| Chapter 29 Nick slowly walked through the elaborate garden. His heart was aching, and he was on the verge of tears. "Why does this have to be so hard? Why does everything in my life have to be so hard?" he asked. He looked down, seeing a patch of Tsars Might growing next to the path. He bent down and picked one. The flower still amazed him, it's fragrance having a calming affect on him. He took a deep breath and continued down the trail, carrying the flower with him. He found one of the benches that lined the path and sat down, feeling exhausted. The events of the past few days were catching up with him. And trying to hide his feelings for Ana was becoming increasing difficult. He couldn't be in the same room with her, without staring. She had captured his soul, his very fiber of being. He loved her with everything that made him, him. He couldn't imagine his life without her, and would give anything to be with her�even his kingdom. Nick had been searching the Book of Kings for a way out. A way to renounce his throne without plunging the planet into chaos and war, but he hadn't found it yet. Albeit, he was only on the fifth king, and had barely made a dent in the enormous book. He sighed, looking around. There above him, floating silently was one of the cameras. Nick stared at the little thing for a moment, knowing they possessed some form of artificial intelligence. "Do you have to be here?" he asked. The camera blinked its lense and nodded. Nick laughed, shaking his head. And he thought his life on earth wasn't private? "I'd like to be alone, please," Nick said. The camera still didn't move. Nick sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his head in his hands. "You have to order it to leave," he heard a familiar voice say. Nick looked up into the crystal blue eyes he loved so much, and smiled, "I do?" Ana nodded. Nick looked back at the camera, "I order you to leave me alone." The camera swiftly turned and headed down the path to find someone else to spy on. Ana came over and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry J said that. Sometimes he just says stuff and he doesn't think about it beforehand," Nick said. Ana shook her head, "He didn't know." "But still, I'm sorry it made you uncomfortable," Nick said. Ana looked at him for a moment, "Maybe we should talk?" Nick didn't like the sound of that, "About?" "What's going on between us," she said. Nick bit his lip, waiting on her to start. "Nick, I ..... I never meant for this to happen," she said, "And when it did, I tried to ignore it ....but...." "You can't," he said. She shook her head, looking deep into his eyes, "Nick, I love you. I'm not sure when it happened, but all I know is that I can't be without you. I have to see you everyday or I feel lost inside .... I just ..." "I feel the same way," Nick interrupted her, "Everything you just said. I feel it too. Ana, I love you so much, but ..." "But we can't," she finished for him. Nick shook his head, tears threatening to fall, "This is so unfair! I wished I wasn't king. I wish I wasn't royalty at all! I hate this!" Ana cringed at his outburst, her own tears sliding down her cheeks, "Don't Nick. Don't regret your heritage because of this." "How can I not? I don't understand why we have to have this rule. What difference does it make if the king loves someone who isn't in the �high class'? If the king is happy, that's all that should matter. Not if he married the right bloodline. We aren't dogs, Ana," Nick raved. "I know," she said, looking down at her hands, "I never said our class system was perfect." Nick sighed, "Yeah, but the rules are in place, and we have to live with them." She nodded. They both sat in silence for a long time, afraid to look at one another. Afraid their emotions would become to great for them to handle. Finally Nick looked up, staring at the side of Ana's face. The suns light gave her skin a radiant glow. He reached over and gently touched her cheek, turning her face to look at him. Love and sadness filled her eyes as they stared at one another. After a moment, Ana closed her eyes and pulled away from his touch. She had to before the temptation became to great and she did something they might both regret. "I should go," she said, standing up. "Wait," Nick said, taking her hand as he stood, "Please Ana, take this." She looked down at the flower in his hand, "Nick, you know I can't." Nick pulled her hand up and placed the flower in it, "Please Ana, take it. Besides, how am I suppose to learn the art of courting, if I don't practice?" She laughed, shaking her head, "So this is practice?" He shrugged, "To the others it could be." Ana stared at him, "So what are you saying Nick? That you want to sneak around?" He shook his head, "No, I don't wanna sneak around. I'm just .... I couldn't risk us getting caught. Not with the punishment you would have to endure. I could never live with myself if that happened." "So what then?" she asked. "I want a reason to spend time with you. I thought that if you were teaching me how to court someone that maybe ....." he started. "Maybe people wouldn't think anything about it?" she finished. He nodded. Ana looked down at the flower in her hand, "I would risk my life to be with you," she whispered. "Ana, no. I can't do that to you," Nick said. She stared at him, having made up her mind, "What good is living life, if you aren't happy? I'd rather have a day with you, than to live my whole life without you." Nick took a step back and stared at her, "No Ana. As much as I want to, and believe me, I want to....we can't. You know what would happen if we got caught." She nodded, "I know." He bit his lip, his mind racing. When it was just him considering sneaking around, he was able to push it away. But now, with Ana standing in front of him telling him she was willing to risk it, the temptation was so great to just give in. He turned, sitting back down on the bench, his head in his hands. Ana came to sit beside him, peering down at his face, "You aren't forcing me to do anything. I know what the risks are, and I'm willing to take them. I love you Nick, and I can't go on pretending that I don't. I don't think I could stand seeing you everyday and not be able to show you how much I love you. To me, that's more torture that I could ever endure if we got caught." "But what about the laws?" he asked, "I can't..." Ana pulled his hands from his face and smiled at him, "Do you think every king abided by the laws? They have been broken before." "You're making it hard to say no," he told her. "I don't want you to say no. I'm tired of pretending that what I feel has no place with you. I'm tired of trying to abide by a centuries old law that was stupid to begin with. Nick, I love you, and if sneaking around is the only way we can be together, then I'm willing to risk it," she said. "But, I'd never forgive myself if we got caught," he protested. She smiled again, "Then we won't get caught." He watched as she cupped his cheek, then moved her hand to the back of his neck, pulling him to her. His mind was swimming as their lips touched for the first time. Everything he felt for her seemed to overwhelm them both. It was as if at that moment they ceased to be two different people, and became one person, body, mind, and soul. Nick wrapped his arms around her, and deepened the kiss. In all his life, he'd never felt such raw emotion, desire, and love. After several minutes they parted, breathless. "Oh my God," Ana said, trying to catch her breath. Nick laughed, seeing the shocked expression on her face at what she'd said. "See, that expression has it's merits," he teased. She smiled at him, "That it does," then pulled him down into another fiery kiss. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mason sat in his office, fuming over the mornings events. How could he sever ties with earth like that? he thought. He brought his attention back to his desk and tried once more to reach his contact on earth. Still he couldn't get through. "All the technology we have and I can't even make a call," he muttered. Just then a tall young man came into his office, "You wanted to see me, my lord?" Mason stood up and walked over to his young apprentice, "Yes Deven. I want you to look into something for me. It seems our young king thinks he has everything covered. I want you to dig into his past on earth, find out about his friends he so conveniently kept here. Anything I can use as leverage against him, understand?" "Yes sir," Deven said, turning to leave the room. Mason watched him go, then turned back to his desk, "I've worked to long to let this little whelp take what is rightfully mine." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marie and Brian walked hand in hand through the garden. They had finished lunch, and the guys had all gone back to their rooms to settle in. "You are happy your cousin is here?" she asked. He nodded, "Yeah, I'm glad they're all here. I missed them." "I see it. You feel for them like they are family," she noted. Brian smiled, "I do. We all basically grew up together, so yeah, we are family." Marie smiled, looking through the garden. "What's the smile for?" he asked. She shrugged, "Just what A.J. said, about us having children." Brian laughed, "Yeah, he kinda gets the cart before the horse sometimes." Marie spotted a bench and lead Brian over, sitting down, "He says what he thinks." "Yeah, and most of the time he doesn't think before he says it," Brian laughed. "Do you want children someday?" she asked. He nodded, "Someday, yeah. Why are you asking?" She shrugged, "Just wondering." They sat in silence for a moment, "Brian, do you think they are OK?" "Who, Nick and Ana?" he asked. She nodded, "Ana was so upset when she left." Brian sighed, "So was Nick. I hate it for them." "I feel guilty," Marie said. "Guilty? Why?" he asked. "Because of what we have. We can show the whole world how we feel about each other and no one bats an eye. They can't," she answered. "Oh man, I never thought about it like that," he said, feeling guilty as well, "The last thing I wanna do is throw it in their faces." "I think they know we aren't doing that. But still, I'm sure it's hard for them," she said. Brian reached up and rubbed his head. "You still have a headache?" she asked. He nodded, "I thought it'd go away by now, but it's still there." She stood up, pulling him up with her, "Come on, we'll take the short cut back. You can lay down and rest until supper." Brian walked with her for a moment, then laughed, "I can still see J's face when you picked him up and yelled at him." "He hurt you, I wasn't going to stand by and do nothing," she told him. "Thank you baby," he said, leaning down and kissing her cheek. Marie smiled as they cut through the garden and emerged on a different path. As soon as she looked up the trail she stopped, putting her hand over her mouth. Brian looked in the direction she was, seeing Nick and Ana sitting on a bench kissing. He smiled, as Marie quickly pulled him back through the garden so they wouldn't be seen. "Good for them," he said, when they were safely away. Marie shook her head, "No, it's not." "Why?" he asked. "The rules say that ..." she started. "I know, that they can't be together," Brian finished. "But that's not all," Marie went on, "They also say that if they are caught the woman can be executed for her crime." "Executed? You're kidding?" Brian asked, shocked. "I wish I were," Marie said, biting her thumbnail. Brian reached over and pulled her hand from her mouth, "Don't worry. We'll help them, and they won't get caught." "Are you sure?" she asked. Brian took her hand and kissed the back of it, "I'm sure." Chapter 30 |