Brendan was already in a foul mood as he sat outside in the cool night air of the east exit steps.

His meeting with the Daxarian King had not gone… quite as well as he’d hoped.

He was perfectly fine with the violence- in fact if anything that helped him trust the Daxarian King a little more somehow. It indicated the man was capable of reactions that weren’t calculated.

No… the part that had truly ruined the Troivackian King’s mood, was when his betrothal to the Princess was put under fire.

Gods knew what she would say if she found out the details of the meeting… she may even want to break it off once learning of his provoking her father…

‘I’ll have no proper defense for my words. Why did I have to get angry over the King’s decision pertaining to the Princess’ friend? Sure she’d made an astounding soldier… but it was that the Princess would be upset at losing her friend that made me angrier…

The sound of dainty footsteps coming down the castle steps made Brendan stiffen.

No one would dare approach him... Particularly not a woman alone, in the middle of the idyllic summer's eve with its balmy breeze and chorus of crickets in the grass.

No…only one particular little Princess would ever be so bold…

Seating herself beside him on the steps, Brendan could see the hem of her forest green dress in the corner of his eye… the faint aroma of jasmine wafted from her skin…

Why was his heart beating faster? She wasn’t a threat… there was no reason for it…

“I heard about what happened today.”

Her voice was calm, but Brendan didn’t bother turning to face her.

He could tell there was more she wanted to say, and he hated when women beat around the bush before getting to the point.

“Are you alright?”

His head snapped around to look at her, startled.

Her hazel eyes immediately flew to the small wound he’d received near his hairline that the physician had insisted on stitching closed against his wishes.

She grimaced at the sight of it, and gingerly reached her hand up to brush away part of his black hair to better see it. “Gods… I’m so sorry he did this…”

Brendan’s entire body was humming at her touch, and he was finding it strangely difficult not to kiss her.

Then her words reached him.

She was sorry?

Had she not heard what he’d said that put her father into a rampage?

“Even if you did bring up my brother, he shouldn’t have done this. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.” Alina’s hand dropped to her lap as she let out a wearisome sigh and turned her face out to the night.

Brendan continued staring at her profile, and found his mood gradually lifting as he studied the fine lines of her nose, and the way the corners of her lips curved down…

“I’ve had worse scrapes than this while training. Don’t worry. Have you spoken with your father?” Despite his improved outlook, his voice still came out a growl.

His tone didn’t bother the Princess at all as she hunched over her knees and wrapped her arms around them. “No… and I snuck out of my chamber by lying to the guards about getting the Head of Housekeeping to find me some extra blankets, so I can’t be out long.”

Brendan frowned. “You’ve been lying quite often as of late.”

“Well I can’t very well say, ‘I want to go check on my betrothed in the middle of the night by myself,’ can I?”

At this, a shadow of a smile touched the King’s face. His stomach had leapt happily at hearing her still refer to him as her intended.

“I wanted to apologize and hear how you are…” she explained with a note of defeat in her voice.

Brendan turned to face her more squarely. “Did something else happen today?”

Alina turned her hazel eyes to him and tried to smile, but failed.

He felt an unpleasant burr of emotion irritate his chest…

“I confronted the Viscount about whether or not my brother was going to return and prepare to be King.”

Brendan grew still.

“He evaded answering, and while he said he would support my desire to become Daxaria’s Queen, expressed… concern over my doing so while married to you.”

‘I never liked that Godsdamn Viscount,’ the King roared in his mind before grappling his anger back under control.

“He made valid points about the citizens feeling distrustful about you, and how they might resist my leadership with you as my husband out of fear of you controlling me.”

When Alina glimpsed Brendan’s murderous expression she hurried on. “Lord Ashowan said he doesn’t believe that personally, it was just what he could foresee happening…”

Dropping her forehead to her hand for a moment, she tried to continue explaining.

“He… also pointed out how difficult it’d be ruling our own nations, and being married… and I wanted to… to ask you something.”

Brendan waited expectantly.

“Do you like… ruling alone? Is it easier not to have to fight with a husband or wife? Or to just worry about yourself at the end of the day?”

The Troivackian King grew very still as he processed her question, a strange emotion filling his eyes that was rather haunting.

“Princess, I have ruled alone since I was a child. It isn’t something anyone can really understand unless they’ve faced it themselves.”

He swallowed and a frown appeared over his brow as though debating whether or not to continue his reply. Yet despite his obvious uncertainty, he still did.

“The expectations, the uncertainty, the thousands of decisions that affect more lives than you could possibly dream of. When faced with your failures, you are faced with people in a world of pain that you caused them.”

Alina felt her throat constrict as she saw Brendan’s dark eyes grow distant.

“Some decision you made one day, failed those people. It could have even been the right choice, but they still get hurt. No matter what you do, people will suffer. When my father,” Brendan’s voice rasped and he hesitated in his response to clear it. “When my father met his end, it was because he led the charge up to this castle. He blindly ran into a wall of soldiers… alone. The endless abyss of our people’s expectations chasing him, and I think he ran to death on some level, because he had long before grown tired. One day, I too will choose to let death take me so I can escape this fate… in fact recently, I wanted it to be sometime soon.”

Tears were falling down Alina’s face, but she didn’t interrupt as the weight of the King’s words rested heavily on her heart, making her chest ache.

“One day, I saw a peasant’s wheat cart stuck on the side of the road. The wheel had gotten stuck in the mud, and he couldn’t get it out no matter how he pushed, sweat and cursed. Then, his wife jumped down from her seat, and joined him. I had to hang myself out of the carriage window to see, but together, they managed to get it free.”

Alina couldn’t tear her eyes from Brendan’s face even if she wanted to as she stared at the evidence of his burdens in his creased features.

“I realized then that if perhaps… if perhaps my mother had been able to help me… or perhaps even have been allowed to help my father more… things could be different. Better, and different.”

Reaching out, Alina grasped his large coarse hands in her own trembling ones.

“Your Majesty, if you say things like that… you make me worry… and you make me like you more than I should for a political marriage.”

Brendan’s heart flipped as he squeezed her hands in return. “All I’ve shown you are my shortcomings and weaknesses. I do so, not because it is easy, but because I think you should understand what awaits you as a Queen.”

Alina sniffed and took a steadying breath. “I just… have one question.”

The Troivackian King nodded once to signal her to continue.

“Why… didn’t you or your guards stop to help the peasant on the road?”

Brendan didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt a burst of laughter escape his chest.

Only the bleeding innocent heart of his betrothed would ask such a thing.

Instead of answering, he caved to the urge to pull her into himself and embrace her.

He felt her stiffen in his arms, and he immediately began to worry that she would push him away.

Instead, he felt her shoulders slowly relax, as she rested her head against his chest, and allowed his hand to cradle the back of her head, and her upper back.

“We didn’t stop because if I delayed I would have missed getting aboard a ship that was already waiting for me.”

After several warm moments in each other's company, their thoughts pleasantly muffled, and their beings consoled, Alina finally began to stir, prompting Brendan to drop a kiss onto her head as she pulled free of him.

“When did you start to mean something different to me, I wonder…” the Princess mused aloud, an enchanting smile on her face as her eyes stared up at him, making the King feel too many emotions than he cared to think about.

“As long as I am the only one you feel this kind of ‘difference’ with, I do not care.”

Alina chuckled, but her expression faded into one far more serious yet again. “I suppose this presents a whole other bundle of trouble.”

Brendan frowned in confusion.

“I can’t be married to you and leave you to run a country alone, and I don’t know that I want to do it on my own now either… So that means I have to make sure my brother comes back, and that he is fit to take over as King.” Alina sighed and let her head fall onto Brendan’s shoulder, her hands folded in her lap.

“I’ll speak with the Viscount tomorrow,” Brendan announced suddenly. His cheeks felt oddly warm…

The Princess sat up, startled and stared at him, with an undeniable spark of hope in her hazel eyes. “You will?”

“Yes. One way or another, I’m fulfilling my promise to you, and once we get the Prince back in this castle, he better stay put.” Brendan’s dark tone didn’t bother Alina at all as she instead felt a surge of gratitude over his help.

“Well, I wish you the best of luck. I want to hear all about it once you return from that meeting.”

Standing swiftly, Alina turned to face Brendan with a bright smile on her face. “I should be getting back.”

The King nodded seriously and stood as well. “Before you go, Princess, there is one other matter I would like to discuss with you.”

Smiling, and twisting her torso back and forth so that the skirts of her dress swished about her ankles, Alina stared up at him. She couldn’t recall the last time she had felt so giddy and happy.

Brendan looked down at her mesmerized for a moment before giving his head a shake.

“Perhaps tomorrow we will discuss it. Go get some sleep, Princess. It has been a long day.”

Alina smiled a little wider, and dipped into a quick curtsy before skipping up the steps towards the door.

She suddenly turned back around, and descended the steps until she stood only slightly taller than the Troivackian King.

Then, she leaned down, and planted a quick kiss on his mouth.

Brendan felt his entire body burst into a strange fervid tingle as she immediately pulled back, her cheeks red and her smile intoxicating.

“Thank you for talking to me, I… I’m really glad I chose you.”

As she bound back up the steps she had just rested her hand on the door’s handle, when the King called out to her.

“Oh Princess, I hope you don’t think in light of recent events that I’ve forgotten about our plans.”

Alina twisted around to stare down perplexed at the King’s oddly cheeky expression…

“We’re going to make you stronger. Tomorrow we’ll go for a walk through Austice once I return from the Ashowan’s, so I hope you pick out some comfortable footwear.”

Alina’s jaw opened and closed several times.

She had sincerely hoped he had forgotten about that!

Brendan did the unthinkable; he laughed for the second time that night as he slowly mounted the steps towards his adorably flustered betrothed.

Reaching for the door handle she was still holding, he opened it for her while maintaining eye contact.

Then, with a bow, gestured her forward into the dark recesses of the castle.

“After you, Your Highness.”

*

By the time Alina returned to her bedchamber, she found herself in a daze thinking about the time she had just shared with the Troivackian King.

She didn’t even wish the guards goodnight as she always did when she touched the latch of her chamber door handle.

“Princess?”

One of the guards asked, his voice startling her out of her reverie.

“Y-Yes? What is it?”

“Where are the blankets you were going to retrieve?”

Alina blinked up at the man blankly before remembering how she had insisted on getting the linens herself.

“Oh… err… T-The walk all the way down to the Head of Housekeeping’s chamber actually warmed me up considerably, so I… I decided I didn’t need any extra blankets anyway!”

Before they could question her further, Alina slipped into her bedchamber and closed the door firmly behind herself.

Fanning her blushing cheeks and stepping further into her room, she then realized she was once again smiling.

The expression of surprise mixed with uncertainty and gentleness in Brendan’s eyes when she had pulled back from kissing him was burned in her memory.

‘Well as first kisses go… I think that went pretty well.’