"It's pretty. Thank you, Your Majesty." Agatha took the flower from his hands and took a sniff with a smiling face.
Seeing her smile like a flower, made Xavier smile in joy, picking her up from the ground, "We shall get some breakfast before I take you somewhere." Xavier informed her, walking through the corridors.
"Where? Please let me down, your majesty." Agatha muttered, glancing at Reginald and Stanley who were beaming to themselves.
"Too late. This is your punishment for calling me majesty." Xavier brushes off her request, pulling her closer to his face.
Agatha bit her lips at his bold gestures. The Xavier she knew had changed. The man who cared about the throne and honours over his own life was no longer the man who was carrying her with no worry in the world. Agatha did agree to his term, but trust and faith had been destroyed and wouldn't restore like Xavier thought.
Agatha knew keeping him in the illusion she fell in love with him was the best bet she could put up. The first thing for her to do was win his trust and love. If he loved her then she needs to use it for her own gain.
Xavier gently made her sit on her seat, before bringing his seat to her side. The servants served the food trying to keep a straight face as they got the early dog food.
"Make sure to finish everything on the plate," Xavier commanded, patting her head.
Agatha looked anywhere but at him. Their staff served them food, trying their best to keep a straight face, while her face only reddened with each passing second. He was treating her like a child of eight. What a shameless man!
Agatha remained quiet eating her food, trying to forget his brazen gestures from the morning. But the eyes always went to the scarlet bloom by her side. A flower which was known to be extinct was laying in front of her.
Now that Agatha thinks about it. It wasn't the first time she had seen them bloom. Where were those? In her room? In some other place. A hazy vision of the scarlet blossom in a porcelain vase.
"This blooms…I have seen them before." Agatha mentioned turning her face towards him, her face asking him to answer.
"Yeah. I brought them on our honeymoon too. But then I didn't dare to give you like this, so I put them on the vase by the bed." Xavier answered, averting his gaze from her. Accepting his weakness was not his strongest asset.
Agatha was taken aback by his confession. Now she remembers clearly, those blooms by her table, did catch her eye the moment she saw them. She even asked the maid about them. They all said they had no idea about it. In the end, it was nothing but a memory.
"If you had only said that to me then you would know how much I loved them…" Agatha chuckled thinking about it. In their convo, 'if' seems to be prevalent like her doubts and unanswered questions.
"Isn't that the exact reason why I am here, confessing everything to you?" Xavier held onto her hand, staring into those emerald orbs of hers.
Agatha pulled her hand away from his grasp, looking away from him, and got up from her seat, "I am done eating. I will leave first." Agatha walked away before he said or held her back from leaving.
She walked straight to her room, in a brisk heavy step. Holding her breath and trying to keep a straight face. She needs to look normal if anything. She was still a queen. To them she should be perfect, she should be enjoying her honeymoon.
Once in her room, Agatha closed plopping down to the floor breaking apart. This wasn't her plan. She thought she had hardened herself to kill him. Then why does her heart want to debate about it? Why does the scene of him dying break her heart apart? Why was she so weak? Why such questions? It was maddening!
"Your Highness. His Majesty is waiting for you outside." Stanley knocked on the door and informed her.
Agatha woke up from her thoughts and cleared her throat from answering, "I will join once I change into more comfortable clothing. Call the maids for me." Agatha made up an excuse to get herself back in shape.
"As you wish, your highness." Stanley nodded to her request and called the maids.
***
Xavier stood by the carriage looking at the hills far away. The water line that separated the sky from meeting the earth. Seeing the sky and earth and an old bedtime story popped into his mind.
The earth and sky loved each other deeply yet they were just two parallel lines who only met at the horizon at twilight. Their love was not fated yet they were deep enough to meet by the horizon every day just for a few seconds.
"Your majesty…" Agatha called out giving a bow, in a pale blue gauzy dress with matching gloves and bonnet decorated with blue florals.
"You look pretty," Xavier remarked, beaming in joy.
"You too, Your Majesty," Agatha spoke in a polite tone.
Xavier gave up on correcting her on how to address him. Only when he breaks the wall will she look at him as Xavier?
"Let's go, shall we?" Xavier forwarded her hands and surprisingly Agatha held his hand as she got into the carriage.
After an hour of travelling, the carriage stopped, Agatha's eyes widened as the field of flowers caught her eye. Till her eyes could stretch. Agatha went out, her eyes couldn't be averted from the breathtaking scenery.
"Isn't it pretty?" Xavier inquired, seeing her face blooming up in joy. While his eyes struck at her face. The way her eyes glimmered, her lips curved upwards.
She smiled, gasping in disbelief, "It is…" Agatha nodded, taking a small turn.
"Yeah, it is," Xavier mumbled, his eyes fixated on her.