The king and queen.
People who I never even imagined I could ever meet personally in my entire life. They looked so elegant. Of course. They were royalty after all.
The king, Asher’s father, had bck hair, with grey streaks of hair visible. His hazel eyes looked sharp but somewhat gentle as well.
The queen, Asher’s step mother, had blonde hair. I assumed it was extremely long because she had it up in an extravagant hairstyle that was so complicated that even I couldn’t expin it. Her gaze was far from gentle. Her red-looking brown eyes were judgemental as she slowly looked me up and down. It honestly did make me feel quite self conscious. I know I looked far different from someone as esteemed as her. But I was just a commoner anyways.
His father spoke first.
“Ah, Miss Rose. I’m quite pleased to finally have seen you. Asher has quite a bit of talking he does about you,” the king chuckled. Asher gred at the king.
“Father,” he said in a slightly sharp tone, as if telling him to stop talking about that. His father looked at him and just chuckled some more. Then he turned his head to look back at me. He made direct eye contact with me, and I almost looked away. That’s what I tended to do when someone looked me straight in the eye but I fought the urge, not wanting to seem rude.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Your Majesty,” I curtsied. It just felt right. The king nodded and was about to speak when his wife cut in.
“A pleasure to meet you Lily. You look wonderful. I just advise you to wear something more formal, more expensive, to meet King Alfred Raz, just for next time sweetheart,” she smiled, batting her shes. Queen Veronica Raz. I could see it in her cruel eyes. I knew she knew that I was poor. Poor enough to not be able to afford a better dress than the one I had on.
“No darling. She looks wonderful. That is not the topic for today anyways. I would like to talk about Asher’s coronation with you, Miss Rose,” he rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder, still staring at me in the eyes.
I didn’t know what I expected. I expected more of an interrogation on what I knew about Asher and how and why we became friends. Queen Veronica sure looked like she wanted to. But no. He wants to talk about Asher’s coronation.
“So, as you know, Asher was supposed to get crowned at the age of 18, but due to the passing of his mother, we had to push it back for a while,” he stopped, taking a breath.
I remembered that day. That day Queen Kar, King Alfred’s first love, Asher’s real mother, died. Asher was only 17, days away from turning 18. I had been waiting for him in the forest, like usual, when he came stumbling through the bushes, barely standing. His eye bags were more pronounced than normal. He trudged over to me and basically fell on me, hugging me as tight as he could. He started sobbing. Sobbing like he was going to die. Before and after that day, I had never seen him cry. Not once. The emotionally and physically strong man, suddenly weak. Weak as in he couldn’t even stand. He could barely breathe. He couldn’t keep his eyes open for long. I remember feeling my heart clench, the tears that ran down my face. The tears I cried for him. I cried because I felt his pain. His pain was my pain. The whole time he just dug his head into my chest and sobbed, his whole body shaking, his eyes turning red, his breathing getting heavier, his-
The door burst open. In walked Asher’s little brother. I was broken away from my thoughts, wiping my eyes so they were free of any tears that threatened to spill at the memory.
Asher walked over to his little brother, George, who was dressed in cute little royal clothes, and had an oversized royal mantle that dragged along the floor.
Asher scooped him up in his arms and George giggled, kicking his tiny feet in the air.
George’s birth is what killed Asher’s mother. Queen Kar lost too much blood giving birth and died. Nonetheless, Asher absolutely adored his little brother. They were so cute together. George was like a mini Asher.
How I wished to have a connection with someone like theirs.
