and push myself faster until I reach the swings.

About a minute later, she finally reaches the swings and plops down on Eady's. "You are very fast." She says.

"Lots of practice." I reason.

"True. You've probably had more freedom than me." She says.

I sit on Ahren's swing and rock back and forth. She looks at me with a certain glint in her eyes. "I bet I can swing higher than you." She says.

"You wish." I say, kicking off the ground and pumping my legs until I'm the highest the rope will let me go. I look over and see she is slightly below me. "I win!" I yell at her.

She drags her feet on the ground, slowing the speed and height of the swing, and probably ruining her shoes at the same time, but I can tell she doesn't care. "Fine, but I bet I can still climb that one tree by the doors faster than you."

"You wish you could." I reply.

"No, I dont." She says, "because I already can." She shrugs her shoulders and takes off running back down the path, headed straight towards the oak tree by the doors to the garden. That's when I notice, she did all of this in heels.

The last time the Germans came to visit, I was ten, Adalheida was eight, almost nine. We were all in the garden and I told her I could climb the tree faster than her. I was very wrong. She up the tree and in one of the topmost branches in what seemed like a matter of seconds. I tried and tried, but I still couldn't beat her time.

It's when I see her in the top branches all over again, that it really plays with my heart. She is sitting with her legs curled up to her chest, staring out at the canopy of trees that make up the forest. She had taken her hair down and her shoes off. She looked so carefree and young. Like all of the pressure was lifted off her shoulders.

She seems so lost in thought. Her hair is blowing in her face, but she doesn't seem to care. What I'm seeing in front of me is the most beautiful scene on the planet. And that's when I realize, I still have feelings for the heir of the German Federation.

I climb up the tree and sit a few branches below her. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" I ask.

She nods. "It's nothing like this in Germany. It's so beautiful." She looks down at me, her brown eyes full of awe. "May I join you?" She asks, gesturing at a spot beside me on the branch.

"Be my guest." I reply. She quickly maneuvers down and sits beside me, both of us facing the forest.

"You know, your name is quite beautiful, but it's very long." I say, looking at her.

She nods. "A blessing and a curse. Why do you mention this?"

I smirk. "Because I have the perfect nickname for you."

The look on her face is slightly worried which is exactly the reaction I wanted. "Go ahead," she says, "tell me."

"Okay," I say teasingly, "Heidi."

Her nose wrinkles up. "What, don't you like it, Heidi?" I ask.

"No! It sounds so funny!" She says.

"Well, you better learn to like it, it's not going anywhere soon." I say, smirking.

She crosses her arms. "Fine, if that's how it is, you need a nickname too."

"Okay," I say, thinking she can't come up with anything too bad. "Hit me with it."

"How does Ossie sound?" She asks.

I recoil immediately. "That sounds horrendous." I say.

"Well," she says, leaning over and ruffling my hair, "you better learn to like it, it's not going anywhere soon."

I jokingly put my hand against my chest. "You dare use my words against me? Do you know who I am?"

"Yes," she says, "You are Prince Ossie Shreave, general of the Illéan  army."

I sigh. "I guess that's true."

"Adalheida!" Calls a distinctly German voice.

Adalheida immediately tenses up. "Yes, Mother?" She asks. Her fists are clenched and her eyes are squeezed shut and nose scrunched up. She seems to be hoping her mother won't scold her for being in the tree.

"Come down here this instant! You know the rule about trees." She says, obviously upset.

She calls something down to her in German. It's too fast for me to translate, so I sit there as the two women have a seemingly heated argument.

The doors then open and I see my mother walk out. She taps Queen Alarica on the shoulder and they have a quick, whispered discussion.

Queen Alarica then turns back to the tree and speaks in English. "I expect you inside and clean thirty minutes before dinner. Do not expect to get away with this again."

Mom puts her arm on the queen's back and leads her inside. She quickly turns her head around and gives me a not-so-discreet wink. I feel heat rush up into my face and quickly turn to see if Adalheida saw. When I turn to look at her, all I see is her glare piercing the retreating back of her mother.

"What did she say that made you so upset?" I ask her, snapping her out of her trance.

"Wha- oh." She says, shaking her head. "I thought you knew German."

"I do, you both were just talking very fast. And I couldn't really translate a lot of it." I explain.

"Oh, well, it's nothing to worry about." She says. "Now I must be going now," she begins climbing down the tree. "Wouldn't want to be late for dinner.

I look down at my watch. "Adalheida, we have three hours until dinner."

"Oh, um, I know, it's just that my maid likes to have a lot of time to prepare me, so, you know." She turns around and walks through the doors, acting nothing like the way she was before.

I lean my head against the base of the tree for a moment and just think. What is making her act so strange? Was it something her mother said.

I shake my head telling myself it's nothing to worry about.

I climb down the tree and pick up the shoes that she left at the base of it and walk inside to my room to do who knows what until dinner.