After taking a bath and getting ready again, I walked to James's room. I loved the dress I was wearing. Then again, I always love my dresses. The one I was wearing tonight was blue with a low back, and long lacy sleeves.
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(I am going to put pictures of dresses in fairly often because there are so many pretty ones I found and it helps show what they look like:)
I also had to wear one of my crowns. I didn't always wear them, but Severa insisted I wear one but every formal dinner.
I knocked on James's door, which was just down the hall from mine to the left. My sisters room were down the hall on the right. He opened the door and looked just as handsome as ever. He was wearing a button up and dress pants. The sleeves were rolled up and his hair was fixed nicely. "You look beautiful." He said, looking at my dress. "I always knew you were a princess." He joked and it made me smile. He gently wrapped his arms around my back and we walked to dinner, talking all the way. ................ James and I walked into the vast dining room. Everyone was already sitting down. We were late. Oops. Today we had more dinner guests as we were welcoming James. The table consisted of Severa, Timothy, our advisor, Anthony, his son, who I had briefly dated, and a few other dukes and duchesses. As well as my sisters, and James and I of course. As we walked in, everyone stood and curtsied as we walked to our seats. As I was the eldest princess, soon to be Queen, everyone had to bow when I entered. I was born into royalty, but that part is hard to get used to.
James sat to my left, Severa to my right. "You're late." Severa growled. "If I remember correctly it was you, who during our etiquette lessons told me, 'the queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early." I told Severa in a passive agressive voice. "If I remember correctly, you are not queen yet." Severa snapped. "Ah, but neither are you." I replied, turning back to my food as Severa blushed. The other guests had been watching, interested and most every one giggled quietly, even some of the dukes. James put his hand on my knee and smiled at me, clearly trying not to laugh.
The rest of our dinner happened uneventfully. Except that Anthony kept staring at me and occasionally glaring a James. Whenever I saw him doing this, I wrapped my arm around James, kissed him on the cheek, snuggled closer to him, or simply held up my left hand and admired my beautiful engagement ring. I knew it was making him mad but I didn't care. I wasn't the one who broke his heart. He had broken mine. He had been my only other boyfriend besides James, and while I wasn't sad about it now, what he had done to me had broken my sixteen year old heart. We had started dating. I thought it was true love, but at the time, I hadn't known what love really was. Anyway, one day I went to find him, when I saw him kissing Duke Hamlin's daughter. I had cried for so long. So, I didn't mind making him mad.
Besides that, we had just talked and laughed with each other at dinner. Well, we only talked to the people we were sitting close to. We were in the second largest dining room, but the table was so long, you couldn't easily talk to someone on the opposite side.
After we finished eating and agreed we had talked politely long enough, James and I excused ourselves from the table. We gracefully walked out of the dining hall, but as soon as the door shut, we let our posture go. James held my hand and we began walking out towards the garden. "Who was that guy that kept staring at you and glaring at me?" He asked as we opened the doors and a burst of fresh air hit us. "Oh. That's Anthony. I may or may not have dated him when I was sixteen." I explained. "So he never got over you?" He asked. "Oh he got over me. He got over me while we were still dating. And moved onto someone else. While we were still dating." I said, then explained the whole story. James looked mad as I was talking. "Want me to go beat him up?" He asked. He said it as a joke, but I know he really would have. "No, I was sad when it happened, but I have you now, and that's all I need." I said as I leaned my head on him.
James and I kept walking through the garden. There were usually tourists outside the gate. They could only come when accompanied by a tour guide. All the tours were heavily guarded and the gates we're also surrounded by guards. The gate was far enough away that we could do what we wanted outside and not worry about privacy issues. It was about five thirty, so the busy tour hours were over. We had walked a little closer to the gate, but the grounds were so large, we still weren't near them. Outside of the gate I saw about five adults. But then I saw what looked like a child. We kept walking towards the gate and I could make out a little girl now. She looked around six years old. She was also wearing a princess costume. I had to talk to her. I explained everything to James and we walked up to the gate. The little girl noticed first. She was pointing at me and jumping up and down. When everyone else noticed the bowed to me. I wave them away and asked the guards to open the gates. The little girl looked like she was about to faint. The gates opened and I stepped towards her. The girl's mother was there, along with the tour guide, and an older looking couple. One of the adults had a camera and a big notebook. They must have been a reporter, visiting past rush hour to get the best shots. The reporter's camera started clicking and flashing but I didn't care. I was here for the girl. I knelt down beside her. She let go of her mother's hand and jumped up and down. "Hi, what's your name?" I asked her. She smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen. "Katherine!" "Katherine. That's a pretty name." I told her. She smiled and thanked me. "I love your dress." She said reaching out to touch it. Her mother told her that was rude, but I said it was fine. She stroked my dress with an expression of pure joy. "I like your dress." I said. "But I think it's missing something." I pulled my crown off my head and placed it on hers. She thanked me and wrapped her little arms around me. I hugged her back. The older couple and her mother took their phones out and took pictures of me. I talked just a little longer with Katherine, before the tour guide said they had to go. The reporter tried to interview me but I said I was just here to talk to Katherine. Her mother thanked me and said I had just made her daughter's day. I smiled, said it was no problem and turned to Katherine. "Maybe I'll see you again. I think you would make a great princess." I said, hugging her.
The guards closed the gates and James kissed me on the cheek. As we walked back up to the castle he said, "You just made me fall more in love with you than I already was. And I thought that was impossible."
