Royal Love

The wedding

No response followed. I approached the black shadow slowly and turned my bedside lamp on. I screamed. Not a gut-wrenching scream. A scream of joy.

A brown Scottish terrier sat happily wagging his tail on my bed. I smiled and sat down to pet the puppy. On his collar, a note attached read:

One of the many more surprises to come, I love you my rose.

My eyes watered at the thought of Caspian loving me. If only he knew that he had been the love of my life from the moment we were old enough to understand what love was. I imagined one day becoming his princess. Tomorrow, I would turn 18. This meant that I would be able to marry Cas and we could make our relationship official – royally allowed.

As I laid on my bed caressing Oliver, I remembered those times Caspian had been forced to go on dates with other princesses in hopes of finding a potential wife. He would have to ask for permission to go on dates with them and pretend to enjoy himself. He never took me on these superficial dates, just on surprise adventures.

One day, the princess of the Gray Cay Islands came to ask to marry the Prince. To his dismay, she had arranged the wedding prior to her arrival at the palace and his parents did not seem to mind. She had me arrange the flowers and decorations for the reception as she tried to unsuccessfully flirt with Caspian. He had kept his eyes on me as I arranged the decorations, telepathically apologizing. He had not told his parents about us in fear of denial, so he went along with the wedding. I did not.

Despite the invitation, I found myself sitting in my room looking out to the lake house, where the wedding would soon take place. I watched as Caspian arrived, wearing a black suit embroidered with his battle badges and his family crest. He looked handsome – his usually disheveled hair now swept up into a quiff. I watched as the ceremony proceeded with Caspian taking the princess by the hand and turning to face the priest.

At that moment, I began to cry. This was the moment of truth, he would be forced into accepting her as his wife, denying our love for each other.

After a few moments, I stepped away from the window and decided that a soothing shower would do. I let the steaming water sink into my pores as I replayed a reel of memories I had shared with Caspian. From the moment I arrived and was greeted with a freckled boy to the moment he had declared his love for me. I felt helpless. I needed to a place to breathe and let myself forget.

I headed to the closet and pulled out a sundress. I dried my hair and headed to the lake. I opened a hidden door that lead to the lake from the kitchen and away from the reception. I made my way through the garden towards the sound of running water.

As I reached the shore, the sun began to set and my eyes began to water. I sat and placed my feet in the water, letting the coldness numb my feet. I closed my eyes and let myself cry.

"You've never been a pretty crier" said a male voice from behind me. I quickly wiped my tears and hid my face between my legs. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Please look at me, Penelope." I felt his burning eyes on me. His hand quickly left my shoulder, leaving a tingling warmth in its place. I finally looked up and found myself staring at a saddened prince.

"What are you....Why are you here?" I asked trembling. I wiped my tears and waited for his response.

"I came to find you... I needed to see you"

"Why?" I hesitated. "You need to go back to your wife." As soon as the words left my mouth, his face changed. He smiled. His face moving close to mine as his lips crushed mine. My body froze. Unable to move, Caspian held my face and deepened the kiss. He leaned us back, his body on top of mine.

Breathless. Caspian pulled away and placed his head on my shoulder. I tangled my hands in his hair. For a few minutes, we laid together simply enjoying each other's company.

Caspian pulled away and placed his arms on my sides to hold himself up.

"She's right here," he finally whispered. "I love you. Not anyone else. Just you. I almost lost you today and I could not live with myself if I had." My eyes welled up as tears fell down my face. I smiled and pulled his face towards mine until our lips touched.

I pulled away. "I love you too," I whispered with our noses touching. He laughed and stood up. Grabbing me by the waist, Caspian threw me into the lake. We swam and watched as the sun disappeared in the horizon, promising each other that nothing would break our love.