Following the King's death, his brother - in - law, Gabriel 's father , was to be king. but before that happened, it was necessary to go through a series of ceremonies of all kinds and finally, by the burial and the adjoining ceremony . Maeve , was fidgeting with her long black lace dress sleaves , unusally nervous . Her gaze was fixed on Gabriel' s back , and she was starting to worrying : he wasn't arboring his infamous smile , wasn't joking , and the stranger thing : he called her by her real name . No more Kitty since he learn the news of his uncle's death . Like she couldn't take it anymore , Maeve approached the young man from behind , and putting softly her hand on his back , she kneeled next to him , right in front of the coffin . He lifted his blue - green eyes and she felt her heart break from the pain and sorrow she saw in them . He seemed so lost , so lonely .
- I'm sorry . I should have said it sooner , but I' m so sorry for your uncle . He was a good man , and a great king . Would you - would you allow me to share your mourning ?
He took her hand in his and squeezed it , before kissing it and nodding . She blushed ferociously as he did so , but she didn't took her hand away .
- Thank , Maeve , It means a lot to me .
After that , they remained silent , just drawing strenght from each other presence . And she realised : did anyone told him that they were sorry for his loss or that he had the right to be sad ? She didn't recalled anyone telling him something like that . No , it has been a parade of " wow , now you' re officially prince " , " how does it feel to be the king' s son ? " , and on and on ... Everytime , she had restrained herself to scream at them : " what's wrong with you people ?! Can't you see he's grieving ? " but he was good at acting , so he just kept smiling to everyone . Looking at him through her eyelashes , she thought with a well hidden smile that the new prince was a real cinnamon roll , even if he was supposed to be that big bad wolf everyone thought he was . Hand in hand , down on their knees , they stayed that way until dawn .
- Kittyyyyyy !
Maeve rolled her eyes : she was almost regretting the funeral , when he called her by her name . She finished to tied up her deep blue dress and bursted into Gabriel' s room :
- What ?! And stop calling me Kitty !
He threw her a desesperate look and whined showing is official prince uniform :
- help me with that ... Pretty please ?
He made those puppy eyes she couldn't resist , and she solved the problem in a jiffy . She mockingly smiled at him :
- done . you're welcome
- Wow , you're pretty good with all that official suit shit .
She giggled :
- Princeling , what do you think I was wearing as my official outfit as a sentry ?
For a short span of time , he seems like he was troubled , then he smile again .
- Yeah , right , I always forget you' re a sentry , Kitty .
She rolled her eyes again , smiling against her own will , and offered him her arm .
- shall we go now , Your highness ?
he smiled broadly , took her arm , and answered :
- Yes , bodyguard , we shall .