7. Reeves

seven

I didn't even need to adjust my line of vision; I had honed a sixth sense of knowing she was there. Like an adamant stray cat, she kept coming back. Only today, I wasn't so quick to push her away. Instead, I threw on a clean t-shirt and my jean jacket. Then I headed out the backdoor with extra pep in my stride. A smile that had been there most of the morning only inflated on my face as I hurried out. I didn't want to seem too eager. As I approached her, I slowed, pretending to accidentally stumble across her.

"Hey, you!" I called out to her, not as forcefully as the last time I had done this. Today she wore a white sundress, and her hair was tied back. Her entire look was more casual than last night, but the mere sight of her sent an unfamiliar zing to my gut. She didn't banter back as I had expected. Instead, she turned her chin away from me, hiding her eyes.

Was this a game?

She wouldn't have come to my field if she didn't want to see me. Right?

I'll never understand women, but that won't stop me from trying. "How are you?" I asked, in the friendliest tone I'd used since I had been discharged. This was the first time I wanted to have a conversation, and she wasn't making it easy. "Are you still sad about what happened?"

"What happened?" She snapped out, still not looking my way.

I scratched an imaginary itch on my cheek. "Are you still getting married?"

"Yep." She popped the p on the end of the word and then pursed her lips. The clouds had rolled in, shading what was usually the sunniest spot in the field, and she had her arms wrapped across her chest with obvious goosebumps dotting them.

I removed my jacket, wincing when I got a whiff. It could have benefitted from a good washing, but that didn't stop me from draping it on her bare shoulders. Her lashes fluttered before she locked her gaze on me. "What was that for?"

Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I downplayed my gesture. "You looked cold."

"I didn't have time to grab a coat this morning." She bristled with shallow breaths. "I was pushed out with that man. When I returned home, I was too upset to face my Father to go inside and get one."

"That man?" I hmphed, thinking that sounded good for me. There was no way she was getting married with that attitude.

"What am I supposed to call him?" she asked facetiously, her lip pouting out.

I swallowed back a laugh. Maybe I should have left her alone, but she was strangely adorable when she groused. "I think the proper term is fiancé." I said it, both to tease her and to pry. I wasn't in the position to ask about her status, but inside I was dying to know.

"Not yet." She held up an interjecting finger. "I have six more days."

"Is that so?" My heart ticked up a notch, sounding an alarm. "Then what?"

"I have to make my decision." She snorted after her random response, before adding, "Even though the decision was already made, and not by me."

I raised an inquiring brow. "Or?"

"Or I assume he gives up and goes home. He said he wasn't going to wait forever. I'm not worth forever." She sighed as if letting go of a fantasy. "It's not a fairytale. I only get one week."

"He can't be that bad." I wasn't trying to talk her into liking him. It was my cunning way to get her to think about all his less attractive qualities. If I could only get her to stall for the week, that wouldn't be too hard. Then he'd go home.

"He's dreadfully boring," she moaned without needing more coaxing. "Aside from the fact that I could go fishing with his nose."

I chuckled, looking down my own nose for a quick size check. I didn't see any minnows nipping at it, so I presumed that was a good sign. "Do you like to fish?"

"Nah, or I would see that as an asset then." She tried to be serious with her reply, but as soon as the word was out, she sputtered out a small giggle.

"So, Mr. Dreadfully-boring king isn't your type." I plopped down next to her, stretching my legs out in front. I'd wasted enough time on this topic. Unless I was trying to make her cry again—which I wasn't—I needed to move the conversation. I tossed a casual look in her direction. "Tell me who is?"

She pulled her legs up, wrapped her arms around them, and rested her chin on top as she stared forward out into the prairie. "For me, it's about finding someone I can be myself with. I feel so much pressure to look perfect, and say the right things to him. A lot of that is because of my father, but I can also tell King Aswell expects high standards. And he's smart." She flicked her hand in a gesture toward me. "He talks about his libraries and museums, and not only do I find those things claustrophobicing, but I don't think I'm intelligent enough to have anything to add on those topics."

My lips pulled up tight at the edges as I fought the urge to tease her. She was already being hard on herself, but I couldn't let it go. "I can see that."

"You can?"

"I do. Especially since claustrophobicing is not a real word."

"Either is irregardless, but it's now in the dictionary, so I figured I could use made up words, too."Her voice fell into more of a whimper at the end. "Sometimes the real words aren't strong enough to describe my state of emotions."

I had been trying to get her to laugh, not upset her further. Of course, I didn't think she was uneducated or anything. She went quiet, looking forward as if something interesting was in the distance, keeping her attention. I followed her gaze, but all I saw was the prairie, including a single white butterfly fluttering in the distance. As beautiful as it was, it wasn't enough to warrant staring at it for this long. Suddenly, I was curious about her. If she found powerful kings uninteresting, why did she come here? "Can I ask what about this field makes you keep coming back?"

Without pause, she quipped back, "Can I ask you what it was about this field that made you steal it from me?"

"Whoa, now that's not fair." I pushed out a friendly elbow and tapped hers. "We both know I didn't steal anything. I bought it honestly, and I didn't even know about you." Still trying to make her smile, I tack on a joke, "had I known about you, I might have negotiated a discount."

"Sorry." She blew out a frustrated breath as her dark lashes lowered. "I'm having a hard time dealing with change."

"It's alright." I kept my expressionless face. "You have a lot to consider."

"That's the thing because I don't have anything to consider. I don't get a say in any of this. It's an impossible choice." She remained still, rambling on. "It's either do what I want and maybe be happy and countless people die. My country goes to ruins, which means I wouldn't ever forgive myself. I wouldn't be happy anyway. Or get married to a miserable man and pray everything is fixed, so at least I can feel good about that." Her eyes snapped back at me. Despair was blaring through her irises. "So, no, I don't get a say. All I have is a few days. I can't stand being around my father right now. King Aswell is always swarming around, trying to get to know me. I literally have no autonomy at the castle, so if you don't mind," her voice softened as if she struggled to hold back a quiver, "I'd like to spend my last week of freedom here."

Unsure of how to help her, I was increasingly growing more concerned about her situation. It didn't seem right that King Aswell would insist on marrying someone who didn't appear to like him, even if she was a princess. No guy wanted that marriage. At least no guy I knew. Guys don't ask for much. A happy wife, who smiled when he came home, maybe a kid or two. Having a wife who despises you, well, that wouldn't be on anyone's short list.

What is King Aswell really up to?

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I grew increasingly more protective of her. It was clear she was doing everything she could to avoid breaking down. Even though the whole thing was beyond my control, it wasn't lost on me that she was here with me now. I was compelled to comfort her. "What do you want to do?"

"Nothing." She let out a shaky breath. "Just be here until I can't."

"Maybe you're overreacting?" I lowered my voice. "You're getting married. He's not taking you to jail."

"It's hard to explain." She tucked a stray hair behind her ear, but the light wind instantly released it. She was quite stunning, even if she wasn't smiling. Her high cheekbones completed her heart-shaped face, which made a perfect frame for those almond-shaped eyes. Maybe King Aswell was just after beauty? I could see that. Afterall, Erralee said he was into art. She was clearly a breathing masterpiece.

"On the surface, it makes sense to me. It shouldn't be hard. People say love is a choice. Maybe I should choose to love him?" A crease of disappointment crept between her eyes, and she pulled at the wild grass, making a neat pile in her lap. Clearly it was a fidget, and I doubted she realized she was doing it as she went on, "But I feel so deeply in my soul that it's wrong. Even though it's for a good cause, it's a fraud. It feels like it's one of those things which must play out in a long life where I can look back, in hindsight and point to those people who pressured me on this path. Then I could say, ‘see there. That was wrong. You forced me on a path that was bad for me.' The irony is I must waste myself to prove that point."

It was hard for me to listen to her. She had lost the fire in her eyes she had only a couple of days earlier. That's what scared me. If she'd lost this much of herself in a few days, what would be left after a lifetime of living in a forced marriage?

She was silent after that, and I got up and could have left her alone with her thoughts, but something shifted inside of me. She had six days, and I wasn't going to waste one. "Come with me." I reached my hand out, waiting for her.

"Where?"

"Where?" I echoed, not because I was playing coy, but because I had no idea myself. I was flying by the seat of my pants, and I didn't want her sitting here sulking about Mr. Boring. "It's a surprise."

She tapped her finger to her chin, as her gaze flickered back at me. "Give me a hint."

"I don't know any." I cleared my throat, "I mean, hmm, wait a second." My brain raced through all the things we could do in the field. We could walk, we could run, we could skip, okay now I sounded like a nursery rhyme. She said she liked excitement.

Aha! I had an idea.