The Promise

'She' was sitting under the bower with a book in her hand and her beautiful head was leaning down, showing that she was reading the book giving all her attention. He could not see her face as the long pale brown curls were covering most of it as she leaned on the book. Diyath was frozen for a moment as he did not expect to see her here at all. She stayed so still and the white flowers had fallen everywhere, blending well with her white dress against the green background. She looked more like a statue with smooth features sculpted by a fine artist. He walked towards her with a fast-beating heart.

Vianelle did not hear his footsteps approaching, as she was immersed in her book. So, Diyath cleared his throat and greeted her, "good afternoon, lady Vianelle". She was startled by his sudden voice and even more surprised to see Diyath in front of her because she thought he had gone hunting in the morning. She took a few seconds to find words to greet him back with a trembling voice, "oh, prince Diyath, good afternoon". It was the first time Diyath heard her voice and these few words felt like the elixir that could heal his soul.

She still could not look him in the eye; she did not dare to look into the eyes of anyone, especially strangers. Diyath wanted to continue talking to her and asked, "I was just walking in the garden and saw you here. So, do you like reading?"

"Yes, very much", Vianelle answered after a pause. She was indeed nervous and shaking inside while talking with him. But strangely, she felt less frightened than the previous day when their eyes met for the first time. She sensed a warmth and sincerity in his voice contradictory to her assumptions of his character based on his sharp features and stern looks the previous day.

"I thought everyone went hunting in the morning", she said while thinking of an excuse to leave the place. "Ah, I didn't go. I don't like hunting at all. So, I stayed and slept instead", he said a little encouraged by her response. Judging from her indifferent interaction the previous day, he thought that she was hard to talk to and a bit unfriendly. But any of these did not affect his enthusiasm and the desire to talk to her and get to know her better. He felt as if he was driven by an invisible spirit inside himself that he never believed ever existed.

His father brought him several proposals from neighboring kingdoms and many other royals offered him good proposals, but he was not interested in any of those. He felt all these proposals and arranged marriages between royal families were more similar to political deals. He rejected every one of them because, if he cannot fall in love, at least he expected more meaning and sincerity in a marriage to live together for the rest of his life. Even his father did not dare to force him to marry one of those as he knew that Diyath had strong willpower and he would live only by his rules. Haolmar knew clearly that Diyath would leave the palace and live where ever he preferred without any regrets if he felt like his life at the palace was unbearable.

Diyath did not reject the proposals rashly; he considered them carefully, but he did not feel anything for any of the beautiful young ladies. There were instances when he wondered if his heart was already dead or if his feelings were all frozen. But in front of Vianelle, he felt warm blood flowing all over his heart melting its frozen walls and allowing limitless feelings to enter.

She gathered all her strength to look him in the eye. His eyes were smiling and she could see his broad forehead and nicely shaped eyebrows this time, as his golden curls of hair were carried away by the breeze. In her eyes, these features gave him a warm and friendly expression, contrary to the stern impression which scared her the other day. Even Vianelle herself was surprised to see her boldly looking into his eyes which she had never done before.

"Would you mind if I sit here?" he asked after a little hesitation about how she would respond. For the first time in her life, her body reacted unconsciously. She wondered how she ended up nodding, to imply that he could sit there. Diyath felt as if he got wings and sat on the bench beside her under the bower. They kept silent for a few seconds as if they were afraid that the other person would hear their loud and fast heartbeat. Fortunately, Vianelle had the book in her hand and she stared at the book although suddenly, the words she read appeared hard to understand.

Diyath broke the silence and asked, "what is this book? You seem to enjoy reading it". "Ah, this is a historical story", she said showing him the cover of the book. "Oh, a young lady reading historical stories. That's interesting", he said with a very sincere smile.

"Ah, I like them because they are from a very different period. It feels like I am taken to that era and I forget the present life while reading them. I love getting lost somewhere far away", she said her true feeling about reading. She found that it was very strange that her timidness had gone talking to him. She thought that might be due to his friendly nature and sincere smile. She also realized that he had a strong charisma that could attract her attention.

"I can relate to this feeling. When I want to escape from life, what I want is to leave the palace and go somewhere far away where nobody can find me. I guess you are luckier than me. You can get lost in your books whenever you feel like it. But poor me, I got only this one chance after rebelling for years.", he said grinning at his own sarcasm.

"But you are the heir to the throne. I am just a poor woman with no power. So, you can't compare your fortune with mine", said Vianelle smiling back at him. She found it was comfortable talking to him for some strange reason. "I'd happily give up the throne if I can be ordinary. As I see, you are way more fortunate than I am", he said with a deep sigh while his gaze was unfocused in the space.

"We all have our own burden to carry despite being ordinary or with power, being a man or a woman. For those who judge from their own perspective, who don't see the inner battles other people fight every day, their misery is the greatest agony. As I see, every soul regardless of power, wealth or anything, has their own suffering, mental or physical", she said in a low voice, thoughtfully.

Diyath was slightly wondered by her unexpected reply and her deep insight and said "Ah, that's direct. Frankly, I didn't expect that sort of a vision from you at all". "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't intend to offend you. I just said what I think", she said raising her gaze to his crystal-like eyes. They did not sparkle with fire anymore; they were transparent like glass conveying honesty and she was not afraid of them anymore.

"No, I meant, I appreciate your way of thinking. Don't call yourself just a woman with no power. You've got the power of thinking and you are the first young lady I saw talking with such a broad vision", he said with an expression new to both of them, that an experienced person would have recognized as love. She silently lowered her gaze back to her book while her ears became red and started to burn again.

It was Diyath who started the conversation again, "All this time we had been cousins since we were born. I wish I had met you earlier. Ah, such a waste". "I'm very silent and you'll be bored after a while", she said with a smile. "Oh, come on. You've been talking all this time. Also being silent is not boring", he said looking at her pale cheeks now had turned red.

"So, what are you going to do when your time for traveling is over?" she asked changing the subject of the conversation. "I'll continue the administration in the state my father had ordered me to", he replied. "As I've heard, the heir to the throne should get married and have a son to become the king. Isn't it the same in your kingdom?" she asked for a reason that she did not clearly know. "Yes. But I don't have any male siblings and my uncle only has two daughters. I'm the only male heir to the throne. So, whether I get a son or not, I'll be the king but I should get married first", he answered happily as she brought up this topic in conversation.

"Ah, I see. So, I'm talking to a future king. That's interesting", she said smiling at him. "So, what about you? Are you going to get married?" he asked with much curiosity but slightly scared of her probable answers. "Yes, indeed. What else we can do? I'll get married to whomever my mother finds for me. That's why I called myself just a poor woman with no power", she said while sighing slightly.

"Are you okay with getting married to anyone she finds? Isn't it better if he would be someone you know already?", he asked hesitating whether to tell her about his feelings or not. "In my whole life, the only man I've known is my father. So, marrying a man whom I know is out of the discussion", she said with a smile as if she was laughing at herself. "On the other hand, I should be grateful to the person who'd marry me. No one would want to get married to someone who is expelled from the royal family and my mother is now tired of finding someone for me. I don't choose or don't complain, just let my fate carry me where I should be", she added her thoughts that she had never spoken before.

Diyath wondered about her way of thinking, how simple and how peaceful it was. He could not believe that someone would have such a level of patience and detachment to let things go and accept anything that life brings. That was completely the opposite of him. He fought with all his strength to get things done as he preferred and he was not afraid even of death. He believed dying while fighting was better than letting his dreams perish in front of his eyes. But he did not fight for unreasonable purposes. He realized that Vianelle was the complete opposite of himself, but the more he realized her true self, the more he was attracted to her.

He took a minute to organize his thoughts. He would not be able to meet her again for a long time, he could not even think of an exact day that he would see her again. Sometimes, she might be married by the time he would return. Therefore, he could not think of a better time than this to reveal his feelings for her.

"What do you think of me?" he asked after preparing his mind. She was confused by the question and asked, "what did you mean by that?". "Listen Vianelle!" he turned completely to her side and looked into her eyes. "Do you think of me as someone who can make you happy? Would you take my hand if I am willing to marry you?"

She was stunned by his unexpected words and could not believe her ears. She was shaken by his eyes fixed upon hers as if they were trying to penetrate her eyes and search for her innermost soul. She was thinking that he was just making fun of her but his eyes conveyed that he was being sincere to the core. She was holding the book very tight to stop her fingers from shaking with nervousness and took her eyes away as she could not look at his eyes anymore.

He continued talking as she seemed not to answer, "I love you! I have loved you since the very first moment I saw you. It wasn't yesterday. When we were heading North many days ago, I saw you at the river. Since then, there wasn't any minute that I didn't think about you. You are the first woman who made me fall in love. I came here to see you… I beg you, please accept me…" If Vianelle was looking at him, she would have seen his eyes getting wet from tears of sincerity and love for her. Although she did not see, she heard all the emotions through his voice which felt as if he was calling to her soul.

"Please say something..", he asked again as he could not bear her silence anymore. Finally, she could find words to answer him after much struggle. "You and me!.. Don't you see it's impossible?.. Set aside the fact that we are cousins, you are the heir to the throne. And who am I? I beg you, please stop with this nonsense", she said in a very low voice while her eyes were still down. Diyath felt these words as if a dagger was penetrating his heart.

"But.. but.. earlier you said you will be happy to accept any man. Am I not good enough to be your man?", he looked into her eyes and asked in a shaking voice with utmost pain. "But this is completely different.. Why can't you see? You are going to be the king and your father would never allow anything between us. You'll be in trouble if you try to be with me. I don't want to be any hindrance to you", she said trying to think straight while hundreds of unfamiliar feelings were confusing her.

He got closer to her; she could even feel his breadth in her burning cheek giving chills all over. He said in a pleading voice, "Please forget about others, my family, your family, or anyone else. Just tell me if you'd take me as your man.. Don't you see any good in me?". Her thoughts were battling against each other in her mind and she could not think of an answer. He was the only man she knew other than her father and it was apparent that he had a good nature, much better than her father. It was clear to her that she would be happy with him as he already had entered her heart destroying all the barriers.

He asked again as she was not speaking, "then I'll take your silence as a yes". She continued her silence with eyes fixed on the book which was held tightly with her shaking hands. Then he asked with flames of hope in his eyes, "I'll settle all the problems and come to you. Until then, keep this a secret. Can you trust me and wait for me?". She could not believe this sudden change in her simple life and still remained silent. Driven by overflowing feelings, he took one of her soft white hands in both hands. The soft touch gave both of them chills that passed through veins all over their body and reached their hearts. "Promise me, that you'll wait for me", he pleaded in a low voice getting closer to her so that his golden curls could touch her reddened cheeks.

She was too overwhelmed to talk and nodded slightly implying that she would wait for him. Suddenly, Jaila's voice came from a distance, "miss Vianelle, the tea is ready". Startled by the voice, they both knew it was time to end their sweet conversation. He whispered the last few words before he left, "trust me, I'll come to you no matter what happens". Then he leaned and pressed his lips on the back of her hand making both of their hearts beat faster than at any other time in their lives. Then he got up and disappeared through the trees leaving her alone to dive into an ocean of strange emotions.