Feeling unsteady on her feet, Helene grasped the Prince’s shoulders.
His frown deepened as he squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head as if to wake himself. “I apologize. I didn’t get much sleep last night, and it seems it’s taken a toll on my mind,” he mumbled.
Still reeling from the inexplicable occurrences troubling her own fragile state of mind, Helene couldn’t find the words to even respond.
Alexander glanced at the other nobles shooting them looks of puzzlement. Leaning in, he whispered, “Do you want to get out of here?”
She nodded.
He moved in closer. “Don’t be alarmed.”
Baffled by his statement, she stepped back to look at him, but his hands clutched her waist and tugged her against his hard body. Leaning down further, she felt the skin of his lips graze her ear. She jumped at the contact.
“Laugh as if I’m whispering something provocative into your ear,” he murmured.
She scowled instead. If he was, indeed, whispering something like that into her ear, she would be far from laughing and closer to kneeing him in a very delicate place she knew men would weep for.
He nuzzled closer until she felt the heat of his skin caress her body. “I don’t see a smile, Princess.”
She rigidly formed what she thought would seem like a smile.
Prince Alexander chuckled softly, leaning back until she glimpsed his amused face. He started dancing with her again, moving her body until the sight of her father and the Emperor came into view. “You’ll need to be a bit more convincing if we want to escape.”
This time, Helene freed a genuine smile. He wanted to paint a scene of two young lovers eager to find a quiet corner to dally in. It was so absurd and idiotic, but enough to fool the aristocrats hungry for any sense of scandal.
Satisfied, Prince Alexander leaned in and whispered, “Good.”
As foolish as she felt, she giggled for him. A small squeeze at her waist praised her. Taking her hand, Alexander looked around with a sly smirk on his face and pulled her along towards the edges of the Ballroom, where several people whispered behind their hands.
Disregarding the intrusive looks and even a few sneers from some of the noble ladies, Helene followed the Prince through a doorway and into a dark, cold space with a stone stairwell. Still not speaking, he led her up the steps for a few long minutes until they reached a wooden door. Taking out a small key, he opened it with a relieved sigh.
Warmth and the scent of ink and papers gusted into her face.
Helene thought she had seen extent of the Empire’s beauty, but no…this right here was the most exquisite of all. Towering shelves housing hundreds of brilliant-colored books. Patterned, plush carpets lining the wooden floor. A crackling fire flickering shadows of gold and heat across the walls. And lavish furniture abundantly spaced throughout the room. Everywhere around, it reminded her of comfort and lazy days spent on cushion with a good book.
Drawing her deeper into the room, she marveled at the view, eagerly turning her head to get a glimpse of every single corner and crevice. When she felt a stare on the side of her face, she closed her parted mouth and looked back at the Prince.
Peering down, she saw that their fingers were still interlocked. Quickly retracting from his touch, she stepped away. Prince Alexander cleared his throat and gave an awkward nod. He seemed uncomfortable and unsure of what to say now that they were alone.
“Thank you,” Helene offered, sincerely grateful to get away.
“Of course. I think we can both use a moment of peace.”
She agreed, still feeling shaken. “You know, it’ll cost us. I’m sure my father will be displeased that I’m not out there presenting myself to your guests.”
Alexander pondered her statement with a sly look. “Well, you can just say you were so…enamored by my irresistible charm we had to get away.”
Her lips twitched. “If only it were as simple as that.”
He chuckled to himself while gesturing for her to take a seat on the nearest settee by the fire.
“Are you hungry? I think I may have a few treats stashed away somewhere,” he voiced, glancing around the vast room
As she sank down onto the soft cushions, she watched him rummage through the bookshelves by the wall.
“Ah,” he exclaimed in triumph. “Found it.”
With a victorious grin on his face, he walked towards her with a handful of packaged goods. Displaying them on a low table by the fireplace, she saw that it was a collection of preservable foods. Dried meats, nuts, biscuits, sugared dates, hard candies — the diverse array of choices went on and on.
Helene couldn’t help the small smile inching its way onto her face.
“It’s not much, but —”
“It’s wonderful,” she interjected, taking a bag of roasted nuts to munch on. She preferred it to the heavy meals usually splayed out in Balls and Banquets. With unease and discomfort always churning in her gut, she was grateful for the smaller snacks.
Alexander looked pleased as he grabbed a handful of stripped meats for himself.
“You must spend a lot of your days here if you have your own stash hidden away,” she observed.
He nodded while he chewed, sitting back in a spare chair as he looked around the vast space. “The Library is one of my favorite places in the Palace. I find myself hiding away in here more often than not.”
“It is quite a marvelous place to hide away in.”
“Yes,” he agreed, studying her with inquisitive eyes. “Princess Helene,” he redirected. “May I ask you something?”
She bobbed her head as she chewed on a salted peanut.
“What happened to your hands? It seemed like they were wounded.”
Swallowing prematurely, she considered which lie to give him. “It’s nothing of concern, Your Highness.”
He leaned back, watching her with an expression that said he didn’t believe her. “Smyth is our Physician in the Palace. He’s known for his discretion…please take advantage of it.”
“I will keep that in mind,” she casually replied, unwilling to meet his gaze. “So, what happens now?”
His lips twitched at her attempt to deflect attention away from the topic. “Whatever you want. We can take this time get to know one another—”
When her eyes shuttered, he grinned. “— Or we can spend it in silence. There are books, parchments, pens, pillows. You can read, write, sleep — whatever you want.”
“People will be looking for us,” she pointed out.
“Perhaps. Or, they’ll be imagining all the wicked things we’re doing to each other.”
Her cheeks heated at his unanticipated words. “We’re unmarried.”
“That means nothing to them,” he uttered with a smirk. “If it can satisfy their perverse desire for gossip, they’ll imagine all sorts of things are happening right now.”
She hated that he was right. By morning, the entire Empire would be whispering about the Prince and his foreign betrothed. It could be spun as two young royals falling desperately in love at first sight or twisted into a power-play between two kingdoms working to exploit their manipulative Princess.
“It doesn’t bother you?” she wondered, his carefree demeanor intriguing.
“They can think whatever they want,” he answered, leaning his elbows against his knees. “We’ll know the truth.”
It was hard to fully admit it, but she found herself increasingly inclined to approve of the fascinating Prince. When she was told she’d wed the Crown Prince of Theolos, she envisioned meeting a cold, arrogant man, distant and privileged as the heir to a powerful Empire. But the man before her now was…normal and easy to like.
Outside, in the Ballroom, he was the model, exemplary Royal, but here, in the privacy of the walls, his witty nature and casual manner shone through. He was a surprise she hadn’t expected.
“Alright, then,” she began. “Silence it is.”
Motioning his splayed hands as a way of telling her to take her pick amongst the Library’s offerings, Helene earnestly moved throughout the room, browsing through the organized shelves of books. When she looked back consciously, she saw the Prince already spread across a divan, flipping through the pages of an earmarked tome.
She had dreaded the part of the engagement where she would be forced to endure suffocating conversations attempting to bridge the rift between two strangers in an unwanted relationship. Silent companionship and understanding wasn’t something she ever saw coming. He didn’t ask any more unwelcome question nor did he pressure her to feign a persona she was tired of adopting.
So, for the first time in a long while, she breathed freely and found a corner in the back to huddle away in. Leaning against a wall by the floor-length windows, Helene took the time to unravel through the unexplainable incidents that had happened in the span of a day. The Dreamers. The lost letters. Her father’s words. Her mother’s sickness within her vision of the abyss. It all felt like an overwhelming torrent of fractured pieces she couldn’t yet align.
Unaware of how time was passing, Helene spent it grappling with her muddled mind. She read through history texts, medicinal archives, anything that could hint at the existence of magical healing or the Dreamers, and as the sun started to set and twilight touched the horizon, she fell asleep.
When the glow of the firelight grew brighter against the dark night sky outside the windows, she felt a gentle shake at her shoulders.
“Princess,” a voice whispered.
She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by an array of open books as she laid curled on the carpeted floor. Alexander’s face came into view as he bent closer to call her name again. Jolting upright, she woke with a start.
“Lord Edward is here with your maid to escort you to your chambers.”
“Yes, thank you,” she mumbled in a daze.
He extended a hand to help her up and chivalrously guided her to the door, where Wendy waited with Lord Edward. Going through perfunctory greetings and farewells, Helene thanked the Prince and proceeded to depart until Alexander took a hold of her elbow to stop her. Taking her gloved hands, he delicately removed the betrothal ring from her finger. Expertly weaving a silver chain through the circular opening, he clasped it around her neck.
“Wear it like this until your hands properly heal,” he whispered into her ear. “Goodnight, Princess.”
His satisfied grin was the last thing she saw before they parted ways.
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