Finding Heathcliff

Five

"Thank you," Astrid said simply. Suppressing a sigh she pulled herself up and let Arabella help her get washed and dressed, then arrange her hair which had grown long, thick, and indomitable during the last year into a low bun, hiding the streak of platinum under the mane of gold.

The moment she was ready, a tentative knock was heard from the door. Astrid could feel Orion's nervousness even through the thick wood separating him from her. Just what was he up to?

"Let Orion in, Arabella, then you can go. He will accompany me to the library after breakfast."

"Very well, Princess," Arabella agreed, directing her steps towards the door while Astrid walked in the opposite direction, towards the table standing by the window where a couple of maids had set her breakfast while she had gotten dressed.

She was about to sit down when Orion rushed inside.

"Wait!" he called, making her stop with her hand on the back of a chair and turn to look at him.

The aura of anxious happiness emanating from him made her frown. Astrid didn't like surprises, and he definitely had one for her. As if putting up with the ball she wasn't supposed to know of wasn't enough. Letting her arms drop to her sides, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tilted her face up for a kiss; there was no avoiding whatever was on his mind.

As always, her bad mood and doubts about Orion melted the moment she felt his large, warm hands on her cheeks, his soft, gentle lips on hers. Even though he didn't believe in love, she could feel that Orion cared about her. It was enough. It had to be.

She laced her hands through his black shoulder-length hair, tangling her fingers through the silky strands playfully, sighing when his hands abandoned her face for her waist and hips... She opened her eyes when his lips left hers and found him staring at her, a contented smile lurking in his midnight blue irises.

Astrid frowned again-- he knew what he was doing to her. And since she had noticed his closeness to Uncle Arcturus, she despised letting him see that he had any kind of effect on her-- it was her silent way of letting him know that she didn't appreciate what felt like a betrayal on his part. However, with a person one had grown up with and was supposed to marry very soon, it wasn't always easy. Orion knew her too well.

"Happy birthday," he said, smoothing out her frown with a kiss on her forehead. "I have something for you," he added, dropping to his knee.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Oh..." her mind caught up the instant he pulled a small box made of dark, gold-plated wood from his pocket.

"We've been promised to be married forever, Astrid, but I have never given you a ring. I know it's all settled and everything, but... please accept this as a promise that I'll always try to make you happy and only do the best for you."

He didn't ask if she wished to marry him, but even if he did, she would have to say yes. However, the thought of refusing, of begging for more time, more... options flickered through her mind. Couldn't she become the queen of Eurovea without marrying anyone? But she knew that wasn't an option-- all the queens before her had been married, and the country was called a kingdom for a reason. There had always been a powerful king behind each queen...

Pushing those thoughts away, she allowed Orion to slip the ring on her finger. It was gorgeous-- a plain band of white gold adorned with one too big sapphire as dark as Orion's eyes, a sparkle of light seemingly encased in its centre shining like a captured star with the slightest movement of Astrid's hand.

Pulling him to his feet again, she said, "And I... I promise... to never forget what you mean to me now, Orion."

"What does that even mean?" he chuckled, kissing her again, then pulling a chair out for her.

She shrugged. "I'll marry you. Once I return from wherever my uncle will send me for the trial."

"Us," Orion said, winking at her conspiratorially as he poured out some tea for both of them.

"Did he tell you something? Tell me what you know!" Astrid called, dropping the small cake she just brought to her lips back on her plate.

Orion's hand covered her mouth, a finger of his other hand pressed to his lips, bidding silence as if the walls around them had ears.

"Hush. I don't know anything about your trial. I only know that you don't have to go alone. You can choose someone to accompany you during the task. I want you to choose me, Astrid."

Picking up her cake again, Astrid nodded. Yet again, she didn't really have options. She didn't know anyone else whom she would want to take with her, Orion and Arabella were the only people whom she had been allowed to meet daily as she grew up, she had never exchanged more than a few unimportant, impersonal sentences with her uncle's friends who frequented the balls. Thinking about it now... it all felt like a scheme designed by Uncle Arcturus...

Astrid shook her head to clear the strange thoughts when she felt Orion's hand on her cheek. "You've been so thoughtful and distant lately," he muttered, his eyes searching hers for answers to questions he preferred not to ask. "It's time to go, you'll be late for the first lesson."

She nodded, accepted his arm, and pressed a kiss on his cheek as he led her out of her room and towards the library.

Just what would she do without Orion?