"I do not believe I have ever seen you ride a horse," Beatrice teased, glancing to the horse behind Tobias.
He chuckled, reaching behind and stroking the horse's face. "I have been distracted lately," he teased back.
She laughed at this, guiding her own horse toward her. In a swift movement - much swifter than he could ever do - she straddled her horse, taking control. She smiled at his amazement.
"Seems like you will be distracted for the rest of time," she sang, waving her fingers to him. "You are stuck with me."
Tobias - albeit, with much more difficulty than Beatrice - straddled on his horse, guiding it toward her. He leaned over and pressed their faces together, kissing one another atop their respective horses.
"How romantic," she whispered, blushing.
With the reins in hand, their horses ran side by side in the field. The riders laughed blissfully, enjoying the liberating feeling the wind brought as it carried through them.
"You are an incredible rider," he complimented as the horses stalled, trotting to a stop.
She shrugged. "How else would I get around?" she smiled, leaning to rub her horse's mane. "I did miss riding immensely."
"You could put your horse in the stables and ride all day long," he told her, reaching over to take her free hand in his, caressing the ring on her finger. "This is your home now."
She nodded as her smile grew. This is my home now...how strange to call it that, she wondered, looking up at the castle. It looked so incredibly huge in her position, but she could always recall the memory of seeing it from her village. It was not so big.
"Only if you promise to ride with ever so often," she finally replied.
He smiled. I should enjoy these moments with her before I am corronated, he told himself. I fear I will not be able to see her as often when the responsibilities of King come crashing down onto me.
He watched her, his heart skipping a beat at how happy she looked.
"What did you want to do?" he asked suddenly. "If you were presented the choice."
She hummed, thinking over her answer. "I suppose I would own a farm."
He furrowed his brows. "A farm?"
She laughed at his reaction. "Yes, a farm," she insisted. "I loved the animals we had back home. Perhaps I would have liked to go into veterinary medicine."
Tobias clutched the horse's rein, thinking over her answer. He could not even find an answer to the question himself - he had been told all his life his only purpose was to ascend the throne and protect the crown. And yet, with that now at arm's reach, such a purpose fell bleak.
"Speaking of back home," he started, looking back at her. "How did it go when you went back?"
Beatrice chuckled nervously. "You sure do know how to change the dynamic of the night, hm?"
He sighed and reached for her hand, encouraging her to tell him.
ONE WEEK EARLIER
The Prior family stayed unbearable quiet throughout the carriage ride back to their village.
Andrew Prior leaned back into the cushion of the bench, still in slight pain. Although, it had significantly reduced from it's peak earlier in the castle. Something about seeing his daughter in the carriage, returning home with them, eased his pain.
"Caleb will be excited to hear about your return," Natalie Prior said, breaking the silence.
Beatrice rolled her eyes. As with everything, my brother will assuredly turn the situation and victimize himself into the narrative, she sneered, crossing her arms.
"Father," Beatrice said, catching his attention. "Are you feeling any better?"
He smiled. "Yes, I-"
"-Good," she interrupted. "Then I can begin to tell you how inappropriately you behaved in the castle."
Natalie widened her eyes.
"Do not speak to me in such a way," he warned, his smile disappearing.
"I can not believe the scene you made," she continued, shaking her head. "Tobias reached his hand out to you, and you shot him down so harshly. He did not deserve that."
"He deserves far worse than a rejection," he snapped. "That man is the reason you were lost in the woods for a month - and then found unconscious!"
She flinched, recalling the lie.
"And what about me, father? Why do you insist on treating me like this naive, ignorant young girl who constantly needs direction and help? I am more than capable of surviving on my own," she inhaled, clenching her fist. "You underestimate me far too much."
Andrew stared at her. Sure, even he could admit he chose to coddle her rather than leave her to her own independence, but such attitude only left him to believe she would need protection for the rest of her life.
And, if was not careful, he could end up losing the daughter he wished so desperately to hold onto.
Instead of answering, knowing his words would come out wrong, Andrew turned away.
Guilt washed over Beatrice as she slumped in her seat. She most certainly did not wish to argue and complain the day she was reunited with her parents, but her father was being much too difficult to ignore.
I am independent from my parents, from Tobias. He needs to realize that, she reminded.
Natalie looked at her daughter and offered a sympathetic smile.
Beatrice wanted to roll her eyes. Always the passive mother, she criticized.
The rest of the carriage ride was an uncomfortable one until they finally reached the village. Beatrice eagerly exited, storming toward the house. One more second trapped in that vehicle, she was sure she would suffocate and scream.
The door to the house opened, revealing Caleb on the other side. He gasped at the sight of his revived sister, dropping the fishing rod in his hand.
"Hello, Caleb," she said.
"You were...dead..." he said in disbelief.
"I am not anymore," she said, annoyed.
Natalie arrived, noticing the aura of confusion and tension that surrounded her children. She sighed and guided her son aside, explaining to him what had happened.
Good, Beatrice realized as she walked through the door frame. Less talking to Caleb, the better.
She walked inside the house, looking around. She noticed instantly how clean the kitchen and dining area were - her mother's areas - while the living room had become unbelievably disheveled. She pushed open the door to her old bedroom, ever confirming her thoughts on how carelessly Caleb continued to behave.
"I will make you your favorite, dear," Natalie announced as she entered, speaking to her daughter.
Beatrice nodded in thanks and wandered around. There was something different about the way the house was - something about it seemed new.
She passed the living room table, noticing a letter with a Royal stamp. She picked it up quietly, opening it to see what was inside.
A enveloppe with money inside, along with a personal note. She reached the note, noticing instantly it was Tobias' handwriting. Thank you for bringing Beatrice to my life. She completed me. She sighed, caressing the words.
Her eyes glanced behind and noticed the other handful of similar letters, each of them containing an empty envelope and a personal, different note.
She sighed, sitting on the couch. He had sent my family sums for every week I was gone - sometimes, as it seems, more than once a week, she realized. She sifted through the other notes, visibly seeing Tobias' increased torment with each note.
She picked up one of the latest dated notes - one from only a week ago. The wedding day. Please, do not believe the lies of the newspapers. Beatrice will forever be the only one for me. She faltered, turning the note away.
Beatrice reached the kitchen, leaning against one of the pillars that supported the house. "The house seems different, mother."
"Indeed," Natalie cheered, stirring the pot. "The castle has been sending us a pension from your days as a servant. Your father and I have decided to renovate the house with the money."
She smiled. "That sounds wonderful. How is it coming along?"
"We have replaced the floors and your father has done an incredible job in repainting the walls," she admired. "We are saving some of the money now in order to remove a wall and expand," she sighed at the thought. "Finally, we can put this large piece of land to use!"
Beatrice lauged as she took the plates from the cabinet and set it on the table, as she had done all her life. There was a sense of slight longing for the life she lived. Truth be told, she found it uncomfortable at times to be waited on by a servant, especially since she had been one.
She enjoyed setting the table and cooking with her mother. There was a sense of family to it, and she found that in the castle, such a feeling was not as apparent.
The Prior family gathered at the dinner table. Andrew thanked his wife as he sat at the head, looking out at his now completed family in front of him, blind to the reality.
"Now, I hope that being at the castle did not spoil your manners," Natalie teased her daughter.
Beatrice chuckled as she rose from the chair and poured the contents of the stew into her father's plate, and then into the three other bowls on the table. She sat back down and relished in her favorite dish - a dish that could never be prepared at the castle.
"So, Caleb," she began, not wanting to eat in silence. "Do you have a job? How is Susan?"
Caleb shrugged. "No job at the moment. As for Susan...well...after your funeral, I decided to stop courting her."
She scoffed. "Do not blame my death for your incapability of committing to anything or anyone."
Andrew cleared his throat. "I thought Susan was a great match for you, son," he glanced at his daughter. "And her brother, Robert, will make a great husband."
Beatrice forced a disingenuine smile. "I am sure he will make a lovely lady feel special one day," she stirred the stew. How convenient that father can sit there and offer his humble opinion over Caleb's relationship, but when it comes to me, he has to intervene directly.
"I hear Robet is still a bachelor," he continued.
"Good for him," she replied cooly.
"Perhaps while you are here, you may find it in your time to have tea with him."
She glanced up and clenched her fist around the spoon. "I am in a relationship with Tobias. I will not have tea with bachelors with whom I was to be engaged to."
"You do not need to feign love in order to attain luxury," Andrew said.
"How dare you?" she replied, her anger bubbling over.
Before Beatrice had accepted her post as a servant all that time ago, she was just as passive as her mother. She gladly accepted her father's orders, believing he was only acting in her best interest. And yet, even though it was clear everything her father did was what he believed was best, she came to realize just how pushed to the side she had been her whole life.
She knew her parents loved her dearly, but that they would also place their values above all. That they would inadvertently impose the societal restrictions they had grown up with, seeing as how joyous their lives had turned out to be.
But the reality remained. Beatrice, after realizing her own internal strength through her duty as a soldier and the experiences she acquired within the castle, knew she was much more than what her parents raised her to be. They taught her kindness and selflessness - values she hoped to one day pass on to her own children - but they had also instilled in her that there was someone else smarter, stronger.
And that could not be further from the truth.
"It is not about Tobias or the castle. It is about me," she said, her words repeated from the last time they found themselves under this roof. "It is about carving my own path. When I became a servant for the castle, it was the first choice I had ever made," she scoffed. "You had already planned out that I would marry Robert and continue to live in the village, and you had never consulted me - not once. But I blindly agreed because it was all that I was taught."
Andrew stared at his daughter, her words having much more affect on him than either of them realized.
"As much as you have disdain for the castle and the Royals, Tobias was the one who showed me the little choices I can make in my life," she continued. "We are rarely granted any, yet I was allowed to choose him. And I want to. For me."
Beatrice sighed, satisfied with what she had said. She thanked her mother and exited the dining room, heading out of the house to the field nearby.
Natalie looked at her husband. Without another word, she stood and left the table as well, closing their bedroom behind her.
Andrew rubbed his chin, processing all that had happened. He sighed and collected the plates, bringing them to the kitchen as he scrubbed and rinsed them.
The days that followed were filled in silence. Beatrice chose to work out in the small barn they had, caring for the animals all day so that she would have an excuse to not be in the house. Natalie gardened, equally trying to avoid her husband, who had not spoken a word since.
Andrew Prior was not angry, nor was he vengeful. When he did not speak, it was because he was lost in thought.
As night fell on yet another silent day, Andrew wandered out on the land toward the adjacent field. He sighed at the sight of his daughter sitting there, looking out in direction of the castle. He walked over and sat beside her, relieved she did not move away.
"I heard you," he finally said, his voice scratchy from days of not speaking aloud. "You were right. Everything you said at the table."
Beatrice smiled, playing with the grass below her.
"I may not have had a choice in marrying your mother, but there is not a day that goes by that I do not thank our parents for placing us in each other's paths," he confessed.
She looked at her father. "That special relationship is not guaranteed with everyone. Yet, I have found it in someone."
He groaned, putting his head in his hands. "I never thought the day would come where my own flesh and blood would be talking about being in love with a Royal."
She laughed, nudging his shoulder. "Tobias really is trying to connect with you, father," she sighed. "He did not have it easy with his own parents. I know how blessed I was to have you and mother to raise me, but many did not have that chance."
He glanced at her. It was far easier to think of the Royals as heartless monsters, rather than soulful humans with their own tribulations.
"Perhaps," he drawled out slowly. "I may have been too harsh on your Prince Tobias."
She smiled, nodding.
He reached over and brought her head to him, kissing her temple. "If this is the path that will make you happy, my dear daughter, than carve it."
She wrapped her arms around her father, relieved at his words.
As the Prior family reconciled, Beatrice chose to spend a few more days with her family. The home was lively once more, filled with laughter and singing.
A week after her arrival, Beatrice finally walked to her horse. She saddled it, preparing to take off back toward the castle. Her father rested against the horse as he verified everything was set.
"Your home is still here, Beatrice," Andrew reminded softly.
She smiled. "I know."
Beatrice pulled on the reins as the horse began its gallop toward the castle.
Natalie sighed as she wrapped her hand around her husband's. A silent comfort.
The Prior parents looked at one another, knowing their proudest achievement was the maitre of her own destiny.