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My nerves were raised to the highest point I had felt in years as I watched the
door handle turn. I stood up straight and fiddled with my hands, unsure of where to put them. Adriana walked into the room, looking down at the floor, but she stopped at the smell of the bouquets that filled the sitting area. Her eyes got big as she looked around at the blooming buds, but her face was stern and straight as her gaze fell upon me.
“Before you say anything,” I said, raising my arms and stepping forward. “I owe you a huge apology. I was not in my right mind, and what I said last night was cruel and uncalled for. I am hoping that we can take note of last night’s events but move forward, finding a positive way to interact with each other in the future.”
“The flowers are beautiful,” she replied as she stooped down and took in a long whiff of one of the bouquets. “I love them. Thank you. And though part of me wants to stay angry with you, I would agree that we should move forward.”
“Tour the grounds with me,” I replied, without thinking. “There is so much beauty here, and I would like to guide you through it.”
She nodded her head with a slight smile. I walked forward and stuck out my arm for her to take. She looked at me strangely at first, her expression unreadable, but hooked her arm through mine and turned toward the doors.
We walked through the palace, and I pointed out different historical artifacts that seemed benign at first glance. I could see that the history of the place intrigued her, which excited me since I knew everything there was to know about the past and our kingdom. I pulled her out into the gardens and kept her as close as she would allow. We strolled through the bushes and blooms my mother had worked so hard on. Adriana was surprised to know that the Queen had put her own hands in the dirt and created the gardens herself.
“My mother was always fond of foliage and flowers,” I explained. “She started this garden when she first came to the palace. She used to tell me how it was so lonely here, at first, but she found solace in planting. After a while, she became the full-fledged Queen and had to hire gardeners to take care of the grounds, but you will still find her out here every spring, helping to keep the place beautiful.”
“That is really lovely,” she replied. “I have always loved gardens. They brought me hope as a child, and even though I had no room for one in Liverpool, I would draw out my plans for the future. I am determined to one day have a garden at my home, though probably not this grand.”
“I’m sure it will be lovely,” I said, as I stopped and turned toward the giant obelisk in the center. “This is a monument for the wars that Silesia fought many years ago. It is because of those men that we have such a peaceful country now. My father was a patriotic man, and he liked to see these kinds of memorials built on the palace grounds. He even had an entire park built in the city in honor of those men. I’ll show you sometime.”
“That would be lovely,” she replied with blushing cheeks.
We continued through the garden and down the hill to the moat that surrounded the castle. It was less of a booming waterway and more of a large stream that flowed around. My canoe was still sitting on the side of the tree where I had left it months before. When my parents would get too strict or angry at me, I would retreat to the moat and row myself around, pretending to disappear into Silesia, running away from royal life. Adriana watched as I flipped the canoe over and dusted it off before pulling it down into the water. I reached forward and grasped her hand. She stepped gingerly into the rocking boat. She sat down on the center stool and watched as I pushed us into the water and grabbed the oars.
“When the castle was first built, we didn’t have the technology that we have today, so they built this moat to protect the castle from attacks,” I explained as I rowed along. “That bridge to the left used to be a drawbridge, but after the threat of foot attacks had diminished, my great-great grandfather had that permanent stone bridge put in place. He wanted the kingdom to feel open and unguarded, giving the people of Silesia the feeling of family with the royals.”
“That is amazing,” she said. She gawked up at the stone bridge’s belly as we passed underneath, going into the shadows and then back out into the sun. “There is so much history in your country. It is inspiring.”
“As a child, I used to imagine the knights on horseback crossing the bridge, defending our freedom,” I said, chuckling. “It was like a fairy tale for me. Now it’s more like a burden, but that is my own line of thinking, I suppose.”
“If I lived here, I would roam all around, finding every nook and cranny of this place,” she sighed, looking around. “To someone who never experienced something so magnificent, it’s quite overwhelming but has brought out the curiosity in me all over again.”
The sound of the water soothed my chest as we rowed along in the mossy waterway. The sunlight hit Adriana just right, and it sparkled through her golden curls. She smiled as we passed several ducks swimming along, and I felt a strong warmth in my chest for her and her beauty. There was something about this girl that pressed at my core, and I didn’t know what I was going to do with that feeling. While I was away, I couldn’t get her face out of my head, and since I had returned, the feeling had grown even stronger. Her vibrant smile and adorable giggle had a way of lighting up the world around her, and it sucked me in immediately.
“Did you enjoy your time here as a child?” She was curious about my life, and even though I wanted to tell her everything, something still held me back.
“It was a lot of politics, even as a small child,” I explained. “But on those few rare moments I was able to slip away from the castle and the teachers, I would transform the world around me into a story that suited me better than fancy suits and noblemen. My father would tell me stories of, what he called, the true noblemen of the old days. They were warriors, not stuffed shirt snobs that took their tea a specific way. Those stories made me want to be a true soldier. Well, at least when I was younger.”
I could tell Adriana was holding back a smirk as we rowed along, talking about my childhood fantasies. I guess if I were her, I would have a hard time reconciling the child I described with the man I had become. However, as we pulled to shore and walked into the second part of the gardens, I couldn’t help but find that part of me felt like that young boy again, and I knew it had to be Adriana who made me feel that way.
Chapter 13: Adriana
With such an enchanted place creating the perfect backdrop, it was difficult to keep my mind locked in behind that wall I had built up since everything happened. Milos was back to being that absolutely charming Prince he had shown himself to be since the beginning. Hearing the stories of his childhood and watching as his eyes lit up through the stories he told was almost too much to handle. I was sure that it had to have been difficult growing up in the spotlight, always being hounded by media, and having your family expect perfection from you. It made sense that Milos had a difficult time just being himself without shrouding it with charm and fake smiles. But still, his inability to let loose with me on a regular basis made it hard for me to really trust him. The last thing I wanted was to spend another night like the night before, alone in my chambers with a broken heart, fearing my choices.
After we had finished rowing through the mossy moat, Milos pulled the canoe back up on to the shore, and I watched as he tipped it against the large willow on the edge of the banks. He walked toward me with a pleasant smile on his face, and I followed him toward what looked to be a hedge maze. As we rounded the corner into the tall covering of the bushes, he took my hand, and immediately, I felt heat rise into my belly. We walked along quietly, feeling the pull between us as it grew stronger and stronger with each step. The maze was perfectly trimmed and hedged all along the path, and I felt like I had wandered into a magical world hidden on the castle grounds. There were small birds tucked beneath the thick grasses, and I looked around in wonderment as we moved deeper and deeper into the maze.
The sun was shining high in the Silesian sky as we walked hand in hand. I looked up at Milos who flashed me a mischievous smile before darting forward, pulling me through the twists and turns of the maze. Though I was completely lost at that point, I could tell that Milos had memorized the entire maze. As we made one last left turn, Milos sprinted forward through the long tunnel, laughing childishly. I smiled and chased after him.
As I reached the end, I watched as the tunnel opened up into a beautiful courtyard. The ground was green and mossy, and in the center, was a beautiful fountain that allowed the waters of Silesia to billow over the round marble ball on the top.
“This was where I had my best ideas,” he said loudly as he reached his arms over his head. “They never could find me in this maze.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
“It is,” Milos said as he turned toward me, his eyes darkening.
Butterflies erupted in my chest and stomach as his face grew serious and he walked over to me. He lifted his hands to my face and leaned down, pressing his lips hard against mine. I couldn’t resist and allowed myself to fall into his kiss. His mouth was warm and needy, and all I could think was that I wanted more. He reached his hand around my waist and lifted me up into the air as he kept his lips firmly pressed against mine. His tongue slipped between my lips, and I opened my mouth and allowed him to taste my tongue. Milos reached down and scooped me up in his arms, and he knelt down into the moss. For a moment, he hovered with his hands clutched beneath me and his lips moving wildly over mine. Slowly, he ducked down, and he set me gently down in the grass and pulled himself over me. The moss was cool and soft beneath my body, and I looked around for any sight of prying eyes.
“Relax,” he whispered into my ear as he fiddled with the buttons on my dress. “We are all alone out here, and I don’t want to wa
