Chapter 17: Chapter 17

The royal feast was in full throttle with every person blissfully dancing, drinking and chowing down on the delectable food. But even though everyone seemed to be merry and minding their own business, Ella could still see the different girls who had attended the feast stealing murderous glances at her.

Nathan noticed Ella tense up and placed his hand gently on hers. “Are you okay Ella?”

Ella slowly nodded. “I’m fine your grace, I just need some air.”

Nathan took Ella’s hand and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Ella looked up at Nathan surprised, she was aware he was the crown prince but that was all the more reason he couldn’t just up and leave a royal event like this. What was he thinking?

“Your grace I..”

Before Ella could finish her protest, the prince pulled her up and made his way to the front of the high table.

.....

“Excuse us your majesty.” Nathan spoke to his father, “may we be excused, lady Ella is feeling a little light headed and needs a bit of air.”

King Aldos nodded and waved his hand. “Of course son, go spend some quality time with your lady, we’ll meet after the feast in the alliance meeting.”

“Thank you father,” Nathan bowed to his father. The prince then turned and bowed to king Burchard, “your majesty.” And lastly to his mother. “Your highness.”

Ella also curtsied to the royals and then was led to the exit by Nathan.

The fresh garden air was soothing and calming, Ella was grateful they’d stepped out of the event, she was already feeling her nerves calming.

The two were sitting down on a bench by a little pond in the beautiful royal garden. The sound of the swishing of water in the pond as the fish swam through it was very calming, she felt all the tension from the feast melt away.

The redhead opened her eyes and turned to look at Nathan who she found was already staring at her.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” The prince responded, “I just enjoy looking at you Ella.”

The silver haired prince inched closer to Ella, making her eyes go round, “you’re very beautiful Ella,” the young man spoke, his eyes not leaving her face.

Ella tore her eyes away from him and cleared her throat. “Back in the ballroom,” Ella spoke softly, “the king referred to me as your lady, but you didn’t correct him and tell him we were just friends. Why is that?”

“Well, maybe I’m hoping that one day that will become a reality.” Nathan responded.

Ella’s heart race quickened, she could tell that Nathan had taken a liking to her but for some reason she’d thought they’d just end up as friends. Now thinking about it, the thought was a little ridiculous, her and Nathan were in the same rebirth boat, it would only be logical for Nathan to want something more than a friendship with her. Because that way, he would never have to worry about losing her or anything like that. Even if they died, they’d always end up being reborn, and after looking into their interlinking stories, they knew that they’d always be reborn in close proximity to one another.

“Nathan I-”

The prince took Ella’s hand in his and looked sternly at her. “Ella..”

The blue eyed girl slowly trailed her eyes to the prince’s face and instantly was taken hostage by his deep honey brown eyes.

“I won’t rush you Ella,” the prince began to explain. “I will wait for as long as it takes till you’re comfortable with me. I promise not to force you to do anything, and I promise I won’t touch you unless you ask me to.”

The thought of Nathan touching her somehow made shivers run down her spine.

Nathan moved even closer to Ella, the grip on her hand tightening, their faces mere inches apart. Nathan had to take a deep breath to stop himself from leaning down and sinking his teeth into Ella’s lips.

“After all..” Nathan’s voice now sounded strained, he was trying his hardest not to let his emotions spill out in fear he would scare Ella away. “...we have many many lifetimes to be together.”

Ella’s cheeks and ears burnt up, Nathan was a dangerous man when allowed to speak. The words he spoke were so simple but the way in which he said them was enough to turn any girl’s legs to jelly. No wonder women were willing to tear each other down for his attention.

Nathan suddenly stood up and pulled Ella with him. “Let’s take a walk around the palace so you can become more accustomed to the environment. I’m hoping you’ll be spending a lot of time here with me.”

Ella didn’t object, her mind was still racing from the words Nathan had spoken, she subconsciously held on to his arm and followed him, much to the prince’s satisfaction.

The two walked out of the garden and into the training grounds where the prince, his brothers and some other knights would hone some sword fighting and archery skills.

Ella let go of Nathan’s hand and walked towards the targets, trailing her fingers over them in awe. Her mind was filled with nostalgic memories of her training sessions with her father Richard Strongbow.

‘That’s my girl! Soon you’ll be better than any knight in the land.’ Her father would say.

[Father...]

“Was he an archer?” Nathan asked the girl. “Your father?”

“Not by profession,” Ella responded. “But he was damn good at it, he taught me a lot of what I know.”

“Would you like to give it a go?”

Ella looked up at Nathan, her eyes glistening with excitement. She hadn’t held a bow in years, she was so busy mopping around and being depressed that she’d forgotten that she had to always be on her toes. In this lifetime she’d become the very person she’d dreaded, a damsel in distress.

“Can I?” Ella spoke excitedly.

Nathan took a quiver of arrows and a bow and handed them to Ella.

When she took the bow in her hand, her face lit up, the weapon was a little heavy but the feel still excited her to the core.

Nathan walked behind her and helped her position herself, he gently put her arms in place and handed her an arrow.

“Do be careful.” He whispered.

Ella nodded and aimed her bow at the target, her arms were a little shaky owing to the time that had passed since she last held a weapon, she really needed to get back into the archery game.

When she suddenly felt Nathan’s body press against hers, Ella froze, her heart pounded wildly to the point of almost dropping her bow.

Nathan held Ella’s hands and steadied her aim.

“It’s all in the biceps Ella.” Nathan whispered.

The girl tightened her grip on the bow and focused her aim, she then released the arrow, sending it flying towards the target, striking a bullseye.

“Wow Ella you’re amazing!”

Ella’s smile stretched from ear to ear, the thrill of the moment caused her to be so blissful, oh how she’d missed this feeling.

The girl turned to Nathan and smiled up at him.

“Thank you so much.” Ella spoke cheerfully.

Nathan couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s expression, her beautiful blue eyes glistened and her soft lips curled up into a very enticing smile, she looked so adorable, he’d never seen her so happy.

“We can do this again sometime-” Nathan spoke, his eyes trailing down her red velvet dress. “- when you’re dressed for it.”

“You’d do that?!” Ella exclaimed excitedly.

There was that adorable sparkle on her eyes again, Nathan wanted nothing more than to keep that sparkle on her face always.

“How about tomorrow?” The prince suggested, he took Ella’s hand and smiled broadly. “I’ll have the servants arrange a training course for just the two of us.”

Ella dropped the bow and wrapped her arms around Nathan, making the prince freeze in place. “Thank you Nathan, thank you so much.”

“Anything for you Ella.” The prince responded, wrapping his arms gently around her, not wanting to let go.

*

After the feast was over, King Aldos, King Burchard and their top lords and generals sat down in the royal palace study. Nathan had also joined them, being the crowned prince, he was supposed to take part in royal affairs in preparation of him taking over the throne one day.

“As we all know, the alliance between our two nations can be very beneficial to us all.” One of the lords explained. “Not only will we boost our military advantage, we will also improve trade between the two realms, improving both economies immensely.”

The men sitting around the table all nodded their heads in agreement.

“Pardon me for asking lord Boleyn,” lord Morrell spoke. “Why the sudden need to make an alliance? Our two kingdoms have lived separately for generations in peace, and our trade has been fairing quite well without this alliance. I’m sorry but I fail to see why this alliance is that important, is there something your grace is not telling us.”

King Burchard and lord Boleyn gave each other side glances, weighing on weather they should tell the people in the room about the real reason behind the alliance.

After a long silence, king Burchard stood up and faced the people in the room.

“I have reason to believe that a Great War is coming.”

The people in the room looked at each other with concerned looks.

“A war that will crumble our kingdom to dust.” The man continued. “And we feel an alliance with Meria will help us stand tall when this war comes knocking on both our doors.”