Essence Of The Heart (The Royal Tutor) (12 page)

 

          "Father," Louise said, "we have some special treats for you for
dessert."

 

          The king seemed pleased at the prospect of something else. Louise
informed the servants that she wanted them to bring her father a bowl of
raspberries in milk, and strawberries on cake, both sprinkled with honey
candy.

 

          When the bowls were set before the king, he knew all eyes were
upon him. He tried the raspberries first. His eyebrows went up slightly.
"That is very good." He then took a bite of the strawberries on cake. He
exclaimed. "That is heavenly!"

 

          Louise grinned. "Alexander made them up himself. The first time I
tried it was that night after my birthday ball."

 

          The minute she said it, she wished she hadn't. She saw a look come
over Alexander's face, as if the memory of it was taking him back to
something he would rather forget. Her father also seemed to get a slightly
more solemn expression on his face.

 

          When the king finished the desserts, he pushed the bowls away.
"My compliments, Alexander."

 

          "Thank you, Your Majesty."

 

          The air in the room was slightly tense, as the king did not indicate an
end to the meal. It was clear he had something on his mind. Finally, he
leaned back and looked at Alexander.

 

          "Alexander, I want to thank you for the wonderful time my daughter
has had here this summer."

 

          "It has been my pleasure, Your Majesty."

 

          "She has written of the things she has learned. This was her last
chance to have an opportunity like this before she is expected to take on
more weighty responsibilities, like marriage to a man worthy of her title."

 

          The king looked back and forth at Louise and Alexander. "Do you
understand what I am saying?"

 

          Alexander nodded. "Yes, your Majesty."

 

          "That will be all," the king said.

 

          Alexander rose and bowed. "Good night, Your Majesty." He then
turned to Louise. Louise could see that same hurt that she had seen those
many months before, yet he still had a smile for her as he bowed.
"Goodnight, Your Highness."

 

          "Goodnight, Alexander," she replied.

 

          Alexander left, and Louise felt anger building in her. She knew that
her father was implying Alexander was not worthy of her, and she knew
Alexander understood as well. But she knew she had to restrain herself.
She had learned from her months of watching Alexander that getting upset
was not the best way to deal with anything. She turned to her father.

 

          "Father, may I have a word with both you and Mother?"

 

          The king was cautious in how he answered. Louise knew he was
well aware how her mother felt about Alexander, and that it would put him
one against two.

 

          "Why do you want your mother?" he asked.

 

          "Because I want to talk to you as your daughter and not as a
princess."

 

          The king could hardly refuse that, and he seemed somewhat taken
off guard by her civility, as if he expected her to get angry. They retired to
the royal quarters to speak.

 

          Louise hurried ahead, and by the time the king arrived, she could see
by the look on his face that he knew she had already talked to her mother,
and they were waiting for him. He entered cautiously.

 

          "All right, Louise," he said. "We are both here. What's on your
mind?"

 

          "Father, I think you know what's on my mind. I am sure it has not
slipped past you why I wanted you to go with us today."

 

          The king nodded. "It is very obvious. You apparently care for
Alexander, and you wanted me to see in him what you have seen."

 

          Louise was taken aback by her father's bluntness, and she could see
her mother was too. Louise didn't feel it was time to hide her feelings for
Alexander any further. She looked directly at her father. "And?"

 

          The king went over and looked out the window as if trying to gather
his thoughts. After a moment, he turned. "Louise, I would be lying if I said
I was not impressed with him. At first I thought it might be some show -
some pretense. Your letters contained such glowing reports that it seemed
almost impossible for any man to be like that. However, as we arrived in
the mountain village, I perceived he is truly as you said. As I saw him with
the children, I could see why your heart is drawn to him, but..."

 

          The king paused. Louise's heart was pounding within her. "But
what, Father?"

 

          "You can do so much better than him, Louise."

 

          Louise could feel a whole gamut of emotions welling up in her heart.
There was anger and sadness, and even shame and guilt that her father could
think it.

 

          "Do your really think so, Father? Do you really think I can find a
better man than Alexander?"

 

          "What about Sir Phillip?" he asked.

 

          "What
about
Sir Phillip?" she asked in return.

 

          "He's rich with a high title," the king replied.

 

          "Father, in my mind, he isn't half the man that Alexander is."

 

          "But what about your position? I'm not sure what people would
think having their queen married to a Bernodian."

 

          Louise almost choked trying to keep her composure. She lowered
her voice to hold back the emotions that were tearing at it. "I don't care
what other people think. As you saw, these people love Alexander."

 

          The king looked at her quite sternly. "Is it so great to have common
people love you?"

 

          Louise met his glance with her own. "Is it so great to have them fear
you? Duke Reginald and Lady Margaret rule with kindness. Alexander is
just like them. I would much prefer they love me." She was quiet for a
moment as her father looked at her. Then she spoke quietly, but strongly.
"I hope, as my father, you understand that I would rather be happy than be
queen. If you, yourself, feel it is inappropriate for me to marry him and still
be queen, I will renounce my title."

 

          The king looked at her in shock. "You would renounce your title in
order to marry Alexander?"

 

           "Father, I have learned a lot of things while I have been up here. I
have learned how much I love you and Mother. I have learned how much I
love these people. And I have learned how much I love Alexander. But
there is one other very important thing I have learned. I have learned from
Alexander that what is in a person's heart defines the essence of who he
truly is. True character shows in the way a person lives his life, not in how
he is born. It is not in the nobility of his birth, but in how nobly he lives his
life that makes him great or common. In that way, I know of no one I
respect more than you, Mother, Lady Margaret, Duke Reginald, and
Alexander. If you feel it inappropriate for me to be queen, you can let my
cousin, Tobias, be king, and I will be happy being Lady Louise of
Bernodia."

 

          The king looked away and spoke almost as if to himself. "I would
die before I would allow that power-hungry brat to rule over my people."
He then turned back to Louise. "Does Alexander share your feelings?"

 

          Louise nodded. "I know he does, even though he has tried to hide
his feelings because he knows you don't approve of him."

 

          The king let out a deep sigh. "I must admit that the changes I have
seen in you make me marvel. We could never have talked with each other
like this six months ago. I know I owe much of that to his good spirit." He
paused for some time, then turned and looked at the queen. She had tears
streaming down her face. "You knew this would happened when you sent
her up here, didn't you?"

 

          The queen nodded. "I hoped it would."

 

          The king went to the window and gazed out for the longest time. He
finally turned and looked at Louise. "I think Alexander would make a fine
husband for a queen."

 

          Louise squealed and ran to him and threw her arms around his neck
and kissed him. "Oh, Father, thank you! Thank you!"

 

          The king laughed. "Now, don't get all soft on me. You and your
mother have a lot of wedding planning to do. But, perhaps, you might need
to break the news to a certain young man."

 

          Louise's heart felt so light she nearly skipped from the room. Just as
she was leaving, her father called after her. "Oh, and Louise? When you do
marry him, I will expect him to make sure we have raspberries with milk
and honey candy." They grinned at each other as she shut the door behind
her, and turned to run down the hall to Alexander's quarters.

 

          She knocked on his door, but received no answer. That wing of the
castle was still; too still. Something told her all was not well, but in her
euphoric state, she shook it off. Thinking he might have gone to visit her,
she hurried back to her own room.

 

          As she entered her living quarters, Elizabeth and Marina stood there
with long faces, waiting for her. She looked at them and knew immediately
that something was wrong. Marina held out a small envelope. It had
Louise's name on it in Alexander's handwriting.

 

          She opened it and began to read.

 

 

          
My Dearest Louise,

 

          
I always knew this day would come, and I dreaded it. I have tried to
put it out of my mind all summer so that I might enjoy the time we had
together. But what I felt I could not say then, I feel I now must, as I know
this is goodbye, and realize our lives will likely never cross again. The man
whom you do marry will be the luckiest man in the world. I will always
count you as my dearest friend, and I will always love you. I know you will
make a wonderful queen.

 

          
All my love,

 

          
Alexander

 

 

          She looked up at Marina and Elizabeth, tears flowing down her face.
She was too late. Alexander had already left for military training.

 

 

 

 

          She ran to her parents room and collapsed into her mother's lap,
sobbing. Her father was concerned. "Louise, what is it?"

 

          Unable to speak, she handed him the letter. He read it and handed
the it to the queen. Soon tears were rolling down her cheeks as well.

 

          After a moment the king breathed deeply and spoke sternly.
"Louise, you are going to be queen someday. How are you going to handle
something like this?"

 

          Louise tried to stifle her sniffling. "What do you mean?"

 

          "You are going to command armies and navies. You will control
kingdoms and estates. You've got to be ready to make decisions and have
them carried out. It is time you started. What are you going to do?"

 

          Louise wiped her eyes. "What do you suggest?"

 

          The king laughed. "I'm not your advisor. You've got to make your
own decisions. You are going to command, not ask. It is all right to ask for
advice, but the final decision must be yours. For good or bad, you will have
to live with the results, receiving the praise or the blame."

 

          Louise looked at her mother, then back at her father. "What are my
options?"

 

          "With an army at your command; with a navy at your command;
with a Royal Guard at your command; with Dukes and Duchesses, Lords,
Ladies and Earls, and..." The king paused, placing his hand on the queen's
shoulder, "with a king and queen at your command, your options are many."

 

          Louise felt a surge go through her as the realization of what he was
saying began to sink in.

 

          The king smiled and playfully bowed to Louise. "What would you
have us do, Your Highness?"

 

           Louise grinned and stood up. She tried to stand as stately as she
could. "We're going after him. We leave at dawn."

 

          Louise hugged her father. The queen patted the king's hand with
affection.

 

          The king acted falsely stiff. "We better get some rest. We have a
big day ahead of us."

 

          Louise almost flew back to her room. When she entered, Marina
and Elizabeth had hardly moved. Their faces were still long, sad, and tear-stained. They knew of her love for Alexander. Her smile took them off
guard. "Your Highness?" Marina asked.

 

          Louise could hardly contain herself. "We're taking the Royal Guard
and going after him."

 

          Elizabeth and Marina squealed with delight. She had to tell them all
about the whole day she'd had in the mountains, her father's approval, and
everything. She could hardly believe it. Alexander was going to be hers.
He hadn't asked her or anything, but she knew he loved her; his letter even
said so. It took forever to get to bed, and it took even longer to get to sleep.
She got almost no sleep at all, but was up early, running on pure excitement.

 

          Locating Captain Johnson of the Royal Guard, she told him to
prepare to move out as soon as possible. She told him to ready the supplies
to travel to the Northern Military Training Center. He wasn't used to taking
orders from her, but he saluted and said, "Yes, Your Highness," looking
quizzically at Lieutenant Richins, who just shrugged.