Castle of Lilies

Chapter 13

Lillia's PoV

When June hugged me I'd felt safe and a part of a family. My family.
I've got a family. And they're royals. And I'm technically in line to be Queen. Omg. That's scary.
Me and Ginger are sat in our allocated room for the week, me with my head resting on her legs and her hand gently stroking my hair.
"Hey Lil?"
"Mmm"
"How does it feel to be a Princess?"
"Not any different really. I mean it's just a title. It feels good to have a family though. Like a real one, that I haven't made up."
She goes silent, still stroking my hair. Then there's a knock at the door and I get up reluctantly from my comfy position to answer it.
Miles stands looking nervous, ringing his hands and darting his eyes all around.
"Hey Miles." I say cheerily. He looks past me to Ginger and the says hastily "If this is a bad time I can come back."
Shaking my head is stand to the side to let him in.
"Yo Miles." Ginger says from the bed. He raises a hand in greeting before proceding to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room. Snuggling back into Ginger he clears his throat before saying "Um... I don't really know why I came. I guess I wanted to ask you some stuff."
"Sure, ask away."
"Err...ok. Well they're mostly about Hannah."
He pauses, looking up to me as though unsure what emotions the topic will bring to surface.
"So, err, what was her favourite food?"
I smile at the memories of the many shepherds pies and the sides of rainbow carrots.
"Shepherds pie and rainbow carrots."
He nods, "And what did she look like?"
"Well, she looked like me but with different hair. She had honey blonde hair, with hazel eyes and a wonderful smile, she was a bit taller than me and she always laughed and danced and praised everyone."
He nods again and then says "Did you know any of it?"
"No."
Then he seems content and leaves us as quickly as he came.
After reading a few chapters of the book we brought, I put it down and say "Ginger?"
"Yes love?"
"Will me being a Princess change anything between us? Like will I have to come and live here? Will I have to become Queen?"
She turns my head to face hers and pressing a light kiss to my lips says "We will always be together no matter how far apart we are, nothing can change that. Maybe you'll have to move here for a few years but we can still see each other. And maybe you will have to become Queen, but I can't see it being until Lola steps down. And even then, you might be married by then."
"Married?" I say with a small smile.
She smiles back and says "Yes married."
"To who? I can't think of anyone I'd possibly ever want to marry."
She pushes me over onto my back before proceeding to raise her hands in anticipation of attack. And then I say with as straight a face as I can manage "Not a soul."
Then her hands descend into my ribs, tickling me ferociously. I burst out laughing and she says again "Still no one?"
I shake my head unable to answer because of my laughter. She carries on for a few minutes before asking again "Now?"
I reply "Maybe. Like one person."
She raises her eyebrow, wanting an explanation,
I smile saying "She's really pretty. With these light green eyes that remind me of summer grass and she's full of energy but she's extremely stubborn. Her name begins with G but I can't remember it properly."
I get attacked again before I can't take anymore and scream out "You, you idiot! Who else would it be?"

Genevieve's PoV

She would marry me. That's good to know.
But she's a Princess. My Lillia is a Princess. Which means I don't have to worry about the process of making her my Queen when she's already a Princess. We'd just have to get married. But we've only been together a few weeks so obviously not yet, but it's a thought. A thought.
Lillia went a few minutes ago to speak to Lola and I'm already missing her. Getting up I decide to go for a walk to try and keep my mind off her. Won't work but might as well try.
Rounding a corner I crash into someone and end up on the floor. Dazed I look up to see Princess Dalia stood above me, she says in her sweet voice "Gen? I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!"
"It's fine Dal."
Her jaw opens in shock as she exclaims "Your speaking?"
I nod my head taking her hand to get up. "Yes I am. Thanks to a certain person."
She smiles cheekily "Lillia? The news spread. Anyway why are you here?"
"My dad has some business so me and Lil came to look around." And find her family.
"And you? Why are you here?"
"Oh no reason." She says too quickly and with a secret smile that's not so secret.
"Miles? Cause he's a catch. He's really nice."
Her smile widens confirming my suspicions. We walk and talk, catching up on the time we haven't seen each other. Me and Dalia were friends through summer camps and our parents are friends as well so when we were small she'd come round and we'd have sleepovers and play hide and seek for hours on end.
We round a corner and I see Lillia stood at the other end of the corridor, she turns and spots me before running to me "Thank goodness I found you! You had me worried sick! I've been searching the castle for hours Ginger!"
Taking her in my arms I say "Hey, I'm right here. I've been talking to Dalia."
She looks up at me and says sternly "Don't scare me like that again. Please."
Kissing her forehead I turn to Dal and say "Dalia this is Lillia, the love of my life. Love, this is Dalia my old friend."
Lillia holds out her hand in greeting and Dalia says excitedly "I've been hearing all about you. You're even prettier than I imagined."
Lil blushes in response to the compliment. "Oh Ginger, Lola wants to see us. And Miles is looking for you Dalia."
This time it's Dalia's turn to blush before she rushes off to meet Miles, liking arms with Lil I say happily "So, what does Lola want us for?"
She shrugs her shoulders, leaning her head on my shoulder. The throne room echoes with laughter as we enter, then Lola says "Ah, girls there you are. I was wondering if you perhaps wanted to have Lillia's ceremony here? Because I mean it would only be right really."
I look to Lillia who looks to me before I say "I mean, only if it's what Lil wants. I'm fine with it as long as it happens."
Lil says, her eyes still locked with mine "Yes please."
The Lola squeals before rambling about decorations and all the planning but then Lillia cuts in with "I only want it to be simple. Nothing too fancy."
Lola replies with "Of Course. Only a 250 guests, at a push 300. And the decorations will be elegant, but simple. And the food will be generous but not overdone." As she rambles on again Lillia just nods each time she agrees with something. Then my dad and Leon come in and my dad says to us "Girls, we need to leave. Your bags were packed and are already in the car. You've got five minutes."
Saddening we say our goodbyes to Lola, June and Nathan, Lillia hugging all of them, saying they'll come to Loutocia soon. Then just as we're leaving Miles and Dalia walk in laughing, Dalia goes "What? Are you leaving? Already?"
I nod hugging her before we promise to meet up more often, then I hug Miles. Lillia gives Dalia a quick hug and a wink, then she hugs Miles for longer. Then holding hands we climb into the car and set off back home.
For the five hour journey Lillia lays her head on my lap, asleep as soon as we set off, the emotions of the few days taking a toll on her. Looking to my dad he says to me "I'm proud of you Gen. And I'm extremely happy you're happy."
I smile at him in return, before looking down at Lillia's sleeping form, her beauty indescribable. Looking to my dad again I ask "Hey dad? How old would we need to be to get married?"
He looks at me shocked then says "Well, you're both sixteen, so you'd need at least one of you to be seventeen. Preferably both but one would be allowed. It would depend who was officiating. And I guess that would be me. And I can see how in love you both are so I'd be fine with just the one of you. Are you thinking of asking her?"
I shake my head, "Not in the immediate future, but once she's declared Princess she has to live in Corallone and I don't want that. I need her to be with me, so as soon as possible after the ceremony I'd ask her."
He nods, smiling at me.
The rest of the journey we sit in silence, content to watch as the world flies by.
As we enter Loutocia, the beauty of my Kingdom strikes me again. The trees stand tall and green, the meadows full of wildflowers and wildlife. The dirt tracks bumpy as always. The buildings quaint and small, each holding a family precious to someone. Then as the castle comes into view I see the familiar brick walls and the splats of paint all over it. Loutocia in old language stands for colour, so it's known as the Kingdom of colours. All the buildings are different, the castle having a splat of each on its walls to represent each household. Each year we have colour day, where all the people gather in the forest and we bring paint and powders and anything remotely colourful. And then at a certain time of the day we all throw them at the forest. And so by the end of the day, the forest is covered in colours. It's my favourite day of the year. Pulling up outside the gates I see Mum stood at the doors waiting for us, waking Lil up I ask her "Do you want to tell my mum or wait for your ceremony?"
She says "Wait please, I have no idea how I'd ever explain it."
Nodding I take her hand and she sleepily climbs out the car and up the steps, leaning on my shoulder. My mum comes up to me and crushes my rib cage with a hug saying "I'm glad you're back dear, it's been lonely without you. We have a visitor I'd very much like you to meet. Come along."
I follow her inside to the conference room to see a serious looking man, although he doesn't appear to be older than his thirties, with black hair that covers his head. He has tanned skin and brown eyes, with his hands look calloused and worn, his mouth set in a line. He looks up and sees me before immediately standing and walking over to us in a purposeful manner, the heels of his shoes clicking on the floor. He holds out his hand and I shake it, conscious not to move Lil too much. "You have an extremely firm handshake sir."
"Why thank you." He says in a higher tone than I expected. He looks to Lillia and says "Does she have to be here?"
Glaring at him I say "Yes. Why do you want her not to be?"
"Just because she looks tired and like she could use some sleep."
At this point Lillia says "I can't sleep without Ginger. So I'm not moving."
I smile at her before turning back to this man. I ask him before he says anything else "Can I ask your name?"
"Zachary."
Ok Mr. Zachary. What do you want?"
Sighing he pulls out a folder and hands it to me, "Read this and you'll see. I'm here for a month, so read it in your own time and get back to me."
And so now I sit with Lil sleeping soundly next to me, I start to read this folder of Zachary's. The first line says "This is Zachary. I am 27 years old and I really like dancing."
And so I fall asleep dreaming of dancing men with black hair, all made of mosaic.