Daughter of Water

Chapter 25

(Darren POV)

"Bid you be well, my prince Darren?" Harriet cooed to me, her voice as soft as a dove's feathers. Her face gave away nothing but a gentle smile and eyes that have very little light within them. Nothing like Arina's.

I paused by the flowers we had been walking near in the garden and tried to wipe the daughter of house Liquis away from my mind.

"Pardon my behavior. I have been feeling a bit out of sorts today." Her eyes widened in fear as she grasped the midsection of her flowy purple skirt.

"Do you require a medication to aid you in your recovery. Say so now and I will fetch it for you." I put my hands up and grinned, surprised by how far this girl would go for me. And my father just had to betroth me to her. I bet Arina would feed it to me with her lips. I would be bed ridden and too sick to move and she would feed it to me by way of mouth. However gross it sounded, it had my body getting warmer and certain parts of my body reacting to the memory of her lips on mine.

"I am not ill in the sense of physically, Lady Harriet. It is a thought that plagues me." Her tense gloved fingers relaxed and settled back to the beginning of her skirt where she wound her fingers around one another.

"Then do you need to rest, my prince?" I shook my head and smiled. If not for the girl running through my mind on her steed of water, this beauty before me would be the one that had taken my heart. But most unfortunately, it is forbidden love I crave. Even Adam and Eve could not help but try the forbidden fruit once.

"Be I in well condition if you remain near me." I tried as much as I could manage to have her feel welcome and comfortable around me. If she reported to anyone that I was not giving her enough attention, my father would have quite the punishment for me. Mother would have never pushed me into a marriage I was not comfortable with.

That's it! Mother can help me decide what to do!

"Lady Harriet, if I left you in the company of my friend Lord Benjamin, could I take to understand that I may take my leave? I just recalled that my mother wished to see me." Her eyes dimmed and the smile that appeared on her face looked as if it were painted there. So forced.

"Of course my prince Darren. If it is your mother that requires your presence, then what still holds you here? On with you." I grasped her hands in mine and with a near nauseous feeling in my stomach, planted a light kiss to the back of her hands.

"I depart, Lady Harriet." A blossom of pink leaked into her cheeks and as I walked away, from behind me, I heard her sigh in content. Once I had gotten my clothes and dressed accordingly for outside weather, I went to the castle stables. As I walked in, my friend Benjamin appeared by my side.

"I did not receive a notice that you were leaving today. I was under the impression that you were escorting Lady Harriet about the castle grounds." I asked a hand to fetch my saddle and turned back to my friend who was already stroking Ava's mane.

"I had been but a thought plagued me so I am going to someone who I believe can help me." While a stablehand saddled up my steed, my friend grinned at me, a knowing smile on his face.

"That is code that you are going to see your mother. Alright. Just be back soon so your father does not do anything harsh that you are not deserving of." I took my friend into my arms and smiled, grateful that I had such a companion as him. When we separated, the saddle hand gave me my girl's reigns and I mounted her.

"If my father calls for me, just the mention of my mother will be enough to silence him for a while. He is still wounded by her leaving." I looked down at my pendant and thought back to the day she had given me this pendant. It was also the day I had been given Ava.