The True Northern King - James

Chapter 5

“You are so slow!” she laughed.

She reached the statue, clinging to it while looking back at me. I smiled at her, as she looked at me with a teasing look in her eyes.

“You are supposed to catch me!” she said.

“But then the game ends,” I said.

She shook her head, going around the little statue of a lion that was placed in the middle of the big garden. Her blond hair blew around in the warm wind. We were at the end of the summer. Serina and her family were visiting once again. They were a close ally and friend to my family, meaning I got to see her a lot more.

“That is the point,” she told me.

Serina had grown like I had. She had not come last time they visited, which was a year ago. She was seventeen now, and I knew her parents were preparing to marry her off. Which I certainly did not like. Serina was … like the sun. Whenever she smiled, I forgot where I even was. I forgot my name and saw only her. She had grown into a beautiful woman, who carried herself with an elegance and a strength that I admired so much about her.

“But what fun would it be if I caught you?” I asked.

She smiled even bigger and started slowly to back away. Her beautiful dark red dress blew around her, as she slowly retreated.

“You have never played tag, have you?” she asked teasingly.

I shook my head while walking closer to her, my thumbs resting in my belt, where I also carried my sword and the blade Will had given me long ago.

“I am the next king, remember?”

She rolled her eyes around. A defying behavior that I only allowed her to do, because when she did it she just looked so adorable, I could not help but smile at the sight of it.

“Oh yes, how could I forget?” she asked. “Like you do not remind me of it all the time.”

“Well, I am just making sure you know who is in charge,” I joked, throwing my arms out to the side.

“In charge?” she asked me. “I don’t see you taking control of this game, or you would have caught me by now!”

“Oh really?”

She nodded, biting her lower lip in excitement. We watched each other with an intensity before she saw me coming for her just in time. She squealed and then ran away, with me right behind her. I had only ever been this free around Serina. Only she saw this side of me. I was unsure when I stopped seeing her as the annoying little lady and as a woman who had my heart, but I did remember this one time, at a ball, seeing her enter. Back when she had turned fifteen. She was a true beauty, but while her beauty caught my eye, it was her bravery and her strength that drew me in.

“Got you!”

I caught her arm and pulled her back before I had her pressed up against a much bigger statue, so no one could see us from the castle.

“Now what happens?” I asked.

Her sweet blue eyes held mine and then suddenly she leaned closer, pressing her lips against mine. It was a powerful warmth that spread through me, while my heart started to beat faster, and my breathing quickened. No other woman had ever had this effect on me, and I had been with a good handful. It was before I had decided that the only one for me was her.

I had seen lords flirt with her. I had seen dukes do the same and I felt jealous. I was not used to such a feeling, but it was then I realized that no one could have her but me. Sadly, I was the next king, and she was a lady. Her family might be good friends with mine, but a king did not marry for love. He married to make his kingdom more powerful and Serina’s family brought neither enough wealth nor power.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered as she drew back.

I sighed, letting my head fall a little forward before I felt her hand on my cheek, making me look at her. I still had a soft grip on both her arms, as I watched her. I had never before met anyone like her. Her lively spirit made everything so brighter.

“You,” I said.

She slowly shook her head.

“No, your mind is somewhere else. Where?”

I sighed again. I was not sure what to tell her. While I did not want to think about the fact Serina could not be mine, I often found myself doing just that.

“I should not be kissing you,” I said.

“Don’t you want to?” she asked.

I smiled, nodding a little.

“I want nothing more,” I told her. “But-“

She placed a finger over my lips, silencing me. It was Serina who had kissed me first. I had chased away a few lords, and she had yelled at me, asking why I kept being so overprotective of her. Why I kept ruining her chance of making a good match. I had still not been ready to admit it myself, but then she had put words to my feelings, and when I did not confirm or deny anything, she kissed me. This was a little over a year ago. I had hoped the next time her family had come we could have talked about it or at least I could have told her how I felt, but then she hadn’t come. Now she was finally here, and I was thinking about how I could not have her.

“Let us not ruin this,” she whispered. “We only have now.”

“I don’t want to ruin it,” I said.

“Then tell me, do you want me?”

“Of course, I do!”

“You want to … marry me?” she asked.

She was always so brave. She never wasted any time, did she?

“Yes. I want to marry you.”

She smiled at that and leaned closer.

“Then I will be waiting for your proposal,” she said teasingly before our lips almost touched, but then she turned away, walking away and looking teasingly over her shoulder.

“You will be mine Serina!” I told her.

She glanced back at me again before walking towards the castle. She would be mine.

“You two should be more careful.”

I turned around, seeing Will. He had a bow in his hand and looked like he had just come from a hunt.

“And you should not be lurking around in the shadows like an assassin waiting to strike,” I told him before walking away.

Of course, he followed me. Will had just reached adulthood and while he had only gotten quieter over the years, I knew a powerful person hid beneath. If I had not been first in line, I believed Will would be a good king. He could certainly make a difference. I actually did not see his quietness as something bad. I believed Will saw, heard and knew more than the rest of us. If anyone knew of our darkest secrets, it would be him.

“James, this is not a joke,” he said.

“Am I laughing?” I asked him.

“Serina is a lady.”

“She is indeed,” I said with a smile.

But then Will grabbed my arm, making me stop.

“A lady … not a princess. Not a future queen.”

“She is my queen,” I told him darkly.

“In your eyes, perhaps. In father’s …”

I sighed, looking away from my brother. Yes, in father’s eyes, she was not a good match for me.

“It is not like he has anyone else planned for me.”

“Not right now maybe, but one day,” he said.

He was right. At some point, our father would make me marry, like the rest of us, but until then there was hope. Maybe I could even convince him. It was a possibility.

“One day, yes, but not right now,” I said and started to walk away.

Will followed beside me, clearly not done with this conversation, but I was.

“Don’t you have some deer to shoot?” I asked.

“I was practicing,” he told me.

“Then go practice some more. I am sure you could use it.”

He sneered annoyed at me, shaking his head. He was clearly disappointed in me, that I was avoiding the subject, but I did not want to discuss Serina with him. She was who I wanted and that was not going to change. No matter if Will threatened me with our father or not. I would marry her.

“Wake up, brother,” he said. “Before it is too late.”

He then stopped and then turned the other way before walking out of here, his words still echoing in my head, as I watched him walk away.