Princess Salfina had to wait for another opportunity to see whether or not her first move made any impressions on the prince. A couple of months after her encounter with the prince, another opportunity came knocking on the door. The ruler of Apalachi Kingdom, King Gilespa, one of the richest and longest reigning monarchs in the region, was celebrating his 50th year on the throne. Empress Alsia, accompanied by the Crown Prince and some advisers, led a delegation of the empire to represent Emperor Selasto.
The voyage was undertaken by sea. King Gilespa had sent his royal yacht to transport their majesties and their entourages from the Rambasi and Diaspa Empires to his kingdom for the epochal event. Empress Kotina of Diaspa, accompanied by her daughter, Princess Salfina, and other members of the delegation, was first to board the ship.
Moments later, Empress Alsia of Rambasi and Crown Prince Ariasa also arrived at the port and boarded the ship. The two emperors stayed away from the ceremony because they did not fancy sailing in the same ship for the four-hour voyage. Midway into the journey, Crown Prince Ariasa asked his mother to excuse him to take a walk on the deck. Princess Salfina had anticipated that stroll in the course of the trip. She was not surprised to see him emerging on the deck, accompanied by one of his trusted aides. Unknown to him, he was walking into what appeared like an ambush.
"Hello, Prince Charming," she called out.
The prince ignored her and walked away. The princess inched along. When he was sure it was safe to give her some attention, he turned around and politely responded to her greetings.
"Young lady, don't you get it? The last time you had an encounter with me, I thought I made it clear that we are like light and darkness. We are not supposed to have any contacts whatsoever with each other. There is a decree signed by me forbidding such."
"Yes, I am aware of that," the princess replied.
"Then, why are you stalking me? I advise you to maintain your lane before a wrong impression is created around us."
On that note, the princess changed her course and strolled away.
Princess Salfina got back to the cabin and had some refreshments with her mother. On arriving at their destination, all the royal guests were conveyed in horse-driven carriages that had been sent to the port to the castle of King Gilespa. The castle was a beehive of activities with guests streaming in from all over the region. The host king had a busy time receiving his guests. A gala night was organised to herald the occasion billed for the next day.
Except the two feuding emperors, other monarchs in the region were present at the occasion. Again, either by design or by accident, Crown Prince Ariasa and Princess Salfina sat diagonally opposite each other. Throughout the occasion, she could not take her eyes off the prince who was struggling not to lock his eyes with hers. The intensity of her gaze could melt a heart of steel! The gaze caught the attention of Empress Alsia, making her uncomfortable. Her consolation was that her son was not paying any attention to the princess.
After the ceremony, Empress Alsia summoned the prince to the chalet where she was quartered and engaged him in a conversation.
"My son, did you observe that Princess Salfina was running her eyes all over you throughout the ceremony?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I did."
"What message was she trying to send across to you?"
"I should be asking you, Your Majesty. Being a woman, perhaps you can decode it."
The prince's response drew laughter from the empress. But she warned him to be very careful and reminded him of the decree he was made to sign forbidding any relationship between Rambasian and Diaspan men and women. He assured his mother that he already had two previous encounters with the princess and he made his position known to her in relation to the decree.
The empress knew her son very well and as such, she did not doubt his claim. There were other royal engagements the prince attended on behalf of his father and the empress always attempted to pump any information regarding the princess out of him whenever he returned from such representations. He always assured the empress that he would not be so naïve as to go against the imperial decree that bore his signature. It was as if the emperor made him sign the decree to make it impossible for him to violate it as the future king.
As time wore on, the prince began to lower his resistance to the persistent advances of the princess. He had fought desperately to kill off any feelings that could germinate in his heart. During a clandestine encounter he had with her after a function that both of them attended on behalf of their fathers, the prince engaged the princess in a long conversation that bordered on the grave implications of having a relationship with her.
"You have been so tenacious about winning my friendship which runs afoul of the decree. What purpose will it serve if I succumb only to end up in the gallows? Something tells me there is a conspiracy to tempt me to contravene the order so as to rob our empire of its future ruler."
The princess reflected on the argument of the prince for a long while before she finally found her voice.
"I know about the bad blood that predated our births… how my people shortchanged your people to hang on to the throne. Perhaps, we were destined to reconcile our feuding parents. Remember, decrees are made for the people and not the people for decrees."
She confessed that she had never been so deeply in love with anyone in her entire life the way she felt for the prince. The princess could not believe her ears when the prince asked for time to think it over and warned against any indiscretion on her part.
A couple of days after the encounter with the princess, Emperor Selasto summoned the prince to his bedroom where the empress was already seated. It was not an unusual invitation by his father. But the subject matter took him by surprise. The emperor told him that it was high time he had a fiancée and future empress. The prince turned to look at his mother, wondering whether she had told the emperor about the encounters he had with the daughter of his sworn foe during royal functions outside the empire.
The expression on the face of the empress did not suggest that she had informed the emperor about the encounters. The prince told his parents that he was more concerned about learning the ropes of statecraft than getting distracted by the thought of any relationships. The empress cut in to say that at his age, he should have a prospective woman in view.
"At your age, learning the ropes and dating a future empress are two sides of the same coin," the empress explained.
"Okay, mother. I will give it a thought," the prince promised.
A week after the discussion about getting a future empress to date, the royal family played host to Empress Orola of Tialope Empire and her beautiful daughter, Princess Tesla. Empress Orola and the mother of the prince were childhood friends. Princess Tesla was in her early 20s. She was every inch a princess, extremely pretty. She could match Princess Salfina beauty for beauty.
At first, Prince Ariasa thought the visit was a coincidence. But from the way his mother was talking about the visiting princess, he began to suspect that the visit was a match-making exercise… a ploy to preempt any silly relationship from developing with Princess Salfina.
The prince and Princess Tesla were not strangers to each other. They had met a couple of times during royal functions but the prince was not attracted to her. Nevertheless, he decided to play along to stave off the pressure from his mother.
During the visit, there was an occasion which the prince ought to have attended on behalf of the emperor but the empress blocked him from going. She told the emperor behind their son that he should be allowed to warm up to Princess Tesla.
Princess Salfina was at the occasion and she had looked forward to meeting her Prince Charming who was conspicuously absent. She became uncomfortable and edgy throughout the event. Her state of mind even reflected in the manner she delivered her father's message. Prince Ariasa was unhappy that his mother supplanted state duties with match-making. He knew how disturbed Princess Salfina would be over his unusual absence at such an event. She would be left wondering what kept him away.
After about a week, Empress Orola departed with her daughter and they were treated to an elaborate banquet the night before. Moments after seeing off the visitors, Empress Alsia pulled her son aside and asked him what his impression was about Princess Tesla and if he found her worthy of being his future empress. His answer was vague.
"Mother, one week is too short to assess her suitability as a future empress."
"Don't you like her looks?" his mother queried. "She is beautiful, elegant, calm and good-natured. These are the qualities you should consider for a future empress."
"No one can question that unless she was just acting."
"She was not acting. She took after her mother. It is her nature. You will like her and eventually love her."
The prince had to play along but his heart was warming towards Princess Salfina. Princess Tesla was as beautiful as Princess Salfina but the boldness and intelligence of the latter made her a better choice. Those were the attributes he wanted in his future empress.
Emperor Selasto's ankle injury was getting worse with his old age. As a result, his attendance at public functions outside his domain was curtailed on the advice of the chief royal physician. The situation gave the prince the opportunity to stand in for him and made it possible for him to meet with Princess Salfina who was also relied upon by her father. She was not only the first daughter but also the heiress to her father's throne. It was the reason she was being exposed to royal functions either as a member of the royal delegation or her father's representative.
The prince's mother was becoming more resolute in her plans to drive a wedge between him and Princess Salfina. In her calculations, the less frequent encounters he had with the princess, the more any interest he might have in her would wane. Emperor Selasto was beginning to wonder why the queen was scheming for the Crown Prince not to participate in royal functions outside their domain. The only reason she gave was that she wanted him to be around the emperor always to ease the burden of running the affairs of the empire given his health challenges.
Princess Salfina was getting more worried about the hiatus that had developed between her and the prince. She resisted jumping to conclusions that the prince was deliberately avoiding her. One day, she disguised as a commoner and rode in a carriage to the enemy territory accompanied by two of her bodyguards. When she was within a walking distance to the palace, she alighted from the carriage and covered the remaining distance on foot.
She introduced herself to the guards at the palace gate as a bearer of a message for the prince. By a sheer coincidence, the prince's personal bodyguard was riding on his horse along with two other guards on an errand. He came down from his horse to attend to the messenger. The princess identified herself to the consternation of the bodyguard.
"Princess Salfina, this is like paying a visit to the den of lions."
"It takes a lion to visit a lion!" she responded as they walked further away from the gate.
She handed a note to him for onward delivery to the prince and hurriedly departed but not until she extracted the assurance that all was well with the prince, except that his appearance at public functions outside the empire had been reduced owing to the emperor's health issues. The bodyguard, a trusted aide of the prince, terminated his errand and went back into the palace to deliver the note. The prince's jaw was literally on the floor when he received the message, more so that it was personally delivered by the princess.
"I know she is very bold but I never knew she could take this manner of risk," the prince said to his bodyguard in amazement.
The message was very terse. It asked the prince if he was well and why he was no longer as visible at functions outside his domain as before. She requested him to find a way of meeting her at a spot near the border of the two empires. She drew a diagram of the location, indicating the day and time they could meet. The prince read the note over and over again, and marveled at her courage as a woman. He knew the location like the back of his hand, and shredded the note.
On the appointed day, the prince devised a means of getting away from the palace to meet with the princess, at the risk of running afoul of the decree. It was obvious that his heart was with Princess Salfina, preferring her to the choice of the empress.
After exiting the palace, he and his personal bodyguard who accompanied him found a suitable place to disguise as commoners. Then, they rode to the spot where the princess was already waiting. On sighting the riders approaching the meeting point, the princess asked her two bodyguards and her chief maidservant, all heavily disguised, to move a distance away.
The prince jumped down from his horse and the two met each other halfway. For the first time, they came very close to each other and had a brief hug. He apologised to the princess for being too cold towards her at the beginning when she wanted to open a page of friendship with him.
"You are just as stubborn as your father. Nonetheless, your apologies are accepted," the princess said, her heart pounding for excitement.
Princess Salfina had many questions to ask but the prince was circumspect in his responses. He explained to her that he had been very busy helping his father with some state matters.
She wondered why the empress had been the one heading the delegation to various functions outside the empire.
"Did you tell her anything about me stalking you in a way?" she pumped the prince for an answer, having suspected rightly.
The princess was too intelligent not to suspect that the appearances of the empress as the emperor's representative at occasions outside their domain instead of the prince as it was previously, was a ploy to keep them apart.
"No, I did not tell her," the prince responded. "But I think she suspected when she observed the way you were gazing at me at the last function we attended together. She tried to match-make me with her friend's daughter but I am not interested in her."
"Really? She did that? Who is the lady?"
"Princess Tesla of Tialope Empire. But that is not important. What is important is that I have thought about your suggestion and I am ready to go into a relationship with you."
"Are you serious?" She asked as her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Yes, I am. You see, Princess, I admire your courage, intelligence, optimism and confidence a lot. And all these qualities are besides your exceptional beauty. You are my ideal woman… a complete package of all I want in a woman. You are not just all beauty; you are a true definition of beauty and brains with class! The truth is that I have fallen in love with you. I think about you a lot and I am certain that this is true love. I do not know how all this will end because of the decree, but one thing I am sure of is that I want you in my life and I will cherish you for as long as I live."
Princess Salfina heaved a sigh of relief, and said ecstatically: "The feeling is mutual, Prince Ariasa."
She got a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek that made her blush like never before!
At one of their subsequent secret meetings, the prince decided to take a calculated risk and proposed marriage to the princess. Princess Salfina was over the moon. She grabbed the prince's hands and squeezed them so hard you would think she wanted to crush them. She intensely looked into his eyes as she relaxed the grip on his hands. Both of them cuddled each other so passionately and eventually their lips collided, unmindful of their aides watching from close-by.
The two lovebirds struggled to pull apart. You could hear their hearts pumping in rhythm. However, the bubbles of romance swarming around them gave way the moment the reality of the issue of the decree came down hard on them. They both knew that breaking the news of their forbidden relationship to their parents would be a herculean task. Yet, they had to find a way of telling their parents as soon as possible before anyone could spot them together.
"I just hope we succeed in reconciling our parents and getting their nod," the prince said, holding her hands.
"I really hope so too," the princess replied.
Princess Salfina kept assuring the prince that even though the dreaded decree was in place, the emperor would not be able to punish him for contravention, being his only son and heir to the throne.
The affection the prince had for the princess was on overdrive and becoming more intense. But he had to be cautious not to lower his guard because the empress had been watching him like a hawk. This was especially so because he hardly spoke about or asked after Princess Tesla since she visited the palace with her mother.