👑 N I K O L A I 👑
The palace gardens were the most beautiful place to have a picknick. They sat on the big meadow that acted as their cricket field and was right between the lake and the extravagant bushes and flower beds that the gardeners tended to every day. The food was delicious as always, the cook had selected something not too heavy for this early dinner, so the party could roam around in the nature afterwards without being too full.
After they had eaten, some Grisha performed a water play at the lake, entertaining Nikolai's guests with their abilities. It was truly impressive how easy it appeared to them and the joy among the women was big watching it.
"This is just amazing!" Josefine next to him cheered and clapped her hands when they finished their show. "I wish I could do that as well!"
"I do, too. Grisha powers are impressive."
"Can they be learned?"
"Unfortunately not," he smiled and got up. "If so, I would have already mastered them brilliantly and would be the most powerful Grisha ever known."
The young woman frowned at him. "How would you know that you would be able to do it?"
Nikolai blinked a few times at her serious face but kept his smile on. "Because I can do anything. And with beauty and grace, might I add."
"No one can do everything." Josefine tilted her head. "My father says it's a waste of time to try everything, one should focus on their talents and expand them."
As the frown deepened, Nikolai realized she didn't understand that he had been joking. One might blame it on her youth, other on her simple mind. „Well, yes, that is ... right." Either way, not a match for me - what would I do with somebody who doesn't get my humour? "Unfortunately, I should take my leave, or the other ladies might complain."
"Oh, yes." Josefine nodded. "I should join Brigitta, then. Will we talk later?"
"Certainly." Nikolai replied and offered her a hand to help her get up although he knew that he wouldn't try to have another chat with her today. We are just not going to work out.
The kerch looked up to him, blushed and took his hand with a quiet "Thank you".
He nodded a goodbye to her when she stood on her feet. She wasn't able to look him in the eye, so she curtsied before him. Please don't develop any kind of feelings for me or the fall will be hard. And I should make sure I don't lead you on.
Kheru was the first one he saw when he turned around and he quickly made his way over to her. She just had left Aneela who was now standing alone at a flower bed, studying it closely. A pleased smile showed on her face as she soaked in the scent of the roses which made Nikolai smiled as well. I love how she finds joy in the simplest things in life.
"Not a fan of flowers?"
"As a gift? Big fan. As a hobby? Not so much." Kheru crossed her arms and looked back to her friend. "I don't know how she can find them so interesting? She just gave me a five-minute-talk about why roses are the most popular flowers and although they are overrated, she claims they have their rightful spot as the 'flower of love'."
"I'm glad you two have formed a friendship." Nikolai said as Aneela moved on from the roses. "And I can tell it's not pretend, you two are just perfectly getting along. Despite your differences concerning gardening."
"We are." Kheru looked back at him and smiled brightly. "The torture we live through with the other ladies has left us to trauma-bond. It might be some sort of syndrome because we've known each other for only five days but it feels like I've known her for a lifetime.""
"Do I need to be jealous?" He joked, still looking at the zemini. "It seems like you two are spending more time together than the three of us combined."
"No," Kheru chuckled. "There will always be room in my heart for you, Your Highness. And plenty in Aneela's."
His heart made a joyful jump. "Really?"
"Mhm," Kheru nodded amused. "She is rather fond of you but doesn't know what to make of it, yet. All she needs is another little push."
"So, you are trying to bring us together?" He laughed.
"Of course, you two are the perfect match! Both of you know that deep inside you but neither one of you has admitted it to yourself. I can tell that you're a little bit more convinced but Aneela is still a bit scared what will come off the future."
Aneela crouched down to admire various flowers next to the roses.
"You will make a few compromises, but she has to sacrifice a lot: She will leave her family, her country, give up her work and everything else she has known her entire life only for you to be her future. It will be hard but she will adapt quickly and find herself in the new role, I am sure of it."
When he looked back to the princess, he noticed her eyes had wandered off and when he followed where she was looking at, he couldn't help but smile. "Tolya is quite shy, you should approach him because he will only admire you from afar, thinking he is not good enough to talk to a woman like you."
Her eyes darted back to him, and she blushed a little because he had caught her staring at his friend. "I-I didn't mean to-"
Nikolai nodded over to Tolya. "Go to him. Ask him something irrelevant and then mention Meizo, it's the best conversation starter, trust me."
She frowned in disbelieve. "Meizo? The poet?"
"He loves the art of poetry."
Her eyes beamed. "Really?"
"He hasn't told you, yet?"
"No, we mostly talk about how nice the weather is ... if we get some words out."
Nikolai shook his head at her. And Tolya. "You two should get off that horse and start a real conversation."
The Princess grinned at him and started to walk towards the heartrender. "Already on my way."
"Your Highness?"
His heart made a joyful jump when it heard Aneela's voice. As he turned, he saw that she had waited for him to finish his conversation with Kheru before approaching. "I just have one little question, if you might spare me a second."
He smiled warmly at her. "Yes, of course. I'll always have time for you, Miss Ceron."
That made her look away for a second, gathering her thoughts before she opened her mouth to speak again. So cute. "I just wanted to ask you if it would be alright if I could bring the book I borrowed from the library down here to make some plant studies - I will be extra careful to not get it dirty, I promise."
"Please do, I hope you find the book helpful. If not, then feel free to have another look around the library." Then he remembered something. "Would you mind taking a walk with me? I'm always eager to learn."
She smiled but shot him a doubting look. "About flowers?"
"Yes, might come in handy one day."
"People do find them quite boring." She warned him. "So please, do tell me to stop if I am chatting your ear off."
Nikolai walked over to her and gestured her to lead the way as they stepped onto the path that led away from their party into the palace gardens. "I am quite certain you can make anything sound interesting."
She looked away, unable to receive yet another compliment. "Well, uhm, I certainly do not know as much as the gardeners who keep their work very tight and neat."
"The offer about a conversation is still open, I'm sure they would love to have a chat with you to share their wisdom."
"I do not want to bother your gardeners, I am sure they have their hands full - the gardens are big and in need of a lot of care."
He winked at her. "I am sure they will not decline a beautiful lady that is interest in their work."
Aneela quickly looked for something to distract her to not fall into embarrassment for a third time now. I could do this for hours, she looks so adorable. Does she not know how wonderful she is? How beautiful? How intelligent?
"Is the boat ready yet?" She asked and pointed over to the lake. "I don't see any builders on there anymore."
"Nearly." He replied, stepping next to her to face the boat. "There are still a few arrangements that are needed to be made but we will set sail soon. Are you looking forward to it? Or are you the kind that gets seasick and therefore never willingly steps foot on one?"
"Thankfully not," she chuckled. "No, I love being on boats or ships."
He raised his eyebrows, surprised. "You do?"
"Yes, but I guess that comes with growing up at the coast line." She replied and then turned back to him. "It is a passion of yours as well, I heard."
"Very true. I love being on the open sea with nothing around but water and a clear destination ahead."
"When was the last time you were out on the water with a ship? I mean, the lake must have its perks but I assume you prefer the sea?"
"The lake is a good healing pad if my heart aches for the sea - which happens quite often, because I don't get to sail in the open water very often." The last time was when we were at war ... but he wouldn't bring up such a heavy topic and decided to answer in a simpler way. "I think the last time I sailed somewhere was Kerch. I had some business in Ketterdam. Have you been?"
She nodded. "But I haven't seen much of it but the insides of merchants' houses. I've never actually experienced the city or experience for what it is famous for."
"The island can be quite exciting at times - which you can't really tell by the dreadfully boring banquettes of the merchants families in the Government District."
That made her laugh. "And what exciting things are happening on Kerch?"
He asked himself why Isaak didn't even speak once to her. She was clearly beautiful, graceful, educated, charming and just a joy to be around. Genya must have put her on the pile of potential wives for him - underneath the ladies with blue blood of course - but considering her character and ambitions, she was a great match. Besides, her family was wealthier than most of the ravkan royals and her social standing in Novy Zemi was very high.
Isaac would have liked her, she was easy to speak to, had great interests and was up-right honest with everybody. But he had only focused on the false shu princess which must have been Genyas work.
"Well, we had a few odd trips in kerch waters."
She raised her eyebrows in excitement. "Really? Tell me about it."
Nikolai smiled and began to tell her about his time at sea as the two of them walked closer to the water, both of them having forgotten about their initial work through the gardens. He had to leave out some details about various reasons, but she seemed to be very invested in his tale. Aneela actually listened to what was being said and caught on to these things later in conversations which made it clear how observant she was.
The other ladies usually just stared at him and although Nikolai knew he was handsome, it was kind of annoying after a while. He wasn't a painting; he was a human being that wanted to have a normal talk with a partner that could keep up with the conversation. Was there nothing going on in their heads when he spoke to them? Or were they too occupied to appear perfect for him, so they weren't able to actively listen and respond?
"That sounds amazing!" Aneela said dreamingly after he had finished a story where they had found a treasure chest at the southeast part on the island by accident. It had turned out it was one of the long-lost stacks of gold a famous pirate - who stole that from the Kerch Government and nearly caused bankruptcy - had planted it there ages ago before he got caught for piracy and was beheaded for it. There was only a letter for all four places where he hid his treasure and Nikolai wanted to find the remaining three someday. "I wish I had been there."
"It was quite the adventure to get it to the museum without getting mugged by some local thieves. But it's in secure hands now and can be visited any time."
"Oh, you need to ask Kheru about that. She travels a lot as well, I am sure she has seen it. She is quite educated with the history of Kerch."
"She hasn't been away from home for ages, maybe I will evoke some wanderlust in her."
Aneela nodded. "It surely will."
"And then she gets home sick and wants to go back," he chuckled. "The last time she was gone, she complained the entire time about the food not being as good as shu food, the air wasn't as good as in the Sikurzoi and that she missed the quiet walks in the gardens of Ahmrat Jen because Ketterdam is always overrun by people."
"She'll miss the gardens the most." Aneela smiled. "She told me they are the most beautiful ones that she has aver seen."
"What do you mean by that?" He asked, suddenly stopping at the spot. "That she will miss it?"
Aneela's face went blank for just the split of a second before she tried a brighter smile. "Well, uhm ... I-I must have misspoken, I-I meant she missed them. She must have missed them the most."
Nikolai did catch the slip up and the second of shock that followed her before she corrected herself. "But you said 'she will' - future; as if she's not going back there."
Her puzzled look told him that he had hit right in the centre of the situation. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, unable to quickly come up with a justification.
"Has anybody told you before that you're terrible at hiding secrets?"
She looked away, caught. "My sister always jokes that I can't hide anything from somebody."
"What is going on?"
„It is not my place to tell you, Your Highness." She ran her right hand over the left one and then started playing with the bracelet around her left wrist. "Please forgive me."
"I understand." He looked to the left, where the shu was still talking to Tolya. "Kheru? Could you join us a moment?"
"No, Your Highness-" Aneela tried but Nikolai shook his head.
"I find it honourable that you are such a loyal friend to the Princess of Shu Han but this sounds like it concerns Ravka as well, that is why I cannot let this be unspoken about."
Kheru joined them with a big smile on her face. The talk with Tolya seemed to be going great but now I have to ruin things with political but important matters. "Has Aneela bored you to death with her flower-lectures yet?"
"Are you not planning to go back to Shu Han after the courting season?"
The princess's face dropped in shock and her eyes slowly wandered over to her friend. "What?"
"I'm sorry, Kheru." She whispered and tried to reach for Kheru's hand. "I misspoke and-"
Kheru moved her arm out of Aneela's reach. "You told him?"
"No, she refused when I asked her what was going on because she is your loyal friend. Now I am asking you, not as your friend but as the Prince of Ravka: What is going on, Princess Kheru? Are you not returning to your home country after the courting season?"
Kheru swallowed hard. "No. Aneela's family will take me to Novyi Zem after you selected your bride. Everything is arranged."
Nikolai felt like he just walked into a brick wall. Never in the world would I have guessed that she won't return to Shu Han after her ... wait, was this then even a vacation? Or just the first step of getting away from her home country to run to another one?
And Aneela? Was she planning to leave after the courting season with Kheru?
"You didn't even meant to give this courting season a chance, did you?" He couldn't prevent the anger that was raising inside him to slip into his voice. "You were planning to sit here like a duck with Kheru, wait until I would have given you free and then abduct the Princess of Ravka on my land after you had blindsided me!"
"That is not what is going on." Aneela heavily shook her head. "It was never our intention to cause any trouble. Especially with you and Rava. We will do everything out of your reach, so nobody will get dragged into it."
"And what if I choose you, what is going to happen, then?"
"My family will leave but turn direction once it is safe and follow Kheru over the boarder. There will be a staged kidnapping and Kheru will go with them to our ship that will take her to safety in Novyi Zem, far out of Makhi's reach. And I would stay here. With you. Hoping and praying to her Saints that I don't believe in, that everything will goes smoothly. We did not mean to offend you, please believe me, Your Highness. My family is simply trying to help somebody out of a terrible situation."
With me. He could tell her words were honest, but Nikolai couldn't help but feel betrayed. Not only that they hid it from him, but they didn't ask for help as well. He was Kheru's friend and yet she chose to ask Aneela, who was practically a stranger to her, despite them getting along so well. How could she trust her over me? And Aneela would start our engagement with a lie? Hide Kheru's travels to Novyi Zem from me?
"And yet you conspired behind my back! Dragging my country into your doings without even thinking about informing me, Zoya or anybody else in the governmental body of Ravka!"
"Nobody should have known!" Kheru protested. "At first, I wanted to ask you if I could somehow stay in Ravka, but I figured Aneela could get me further away, out of Makhi's reach. And the plan was to not include you, so it wouldn't get dangerous for any of you or your country."
"If we do this, we will leave Ravka out of everything," Aneela promised. The pleading in her voice is killing me. "Kheru will disappear when her carriage is on shu land and nobody will draw attention to Ravka, I promise you."
„'Will'? Future again?" Nikolai shot her a frustrated look. "Are you really planning on doing this?"
"Nikolai, I can't go back." Kheru pressed. "I told you how it's there and when Ehri tells me to go, you know how things are only to get worse."
"That does not explain why both of you didn't tell me. And lied on top of that!"
"We did not," Aneela disagreed. "We kept if from you, yes. But we didn't lie."
"I thought I could trust you." Nikolai swallowed hard. He was angry at Kheru but for some reason, he was even more mad at Aneela. "You're the only one who has been honest with me the whole time and you masked such an important thing? How can I even consider you as the future princess of this country when you make such dangerous decisions?"
He could tell that she was getting frustrated as well because he couldn't see her point of view and the reasons behind her actions. Her brows knitted together, and she shook her head again. "We are not even officially courting! And I don't know where your head is. So, how can I be loyal to you, then? Kheru is my friend and when she approached me with her problem, I just knew that I would do anything in my power to help her."
Nikolai's shoulders dropped. "You're right. We are not."
Aneela blinked, knowing that her first sentence had stuck with him and might have hurt greater than it was intended. We are not even officially courting.
"Your Highness, I-" She interrupted herself with sorrow in her voice, trying to grasp for words to explain herself further, to ease the situation. She didn't mean to hurt me. "When Kheru asked, I couldn't decline. I am truly sorry, I did not mean to anger you."
But Nikolai couldn't shake it off, he was to upset. "It's a little too late for that, as you can tell."
Aneela swallowed hard. "I-I couldn't say no, Your Highness, I-"
"I know." He cut her off. I couldn't have said no, either.
"Nikolai, this is not her fault." Kheru's voice was shaking as she tried to interfere. "I dragged her into this mess, you should only be mad at me, what I did was wrong - Aneela was only being a kind soul, willing to help somebody to get away from danger."
I had planned for this day to go very differently. And now we have to convince a princess who wants to flee to go back home. And Aneela ...
"Kheru, let's go to Zoya." He spared the zemini one last look before he brushed past her. "And we shall leave it like this."
Aneela's eyes grew wider as she understood that this was his goodbye. "Your Highness-"
"Good day, Miss Ceron."