When her fiery eyes met mine, a shiver ran right through me. She looked awfully familiar. I tapped my chin, wondering where I’d seen her before.
Before I had a chance to place her, she called it. “You again!”
“Me?” I immediately got defensive, taking a step back.
Her face had already been a shade of red from all the crying she had been doing, but somehow it managed to flush even deeper, into a shade of crimson, as she pointed an accusing finger in my face. “You’re that man from the field.”
My brain slammed back to earlier. Before I could check my manners, and well, I didn’t really want to have manners because she bothered me, I yelled, “You’re that annoying, spoiled princess who keeps trespassing on my land!”
She squared her body with mine but didn’t utter a sound as she stood slack jawed, ogling me as if nobody had ever said anything true to her before.
Rolling my hand over my forehead, my annoyance budded.This is why I don’t talk to people.I know better than to stop. Even if I am only trying to help, I always end up with the most annoying people. I could be in my truck by now. Now, I’m stuck trying to talk my way out of this.
“Sorry to bother you.” I slid one foot in front of the other, hoping to make a clean break from this encounter. “Now that I know you’re not in danger, I’ll leave you alone.” I didn’t look back as I took steps back out the alley.I’d gladly walk back through that crowd ten times rather than talk to her!What is she even doing here? Shouldn’t she be in her high-security-snob tent?
“You don’t have to run off,” she annoyingly called after me. “I could use someone to talk to.”
“Ah,” I tried to speak over my shoulder, but her shaky-teared voice made me look back. “I’m not good at talking.” She pressed her hands to her face, wiping new tears. As hard as my heart had become, I could never walk away from a woman crying. My insides froze.
“I can’t talk to anyone in my family about this.” She was sobbing again. “They are all counting on me to marry King Aswell, so he commits to ending this war.” She threw her hands out in question. “I don’t even know him, let alone want to get married. If I don’t do it,” she rambled, her voice growing urgent and more afraid, “this war will continueforever. My father will have to sell everything. The rest of the art, our farmland, and—”
Ping!
My brain shuddered through the words.Her dad, the king, will SELL the rest of his land . . .And I pivoted, turning back to her, my eyes laser-focused on her lips. “What did you say?”
She swiped her nose and sniffed through a few hiccup sobs. I read her lips as she spoke. “The king who wants to marry me has a powerful military. He promised to end this warifI marry him.” Her lips pinched in agony and another weep tumbled out. “But I can’t marry a man I don’t know!”
“You can’t,” I echoed, my brain connecting the dots of her rambled story. Apparently, her dad would sell the landunlessshe got married. If she gets married . . . he wouldn’t need to sell the land. My eyes grew large, and I was seeing this whole situation of mine—and hers—in a new light.
She can’t get married!
That will be terrible for me! I’ll never get my land, and I won’t be able to farm enough to live off the land I have. I’ll have to move back to some overpopulated city, get a city job and drown in all the people!“Oh, no,” I breathed out with so much concern I almost got dizzy. “You can’t get married. That’s a terrible idea.”
“What?” Her voice quivered from the lingering sobs, but she shot me a quizzical look. “You don’t think I should do it to save our kingdom? People are dying.”
“I don’t . . .” I shook my head, feeling how wrong this whole situation was for me. I was so close to getting more land. I could have cattle, and hay, and earn enough to live and never have to go anywhere near anybody. If she got married, and the war ended, the country would grow strong. I wanted that. Of course, I wanted this country to flourish, butnot before I got my land! To get information, I asked questions in a casual tone, “So, your dad is pretty stressed?”
“Yes.” Her voice was somber. “There’s been a lot of developments with . . . things.”
“Interesting,” I mused while I rubbed my chin. “Does he sound desperate?” I winced, and quickly tacked on, “I mean, it has to be so stressful to be a powerful king in charge of so many people’s lives.”
“He must be desperate to do this.” Her eyes pinched, teasing more tears. I honestly don’t know where she was getting them from at this point. She had to be about dehydrated.
“Good,” I accidentally blurted out, and rushed to cover, “I mean, good that’s, he’s, um, er.” I bit my tongue as this wasn’t working. “Does he need help? Can I offer help?” I stammered with a new approach. “I couldbuysomething . . .”
“He needs a lot of help. Which is why I must do this . . .” Her voice trailed off, and underneath the lingering tears, there was a solid conviction that scared me.
“You can’t marry a man you don’t love,” I blurted. I was begging, ready to take a knee in front of her. This was both of our last chances at happiness. “It’s a . . . betrayal of your own self.” I was never what you call a romantic type, as I was practical about everything. I honestly didn’t care if she wanted to marry a monkey, but at this point, I was invested in this marriage. I need some sort of fantasy to sell her to put off this marriage untilafterI have my land.
“Think about everything you’d miss out on,” I urged. She hiked a curious brow, which confirmed I was taking this argument in the right direction. “Love is life’s greatest treasure. You can’t give up on that, before you even try.” My gaze bored into her eyes, pleading. “You’re a beautiful woman, who probably has an amazing personality.Wait.”I squeezed my hands into fists, pleading. “Waitto marry until you find that special person who seesyou, and not just your royal position.”
Her lashes fluttered, blinking back more tears, but her voice was slightly stronger. “I never thought of it that way.”
“Think about it this way,” I echoed, nodding repeatedly like a bobble head. “You deserve towaitto marry someone you love more than anything. Someone who makes your heart flutter just being near them. Someone who woulddiefor you, finishes your sentences, and loves you for—”
“F-for me,” she rushed to complete my sentence. Before I even understood what was happening, we both fell silent. Our gazes entwined as if we were both given the privilege to peek behind a hidden layer in the other. It’s that moment you see in fairy tales, boy meets girl or whatever you called it. Even though we weren’t meeting for the first time, something felt off—or insteadonabout the moment. Call it a redo or take two. A spark or an explosion. I didn’t care what you named it.Somethinghappened, and I was too scared to move.
Her eyes widened, revealing all the glistening specks of her emotions like blue-violet ripples pulsating around her pupils.
