The prompt is: "I'd like it if you stayed".

Warnings: none

Your life in St. Mary's abbey had been chosen for you from the moment you had been born.

It would have either been the new nunnery lady Aelswith had established, or if you had been born a boy you would have been given to the monastery in Winchester.

It was a decision a decision many highborns made once their third daughter was born, and you had been growing up knowing once you reached a certain age you would be given to the Order of nuns without having a choice in the matter.

You certainly had faith, you were a good Christian woman, but the life of a nun was not anything you would have wished for yourself.

Nevertheless, when the time came you joined the abbey, because it was expected of you.

The change from the noble life to life in the abbey was hard on you, and you certainly knew that you didn't like it.

But you had had no choice in the matter, and you were waiting for an opportunity you could seize to escape the pious life.

It wasn't about remaining chaste, you didn't care for men all that much, but the daily activities and the minimalistic style didn't agree with you.

The nuns were all very kind women, especially abbyss Hild seemed to care for your troubles, but still you could find no joy in the life that had been thrust upon you.

The only time you found your peace was when you visited the church of the royal court, it was a long walk from the abbey but you liked to take your time to go and pray, and you had luckily never met the royals that the church was meant for.

You had been dreading it, but the priests that occupied the church had told you that the only one who came outside of service times was the King himself, and he didn't mind company while praying.

You had never met him though, only seen him on royal events from the busy streets, catch a brief look at the Royal and his family.

You didn't allow yourself to judge him, but if you had you would have said that you found the older brother quite more attractive, which you certainly kept to yourself.

You were praying one day in church as you usually did when you heard the doors opening, and you turned around after finishing your prayer.

You were expecting to see a priest or bishop, but instead came face to face with the Prince catching you by surprise.

"Please, sister, do not be disturbed. I didn't mean to interrupt your prayer", he said as he walked towards you, and you bowed to him as you were expected to.

"I am sorry, my Lord, I didn't know you would come here at this hour", you answered, and he smiled.

When he finally reached you he stopped quite close in front of you, making it clear that he hadn't intended to come to pray, but rather to think, and find company in God or a man of God.

"I don't usually come here, but I wanted time to think", he answered, smiling at you, and you felt yourself blushing.

The Prince had a way of looking at you, so intense but kind, that left you breathless.

"I will leave you alone, then, if you want to think", you answered, but you saw the Prince immediately shake his head.

"I'd like it if you stayed", he answered, to which you nodded, a feeling of joy spreading through you at his answer, and the fact that he seemed to care for your company.

"Only if that is in your will as well", he added and you smiled at him.

"It is", you answered, as you moved to kneel facing the altar again, but Prince Aethelred interrupted that.

"You're too beautiful to be a nun", he said softly, nearly not audible for you to hear, but you heard it.

The smile that grew on your face was genuine, and he saw it.

He motioned for you to sit on one of the benches, and he sat down next to you, leaving exactly appropriate space between the two of you.

"What is your name?", he asked, and you answered with the name your parents had given you, not the name you had taken on in the abbey.

He repeated it, and your name on his tongue sent a shiver down your spine.

"Please call me Aethelred", he told you, and you nodded in surprise.

After that you remained silent, sitting next to each other, but certainly not praying.

"Why did you enter the abbey?", he asked you after a long time of silence.

"I didn't want to, but my parents decided it for me", you answered, and Aethelred's eyes shot to yours.

"You're a noble?", he asked, to which you nodded.

"I was, but my lord father decided that I should live my life in service to the church", you explained, and Aethelred's eyes returned to his hands in his lap again.

"You don't want to live like this, do you?", he said as he looked at you again, and you looked back into his eyes.

"I don't", you answered honestly, before continuing quickly.

"I do believe in God, but the life in the abbey doesn't agree with me", you added.

It was the truth, especially since any committed nun would have never told the Prince a word of doubt, especially not in church.

"Why do you not exit the abbey?", he asked you, and you looked at him in disbelief.

"I have nothing, Lord, I wouldn't be able to live", you answered, and he nodded.

"I asked you to call me Aethelred, my Lady", he corrected you, and you chuckled at that.

"I'm not a Lady, not anymore", you said, to which he nodded.

"I know. But to me you are", he explained, turning your cheeks bright red.

"Why are you here, Aethelred?", you asked softly after some silence, and he smiled kindly at you.

"I do not want to live like this either", he said, and you understood perfectly well, smiling back at him in the same manner.

The silence returned between the both of you, settling you comfortably into an air of peace and understanding.

The only thing you did to disrupt the silence was to reach for one of his hands and to hold it, settling your conjoined hands on the bench between the two of you.

"I'll return here every seven days to think", Aethelred told you as he moved his thumb to caress the back of you hand shortly before pulling his hand from yours and standing up.

"If you decide that you want to leave I will be here, waiting, and I will offer the means for us to start a new way of life, if you will have me", he told you as he bowed to you, before smiling at you one last time and leaving.

You were left in the abandoned church, already missing his presence next to you.

He had offered you the opportunity to start a new chapter in your life, but you knew that it was far more than just that.

And you were grateful.