The Prince and The Advisor

Chapter 5

~Outside the ballroom~

Martin and Kam try to catch their breaths.

"Are you alright?" Martin asks.

"Yes I am, thank you, your Highness," Kam replies.

"Please, call me Martin."

"If that is what you wish Martin."

Holds out his hand, "Will you join me? I want to show you something."

"Alright," Kam says and gives Martin her hand.

Martin leads Kam through the castle, then out to the castle gardens and finally to the hedge maze. Knowing the castle layout somewhat, Kam just follows. But when Martin turns the corner to a seemingly dead end, Kam now wonders where Martin is taking her. With the wave of his hand, the hedge in front of them magically disappears to reveal a hidden garden. In the middle of the garden the stands a platform in the middle of a fountain surrounded by spraying water creating a water archway.

Martin leads Kam onto the platform in the middle of the fountain and Kam can't help but be in awe of how beautiful this place is.

"It's so beautiful here! I didn't know this place exists," Kam says in awe.

"No one does, I just discovered this place not too long ago, and I've kept it a secret since," Martin replies.

"If that's the case, then why did you show me this?"

"I just thought this place would be the perfect spot where no one can find us"

"And why would you want that?"

Grabs her hand, pulls her towards him and places his arm on her waist, "So I can dance with you without being so formal."

Kam is unable to move for a second, then she laughs and places her arms on his shoulders, "Alright then."

The music from the ballroom can still be (faintly) heard as the two sway to the melody. The music then changes to a much slower tempo and the two sway to its tempo.

Completely lost in each other's eyes, they dance without a care in the world, as if they're floating on air. Their dancing may be tamer than the dance they were doing earlier, but the connection they share makes their dance all the more romantic.

Kam is in sheer bliss, dancing with the man she loves not only once, but twice. However, this dance is much better because she's alone with Martin. Only the moon and stars as witnesses to the wonderful chemistry they share.

But that's when it dawns on her. After tonight she will haft to let go of her feelings for Martin for the sake of him marrying. She knows that Martin marrying a princess is what's best for the kingdom. But despite that, she can't help but feel sad that she has to let go of the one man she loves. This causes her eyes to gloss over with tears just waiting to fall, but she tries her best to fight them off.

Martin seems to notice because right when the first tear is about to fall, he wipes it away with the tip of his thumb.

No longer able to fight back the tears, Kam breaks down in tears, covering her face from the embarrassment of crying in front of Martin. As if on instinct, Martin removes her hands from her face, wipes the tears off her face, then pulls Kam into his chest and hugs her tightly, gently caressing her back. 

 "M'Lady, it's ok. I don't know why you're sad and I don't need to know why. But, I promise you, everything will be alright," Martin says sincerely.

Kam looks up at Martin and seeing the sincerity in his (green) eyes, "I'm so sorry Martin, I really shouldn't be crying on your birthday," Kam says and frantically wipes the remaining tears off her face.