My Sister's Prince

Chapter Five:

     Eulalie turned to the prince and whispered in his ear. "You and I should probably have a talk," she said in a hushed voice. He grinned and nodded his head.

     "Yes, perhaps you're right," he said before turning away from her to face the rest of the room, which had erupted into panic and worry. "If you will excuse us," he said, bowing low before gliding across the room with Eulalie on his arm. 

     On their way out of the room, Eulalie stole a glance back at her mother and sister. If looks could kill, she knew she'd be six feet under by now. Her mother's eyes were the angriest she'd ever seen them, and her sister looked as if she was about to die of embarrassment. She groaned to herself as she reminded herself that Alaric wasn't her fiance, he was Leanora's. The two had been engaged for nearly a dozen years, since they both were children. Their mother was counting on this engagement to boost the family's status. Now, thanks to Eulalie, their family would be the subject of scandal and gossip throughout the kingdom.

     Eulalie tears her arm away from Alaric's to hold her head in her hands. "What's the matter," he asked, concerned. He stops walking and braces her by the shoulders, looking down into her eyes with deep concern. 

     "This is a mess. I am a mess," she started, her tears beginning to erupt and streak down her cheeks. How many times has she cried today? "I don't even know you," she says, "your Majesty," she added hurriedly.

     He pulled her into his arms. "I am still the same man that delighted in your lips this afternoon in the stables. I am still the same man that kissed you here," he said, kissing her behind her ear, "and here," adding a kiss to the sensitive skin on her neck. "More importantly, I am still the same man that has loved you since he met you as a boy."

     Eulalie looked up. "What?"

     "Surely you remember, that afternoon all those years ago that we spent hiding under the tea table? I remember when our mothers came looking for us. How fearless you were when you marched out from under that table and faced your mother." Eulalie shook her head. She didn't know how love worked, granted, she never expected to find it in the first place.

     Remembering that afternoon as children sent her heart fluttering, and recalling today's earlier events in the stable made her blush and feel want in places she never knew she could feel it before. Was that love? 

     She looked at his hypnotizing dark eyes that hadn't aged since they were children. "I need you to be fearless now, Eulalie," he said huskily. "Every time your sister and mother came to visit, I prayed you would be with them. Every time we neared Fennelwick on one of our tours, I begged the heavens that you would somehow be riding by, the wind whipping through your hair and your cheeks flushed from the sun. I have been dreaming about you, not your sister, for years."

     Eulalie's heart panged with that familiar pain as she was reminded of her sister and their engagement. She had always been envious and hurt growing up as she recalled the handsome prince that was off-limits, as she watched her sister plan their wedding. Perhaps her feelings for this mysterious man ran deeper than she had realized. 

     "How do you know you want to marry me? We've only spoken twice, my Lord!" Things were moving too fast. Somebody had to slow this down before it was too late. Before he woke up one morning, remembered that he was married to a woman he doesn't know-or worse, dislikes-and feels regret.

     He was watching her face and its expressions, imagining where her mind was going. "Hey hey hey," he said, soothing her with his touch as he ran his hands up and down her arms, "slow down."

     He wiped tears from her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead, Eulalie releasing a breath of air she hadn't realized she was holding in. "I want to be with you, you hopefully want to be with me. An engagement between our families was already approved and in the works, how hard could it be to just switch sisters?"