She looked at herself in the mirror and saw her neatly brushed hair tumble down her back in beautiful blonde curls cascading like a waterfall. She was confident in her looks and knew how men perceived her. She was beautiful but one thing stumped this beauty.
How could Alex not love her? After all she had done for him, how could he be so unfair and look at someone else with such emotion in his eyes. It was natural she was jealous but she never confronted him about it. Although she loved him, she knew he could never be hers even if the marriage certificate will tell her she won. His heart will always belong to Isabelle.
“Princess Anastasia, your father is waiting for you in your room,” one of the maid called out. Annie found her name was Irene. A plain looking servant who was more or less her age by maybe a year or two. She had strong brown eyes that were determined and confident but in the presence of a royal, she seemed to have her head bowed down most of the time and her eyes diverging any contact.
“I will be right out,” Annie said, shooing the servant away so she could get one last look at herself from the bathroom mirror.
She frowned as she saw her reflection. Was this what she was expecting when she found out she would marry a prince? A princess was supposed to be cherished and loved by his prince but she could never have that happy ending. All she could do now is to make Isabelle’s life worse. She smirked at herself, determined to make her plan work while Isabelle was gone with her brother. The opportunity came too perfectly. She might have to even thank Elizabeth for distracting her brother while the finishing touches of the wedding was planned out.
She wasn’t so keen on befriending Elizabeth but she knew her brother seemed to fancy her. After the marriage was over she quietly promised herself to make amends with her brother. They seemed to grow further apart when their mother died and she had a new determination to make things better.
For now, she only had one objective: destroy Isabelle. No one could stop her now. Annie looked at herself in the mirror one last time with a confident smile as she entered her bedroom and saw her father on one of the chairs.
“Father,” Annie said, curtsying in respect.
“I see that Maliki went to meet his lady friend from your dinner party,” King Henry said, laced with some sort of amusement for his son. He was quite fairly surprised that his son would leave without him knowing but he tried not to care. Maliki couldn’t do anything to him and he felt quite safe that his son was elsewhere. It would help him think straight about the preparation for Annie’s wedding.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Annie said, giving Maliki’s friend a name. “She’s a duchess.”
“This is good for him,” King Henry said, grunting in response. “On other terms, Isabelle got away with our first plan but we have her away. We need to hurry the wedding so it will be final. I do not want any surprises.”
“Yes, father,” Annie nodded, feeling hope. She could do this. She will succeed.
“Well,” the king exasperated. “You look beautiful, darling. Are you ready to try on the wedding dresses?”
“Of course,” Annie replied. “Will Alexander be there?”
“Yes, he will be present so make the most of it,” King Henry said, patting her daughter on the shoulder. He led his daughter towards the door and gave her a confident smile. “Smile and make me proud.”
******
“You’ll be fine, Maliki,” Isabelle groaned, watching Maliki fix his hair nervously.
“No, I will not be. I am much too nervous and anxious for this. Maybe I should cancel,” Maliki said, not feeling so well. He was wearing his best casual clothes and tried to look confident and smile but it came out as a awkward and creepy grin.
Elizabeth had invited Maliki out to town at a place where she loved to dine. It was a casual lunch meeting but Maliki was so nervous he didn’t know if he could even get himself there in whole piece.
Izzy on the other hand was rolling her eyes as she saw the cockiness in Maliki wipe away and an uncomfortable and innocent Maliki freaking out as if he didn’t know how to talk to a woman.
“She is just a lady who happens to be friends with you. Act normal,” Izzy advised, massaging Maliki’s shoulders. His tense back began to unwind but his face was still hilariously scrunched up like a little boy’s.
“A lady friend I happen to fancy!” he exclaimed, groaning out loud.
“Don’t be such a woman!” Izzy laughed. “She likes you for you so go out there and be yourself.”
Maliki sighed, knowing Izzy was right. “Fine, but you will be near me although not next to me, right?”
“Of course. I am a bodyguard for a reason. Not just a person you can rant to,” Izzy teased and saw Maliki blush slightly.
“Whatever, let us go,” he sighed, getting up from his chair. He could hear Izzy snicker behind him as they walked down the stairs and into the carriage towards town.
When they arrived, Maliki noticed how hot it felt. Izzy didn’t seem to mind the heat and he wondered if it was just his nervous state that was making him feel this much heat.
He saw Elizabeth sitting down in a simple dress that expressed her feature well enough and a lovely summer hat he admired. She smiled widely as she waved for him to sit next to her and he felt himself smile as he obliged happily.
The next few hours seemed to pass rapidly as they ate through their course in laughter and story sharing. He had learned that she moved many times and through that experience she had learned the truth about the royals. She was also good at telling emotions and even surprised him when she explained what he felt when she first saw him.
“You were a good man but you looked obviously left out from the group as if you did not fit in well and I was right,” Elizabeth said, smiling as she drank her tea.
“My childhood was different than most,” Maliki would reason but when she asked why, he didn’t answer and Elizabeth didn’t seem to pressure him against his will. She respected his space and he was glad for it. He wasn’t sure if he could tell another person about his mother. The thought of her beautiful green eyes seared into his mind and he couldn’t stop thinking about how much he had missed her dearly.
********
“Dinner was amazing,” Maliki complimented as she led him to her personal garden. She smiled as she held his hand, going deeper into her own little world.
“Chef Fitzgerald is the best,” Elizabeth said, her dimples growing deep into her rosy cheeks. Maliki was tempted to brush his fingers across her cheeks, wanting to know how it felt like. He scolded himself in his head and made a strict promise to keep his thoughts to himself.
“So where are you leading me?” Maliki asked in a playful tone.
“I told you,” Elizabeth laughed, giving Maliki a mischievous smile. “You shall see when we are near.”
When they got nearer Elizabeth began to walk besides Maliki, enjoying the warm breeze of the mid-summer air. It was soothing and calming to be where she was with Maliki. She was surprised she felt an attraction towards a prince of all people but every passing day she felt herself interested in Maliki even more.
Although he seemed like a shy and self-conscious prince, his graceful movements and his little actions of kindness brought her to like him a lot. She wanted the few days he was staying to be perfect.
“We are here.” Elizabeth let go of Maliki’s hand and stepped closer to her garden that seemed to be endless. The flower beds stretched onwards to the sunset, switching colors from red to yellow to orange in a breathtaking pattern throughout the field.
“This is amazing.” Maliki’s soft whisper seemed to be lost in the breeze as it played with the ending curls of his hair. He went up to her, and held her hand, looking deeply into her eyes. “Thank you.”
Elizabeth felt a deep blush appear on her face but she was too distracted to be embarrassed about it. All she could see in front her of her were Maliki’s charming blue eyes that shown like two sapphires with a spark of life in them dancing. His eyes glanced down at her lips for a quick second and Elizabeth didn’t hesitate to fulfil what they both wanted.
Their lips touched ever so lightly that they couldn’t really count it as a real kiss. Maliki boldly went forward even harder as his lips crashed into Elizabeth’s soft ones, creating so much spark in his heart that he felt like he was dreaming. He knew she could hear his heartbeat pulsing from his chest as he held her close, his hand tangled in her hair, trying to get more of her.
Elizabeth kissed Maliki back with all that she had, never wanting to break the kiss but after a while she let go, taking in air. They both looked at each other, bewildered with raging hormones consuming their bodies. The energy in Elizabeth’s blue eyes reassured Maliki that she didn’t feel forced to do anything and that calmed him. He wanted to kiss someone who would return his feelings for him and he felt like he found the right woman. A woman he could love and he could trust to love him back.
“Elizabeth…” he whispered, brushing her cheeks lightly with the pad of his thumb. She leaned at his touch, holding his hand as he cupped her cheeks. He looked at her lovingly and leaned down to kiss her again.