Once we were deep in the woods and far, far away from the city, I decided to ask him something that's been on my mind. It might be overstepping a bit, but I kind of didn't care. His relationship with Karina is so confusing to me.
"So, you're engaged to Karina?"
He glanced at me. "Yes, why do you ask?"
"Do you want to be engaged to her? Or at all?"
"My life has been planned since birth, Aston."
"Not quite answering the question."
"When I was younger, I imagined all of the ways I could propose. I didn't want it to be something I was forced to do, I didn't want it to feel arranged. Now, in a weeks time, it'll be announced and it's been nothing like I thought it would be."
"Kind of sounds like you wished you weren't engaged."
"Karina's great. She's been a good friend to me and to my family, but if I had it my way, no. I wouldn't be getting married yet."
"Grant, do you love her?"
"I have love for her, yes."
"But are you in love with her?"
"What do you mean?"
I laughed and shook my head. "I mean, is she someone you want to spend the rest of your life with?"
"I haven't given it much thought, to be honest."
"You've known you were going to be marrying this girl from a young age, right?" He nodded. "Was she the one you imagined doing the grand proposal for? Was it her face you envisioned?"
He thought for a minute. "No. It wasn't."
"Was it anybody's?"
"No."
I nodded. "I don't think you want to get married."
"I think you're right."
"You shouldn't have to get married if you don't want to."
"Unfortunately, that's how it is."
"Maybe it doesn't have to be. Isn't there something else you'd rather do? Anything else?"
"Nothing that I can think of."
"I can think of something."
"What would that be?"
"I think you want to travel more. You've said before that you've never really gone outside Matin, maybe you should start branching out."
"I can't abandon my family."
"Who says that's what you're doing? Shouldn't you be seen in these other kingdoms? It might help build and strengthen the relationships with other rulers and people."
He smiled. It was very small, but it was there. "I can take you anywhere you want to go in Matin. I wouldn't even need a map and I could create a map for anyone that needed it."
"But it's not enough, is it?"
"No. No Aston, it isn't enough, but I can't do that to my family. My mother would be heartbroken. Karina would be heartbroken. I can't abandon all of my obligations just to chase some childhood fantasy."
"Let me guess, that's something your mom has said before."
His brows furrowed. "I... think it might be."
"Wouldn't your father want more for you?"
"Should we discuss something else?"
Clearly I hit a nerve. "Sure," I sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Tell me about your world."
"Anything specific?"
"What do you do there?"
"I have a job designing homes."
"Do you enjoy it?"
"I love it."
"What else?"
"Well, I... I love hanging out with my friends and my family. Although, that's a bit difficult, because I have to fly home to visit them."
He looked at me, brows furrowed and fully confused. "Fly?"
"On an airplane. Like a ship, but for the sky and way more technologically advanced."
"Wow..."
"Yeah. I also love reading and going to movies."
"Movies?"
"There's a thing called a movie theater, and they have at least twenty rooms in them all showing... um well... I'm not really sure how to describe it, honestly. There's massive screens and pictures that move play in them for a couple hours. There's popcorn and drinks and candy. It's a good way to spend a Saturday."
"Do you have a favorite?"
I grinned. "I have lots of favorites. Of all time, it might be Pirates of the Caribbean. The first one though. The second one is pretty good, too, but the first one is amazing. I struggle with picking one single Disney movie, the animated ones, because there's so many. Don't even get me started on Marvel movies."
"It sounds incredible."
"It is. It's..."
"You miss it."
"Yeah, I do. Of course I do. I miss everything about my life. I probably even miss the parts I can't remember."
"We'll find a way to get you back. I promise."
"Thank you. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your help. I'm surprised you even believed me, to be honest, so thank you for that, too."
"I think I wanted to believe you."
"Why's that?"
"It means that there's more. More than this life. More than responsibility and obligations–"
"More than arranged marriages?"
He was hesitant, but eventually nodded. "I don't want to be married."
"Have you told Karina?"
"No. I can barely admit it to myself."
"Truthfully, I think she already knows. Or at least suspects."
"What?"
"She's doing everything she can think of to engage you in conversation, to get you to want her the way that she wants you."
"She wants me?"
"Badly. She's completely head over heels in love with you. Why else would she try so hard to scare me off?"
"She did what?"
The way his eyes burned, I kind of worried I shouldn't have told him. No reason to cause more problems for him, but it might be a little too late for that. "It's really not that big of a deal. Obviously, it didn't work."
"Why would she even try?"
"Like I said, she's in love with you Grant. She probably thinks I'm here to steal you from her or something."
"That's..."
He laughed, but I don't think it came off the way he meant it to. I raised a brow. "Does she need to be worried?"
"No, of course not! I'm marrying her. Nothing will change that."
"Okay, good. I mean not good. Like it totally sucks you're basically being forced to get married, but–"
"I know what you mean."
I sighed and it was quiet for a few moments. A very tense kind of quiet. The kind where we couldn't even look at each other. After having some time to think, I looked at him again and said, "You know, if you're really going to get married, you might as well have you're grand proposal moment."
"It won't be the same."
"Well duh, but that's not really the point. This will be you're one and only chance to get married, you might as well do everything the way you've always imagined it."
His brows furrowed, then he nervously glanced at me after a few seconds of thinking. "You think I should?"
"I do. No pun intended," I laughed.
"I'll take it into consideration."
"Okay."
We kept riding, for the most part, in silence. We'd occasionally spark up a conversation, but I spent a lot of time looking around the woods. I only saw a small bit of it last night before it got too dark, but it really is something in the daylight. The trees are tall and full of leaves, and the ground is covered in grass and greenery and some of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen. This place is absolutely gorgeous and now I'm even more curious about what the other kingdoms are like.
We stopped a few times along rivers and streams, and Grant would tell me the names and everything else about them as the horses drank from them. It also gave us a chance to stretch and relax. We had to keep going, though. It was practically dark out when we came into a small village. Grant said it's name is Fée. All of the street lamps were lit, helping the sunset in casting a golden hue over it. Very few people were roaming around anymore.
Winding our way through through the dirt roads, we came to a cottage. Grant said that we could leave the horses in a back pasture, so that's what we did. He was very cryptic about this place, really. He never said anything about why we stopped here, how he knew this was a good place to stay, but that all became a bit more obvious when a guy came sprinting out of the cottage and practically tackled Grant to the ground.
"Take it easy," Grant laughed even as he ruffled the other guy's hair. "There are women present."
I looked towards the door and noticed a very pretty woman standing there. Her hair was held back and it looked to be curly. She really is stunning in a quiet sort of way.
"Who is your guest?"
I turned back to the boys just as Grant moved to my side.
"Jasper, this is my friend Aston, Aston this is my oldest and dearest friend Jasper."
"It's nice to meet you," I said quietly, not really feeling like being outed as an outsider once again. Not this soon anyway.
"I believe the pleasure is all mine," Jasper said, reaching for my hand then swiftly kissing my knuckles. "That's my beautiful wife over there, Sienna."
"I'd come closer, but I don't want the bread to burn," she called with a smile.
"Come on in, please. Dinner is almost ready," he threw a grin Sienna's way. "I'd love to here all about your new friend, Grant."
He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, then pulled me with him as he followed after Jasper into the cutest little cottage.
"Tell me, Grant, you just got back from your journey to see Dru, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"I find it hard to believe that your mother was in support of you leaving again so soon."
"She was reluctant, but I promised I'd be back in time for the ball. Please assure me you'll be there."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, friend."
The relief on Grant's face didn't go unnoticed. "Besides," he continued, "–this is important."
"It has something to do with Aston, doesn't it?"
"She had a bit of a spill in the woods, and when I found her, she couldn't remember anything."
"You're taking her to Zena."
It wasn't a question.
"I know she can help."
"Aston, would you mind joining me in the kitchen?"
"Um, I'd love to."
Sienna smiled and linked her arm with mine as she led me away. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit nervous. And stressed. Clearly, Grant and Jasper are close, but I don't know these people and Jasper seems really curious about what's going on. I would've preferred to stay in the living room.
"So..."
Oh great, here we go.
"Her Majesty really let you leave with Grant? She must really like you."
"I don't think she does, actually. Grant was just really persuasive."
"She doesn't like you? Are you sure?"
I nodded. "Neither does Karina."
Her eyes filled with warmth. "Karina..."
I tried to hide my shock. "You know her?"
"Very well. Any time Jasper and I make our way into the city to see Grant, we see her. They're very close."
Okay. Either my interaction with her was a one time thing, or she's really good at being fake. I'm not sure which way I'm leaning either. "Grant told me about the engagement."
She nodded, then handed me a knife for the bread and started scooping stew into bowls. "It's awful that he has to be forced into this. I think that's why he's so reluctant to be as close to her as he once was."
"What do you mean?"
"They were best friends growing up and somewhere along the way, things changed. They seemed to grow even closer and Grant seemed to be absolutely smitten, but everything changed after his father died."
I was speechless. He loved her before?
"If you ask me, I think the reason he withdrew from her was because his mother informed him only a few weeks after that he was to be married. He barely had time to grieve."
"How long ago did his father die?"
"It's only been two years."
What the fuck? If that were me, I'd be grieving for at least a good five. And given how close he and his father were? God. The fucking nerve of his mother. Maybe it's fine that she hates me, because I'm not feeling so hot about her either.
"My heart goes out to Karina, as well. She just wishes things between them hadn't changed. She's hoping this marriage will help repair things."
Softening a little towards her, but we'll see. I'm still not over how rude she was given that she was so quick to judge.
"Come, let's eat."
I carried two bowls and she carried another two. Things between Jasper and Grant seemed as normal as ever when they sat down. They were smiling and joking with each other. I wonder how the rest of their conversation went.
Dinner was kept light and fun, thankfully. I'm not sure how I would've handled any other shocking discoveries about my fellow travel partner. By the time dinner was done and a whole bottle of wine was gone, I was exhausted. Still, I helped clean up what little Jasper and Grant allowed. They were determined to take care of everything. So, while they did dishes, I helped Sienna grab pillows and blankets for the couch. I thanked her probably a million times for letting me crash there, but she genuinely seemed pleased to have company. It was really sweet. Both her and Jasper seem to be incredibly kind. I'm glad Grant has them as friends.
After a while, Jasper and Sienna disappeared to their room and I was cuddling into the couch as Grant took the chair. After a few minutes of laying in darkness and silence, I heard Grant sigh.
"We'll be gone early in the morning."
"Okay."
"What did you and Sienna talk about?"
"You," I told him honestly.
"You mean my undeniable charms?"
I laughed and rolled over to meet his eyes, and was shocked to see him right beside me, his legs stretched across the table. "We actually agreed you have very limited charms."
He smirked. "Liar."
My smile fell and I nodded. "I didn't realize you lost you dad just two years ago. It can't be easy. Doing all of this without him."
"Doing what?"
"Living."
"You're right, it isn't easy, but I don't have a choice. I have to keep going."
"She also told me about your past relationship with Karina."
"We may have been closer than I originally let on."
"No kidding. Grant, you were in love with the girl."
"I was."
"Don't you think it's possible to feel that way about her again?"
"I don't know."
"If you weren't being forced to marry her now, would you ever have taken that step?"
"Aston, I haven't spent the last two years thinking about a life with her. I've been thinking about a life without my father. I don't know the answers to these questions."
"Let's just go to sleep then. Apparently, we have an early morning," I teased. He smiled and I snuggled deeper into the pillow.