Chapter 21

Night had fallen again and Marcus was even more nervous this time. But a different kind of nervousness. Not the excited nervousness he had felt last night. This time it was more of a scared nervousness. What if she wouldn't show up tonight? Would he really return back there every night and wait for her?

Marcus hoped - prayed even - that she would show up tonight. And that there was a reasonable explanation as to why she hadn't been able to come last night. He knew that if she would show up tonight, that there would be a good explanation. That it would all make sense to him. But what if she didn't show up and left him with even more questions?

No, he had to keep a positive mind. There was no reason for her to not show up. She would be there. Marcus had to believe that with every last piece of his body.

As he was approaching their meeting point, he squinted his eyes, trying to make out a person in the darkness. He couldn't have been bothered to bring a lamp with him tonight as the sky was free of clouds and the moon would offer enough light for them.

And then he saw her. She was already awaiting him, standing in front of the brick wall and looking at him, a soft and unsure smile on her lips. She had her hair down this time, the cap in her hand, just in case.

Quickly he got off of his horse and tied it to one of the trees so it wouldn't wander off and was finally stood in front of Willow again. For a moment neither of them seemed to know what to say, for they had never met as casually, as planned as this time.

"I hoped you'd come back here again tonight." Willow finally spoke up in a small voice, her gaze focussed on the ground beneath them.

"Well if you thought you could get rid of me by not showing up last night you thought wrong." Marcus laughed. He was so relieved, so happy that she had been there, already waiting for him. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, the moment he had seen her standing there.

"I'm really sorry about last night." Willow apologized, still feeling really bad that she hadn't managed to come and see Marcus last night.

"I was absolutely planning on meeting you and I tried to but..." She trailed off, not quite knowing what she was supposed to tell him. Ugh, why didn't she think of a good excuse beforehand?

"A situation occurred that made it impossible for me to leave." The explanation was quite vague, Willow was well aware of that, but it was the best she could have come up with on such short notice.

"I'm not mad at you, Willow." Marcus reassured, sensing that she had been worried about him being mad at her. And probably she had been to some part frightened that the situation could end up like last time, when he had been angry. "Although I am quite curious to know what 'situation' kept you from leaving."

Damn it, Willow cursed in her head. She had hoped that the answer she had given would have satisfied him enough to change the topic to something else, but obviously it hadn't.

"Well... uhhh..." She was searching her head for something - anything, biting her lip in disarray.

"Phi- The Grand Duke caught me in his study when he returned from his trip yesterday. To be fair I had been told previously not to enter that room, but I went in there anyways. Which was a mistake, definitely, and I see that now. Either way he was not very amused to find me in there and he was furious, obviously. So he decided to lock me in my room for the rest of the day till then next morning to teach me a lesson."

As Willow wasn't able to come up with a lie that made enough sense to be believable on such short notice, she decided to just tell him the truth. It wasn't a usual punishment for servants to get locked into their rooms as far as Willow knew, but she didn't really care what Marcus thought about her brother's ways of punishment.

"Whyever would you want to go into his study anyways? There's nothing too interesting in there for you, is there?" Marcus wanted to know, not understanding what Willow could possibly want in that study. He had been in there and it was really just the desk, a couple of chairs and shelves full of books.

"I... uhhh... wanted to borrow a book." Willow explained sheepishly gazing up at Marcus.

"You can read? As far as I know servants hardly have a chance to learn how to read." Marcus was honestly surprised that Willow was obviously much more than just beautiful. She was also smart and quite well educated.

"Yes...." Oh dear, how was she going to explain this again now? "Well... you see... I have been at the Cornwall Estate since my birth so I basically grew up to be quite close with the Duchess and she taught me how to read." Willow hoped that to be believable somehow.

"I figured that you would probably be quite close to her. You two must be around the same age." Marcus replied with a nod.

Willow just nodded her head on that, a nervous smile playing on her lips. She had to change the topic, or she would get caught up in these white lies. That's all they were really. Just slightly adapted versions of the truth. She did really grow up at the Cornwall Estate and of course she was close with herself if you could even say that.

"Why don't we head to the clearing?" She asked, gesturing in the direction. "I think it would be nicer to sit there and talk than to keep standing here. That is, if you don't have anything else planned."

"That would be quite lovely." Marcus answered, a soft smile playing around his lips.

And so they made their way towards the small clearing. Just like last time they didn't exchange a single word on the walk there. Then again it wasn't so nice to talk to one another if one was walking up front and the other behind. And they would have plenty of time to talk when they reached their destination.

The clearing was just as beautiful as Marcus had remembered it. Probably the best thing about it was Willow though. This place was so tightly connected to her in his mind that it was impossible to imagine it without her standing there in the moonlight gazing at the reflection of the moon in the water.

They had come to take a seat on the same tree trunk as the other night and for a while they just sat there in silence starting at the water in front of them.

"So..." Marcus finally spoke up, wanting to address the most present topic on his mind up front. "There's actually something I have been meaning to talk to you about."

Those words immediately caught Willow's attention. And the way he said them made her feel like something bad was going to follow.

"Yes?" She asked unsure if she even wanted to know what it was, looking up at Marcus. Their eyes met and for a moment they both seemed to get lost in each other's gaze.

But all too soon, Marcus snapped himself out of it, wanting to get this talk over with.

"I am supposed to meet the girl that I am betrothed to. And I wanted to hear your opinion on whether or not you think I should do it." Marcus looked like he felt guilty about even just saying those words out loud.

"You don't need my approval in this, your Grace." Willow replied, turning back towards the lake and letting her gaze wander off into the darkness of the woods on the other side of it. She had almost forgotten about that arranged marriage. For a moment she had let herself believe that there could be something between them. How foolish had she been to even just consider something like that. Who was she to tell him not to meet that girl that he was very probably going to marry?

"Please, Willow. I thought we were past those formalities." Marcus exclaimed, noticing the way she was already distancing herself from him. It hurt him to see her do that, but it also showed him quite clearly that she had also felt that connection, that spark between them.

"I thought so too." Willow breathed in the slightest sigh, too quiet for Marcus to hear.

Pushing a strand of her behind her ear she refused to look at him again and instead let her gaze fall to the floor beneath her feet. What was she even supposed to say to that?

"I really like you Willow. I truly do and if I am not mistaken you seem to feel that connection between us too." Marcus spoke up again, trying to explain why he was bringing all of this up in the first place.

"I am by no means trying to hurt you by bringing up that topic. But I want to be completely honest with you." He paused for a moment to look at her, but she still hadn't lifted her gaze. "My heart has made its decision already, but my head knows that it wouldn't be fair if my betrothed didn't even get the chance to meet me. I'm sure you understand that, right? I promise it is nothing more than a meeting to get acquainted with one another. It is in no way a decision for her or against you."

Willow had lifted her gaze by now, staring into Marcus' eyes and seeing how desperate he was for her to understand. She saw that he meant the things that he had said and she did understand why he had to meet that girl. It wouldn't be fair if he didn't at least give her a chance.

"I do understand." Willow replied in a small voice. "And I definitely agree that she deserves a chance. I think you should meet her." It stung a little to say those words, Willow couldn't deny that, but she knew it was the only right thing to say.

"I'm glad that you do." Marcus replied with a small smile making its way on his lips again. He felt relieved once again tonight. Of course, he had to some part expected her to understand, but there had been a chance that she wouldn't understand. That she would be too hurt. And she surely did seem a little hurt, but she still listened to what he had to say and she understood. He was really glad about that.

"But let's talk about something not so serious now, shan't we?" He added and his smile widened when he saw Willow's lips tugging upwards ever so slightly as well.

"And what would that be?" Willow wanted to know, raising an eyebrow in a questioning matter, as the amusements tucked at the corners of her mouth.

"Well, whatever you like really." Marcus replied leaning back on the tree trunk onto his hand placed on the trunk behind him, as he was grinning at Willow.

"I surely wouldn't mind you telling me some more stories of your travels." she implied. Really she was more than eager to hear every single story that he had to tell about his travels and she wanted to know every detail, may it be the tiniest thing.

"You would never get bored of that, would you?" Marcus couldn't help but laugh. That was something he really admired about Willow. Her curiosity and her longing to travel the world herself.

Willow shook her head very determined at that. There was no way that she could possibly get bored of hearing stories of far off places.

"Why don't we instead get to know each other a little?" Marcus suggested. Even though he really enjoyed telling Willow about his travels he was eager to get to know her better. Find out more about her. Her likes and dislikes. Her favorite memory and her saddest one. He'd take whatever she was willing to offer.

"I promise to tell you another story later." Marcus added as he saw Willow making a pouting face. That just looked way too adorable. He would never be able to deny her a wish when she made that face, that much was for sure. And he hoped that by making that promise, she would give in and be willing to give out some information about her.

"Alight." Willow sighed. She would have much preferred to hear another one of Marcus' stories right away and the topic of conversation he had suggested was somewhat risky, but she was willing to take that risk. And once that whole arranged marriage thing had been resolved, no matter in what way, she might just tell him who she really was.

"So what do you want to know?" Willow challenged, smiling up at Marcus.

"Hmmm..." He took his sweet time to think of a question, but ended up with something pretty lame. "What's your favorite color?"

"Blue" Willow replied without a second thought.

"And why is that?" Marcus wanted to know, interested in why her mind was so set on that specific color.

"Well all the best things are blue, of course. The sky and the ocean for example. Oh and also blueberries." Willow explained excitedly. There were little things that she longed for more than the sky and the ocean. Nothing screamed freedom to her more than those two things.

"That seems reasonable." Marcus agreed, nodding his head in approval.

"It's my turn to ask a question now." Willow declared clearly enjoying this. "What were you thinking, when you first found out that I am a girl and not a boy?"

Now THAT was a good question, Marcus thought.

"I don't know to be honest... I was just really surprised, I suppose you could even say dumbstruck. And I do remember thinking how I could have possibly not noticed it before."

Willow couldn't help the grin that formed on her lips. She was quite proud of herself for being able to pull that off.

"You really didn't notice even the slightest thing off?" She just had to ask, bathing in her victory a little there.

"Nothing that couldn't have been explained by you just being a little nervous around me because of our different places in society." Marcus replied honestly. He quite enjoyed how Willow was so happy about the stunt she pulled there.

"My turn again." Marcus added and already had a question in mind. "What were you thinking when you found out who I was?"

"Oh boy. That's what I thought." Willow didn't need much time to think about that question. She remembered that moment very well. "And then something along the lines of: What did I get myself into here?"

At that answer Marcus couldn't help but laugh out loud. He could just imagine the thoughts in her head going crazy in that moment.

"And you were so eager to find out my name!" Willow exclaimed. "I was panicking because I couldn't very well give you my real name but I also didn't want to lie to you. And I think that telling you that my name was Will was pretty ingenious. At least until you decided to snoop around the Cornwall Estate."

"I wasn't snooping around!" Marcus defended himself. "The opportunity just occurred and I decided to take it."

"Fair enough." Willow replied, a soft smile back on her face now.

After asking a few more questions Willow demanded that Marcus would tell her another story before it would get too late and they would have to leave. He gladly obliged and told her about the safari he made in south africa and all the animals he got to see there. About how hot it had been there during the day time and that it was crazy that there was so much land there without a single tree in sight. It had been so very different from what nature looked like here.

Willow had been hanging on to his every word, hardly being able to believe what he was telling her and so badly wanting to visit those places as well.

All too soon it was time for them to leave though. They made their way back the small pathway and were met with the familiar brick wall not too long after.

Oh how Willow hated goodbyes. But this wasn't goodbye, she reminded herself. Just good night. They arranged to meet up again the night after the next one and Marcus promised that he would keep her updated on the status of the arranged marriage. He also gave her his word, that he would not just disappear without a word and she promised the same. So now they would know that if someone ever happened to not show up to a meeting that they were not able to make it and it wasn't because they didn't want to come.

Willow was very glad for that promise. It had ensured her that Marcus liked meeting up with her just as much as she liked meeting up with him.

They said their goodbyes and Willow watched as Marcus rode off into the night. Her gaze stayed on the spot that he left her sight for a moment longer, lingering there, not wanting to return to reality just yet. This night had probably been the nicest one they had had together so far. Just the two of them talking, enjoying each other's company. To most people that would probably be the most normal thing to do but to Willow it was special.

Finally she drew her gaze away and climbed up the tree and over the wall, back on the Cornwall grounds. A soft smile was still playing around her lips, as the thoughts of the past hours still lingered in her head. Willow's feet hit the ground safely on the other side of the wall, but the sight she was met with, when she turned around, made her stumble backwards into the wall and her breath stuck in her throat.

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