Thunderbolt of Laurels

Chapter 8- Dreams are also Memories

We're outside now. Under the cloudy night, some stars shining through. The crescent moon peaks out of the light clouds migrating through the sky, not the most gorgeous night but still beautiful. I basically dragged him outside the castle. I finally take off my mask since we're far enough from the castle that no one would recognize our faces. He takes his off too. "Is this allowed? Is it proper? I don't mean to be rude to your family or offend the king in any w-" he starts. I cut him off.
"You're the one who wanted to accompany me right? Well this is you accompanying me," I say. He still looks uneasy. "Come on Merlin. Technically no one said anything about going outside. It's a free island isn't it? We're fine." I squeeze his hand to reassure him. He shrugs and smiles.
"Alright."
"You save towns from dragons and beasts and you're worried about being rude?" I laugh.
"What? Is that so wrong?"
"No it's not. I was teasing. It's sweet. Real gentleman like of you." I smile. "Keep up if you can!" I start running up one of the small hills we have on our land. I can hear his footsteps behind me, catching up so I go even faster. I get there first.
"You're fast," he says out of breath.
"I know. It's strange since I don't get out much."
"Probably since you're so tiny." I glare at him and he laughs. "So how long does this last? The spring I mean."
Our kingdom is up north so we get snow almost all the time. It's what my father named me after, snow. Snow drop to be precise.

"About a month or two. That's why father always hosts the party around this time of year," I say. I sit down bringing my knees to my chest. He sits crisscrossed beside me. "How's it like?" I start. "To be a hero? To be in the action?" I turn to him.
"Well. . . It certainly is something amazing. You don't get tired of it. It's rewarding and purposeful." I nod. It's not that I want to be a hero, but I want to do something other than be a princess. Archery is what I want. A bow in my hand, arrows flying out. . .
We stay quiet enjoying the scenery and each other's company. "Would you like to dance?" he asks.
"What?"
"Back inside you said you would dance with me, just not in there. We're outside now so, would you like to dance?" I grin from ear to ear unintentionally.
"Alright." He extends his hand for me as he gets up and I take it. He keeps his hand in mine and with his other he puts on my waist; I put mine on his shoulder. I've danced with many boys before this but this is different . . . it feels right. Before there was nothing between the boys I danced with, it was just mandatory or polite. They always smiled at me and winked flirtatiously. But this time. . .with this prince, there's a spark. I don't even know why I brought him out here now that I think of it. I could have left him. That's what I usually do to anyone who gets close, but I just grabbed him on impulse. Does that mean anything? No. It was just. . .he was there.
We sway to the music in our heads, however it seems we're listening to different music since our steps don't match at all. He steps on my foot. "Ow!"
"I'm so sorry, princess!" He scratches his head. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It was just in the moment. And please, don't call me princess."
He smiles. "Eira then?"
I look up at his dark eyes reflecting the moon. "No. Alaura"
"Alaura?" He asks. I nod my head.
"It's my middle name. It means crowned with laurel like a laurel wreath. It's a symbol of our kingdom. It means victory. That we will be victorious no matter our obstacles. My parents wanted my name to mean something."
"I like it. Alaura it is then."
I chuckle. "It seems we can't get this dancing thing right."
"Then let's make music." I tilt my head in confusion. "Let's sing."
"Ohhh no. I am not a good singer. Trust me on this one."
"How bad can it be. Besides, I'm not good either."
"I thought you were good at everything," I tease.
"I am. Just not completely everything." I shake my head in disbelief.
"Come on!"
"Fine!" I finally agree.
We agree on an old folktale to sing that we both love. It's a beautiful song with an amazing melody, but we killed it. We sing it off key and pitch. We sound like bats screeching, but it's the best I've ever danced in my life. We don't follow any dance moves but instead spin around violently and made some questionable moves. It's a horrendous show, anyone watching would be horrified but it's the most fun I've had in a while.
When we finish the song, we let go of each other out of breath and laughing our heads off. "That was-" Merlin starts.
"Horrible," I laugh.
"Well yes, it was. But I was going to say, that was amazing."

We lay down on the grass for a while, talking about everything; our interests, hobbies, family, all of it. It's so easy talking to him. And he's quite funny too. "Hey, Merlin."
"Hm?"
"Try one of your spells."
"What?"
"I want to see it up close," I say. I really do. I think what he can do is amazing. He nods and pulls out a card from his pocket. He does a motion with his hand and the card becomes electrical. Lighting shoots up into the sky. "How did you learn to do that?" I ask in admiration.
"Well, my family comes from descendants of magicians, so we all inherited some sort of gift. You can't do magic with your hands like in stories, but we can use special items such as these cards to transmit the magic."
"That's crazy cool!"
"You want to look at one?" I nod my head to excitedly and he chuckles. He extends his hand to pass me one of his cards. I grab it and examine it. There's nothing special to it, it's just a piece of paper.
"Interesting. So you just make it zap on command?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"Do it."
"What?"
"I want to see it again!" I exclaim.
"Okay." He laughs. He stands up and starts running down the hill, lightning streaks following behind him. I watch in awe. That's amazing. . .he's amazing. . .
He comes back panting. "Had fun?" I ask laughing. He nods frantically. He catches his breath.
"I love it. It never gets old," he says. He leans back and puts his hand over mine which rests on the grass. We both look at our touching hands. I blush. He quickly takes his away. "I'm sorry, I didn't see your hand there." He scratches his head. I take his hand without thinking about it, catching him by surprise. What am I doing?
"It's okay, I don't mind," I say. He smiles and holds mine back.
"Okay."

I look behind me and see people filing out of the castle. "Have we been out that long?" he asks me.
"I guess so. I didn't even feel it."
"No, it went by too fast. . ." he says and squeezes my hand.
"It did." Someone starts calling Merlin's name. Then another voice, and another. "Your friends?"
"Yes," he says. "I have to go." 
"Okay." We get up and start waking towards the voices, still holding hands. About half way, I stop.
"I have to get back."
"I'm staying in the kingdom, at least until someone needs us. I can come up to the castle and visit."
"NO!" He looks at me confused. "I mean, no don't come here, I'll come to you." He nods.
"I'll see you soon?"
"Yes, yes you will." He places a kiss on my hand, making me feel funny, in a good way, I think. When he lets go he looks at me and smiles and runs to his friends. I watch him as he joins the rest of the F7. I'd like to meet them one day. . . 

But I'm betrothed to Char. I can't be doing this, then again I'm not married yet. Do I have to marry him? Do I have to be with him? I don't need to. I can talk to my parents. I met someone, someone special. This could be the start of something.