Waiting for Cas was like waiting for the first snow; an exciting anticipation, tinged with a dread that things were about to change. My revelation about Alek hung over me for the next few days. There were few moments where I was able to ease myself or busy myself from the stinging thoughts that I was in a complex battle for power and control over an entire kingdom.

Should I tell Cas? I wasn't sure. I couldn't bring myself to give him another reason to force me to stay in Ardeena. And despite the hurt that Alek had caused, he was still my childhood friend.

So, I resolved, I would keep my lips silent. It was a need-to-know basis.

Sunday midday, we'd just returned from church. The chatter was at an all time high with my full appearance. There were lots of concerned mothers, interested children and elderly men to recount my battle stories. Pastor Palmer himself ended up escorting us out of the church and managed to hold off the rest of the questions as we loaded into the car. I was lucky for such a tightly-knit community.

Mother had just sent the weekly Sunday lunch bread into the oven when there was a sharp knock at the door. A momentary struggle as I wondered if Alek had returned to collect his answer.

Vlad stood there instead.

"Hi," I blinked.

"Howdy there, ma'am," Vlad gave a short nod. To anyone looking on, it would've been seen as a professional and respectful exchange. His eyes flickered to my shoulder, then back to me, "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Better than I deserve,"

"I'm sorry,"

"Vlad please," I scoffed, "it's not just your job to make sure that Cas is safe. It's a community effort,"

"But I'm supposed to be there to take those injuries,"

I rolled my eyes, "You valour is impressive but I've already had the exact same conversation with Cas and I won't have it with you too,"

Vlad's eyes momentarily flit to the Heavens, and I wonder if he prays. Of course he does, he's Apolian.

"Anyway, your presence is requested tonight at the Le Souper. Please dress accordingly, I'll be here at 7pm,"

I gave a small smile and a nod, "Thank you kind sir, I'll see you then,"

Vlad gave a tight smile and made his way up to the sleek car. As always, I was then prompted to share the details of the conversation with my mother.

The afternoon moved slower, anticipating the dinner with Cas. Father was a little grumpy that my employer was taking away such valuable family time.

"He's very apologetic of what happened," I nodded to Dad, "he even visited me in the hospital,"

Dad stared off into the distance, his lips almost pursed, "Well, that was kind of him,"

"I'm sure it's just pure concern," My mother chuckled, we shared a knowing glance.

We eventually decided on a breezy, yellow dress paired with a white denim jacket. Deciding on a half-up, half-down hairdo, the ensemble was paired with studded ballet slippers.

Vlad appeared outside my door almost immediately at 7pm. It was a casual drive to the Le Souper, the drive only marked with me pointing out childhood landmarks and other random bits of information about the town.

The Le Souper, was probably the only, year-round upper-class establishment in the town. It was a two-tiered building with both closed and open-air seating positions. The waiter led me to a private corner around the back. Over the railing, Cas leant. He wore a slacks, a dress shirt with a seater tied effortlessly over his shoulders. I smiled at the thought of it reminding me of a superman cape. A hero overlooks his city.

"Hey there," He looked up, smiling. The two of us embrace and while the hug is tight, he's a little more gentle on the shoulder.

"You doing okay?" I ask when we pull back, he takes in a deep breath, doing his best to nod.

"Better than I deserve," He looks to the table and then back at me, "I have a gift for you,"

"A gift?" I ask, intrigued.

Cas turns back to me, a small, navy box in his hand. "I know you're not fond of the spotlight so I guess this could count as a ceremony. But they decided that this would be more than appropriate,"

I opened the box, shocked by what laid there; a sliver cross emblazoned with the crest of Apolia. The ribbon was a bright green with golden stitching. I knew what this was.

"The Cross of Courage," Cas nodded, giving a small smile, "for saving my life,"

"This is the second highest civilian award that you can get," I shook my head, dumbfounded, "I don't know what to say. Thank you?"

"No, Sof, thank you. I tried to lobby for the Cross of Honour, but that takes several years of processing and is usually only awarded post-humorously," He chuckled, "I don't think that would've been of much use,"

I drew my fingers across it's shiny surface, the light dancing off of it so beautifully. I'd never expected to see one of these in person, let alone to actually receive one.

"My family will be floored," I said, looking up to Cas, "this is a pretty great gift,"

He beamed.

The dinner eased into regular conversation. Cas had a few free days off so he decided to 'drop by'. Work had been moving well, he'd been mostly focused on checking in on the cashflow of the League. They were set to establish four community buildings in 'high risk' areas as well as establishing new branches in more communities. Then the conversation slowly started easing into clearing up more information about that night.

"Apparently the wedding continued without too much interruption," Cas chuckled, "of course, Art and my parents had to be rushed off. Protocol and all, but Ivan wouldn't have let the end of the world stop him on his wedding night,"

"Good to hear," I grinned, "they're on their honeymoon now?"

Cas nodded, "Last I heard of them, it was Malaysia en route to Singapore. There were many jokes about heirs to be made,"

I blushed at the thought, must be a royal family thing. After all, it makes sense; the whole country is relying on you to produce proper heirs.

"Would... your mother be okay with an, outsider, if that would ever happen?"

"My mother would rather raze the Earth and marry a Somali before letting the next heir to the throne be a half-Russian," Cas joked, the two of us giggled at the thought of Queen Olena's face as she realised that the next heir was to the sensual Russian supermodel.

"So she's patriotic then," I sipped my lemonade.

"Just protective of her family," Cas nodded.

"I, apologise if I got started on the wrong foot with her," Admitting that I did something wrong should be easier. But it wasn't. Even if I wasn't wrong in that exact moment, there always could've been a better way to approach the situation.

"It wasn't the best," Cas nodded slowly, "though I think the worst of that has ebbed away for now. Especially after last week,"

I'm glad my near death experience got me some sort of standing with the Queen of the Country.

"Right," I hummed to myself, stirring the remains of my duck confit. A recommendation from Cas. The two of us ebbed into a relative silence and I was reminded of a book I read many years ago.

"Okay," I leaned forwards, "question time,"

Cas raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"

"Yep," I grinned. Over the last few months, wed spent a lot of time together but we didn't really know one another. Of course there were the surface things; childhood memories, the quirks of his family, general facts of his life and the like. However, there was something different when you knew somebody on a different level, "first deep question; anyone in the world as a dinner guest, who would it be?"

Cas sucked in a breath, glanced to the ceiling momentarily to think and then immediately said, "Miezko the First, not the king, the general,"

And then we continued, long into the night. Sometimes there was periods of silence between us; a thoughtful silence as we stirred over the questions; "do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?", "name three things that we have in common," or "is there something you've always dreamed of doing in your life but have never gotten around to? Why not?"

"Getting married," Cas spoke wistfully. For a moment he looked into the distance, then to me, "I guess I'm just hoping that I've found the right one,"

"Lady Milena, right?"

You shouldn't have said that, a part of me wailed. The music almost stopped in the place, the chatter ceasing. I'm sure I could hear Vlad choking on his drink around the corner. Cas looked down to the empty table in front of him. He was partially doing the look, his mouth slightly drawn back in a way. His index finger traced the edge of the fabric napkin.

This was such a wonderful night, that part of me cried, you were doing so well!

And in that moment, I almost staggered under the weight of de ja vu. I stood before Alek, dressed in all my formal finery. My hair slightly ruffled from the dancing and my sweaty skin cooling under the frigid, Wintery air.

My stomach had been in knots. This was the moment! A part of me cheered. Several decades of getting to know one another, the side looks that my mother had given me this night, the extra grant of luck my father had blessed him with. Alek turned to me, the stars alight in his eyes. If the teachers caught us up here, we'd surely be reprimanded.

But overlooking the dancing and celebrations below, it was worth climbing up the building, even if I had to leave my shoes behind.

"Sofia," The way he spoke my name, with such a tenderness. I wanted, and was ready to give him everything. Of course I'd say yes. I was already married to him in a way that I'd never be able to explain. I knew him on a deeper level than anyone else, save for God.

He breathes out, as if gathering his courage. Say it, I wanted to encourage. However, this moment was for Alek to navigate.

"Sofia, I'm moving away, I've been accepted into the military. I won't see you for some time. I just wanted to say goodbye,"

A fool! I was a complete idiot! I couldn't believe that I actually thought-.

I stood angrily, turning at him with fury.

"Is that it?" I spat. A brutal blow for Alek. I could see it in his eyes, that crushing look. Then it hardened.

"Yes, that is it. What did you expect?" He immediately stood, fire in his eyes.

"Something a little more worthwhile," I scowled, hurt blooming. I knew I shouldn't be taking out my disappointment on him. Alek didn't deserve this. "Maybe it was stupid of me to think so but I was hoping for a proposal,"

And as soon as those words were in the air, I wish I could've taken them back. Taken them back and swallowed them whole.

Alek simply scoffed. With the scoff, my world crumbled.

I sat before Cas. His fingers paused and he looked up to me, an inquiring expression in his eyes. "Milena?" He bursts out in a chuckle, shaking his head, "what did you think of me?"

My brow furrowed, I pressed my lips together. In a small voice I managed, "I don't know, she said-,"

"Yeah, Milena said," Cas' words were kind, but firm, he sat back in his chair, "what did you think of me?"

"Think of you, what?" I shot back. This wasn't a situation I wanted to be in. My cheeks were flushing and my face was quickly becoming red. I wanted out.

"Think of me like that," The disgust was practically dripping off of his words, "to treat you like that. That's horrible. I wouldn't ever do that to you,"

What does that mean? I wanted to yell at him, instead I looked away trying to process his words.

"Sof, Milena and I aren't engaged,"

I looked to him, my eyes narrowing again. "That's not what she said,"

His eyes flit to Heaven, then back to me. "She's a childhood friend, yes. She's probably been told that a few times as well. But being the youngest in my family means I can choose who to love. And there's someone who I do very much,"

Patrycja? Some other, aristocratic girl that he's been seeing on the side?

"You, you loveable numbnut,"

I looked at him in shock, my jaw hanging slightly, attempting to process his words. Cas, he loves me?

His eyes flit to Heaven again. He must be praying a lot today, then he stands.

"I was going to wait until I was sure of your father's blessing but I guess we'll have to go a little unorthodox,"

He kneels, taking my hands in his.

"Sofia O'Zbrojaski, the love of my life, my morning sun and evening star. The woman who I can rely on, who is already ready to be at my side, even it risks her life," There was a hint of humour in his words again and my shoulder aches in response. "Would you, do the incredible honour of marrying me before God? To become one and serve one another as long as we shall both live?"

Contrary to the way I'd dreamed, there was no dramatic swell of music, nor appearance of a secret photographer. There was no light flares or dreamy haze to it. All I could actually think about was how my shoes were rubbing against the side of my feet and the dull, shooting pain of my shoulder still healing.

My mouth was also almost falling off of my chin.

I realised what Cas was proposing, aside from literally proposing. A life in the spotlight, cameras at every turn, being chased down the street and hunted across oceans. Not being able to ever breathe a full breath, especially with the new threat of the Insurgency. Add Alek's allegiances to that and I was essentially signing my death warrant.

Though I'd already almost died for Cas, he was worthy of dying a second time for.

"But you only asked me to be your girlfriend last week," I managed. 

Cas doubled over laughing.

"I think we can agree that we've been in a relationship a lot longer than that,"

"That is true," I mumbled to myself.

Cas was still waiting. I nodded, my face about to split into a grin, then pausing.

"No press, okay?" My voice was hoarse as I said the words, "whatever we need to do, I just don't think that I'd be able to do it in front of the cameras,"

Cas looked down for a moment, he looks back to me, "My family won't like that, but for you I will,"

"And for you? Do you have any special requests?" I chuckled, Cas was still on his knee.

"Just be there for me," His words were heavy. I knew what he meant. I affirmed it with a nod.

We stood, in an embrace.

I'm to be married! I thought in shock.

"I can't believe I just did that," Cas chuckled into the crook of my neck, "I-I can't belive that actually happened,"

"Me either!" I laughed. He leaned in for a kiss, we were still tangled within one another. I smiled into it.

We barely pulled away from one another for the rest of the night.