Lovesick Lunatic

"Chapter" 5

A tingle ran through me as he snaked his arm around my waist to where it fits neatly in the small of my back. As the music played, he guided me closer to him in our dance. "Want to go...elsewhere?" he said with a wink and a twinkle in his eye, "I hear the castle grounds are quite lovely this time of year." I nodded my head for a lack of words. Seeing my nod and choosing it as a symbol of my consent, he swept me and my enormous crimson dress, out the door to the palace gardens. Being the prince, he automatically knew the way, so I simply allowed him to guide me down paths and through bushes. At some point, his walking sped up.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, forgetting to call him Your Majesty again.

He didn't seem offended. "No living soul save me and now you has ever seen this place," he responded, leading me to a door in what looks to be a wall around the garden. He produced a key from inside his coat and gracefully inserted it into the lock. A click and a turn of the handle later the door swung inward and the prince guided me inside. I stepped into a clearing lit only by the full moon's light. In the center of the clearing, there was a single tree ringed with roses growing around it. Over in the corner, there was a small pool with water lilies that grew in it. The prince walked over to the pool and picked one. He came back to me and held it out. "Your favorite, I believe," he said.

"Yes, they're quite beautiful," I said. Stupid Rilla, I think. They're quite beautiful? Why couldn't you have said thanks or Thanks for remembering? I took the exquisite flower and tucked it into my hair. In doing so I looked up. That's when I noticed. "There's no roof?" I asked, thinking it was too good to be true. The area had looked like it was just room in the wall. As I said this, I sunk to the ground, lush with grass, and laid down facing the star-filled sky filled with wonder and amazement.

"Yep," he said, laying down next to me, "To me, there's nothing more beautiful than the night sky."

"My sentiments exactly, Your Highness," I replied.

"You can call me Linc, " he said. We laid there in silence.

Suddenly he rolled over to me. "Rilla," he said. "Would you mind dancing with me right now?"