Following her back inside, William carefully tucked the rose into a pocket in his tunic, ensuring it wasn't going to get crushed at any time.
William knew that there was nothing that either of them could do about what was happening, but at least it seemed that Rosalie was willing to try and be friendly with him. Something that he would ensure to do as well.
His mind drifted back to when his parents first told him what was in store for him, the truth about his upbringing and why he had been taken from his human parents in the first place. He hadn't been happy about anything that he was told, and so had run away from his parents in fear and anger. It only took them three days to find him and bring him home, and the lecture that he got ensured he never did it again. From that day on he had dreaded turning nineteen, his parents refused to tell him who it was he was to marry so he had had no opportunity to get to know them as a future wife. Instead he had had countless flings with fairies and humans, both male and female, as the only act of defiance against his future he could think of. Anything more and he would most likely have been banished from the fairy world and returned to his human life, with no memories.
Now he knew why. If his parents had known that the King and Queen were marrying him to their daughter he probably would have done something stupid - like break into the castle to meet her - and that would have looked bad on his family.
When William felt the hand in his slip away he turned his attention back to the current situation. He envied Rosalie her ease of looking graceful in this situation. It looked like she had soothed her fathers ruffled feathers. The look on his face when they had stepped back into the dining room had looked almost murderous.
William took his seat beside his father again, more relaxed now than he had been earlier in the night. He knew a little more about Rosalie now, and that made him happy. At least he could see them becoming friends, and if that was all they were to each other than they would be able to at least live comfortably together.
"Yes, William has always been very caring." His mother leaned forward a little again, "Are you okay now Princess? You need only tell William when something is too much for you. He was raised to listen when others voiced their discomfort. He was never good at judging it for himself."
"And I believe any sort of meeting with the two of you alone is not a good idea at the current time. A few supervised visits is much more acceptable for the time being I believe." His father put in. William glared at him; he knew why his father was so against them meeting alone. He thought because of all the flings William had had that he would 'take the Princess' innocence'. William had never shared more than kisses with anyone he had had a relationship with.
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The world of a writer is not a lonely one, if nothing else we're talking to the characters in our heads.
Alex Butler:
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