Arranged To Him #Wattys2017

Six

She looked up and her face turned into one of surprise.

"Harry," she stated, shutting her book. She scooted over on the bench to offer me some room and I gave her an awkward smile before making my way to sit next to her. Right as I sat down, I was welcomed by the aroma of peaches and wildflowers; a peculiar combination but nonetheless pleasant.

Be nice, Harry. It shouldn't be that hard.

"I had just come to find you and erm," I trailed off, realizing that I, in fact, did not have a clue as to why I was there at all.

"Yes?" she smirked. I narrowed my eyes at her. She knew I was having trouble coming up with a reason.

"You said that we should have a civil relationship," I said. She nodded.

"I did."

"So I thought, since you have been trying harder than I have for us to get along, I figured I should at least try myself," I mumbled.

Yeah, that sounds convincing.

I gulped when I noticed her smirk to herself and look down. She smiled up at me shortly after and nodded.

"Thank you," she smiled, "I appreciate it."

I simply nodded. Not really knowing what else to say. We sat there for a while, fiddling with our thumbs or our clothes, stealing awkward glances at each other. It was then that I realized that I had known nothing about the girl that I had been promised to since I was 6. We had never met before today, because our kingdoms were so far away. Our fathers kept in touch through the written word, but even that was just so that they could discuss their progress in their ruling.

Well, I had to start somewhere.

"Forgive me, princess," I whispered, glancing at her, "would you like to take a walk with me?"

I stood up and held out my hand for her, waiting cordially. She said nothing but glanced at my hand, then at me, then at my hand again. I smirked, sensing that her hesitance was probably because of the result of the last walk we went on.

"I promise to not be as much of an ass this time," I joked. She chuckled and placed her hand in mine. It was soft, and petite but still seemed to fit well in mine. I smiled to myself when I noticed the size difference in our hands. It quickly faded, however, when  I realized that I had never thought these cheesy and disgusting thoughts before, so I didn't have any reason to do so now. 

It simply wasn't me anymore.

"Shall we walk around the gardens? Or maybe, I can show you around the castle?" I offered. She considered my ideas for a minute before smiling at me.

"I would very much like to explore your castle," she smiled, "I'm in the gardens too much as it is."

We both chuckled at her last statement and I extended my arm out in front of us, gesturing for her to go ahead. Our friendly behavior towards one another was appalling me. I was so sure she hated me. Her words she spoke in the library did impact me in some way; it was a wake up call, I guess. Not that I was going to be married, but that soon I was going to be running both Eliana's kingdom and mine. That was essentially what this wedding was for; the merger of two kingdoms into one. That way, both of our families would share the immense wealth it brought with it. I knew, though, that I couldn't run two kingdoms by myself; I needed a Queen.