-Jade-

"You raised him?" Jade breathed, overwhelmed by what Elizabeth had just revealed. Elizabeth nodded silently. The woman in front of her had raised William alongside her own son.

This explains so much! Jade thought to herself while her eyes rested on Elizabeth.

This explains why William calls her Liz and why she is allowed to talk back to him and even tell him what to do... He lets her because she raised him and... he loves her. Jades mind raced off with her and she felt her heart filled with a warm and loving sensation.

"I did." Elizabeth mumbled after a long silent moment.

"That... is so admirable." Jade said quietly and got up from her chair. Elizabeth stood still as Jade walked up to her and took her hands. "I cannot believe you raised him." Elizabeth smiled and her eyes had turned blank with tears.

"I couldn't resist those blue eyes of his." She laughed and a single tear broke loose and trickled down her cheek. Jade smiled widely and pressed Elizabeth's hands with affection. "Well!" She suddenly said and wiped away the tear quickly. "Now you have seen me cry, and that my dear Jade is something very few ever have." She said while inhaling deeply to shake the feelings off of her. "Now. Eat your breakfast." She ordered. Jade laughed at Elizabeth's attempt to avoid more intimate issues concerning her and William.

Jade managed to get her governess to tell her a couple of stories about William and how he had been as a child.

Apparently William had used to love to sit on the counter in the kitchen and watch while Elizabeth or the cooks prepared food. Elizabeth painted a beautiful picture with words of how a boy of six years of age sat on the wooden counter with a carrot in his little hand. The little feet would swing forth and back while the very young William would not say a word whilst sitting there. He would just watch with big blue eyes with his brown locks tied in a neat little tail in his neck. The chubby sweet cheeks only a child would have a were a light rosy shade after either running around playing with Loren or from playing outside in the cold.

"It would take the boy forever to finish that poor carrot because he was so focused on what the cook was doing." Elizabeth chirped happily and her eyes almost sparkled from the memory. Jade smiled and was so pleased that Elizabeth shared this side of William with her. She wanted to get to know him better. Even though he had opened up to her and shared his feelings, it sometimes felt like she didn't know him well enough to actually marry him. That didn't seem to bother anyone else than her on the other hand...

Elizabeth continued telling stories of William as a child and Jade quickly realized that he hadn't always been as quiet and rude as he had been to her in the start. There was a clear reason to why he had become the dark and ill-tempered adult that he was now; the queen. Elizabeth didn't mention her in her stories since they were happy and delightful stories, but that only led Jade to the conclusion that William and his mother had never seen eye to eye. They had never held each other close to each other's hearts.

"It sounds like he was a very happy child..." Jade pondered and pushed away her bowl when she had finished her breakfast. The image Elizabeth had painted did not mirror the man that wanted Jade to be his wife and it pained her how clear the reason for that now was.

"He truly was." Elizabeth sighed happily but when she met Jade's not so joyful gaze, hers died as well. "Do you know why the king likes you so much, Jade?" Elizabeth suddenly asked before Jade could ask more about William.

"No..." Jade shook her head. "I just thought he... I don't know actually." Jade concluded.

"The king adores you because the day William came home to tell his father about you... we all got to see a glimpse of that happy little boy again." Elizabeth answered and smiled warmly.

It felt like someone stabbed Jade in her heart. How could she make such a difference and how could someone treat a child like the queen had done? How could she have ignored him and pushed him away? Jade couldn't even ignore her little brother when he would reach his arms out to her, urging her to pick him up. Jade's heart truly ached for William and she wished that he had been here now so she could let him know that... she loved him.

"That day the king recognized the child that used to roam this castle and fill its corridors with laughter. I don't know if you know this Jade, but the laughter of a child is sweeter than music..." Elizabeth sighed and crossed her arms.

"I know..." Jade mumbled and remembered her siblings' laughter. One of her favorite things to wake up to in the morning, when that wretched rooster didn't wake her up, was the sound of Pete's joyful laughter, often followed by Iria's and then Samuel's as well. They would sometimes play in the morning... "Is it true? Is that why the king approves of me?" she asked silently and leaned her head into her hand, her arm resting on the desk.

"Yes..." Elizabeth said. "The king is also very fond, and amused, by the fact that you told the queen off in front of everyone." Elizabeth said and Jade could hear that she was holding laughter back, in respect for her queen. "But most of all, he loves the way you have changed his son..."

"I can't say that I have." Jade said unsure. "William has changed me as well if that is true."

"I think you changed each other for the better." Elizabeth stated contently. "You two fit each other whether you like or know it. I am very happy that he at least had the sense to recognize you that night at the inn."

"What do you mean he 'recognized me'?" Jade asked confused. William had never even seen her before that night...

"He understood that you were the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with as soon as he had laid his eyes on you." Elizabeth answered, she almost sounded a bit dreaming when she said it. "And for that I am grateful." She added. Jade smiled faintly and lowered her gaze to the floor, sinking deep into her thoughts and wondering how it was even possible to be so sure about wanting someone as William had been about wanting her. She already knew that he wanted her and how much... she just couldn't fathom how he had made up his mind so quickly... She still couldn't understand how she ended up being the prince's choice...

-William-

The villages were, just as William had told his father, still burnt down and there was nothing to see to. No one lived there anymore and it didn't seem like anyone had planned on rebuilding since they had been there last time. From the state of the place it was almost clear that it would take years before anyone would ever venture back into this place. The houses were black from soot and burnt into firewood looking ruins that nothing could be rebuilt from. Everything would have to be thrown away and first then would the people be able to rebuild their home again.

Who would want to live where their family, friends and neighbors were murdered? William thought as he threw a look at a place where he had seen a corpse last time. Now there was nothing. Not even bloodstains. The whole area had become somewhat of a ghostly reminder of the village that once stood here and William couldn't suppress the eerie feeling that came with its emptiness and lack of life.

William rode along the main road alone while the rest of the men, and his father, were back at the nearest still vibrant village where they had made camp. William had excused himself in order to get a moment of peace and quiet. He was tired of listening to the men's complaints about the cold and his father's jokes about matters William didn't find suitable for a father and son to discuss... sexual matters.

His father had never ever discussed such things with him earlier. William assumed that his father only did this to torment William because it had been very clear just how uncomfortable it had made him when his father had shared his knowledge of William and Jade's secret encounters.

William was brought back to reality by the shrieks of a magpie sitting in a tree above him. The ugly black and white bird looked at him with its black eyes with its equally black beak slightly open. It almost looked like the creature was eyeing him down as food... It was understandable though... there was nothing around. No bushes with berries nor where there trees to find any food in. What wasn't burned to the ground had died or withered from winter's harsh brutal cold.

There were no ashes left in the village or on the ground. It had all been washed away by the rain and now all that was left were the frost that covered every detail around him. Dimma was tired from a hard ride and William decided to get off and walk instead. The stallion was too tired to even voice how uncomfortable he was. He just trotted along.

William pulled his hood up and grabbed Dimma's reins in his left hand as he took in the scenery from the ground. There were no bodies left; they had all been taken care of... To William's relief the bodies of the children that had been killed were nowhere in sight,. This would ease his father's pain when he would take this route tomorrow.

. . .

The next day William joined his father and a handful of soldiers to go and see the villages. It was freezing and William could feel how his breaths turned into white clouds in front of him as he exhaled. Little drops of its remnants got caught in his stubble that had grown freely the last weeks. His father's beard looked like it had been caught in a snowstorm, perhaps not as dramatic but still... it was frost covered.

"There is nothing left, father." William said in a low voice as they rode out of their camp. He tried to keep his voice down so the soldiers wouldn't hear him. The soldiers were on horseback as well, after a helpful farmer had lent them some horses for the day.

"I know." His father grunted. "But I still have to do this. I have to show the people that I care about their loss." He continued and William nodded understandingly. He couldn't help but to feel a bit disappointed when the realized that he had to do this when he was king. It meant that he would had to leave Jade... It meant that he constantly would have to leave her back home while he had to fulfill his duties as king.

Sometimes I wish I had been someone else... so that I could decide what I wanted to do with my own time, and not have traditions and customs decide it for me... He thought while they slowly approached the first village.

-Unknown-

The girl was in the library, reading. She was sitting in a chaise lounge, with her feet up, her head propped up with her left arm while her free right hand held the book while she read. The dark brown hair was braided into one long and carelessly made braid that rested on her shoulder. A few but long strands of hair were hanging loosely around her face.

Is this all she ever does?" The girl moaned in her thoughts while she hid behind some bookshelves in the far end of the room, close by the door.

William will be bored with her if she isn't more interesting than this... He will doubtless regret marrying her...

She was lurking in the shadows, studying the girl's habits during the days that passed. She even watched the girl in the evenings. Whenever she could actually... and especially when the governess wasn't around to spot her. That woman could smell her presence. She was convinced that this was a fact since the old hag had sniffed her out two times now. Both of the times had been while she was trying to get closer to the girl without being seen. She knew that she had been impossible to spot with one's eyes! So the woman must have smelled her with that nose of a bloodhound!

The girl William had chosen was quite the bore truth be told. Watching her was agonizingly tedious! Book after book she read and she didn't leave the library unless her stupid guard was with her. They had stopped taking their morning strolls in the gardens, which was most likely the governess' idea. This made stalking the girl into an extremely boring and rather difficult task. But she had to... she had to do this if she was to have William all to herself.

The girl would follow them all the way to her chamber, looking for a window when the guard wasn't with her. There came no such window. Never! The guard walked her to her door and even watched it as she locked it from inside the chamber. He would then turn around and take his place in front of the door, filling its entire frame with his body. There he would stand the entire night until the governess came in the morning and relieved him from his duty for a couple of hours.

The girl was getting very frustrated and impatient. She needed for the stupid daughter of that dirty farmer to be gone! She couldn't let her spend another day with William! She couldn't let them fall for each other more than they already had! Otherwise she would never be his wife... the wife he should have and deserved. There was nothing she wasn't willing to do for that man. She would even lay down the girl's life for him if she had to. She would like to avoid killing her but the more time that passed she realized that maybe that had to be the way of getting what she wanted. It was likely that the peasant wouldn't go freely now.

I knew I should have acted sooner! She thought to herself while she watched the girl turn another page. She rolled her eyes in boredom but was very careful not to breathe or sigh loud enough for the girl to hear.

I should have done something the first time he left her alone in the castle... then I wouldn't have been restricted by the guard's presence...or her bloodhound of a governess. Maybe I could've "helped" her escape and then I would have been rid of her for good. She probably would have left willingly if I had made myself out as her savior....

The girl had thought of maybe trying to corrupt the guard... Unfortunately for her he was the most loyal of them all and would probably never hurt the girl if told to or even bribed. She had even considered offering him herself and her purity as payment, but after much consideration she decided that she only wanted to give William that part of her. He was the only one who would touch her.

So she remained in the shadows, planning... She wanted William to come back. She missed him terribly! She missed his blue eyes and that rough and cruel look that he wore most of the time. He hadn't blessed her with his gaze on more than a handful of occasions, but she could tell he wanted her. Deep down she was sure he knew this as well as her. She just needed the girl gone so he would see her.

No one knew him and his temper like she did. She could tell exactly when he would snap at his mother or if he would just excuse himself and leave without a word.

"He should be with me." The girl whispered to herself as she made her way out of the library unnoticed by the girl as well as her guard that stood on the other side of the only door in and out. The only door they knew of...

She hurried back to the queen's chamber so she would get there in time for her last chores of the day. The queen's lady in waiting always pointed out if she was late and it almost always prompted the queen to throw a fit.

When she arrived outside of the door she could hear them gossiping about other royals and nobles, but what the girl could make out most clearly was the discontent towards William's choice in his soon to be bride.

The girl grinned to herself before she entered. It felt comforting that the queen hated the girl as well... It felt like she had the queen's blessing to do whatever it took to remove this plague form their lives.

--------------------------------------

I hoped you liked this chapter, there is a little more drama coming up now and I needed to do this chapter a little bit shorter and a little less romantic (unfortunately), but I think it worked out quite well. I hope you are all well and that you are all having a nice holiday!

Leave a comment or vote if you liked this chapter!

Love Jenny