The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

78. Niall/Alec

Niall

"I love the jewelry that you make," the young Princess says to me. I politely nod, my eyes glued to the woman who is my true love. I can't go along with the plan to wait until that bastard is married, I need to have her now. But, how do I get her to come back to me? "Can you craft a necklace for me?"

"Of course, Your Highness," I finally turn my attention to her. Why is she talking to me? She should be socializing with people of high class. This is a royal wedding, after all.

This reception is lasting forever, I feel like it's never going to end. I just want to leave and go back to my room, enjoying the quiet solitude.

"I want it to have a gold chain," Princess Catherine responds. "And a pink, heart-shaped pendant. Can you do that for me?"

I nod once more. "Sure, Your Highness."

"Oh, you can call me Catherine," she smiles, playing with her neatly styled dirty blonde hair.

"Um, okay," I say, not knowing how to respond. It's a bit strange, for her to tell me to refer to her by her first name. Royals almost never do that.

"So," she nervously laughs. "How are you liking the castle?"

"It's, uh, it's nice," I answer, not knowing where this is going.

Catherine clears her throat. "Maybe I can give you a tour sometime. You know, so you won't get lost in the future."

I give her a polite smile. She's acting awfully strange with me, and I don't know why.

She speaks up again when I don't say anything. "Would you like to go now? I'm quite bored of this party."

Knowing that I can't say no to the Princess or else I'll probably be in a lot of trouble, I silently nod. She grins brightly, and we just stand there.

"Um, aren't we going to go?" I ask after just standing there for a few moments.

She frowns. "You're supposed to hold out your arm for me to take. It's common courtesy."

     "Oh," I furrow my brows in confusion, going along with what she says. I have no choice but to follow her orders, so I hold out my arm. I try to find Lena in the crowd, and I spot her talking to one of the servants. It seems like they're having some sort of argument. Then, she runs out of the ballroom. What was that all about?

Catherine doesn't hesitate to grab my arm and lead me out of the ballroom and into the corridor. I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

"This is the room where Father's royal court meets nearly every day to discuss boring things," she says as we pass a closed door. She slows her walking pace but tightens her grip on my arm a bit as we continue down the halls. She points out nearly every room we walk by. "There's the door leading to the basement...that is the room where the seamstresses work...and that's the throne room. It's where my brother's coronation is going to be when he becomes the next King."

I pretend to seem interested in what she's saying, but all I can think about is Lena. How could she just abandon me? I thought we were happy together, that we were soulmates. Obviously, she didn't think the same.

What would have happened if she stayed in the village? We would have gotten married and maybe even had children, but she probably would have found someone else to betray me with eventually. It's in her nature. Just looking at her angers me, but there's also a sense of longing that I feel for her. I miss her. No, I miss the girl she was before she left me and her brothers. That girl is long gone, I'm afraid. But, that won't stop me from trying to get her back.