Page 60 of Tales of Earth and Leaves

“I have known her for a while,” I did not want to give Amara the exact details, not when even the members of my family had no idea what was happening yet. “At first, I felt confused by the feelings, the need to be around her, to just exist in the same place as she does, but it became clearer and she is starting to accept me.”

“Why aren’t you with her then? Why come with me at all?” Amara asked with slight confusion but I was not about to confess any more than I had to, so I replied vaguely.

“I want to announce it to my family this evening, after that, we will see…” I drew in a breath, hoping the outcome would be favourable to me.

“I understand,” Amara rose from the small chair and started walking back towards the alleyway we passed through minutes ago.

“Lady Amara, please allow me to accompany you back to the castle,” I offered.

“There is no need, Prince Ansgar,” she accentuated my title with sharp coldness, telling me with it that she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. “I shall arrange my journey back in the morning and I need to buy some late minute presents.” She offered an official bow and walked back into the flower market.

Out of respect, I circled out the market and crossed the river through the longer bridge, to make sure I spared her another face to face meeting, since she had been humiliated enough. By the time I arrived at the castle, darkness had fully covered the kingdom like a thick veil and I found it more difficult to guide myself home.

By the time I arrived, the family had already finished their first course. Mother looked at me with disbelief and almost huffed as I took my usual seat at the table, noticing that another seat had been added to my right to accommodate the windling lady that was now missing from us, causing Mother to revolt in her own seat.

“I thought you and Lady Amara would be excused for the evening, so we started without you.” It was Father who uttered the words. He found my glass and poured wine into it.

“Lady Amara is arranging the journey back to her kingdom in the morning,” I voiced as I nodded my thanks and accepted the drink. Running home in the darkness had made me thirsty.

“What? Why?” Mother turned bewildered by the news. “What did you do?” she raised her voice accusingly, fully coming into her role of a mother and shaking out her queen side.

“I only told her the truth,” I smirked at her. “That I found my mate.”

I uttered the last sentence with pride and it seemed to sweep the sentiment across the table. Father laughed hard with joy, Mother exhaled with relief and Vikram padded me on the back with a cheerful expression, even the staff who served dinner smiled at me and cheered. The only ones that did not move were Damaris and Takara, the ones that I had already spoken to last time about my feelings towards Anwen. Their faces remained straight, eyes piercing into me. A dash of hope rose on my brother’s face. He kept looking at me awaiting more information. Traditionally, when one was certain about having found their mate, she would be invited to dinner and officially introduced to the family, though it was more a ceremony than anything else as almost everyone knew everyone in the city and gossip travelled faster than wind.

“Well, where is she? Bring her in!” Father insisted, rising from his seat to give me a proud hug. Once I became free from his arms and regained my seat, I took a breath, preparing myself for what was to come.

“She is not here,” I announced and I felt Damaris shift. “She is in Evigt.”

Father frowned. “What kingdom is she from?” I followed his range of sight scanning a point onto the wall, moving from side to side while he probably mapped my district to find traces of the other kingdoms.

“The Realm,” I replied. “She is a human.” I saw no point in prolonging it and a selfish part of me wanted to get the news free. I had held it inside for so long that just the expulsion of this message lifted rocks from my spirit.

“What?” Mother barely whispered and as I glanced at her, I found tears making their way through her beautiful amber eyes.

“Ansgar, I thought we had settled this last time,” Damaris broke the silence. Both my parents could only stare at me in disbelief. The atmosphere of the room shifted, even the staff remained stiff on the side, pretending to become immobile pieces of furniture.

“You knew about this and did not think to report?” the King slammed an angry fist upon the table, making all the glassware clink and shake abruptly.

“It was not his duty to report it to you Father.” I found myself taking control of the conversation all of a sudden, “It was mine. And that is what I am trying to do.”

“You cannot mate with a human!” The King rose abruptly from his seat, “Don’t you know anything?”

I copied his gesture and stood as well. For once, I would not let Father have the last word and if there was ever a moment to fight him, let this be the one.

“I do know Father,” I maintained a steady and decided tone, “that I have found my mate. The particularities of her belonging to a kingdom are unknown to me, nor do I know why it is her. What I am convinced of, my King,” I made sure to emphasize the words and even bowed my head slightly to him, “is that this woman is my mate. And that I love her.”

The King’s face coloured red, wrath and disappointment shining brighter than ever before at the sight of me. “Love!” he huffed. “Love, boy?” He took a step closer to me, shifting to face me directly. “What do you know about love?” His upper lip curled, just barely, with a shade of disgust. “Get back in your seat and keep your mouth shut. You are not to see this woman again. Find somebody to fuck from our own kingdom.”

“Father—” I remained standing but his hand on my chest stopped any words I planned to utter.

“That’s the end of it!” the King demanded.

Anwen’s perfume invaded my nostrils. Her smile. The way she giggled every time I caressed her hair.

“NO! It is not the end of it!” I felt my lungs flooding, the new air giving me a push, the one I needed to face the King, to defend my love. “You do not have an opinion on this. I am merely informing you that I have found my mate, not ask for permission. In case you missed it, Father, I am a grown male. Free to choose whomever I want. To establish my own path in life, without permission.”

Everyone in the room had kept silent, afraid to breathe or interfere in such an unprecedented situation.

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