Parallels

The second Maria heard the door close behind Henri, she dropped to the floor and started sobbing uncontrollably.

'How could I have been so wrong about him?' she thought to herself.

She was really starting to question her judgement of character, but at that moment, she also did not care about anything other than the fact that she was left behind by someone she thought had loved her unconditionally.

Someone she had also been slowly, but surely, falling in love with.

Her whole body ached and she fought for air as the bathroom door opened and Arthur came and sat directly in front of her.

She had completely forgotten that he was in there, and she felt mortified over the fact that he was present for everything that had just happened.

Maria didn't look up at him, out of shame, so she had no idea what state he was currently in.

Arthur did not say anything and made no effort to comfort her as he usually did, he just sat with her as she sobbed.

Finally when she was able to catch a breath in between cries, she asked him, "Did you hear all of that?"

"Yes," he replied in a flat tone.

"Is this how I made you feel?" she asked as she continued to cry on the floor.

Arthur was quiet for a moment, but she heard him exhale and say, "Yes".

"You must really hate me," she responded, still unable to look at him.

"Do you hate Henri?" he asked her in return.

This caused her to raise her eyes to meet his. He did not look as broken as he did before he went into the bathroom, but he still looked sad and exhausted.

She really thought about what he asked, and she realized that even though she had never felt this crushed, she still somehow did not hate him.

She knew that if Henri turned around and came back to her that she would instantly forgive him, so with her eyes still locked on Arthur, she answered him, "No".

He looked at her and nodded in understanding before he looked away towards the balcony doors.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, and Maria was finally able to stop crying and get her breathing under control so that she was no longer gasping for air.

Now that Maria had made it through the initial shock of Henri's confession and him leaving her, she was left with the aftermath of everything else.

How was she going to tell her family? What was going to happen now? What would the fate of Greece's royal line be if she never married and produced an heir?

But something that bothered her even more than the fact that she had failed to do her duty to find a King for Greece and a husband for herself, was how grossly she misunderstood how Henri felt about her.

It made her question every decision she made up until that point.

She looked up at the man who was still sitting stiffly in front of her-- his body was angled towards her, but he was still looking out at the sky; even with the apparent distress written all over his face, he was still the most attractive man Maria had ever seen.

Maybe if she was wrong about Henri, she was wrong about Arthur too.

She regretted putting up a wall with him and not giving him a fair chance.

He was arrogant and teased her, but at the end of the day, he was the one who consistently was there for her when she was hurting.

And she knew now that he really did mean it when he told her that he loved her, because his actions proved it time and time again.

She felt so stupid for not realizing it before, and she felt ashamed at the thought that she caused him anything close to the type of pain that she was also feeling at the moment.

He did not deserve it, and she did not deserve him.

Letting him go would be even more difficult now knowing that she would be giving up a man who actually had loved her and had been willing to fight for her.

But it's not like he would still want her after everything she just put him through, and she couldn't blame him for that.

She saw the heartbreak written all over him.

When she finally found her voice again, she told Arthur, "You didn't have to stay here".

"I know," he replied, still looking out of the glass doors.

"Thank you."

Arthur turned and met Maria's eyes to give her a simple nod. He then stood up and told her, "I should go. I'll see you at breakfast?"

He probably just wants to have a meal before he starts on his long journey home, Maria thought to herself. What other reason would he possibly have to stay?

She nodded and he made his way out of her room.

Maria got up off of the floor and walked over to her table so that she could write a note to Alexandria.

She knew that she would be on her way soon to help Maria get ready for the day, and not only was Maria already dressed, but she really didn't want to see her right now and have to explain why she looked like the living dead.

She wrote the note and placed it on the floor outside of her door before going into her bathroom to splash some cold water on her face to help regulate her anxiety and hopefully make herself look a little more put together.

Knowing that her family always started their day in the wine room together before they went off to breakfast, Maria decided to make her way over there so that she could tell them that Henri was gone.

She did not want them to be surprised at breakfast when he was nowhere to be seen like they had been surprised about Leonardo.

As she made her way down the hallway, her heart started to race in anticipation and when she reached the wine room, she took one deep breath and held it as she walked into the room to face her family.