Love Where Least Expected

It had been about a month after my coronation. Everything had finally settled down and I was getting used to my daily duties and routine as Queen of Nova. I missed Mom and Dad, and they were always in my thoughts. As I took my daily afternoon walk in the castle gardens, I would look up at the sky and I would remember Mom and all the wonderful memories I had of her. I wonder what she would think of me. Would she be proud of me? I hoped so.

It wasn’t easy proving myself, and it certainly didn’t help that Aunt Lucille had tried to have me killed just so my cousin Charlotte could become queen. I never did any harm to her. I remember during my lessons with one of history tutors that Aunt Lucille had made some sort of claim to the right of Merva being in her direct family line but as there was no direct evidence to provide Lucille’s claim, Mom couldn’t give the title of duchess to her. However, Mom did come up with a compromise that my Uncle Laurent would be Duke of Merva and that should have satisfied Aunt Charlotte, shouldn’t it? It wasn’t enough, though, and reluctantly, I had no choice but to have her executed for trying to have me killed. I didn’t want to do so but if I had simply banished her, who knows? She might have made more attempts on my life and I couldn’t have that.

Since then, there were no visits or correspondence from Uncle Laurent or Charlotte. They knew that I had executed the order on Lucille and the reasons that I did so but clearly, they were still upset at me. I couldn’t blame them, though. If I were them, I wouldn’t be happy, either, to have a close family member killed, even if the reasons were justified.

As I continued my walk, I stopped upon a familiar sight. I smiled to myself, recognizing the tree that I had climbed and had first caught a glimpse of him. Closing my eyes, I fondly recalled the memory, as though it were only yesterday. He had been stealing apples and he wasn’t a servant, as I had made it a point to remember all of the servants working in the castle. When I finally talked to him, I didn’t have the guards arrest him. After all, it was only a few apples he took and there were plenty more of them. Instead, I let him go and before I knew it, we began to have an interesting relationship.

When I had remained in the castle during the weekend of Gwenelle’s birthday party, I felt lonely. Of course, I could have gone but with all the attempts on my life, I didn’t feel that it was safe to leave the castle grounds. So I stayed behind and felt depressed that I couldn’t be with my friends. But then he came. With that cheeky grin, he handed me a basket of cookies and told me that his dad had made them and that his dad was a baker in town, as was he. He’d seen how sad I was and the cookies were his way to cheer me up. I hid that emotion with an angry expression, retorting that I wasn’t lonely, but his only response was to ask me to give them to his sister Alice. That annoyed me but as I saw him walk away, I smiled a little to myself. I liked how he had treated me as a regular person and not as a royal. I’d never felt that way, not even with the nobles. I suppose I should have bonded the most with the nobles but even they treated me as though I was way above them on the hierarchy. But not him and for that, I felt a warmth and happiness stir in my heart.

As I returned to my room after my walk to rest, I wanted to see him. He hadn’t come by the castle grounds again for a while, and I missed him. I missed talking with him, feeling at ease whenever I was with him. As I had no other duties to attend to and nobody would miss me as long as I returned before the dinner hour, I decided to sneak out of the castle grounds and into town to see him. I’d sneaked out before and knew how to do so very well so there was a very low chance I’d get caught. I got out my cloak and then stealthily, I climbed out of my bedroom window and to a nearby tree branch. Then I climbed down the tree and after hiding in some nearby bushes, I put on my cloak, making sure to put the hood on my head. I quickly left the castle grounds, using a secret exit where the guards hadn’t noticed.

I walked quickly towards town and then looked around for a bakery. I knew that he and his father worked at the same bakery but as I had only been in town myself a few times-and that was only for royal processions and such-I was unfamiliar with its layout. Taking a chance, I asked one of the people where the bakery was but made sure to keep my head down and disguised my voice so I wouldn’t be recognized. After getting directions, I headed towards the bakery, finally finding it.

I approached the shop and thankfully, it wasn’t crowded. I looked around for him but I couldn’t find him. Was this the right bakery or could he be out? Just then, a middle-aged man approached me, his cheeks flushed from the heat of the ovens from baking, I suppose. He smiled kindly at me and asked,

“May I help you, miss?”

Keeping my voice disguised, I replied, “Hello, sir. Does Evrard work here?”

The man nodded and replied, “Why, yes, he does. He’s out in the back. Are you a friend of his?”

I removed the hood from my cloak and smiling softly at him, he replied, “I guess you could say that. I hadn’t seen him for a while and I wanted to say hi.”

The man looked shocked as he recognized me without the hood and kneeling before me, he replied, “Your majesty, I-I’m honored by your presence.”

I shook my head kindly and replied, “There’s no need for formalities, sir. I did come here under disguise for a reason.”

The man got up, feeling a little better by my informal manner, and he replied, “I see. If I may ask, why do you want to see Evrard? Did he do something wrong?”

As I was about to reply, Evrard approached us from the back door of bakery and immediately recognizing me, he gave his cheeky grin and said,

“Hey, princess-oh I mean, your majesty-long time, no see.”

The man frowned at Evrard and replied, “Evrard, please be more respectful before your queen.” He turned back to me and replied, “I am sorry about my son. If he did anything wrong, please have mercy on him. He’s still so young and all.”

I shook my head and replied, “Oh no, sir, Evrard didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, he’s done me a great honor by becoming my friend and I have missed my friend.”

I looked meaningfully at Evrard, giving a slight pout. He chuckled and replied, “Ahh yes, I’m sorry I haven’t seen you. It’s hard sneaking on the castle grounds with all those guards. It’s like the security became even tighter after your coronation.”

I sighed and replied, “Yes, I suppose that’s true. Well, I have had all those attempts on my life but they happened before I got crowned and they’ve stopped.”

Evrard and the man, whom I now knew to be Evrard’s father, looked surprised as I told them about the attempts on my life but I quickly added,

“Oh don’t worry about that. It’s all in the past. Everything’s quiet now. It’s been boring, actually. Just the usual duties and all. Then I remembered those cookies you brought me, Evrard. I wondered if I could have some more.”

Evrard grinned and replied, “Of course. Dad’s the best baker ever.”

Evrard’s dad smiled a little shyly and replied, “I’m not that great a baker.”

I replied, “But you are, sir. I never tasted cookies as delicious as yours. Even the royal chefs can’t compare to your skill.”

Evrard’s dad smiled at me and replied, “In that case, then I can’t refuse your request, your majesty. A fresh batch of cookies coming up.”

After Evrard’s dad left to bake some more cookies, Evrard said,

“Did you really miss me, your majesty?”

I nodded and replied, “Of course and I’m going to say the same thing I just said to your dad. No formalities, ok? I may be queen but I’d rather have you call me Elodie. That’s what friends do, right? Call each other by their names?”

Evrard replied, “That’s right. So you really do think of me as a friend?”

I nodded and replied, “I do. You’d think I’d have a lot of friends since I went to school and talked to a lot of the nobles’ kids but I haven’t had a lot of close friends. I’m not sure I have any, really. You’re the first person ever who’s talked to me like I’m not a royal but just a regular person. It feels nice.”

I glanced at Evrard and he looked happy to hear me compliment him in such a way. I continued,

“But I have missed you and I’ve missed you a lot. I want to see you more.”

Evrard smiled sadly and replied, “Me, too, Elodie. I wish there were a way we could just go to places and talk and be us.”

I thought about the dilemma we were in and after a few minutes, I cheered up and replied, “It’s not a perfect solution but for now, I guess I’ll just have to sneak out often and visit you here. You don’t mind, do you?”

Evrard gave me his cheeky grin and replied, “Not at all. You definitely know how to have fun, Elodie.”

I giggled and after Evrard’s dad returned with a fresh batch of warm cookies, Evrard and I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and eating and just being ourselves. As the sun was setting to close the day, I sighed sadly to myself, knowing full well that I needed to return to the castle before my absence would be noticed. As I put on my hood, I promised Evrard to visit him often at the bakery, and he, in turn, promised me that he would try to see me whenever he could, despite the increased castle security.

***************************

Evrard and I continued to have this kind of relationship for the next few years and as I got to spend time with him, I got to care for him more and one day, without even realizing what had happened, I had fallen in love with him. Once I realized fully my feelings for him, I knew what my heart wanted to do although my mind was a little in doubt. If I were a commoner, I could have asked for him to marry me without hesitation but as I was a queen, it would be highly scandalous for me to propose marriage to Evrard. But I loved him and I knew that I would find love with no other man but him. Then I reasoned to myself that if Evrard were to accept my proposal, the other suitors would finally give up pursuing me. Occasionally, I had received marriage proposals from men as old as Banion, Duke of Maree, to noble boys who were barely even adults. Then there were the proposals from men in foreign lands who clearly wanted to marry me for political purposes. But I didn’t want to marry someone for those reasons. I wanted to love the man I marry, and I wanted love the way that my parents had.

With that resolve, I put on my cloak and again, I sneaked out of the castle, heading to town to the bakery. I felt nervous but hopeful at the same time. There was a possibility that Evrard would turn me down but I would never know unless I try.

After I reached the bakery and entered, I saw Evrard’s dad and waved to him. Soon after, Evrard approached me and with his signature cheeky grin, he said,

“Hey, Elodie, come to have some more of dad’s cookies?”

I shook my head and replied, “Well, umm, not exactly.” I looked around nervously and then asked, “Is there a place we can talk alone?”

Evrard looked worried and I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t behaving like my usual self. He nodded and motioned for me to follow him to a separate room that would allow for privacy. Once we were alone, he looked at me and asked,

“What’s wrong?”

I smiled nervously and replied, “Well, there isn’t exactly something bad but I’m hoping for something good. I-I’m not good at saying these things and…”

I wondered to myself how I couldn’t find the words to tell him how I felt. I took all those public speaking classes and now I couldn’t even ask him for a simple marriage proposal. I took a few deep breaths, willing myself to calm down. Then I looked at him and said,

“Ok, I’ll say it before I lose my nerve. I love you, Evrard, and I want to ask if you’ll marry me?”

I looked at him nervously although I did feel a little relief at the same time. Even if he rejected me, at least I told him how I felt. Evrard was silent for a minute and I was afraid that he was going to reject me, that he was going to say how we couldn’t get married because I’m a queen and he’s a commoner. He looked at me and with a smile that I could only describe as being full of love, he replied,

“Of course, I’ll marry you, Elodie. I’ve never met a woman like you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you but don’t you worry that I won’t be a good king?”

Immediately, I shook my head and replied, “That’s the furthest thought from my mind. You’ll make a great king and I’ll help you. And don’t worry-I still have to make all the tough decisions but you’ll have a say, too.”

Evrard gave me this look as though he wanted to say more about the downfalls of him becoming a king and I added,

“And don’t worry about the nobles. I’ll deal with them. They won’t be happy but it’s my decision. I want to marry for love and I’ve found that in you and no one else.”

Evrard hugged me and replied, “Then I’ll marry you, Elodie, and be the happiest man with the most wonderful woman ever.”

He leaned in to give me my first kiss and as we spent those few blissful loving moments, I felt like the happiest woman ever, lucky to be marrying the man who captured my heart for all time. I didn’t worry about what others would think or what would happen afterwards, as I only thought of the here and now.