Rosebriar

Chapter Eight: New Land, New Home

Emma

          I slowly walked just behind Derick as we approached the castle walls. We were about two miles from the gates. The cerulean and rose flags were flapping in the wind, and one could hear the distant noise of the morning market place. This was it. There was no turning back. Letting out a quiet sigh, I stopped at the forest’s edge, like I was implanted in the bed of it. Derick had continued to walk ahead with Artemis. No doubt, he was glad to be back in his kingdom. I turned and looked behind me, debating if I could make it home if I ever needed to without being escorted. A tear slid down my face. No. I would never be able to go back. The wedding was scheduled to be in three days’ time. Mother and Father would never forgive me if I came back after the wedding and less so if before. I sank down into the forest floor and laid my head down on my knees. I had thought that our relationship was progressing in the time that we were together, just for him to say that it was not. I can’t continue to live like this. Rowan was right. I am in a foreign land with foreign people, and the only one here to comfort me is Derick.

          “Emma, what is the matter?” Derick was kneeling down in front of me, and what looked like worry was lacing his eyes.

          “I don’t know if I can do this, Derick. You hate me. Your country probably hates me. I don’t know anyone here. If we don’t have some sort of relationship, I will be all on my own here,” I whispered quietly. Another tear slipped from my moistened eyes as I looked up at him.

          Derick reached out and wiped the tear from my cheek. Letting his hand rest there he smiled and said, “Emma, we might not have the best of relationships, but I do not hate you. My country, they don’t know you. I am sure you will be just as good of a princess here as you were in Norway. Please do not fret like this. I promised your brother that I would take care of you. I do not take promises lightly. Trust me. Can you do that? Or at least can we start there?”

          He was trying to befriend me again. Had he been doing this the whole time while I had been ignoring him? Thinking about the time we had spent in the kingdom and with each other, I realized that he had. How selfish of me! This whole situation could have been avoided, no doubt, by a little cooperation.

          Searching his eyes, I let out a soft, “I will trust you.”

          Relief flooded his eyes as he picked me up off the ground. I tensed for a moment before relaxing in his arms. They were so strong and defined. His torso was like a rock beneath my skin, yet it was gentle and giving, and my body seemed to melt into his.

“I want you to rest. Lie still and close your eyes for a bit,” he spoke into my ear.

“What about your back, Derick? I’ll walk the rest of the way. I don’t want to reopen the wound.” I reached around and gently laid my hand across it, searching for any kind of blood or additional damage.

“Please, Emma. Just let me take care of you for a moment. You need this.”  Then almost inaudible he said, “More than I cared to realize until now.”

 I gazed up at him for a second, wondering what that could have meant or if he even meant for me to hear it. He continued to focus on the path ahead of us as he hummed what sounded like a lullaby. I rested my head against his firm shoulder and closed my eyes. He was right. I needed this more than I wanted to admit to myself. Some form of comforting contact with another human being. Some way for me to feel the relief that I had been seeking since I lost Benjamin, my kingdom, my family. He was my family now and the only one I had to seek this comfort from. I let out a soft sob and in doing so I let go of my past and began looking at my future.