The Capital Visitor

Chapter 6: The Garden Party

The gardens had been filled with white round tables and chairs and large gazebos willed with long tables of food and drinks.
There were lights strung all overhead, I'd never seen it look so beautiful, I followed mother over to our table with savannah and Mrs Banks and quickly got myself a drink of water, that feeling never left me, the lightheaded, sickly feeling i got soon as I walked in the hall, I decided it must be because I'd skipped breakfast so I turned to mother and asked "mother can savannah and I go and get some lunch" I could tell by the look on savannahs face she was ready to burst and needed to chat asap! "Yes darling, you both must be famished it's been a long day, run along but don't take too long" I turned to savannah and wrapped her arm in mine, giving her a knowing look we walked over to the gazebo, when we stopped inside she looked around and whispered "lizzy it's him! Can you believe it he's here!in the flesh, I've pinched myself 6 times to check not dreaming" I can't help but laugh out loud, but I know what she means, the man was a celebrity! The kings beta and he was here in our little town! "I know savannah, they are all so handsome! I've got this horrible sick feeling in my stomach, I've never seen more beautiful men in my life!" I whisper back
"Well girls I'm glad your enjoying the show" a deep voice came from behind us, omg we have been caught talking like this, they were sure to tell father and my life will be over, I slowly turn around and see the man I recognised from the hall his blue eyes even more electric now that he's standing next to me, "please sir, I'm so sorry my friend and I spoke out of turn, please forgive us and enjoy the party" I grab savannah and quickly pull her back to the table where our mothers were waiting, the sickly feeling I had before has now turned into pure pain and I think I actually might vomit "where is your food darling" my mother says looking at the empty space in front of me "sorry mother I couldn't find anything that looked appealing, I'm not feeling very well today" I say trying to keep my breathing steady "oh darling, I will go and fetch you something your probably just over hungry, once you have had something you will feel much better" she got up and along with Mrs Banks left the table.
"Omg lizzy I hope that man doesn't tell your father what we were talking about our heads will be on that barbecue before sundown" she says and I agreed, I take a look around the gardens and see father happily chatting to everyone making his way around charming all of the guests, at least for now we were safe.
After that savannah and I decided it would be best to keep our conversation light and speak like proper ladies we couldn't risk another person overhearing us,
"Lizzy I'm feeling so sick I don't think I could eat a thing" she says holding her stomach "I feel the same way savannah, ever since I entered that hall I've had this horrible knot in my stomach that I can't shift" she looks over to the table a few feet beside us and gives me a nod in that direction, I look over and it's him again, this time sat with Beta Kieron and a few of the other visitors that were in the hall, they seem to be deep in conversation about something serious when he turns his head to look at me, omg he caught me watching him, after he had already caught me telling savannah how beautiful him and his friends were! I could die right here and now, heart attack, stroke, spontaneous combustion.
"Here you go darling, eat up and you will feel much better" mother says putting the plate of food down in front of me "thank you mother" I reply before taking a fork and starting to eat, I hope she was right and this was going to sort me out because I can't last all day feeling like this "once you and savannah have eaten your meals your father has instructed me to introduce you to somebody"
"Who will we be meeting Mrs stone" savannah asks and I'm glad she did because I would never have expected her reply "your future husbands".
I felt the world spin for the first time, like actually spin or was it my head spinning, I couldn't think straight only when I felt two arms come from behind me and stand me up straight I realised I couldn't breath, the small piece of pie I had been eating seconds earlier was stuck in my throat, I felt his arms around me pulling me in at the stomach, it was all I could feel like tiny little pinpricks where his skin touched mine, my whole body relaxed at his touch and then it was gone just as fast as it came, I could breath again, I turn around to thank my saviour and it's him again mr blue eyes, his black hair now messy from helping me "thank you sir" I say barely able to look him in the eye, he gives me a strange look like he's expecting me to say something else and when I don't he leaves without saying anything to me, his friends all stand up from their table and follow him "Elizabeth darling are you alright?" My mother's voice brings me back to earth "yes mother thank you, mother who was that man?" I say still watching him walking away "He is one of the visitors from the capital, they are here trying to get your father to join in the royal union and as you can imagine, your father is not too pleased about it" I turn back to her in shock I wasn't expecting that, my father has kept our town completely separate from any outside influences, joining the royal union would mean that the laws of the royal family and the other towns and city's would also apply to us, now I know why father has been so preoccupied the last few days.
"Savannah why don't you take Elizabeth to go get another drink Mrs Stone and I have to go and mingle with the guests" I hear Mrs Banks say and she quickly grabs me by the hand and drags me off, this time we don't go to the gazebo we sit down on the edge of the water fountain in the middle of the gardens.
"Lizzy are you alright? You scared me to death! And what did your mother mean our future husbands? My father never mentioned he's found me a match? We can't do it Elizabeth, we can't! We will be stuck here forever" tears started filling her eyes and I could feel that mine were doing the same "it's ok savannah, we will find a way out of this we always do, if it comes down to it we will run" she gives me a shocked look "Lizzy u can't be serious where would we go?"
"I don't know savannah but I'm not being stuck here for the rest of my life, I wanna see the world like we always said we would"
The tears filling her eyes finally begin to fall
"Oh Lizzy it's usually me with all the wild ideas, where has this come from?"
"I've thought about it for a while now savvy, we can't stay here and get married and I don't think I will ever find my fated mate, so we just have to go"
"I'm with you forever and always Lizzy"
"Forever and always savvy"
We stand up and give each other a big hug, we are going to do this, we are going to run!  No matter what it takes I will get savvy out of here I will make sure she lives the life she dreamed of.
"Party is over girls" my father announces as we are walking back to our table, you two go together and go straight to our house Elizabeth, savannah can stay with you until her father comes to collect her, don't open the door and don't let anybody inside until your mother and I return"
"With no chaperone father?" I say shocked
"Not today, you girls are old enough and I believe responsible enough to get yourselves home" he didn't wait for a reply he just left.
"Something has him shook!" Savannah says just as shocked as I am,
"Come on savvy, let's not wait around for him to change his mind, at least this gets us out of meeting whatever men they want us to marry" I link my arm with hers and quickly walk towards the gates.
"Stop!" I hear that deep voice again and before I even turn around I know it's him Mr blue eyes.
"Where do u think you are going?" I can feel him behind me before I even turn around that tingling pinprick feeling, I quickly turn to find him standing behind me with Beta Kieron.
"Ermmm... i.. well" I couldn't form a sentence my mind focused on this feeling he gave me.
"Her father ordered us to go straight home" savannah interrupts her reply to him but her eyes never leaving Beta Kieron.
"So you do know how to talk then, I expected you to come and say hello to me but when you didn't I expected you to be mute" Beta Kieron says straight to Savannah with a small laugh "well I'm sorry sir but it's not proper for ladies to be greeting guests without a chaperone and unless you would like to see my head displayed at this party I would kindly ask you to let us be on our way" she gives him a cold reply, the man she has been pining over, the one who's name is in her mouth in every conversation we have, I couldn't believe it, her reply only made him laugh even harder "proper lady are you? I bet a night with me would change that" he gives her a wink and she couldn't reply, I looked at her face and it was a mixture of shock and horror.
"Please let us go" I finally bring the words out of my mouth "if my father catches us talking to you we would get into so much trouble" I say to Mr blue eyes, I can't help but feel like I know him, like we have met before, but I just can't place him in my mind "ok girls, you go on now, we will be seeing you soon anyway" his eyes burning into mine, I hear the words but I can't move, I desperately fight the urge to touch him, to see if this tingling feeling will get more intense, I want to feel his arms wrapped around me again.. I snap out of it and carry on walking towards the gates.
It takes us around 30 minutes to walk back to my house, we didn't say a word to each other the whole way, both stuck in this daydream and lost in our thoughts by the time we got there I didn't even remember the walk, I wondered how we had gotten here, we go upstairs into my room and finally sit and breath "did you hear what he said to me Lizzy? What did he mean by one night with him? Why would he want to spend any nights with me?"
"I don't know savvy but he said we would be seeing them again soon, I thought they would be leaving after the party, maybe they want to stay until my father agrees to join the royal union"
"Well they will be here forever then Lizzy! You know how long your father and mine have fought to keep our town separate from the outside world"
"I know savvy, I wouldn't mind them staying longer but he makes me feel weird"
"Yeah, I know what you mean" she said with a sigh "I didn't mean to shout at Beta Kieron but it was the only thing I could think of, I needed to leave before I embarrassed myself by touching his silky brown hair, I was desperate to know how it felt" she laughs so hard she fell off the bed and I couldn't help but join in, we stayed laughing for a good five minutes before we could finally catch our breath again.
We stayed there all night waiting for our parents to return and when they didn't I decided to go into the kitchen to get us some snacks, lucky for us mother had been on a baking spree so I grabbed a plate and loaded it with cookies and cupcakes and went back into my room to find savannah standing at the open window.
"What you doing savvy? Are you hot?" I said to her before I realised she was taking to someone in the tree.
"Oh so savvy is your name then? I imagined you'd have a proper lady's name like Barbara or Gladys" I recognised the voice as Beta Kieron I made my way over to stand at the window next to savvy "my name is savannah actually, and I don't make a habit of giving my name to stalkers..
"Me a stalker?!" He laughed so hard he almost fell out of the tree "I just came to see if u had anything more to say to me? Anything you want to get off your chest? I could see you staring at me all day and wondered if there might be a reason for that?" He gave her a wink and that got her attention "I wasn't staring at you all day actually, I was wondering where the horrible smell was coming from but now that your here I realise it must be you" she says in her most unbothered voice, I couldn't be more amazed, how could she do it, I knew better than anyone how much she was in love with this man but now he was sitting here in the trees not even two feet away she was so confident like he was nothing to her, I couldn't stop the laugh that came out and he turns his eyes to me, "hello Elizabeth, my name is Kieron, nice to meet you"
"How do you know my name?" Is all I could reply,
"My friend hasn't stopped talking about you all day, I'm sure you know who I mean"
"Oh.. ok.. ermm thank you I guess, it's nice to meet you too, but you will have to leave if my father catches you here, he will probably shoot you"
He laughs again "don't worry I can hear them coming from a mile away, one of the perks of being a werewolf isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" I say so confused at his statement and he gives me an even more confused look back "you know, wolf hearing?" And I just stand there and look at savannah she looks at me even more confused, I think Beta Kieron gets the hint because he clears his throat "I'll let you ladies go to bed then, the meeting will be over soon I better get back before I'm missed" he said starting to climb down the tree
"Wait how did u know where we were?" Savannah shouts to him "I could follow your sent to the end of the earth love" is all he says then jumps from the branch and he is gone.