Arranged To Him #Wattys2017

Seventeen

Eliana's POV

Everything that Harry told me took me completely by surprise. To say I was shocked would be an understatement as well, but judging by the way that he stood in front of me pacing back and forth, I could tell he was the same. 

"So,"  I breathed, "how should we handle this?" 

He sat down next to me and sighed, shrugging helplessly. I looked over at his face and saw the trouble written in his features. 

"I have no idea," he said, "I thought I'd be able to figure out something to counteract against my father's actions but nothing is coming to mind. It would help if I even knew how he was poisoning them but I have no idea, and neither do they."

"Would he tell you if you asked?" I wondered. Harry looked at me and shook his head.

"I don't think so Ellie," he murmured. I rose my eyebrows slightly and tried not to feel taken aback by his use of "Ellie" to address me. I smirked to myself and looked down at my hands.

"I could try," he whispered, "but I doubt he'd tell me."

I looked back up at him and placed my hand over his clasped ones. He looked down at them before he looked at me worriedly. 

"We will figure this out," I reassured him, "for now, I think it's best for us to warn the maids and the servants. Be cautious of whatever they interact with." 

He looked at me for a while not saying anything. His gaze sometimes would flicker down to my lips before moving back up to my eyes. I looked at him and could feel my cheeks heat up slightly and pursed my lips before I smiled and stood up.

I walked towards the window and gazed out at the castle, to the valley below where I could see the faint glimmer of the village and the lights within it. The castle sat on top of a hill, so it was easy for us to look down and see the village and the base of it. The hills rolled over each other as they collided and stretched on for miles. They formed a sort of "bowl" that held the village at the centre and I smiled thinking about all of the villagers that must be socializing, the children that must be running through the streets. 

"How could someone even think of doing such a thing," I wondered, "to such innocent and beautiful people?"

I heard Harry's footsteps near as he came to where I stood. When he stood behind me, I could feel his breath on my shoulder as he gazed out at the village from behind me.

"Cruelty means success for someone like my father," he said solemnly, "empathy is admitting defeat."

I turned around to look at him and he looked down at me. His eyes shifted from my eyes to my lips and he stepped forward. I stepped backwards and gasped in surprise when I bumped up against the wall of the bedroom, next to the window. He pursed his lips and leaned forward. 

"Princess?" he said, looking at my lips. 

"Mhm?"

He paused, moving closer slightly, placing his hands over my own and intertwining our fingers. I could not help but keep my eyes fixated on his face as he crept closer. My heart began to pound at the sudden change in atmosphere in this room. 

"May I kiss you?" he whispered, bringing his face closer to mine, "I've wanted to do it for a while."

I blushed madly and felt my heart rate increase drastically. Did I want him to kiss me?

I'll admit, these last few weeks my perception of him had changed a bit, but had it changed to the point of me growing feelings for him? Over the past weeks, I found myself staring at him when I didn't know I was. I noticed that I'd instantly grow happier whenever I saw him or if he'd stop by to say hello. I noticed a lot of things that changed in the way I looked at him. It scared me a bit, knowing what he was capable of when it came to romance. But something also told me that I could trust him not to let me crash and burn, should I fall for him.