Chess Piece

Inside Our Heads Did We Live In

The morning sun of July looked so warm.

The light came filtering through the tall windows, brightening up the meeting room where she and her Council men were sitting, and she dared herself the pleasure, if only just for a moment, to imagine herself walking outside in the royal gardens rather than listening to the older men surrounding her.

Subject concerning the wellbeing of her people has come up into their discussion, on what was the best option there was that she could take that would work for both the people and the kingdom.

"I do wish to help them, whatever you say." She could not possibly have those under her care to suffer, to not enjoy life like others, her parents would not have agreed to that. "And not just the laboring poor, but the hungry and the homeless, and... There are people who are lost, and whose business is it to see to their welfare?"

"Well, in my experience, Your Majesty," one of them shifted in his seat, Lord Melbourne, clearing his throat to make sure that his voice was clear and able to be heard by the whole council. "It's best to let these things develop naturally. If you interfere, you risk overturning the cart."

Her eyebrow rose at this; though she had expected for one or two to disagree with what she had decided on, as they always do or else every meeting would have been far quicker than it was, she still could not help to react upon the statement that indirectly had told her to just sit back. "Well, Prince Hans doesn't agree." They had talked about the subject the night before, during their game of chess, and she was pleased to find that his knowledge of the world and political business could serve as an assist to her own duties. "He's made a study of the working man's condition; he's full to the brim with ideas for their improvement." Impressively enough, he had actually used his free time actually studying in the library when she was not there, to actually make plans to offer to her later on.

A mixture of impress and disbelief was shared between the men before her as they mumbled among themselves of this Prince Hans that would soon enough stay by her side more permanently than he already did now, it made her consider if he should attend meetings with her. "Is he indeed?" It was Lord Melbourne's turn to raise his blond brow now at her direction as his hand went up to his chin, finger running over the cleanly shaved skin. "How inspiring."

To make her council men reacted in such way made her unable to resist the tug of small smile on her face. She had been underestimated due to her young age and her status as a lone Queen, the latter was one of the reasons on why her father had arranged her to marry so quickly despite her magic, as public still view men as far more superior and capable in running a kingdom than a woman. As much as it annoyed her that people thought she was unprepared, she could not help but appreciate how her betrothed was able to serve her.

"How inspiring indeed."

--

In public eye it might seem unfair for her to prefer the company of him than of her sister's.

In hers, in the truth that none could know, it was her way of protecting the sister she loved more than anything in the world. Call it cruel, but she rather not hurt Anna than trying to go back to what they were once before, back when they were young and has no fear of even being in the same room together.

And though fearful, this time she took his offered hand as a way to prepare herself with his more constant present, as the date of their wedding was coming nearer, and the nights she spent avoiding her could not stop it.

"What did you want to say?" She received a look of wonder from him then, which she returned with a knowing half smile. "In the short amount of time of knowing you, Prince Hans, you always seem to find something to say."

At this, he chuckled, his free hand running over his auburn hair, apparently finding that her being thoughtful as amusing. Yet after his face has gone back neutral, expression controlled, did he give her a sincere smile that almost seemed like he ... pitied her. "Only that I understand more than you think of what your life is."

"Do you?" Though she doubted that he did understand, as he did not share the same struggle that she constantly had to face for the safety of everyone that had come close to her, she was intrigued into knowing what would make him think that he did.

"My childhood wasn't easy, either. I have twelve older brothers."

"I know. But I don't think I follow." Yes the King and Queen of the Southern Isles do have a large amount of sons, all married but him, yet she could not find the exact problem it would pose to the youngest.

"They're," there was a pause, as he contemplated on how he would word it out to her. "They're not always the kindest." He hid something from her, she could sense it, and even when he tried to conceal it from her, she could guess that his brothers had treated him worse than one could consider as normal. "My point is; I know what it is to live alone, inside your head, while never giving a clue as to your real feelings."

That was unexpectedly hitting closer than she had expected. As he had spoken it, she realized that he had unintentionally described what she felt. But was it all just a coincidence? "Did someone ask you to tell me that?"

"No." His chuckled had returned, as if the Hans that had spoken of his brothers in a way of someone that would rather not know them was never there, and once again he had flashed a smile at her direction. "Actually Lars, my third brother, told me never to mention it."

"Yet you did." He was not a man who always listened then, and though she had expected herself to find that irritating, as she normally would as a practical woman, she didn't. She actually found it quite... daring.

Again with the smile that now, instead of annoying her, had actually prompted her to return it with one of her own. "Yet I did."

--

In the darkness of her bedchamber, in the privacy behind closed doors where she could let go, even for just a moment, she began to wonder.

Of his green eyes and his auburn hair, of his charming smile and gentle expression, of the warmth of his hand despite the gloves that stood between their touch; she wondered of the Prince of the Southern Isles.

The one prince that would soon fill the empty space of the large bed she slept in, of the man that would stayed by her side, the one person that she dared herself to imagine what reaction would he give her if somehow she told him of what she could do.

She wondered if she was actually... falling in love.