Politics suck, so will you marry me? (Closed) (One on one)

For a split second, Caroline could have sworn that he looked as though he wanted to . . . no that was silly. She sighed and took a slight step away from Emory as he looked around. She laughed softly, hoping he wouldn't hear it. You had to ask me that? "Does it matter?"

"Apparently not." Emory shook his head with a smile. While he would have loved to know her reasoning behind the location, he wasn't going to force her to explain her decision. He was more than happy to allow her to keep the secret to herself, it was a personal thing after all. After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath, listening to the music that drifted through the air from the ballroom. He extended a hand towards Caroline and smiled nervously. "Care for a dance, without prying eyes?"

"Yes, because that went so well the first time." Caroline spoke before she could think, starting to roll her eyes. She caught herself and stopped mid-roll smiled slowly, almost sheepishly. "Yes, Prince Emory. I would love to dance. Thank you." She took his hand and stepped towards him, closing the distance between them.

Now that the two of them were in a more natural setting, Emory was more hesitant to touch any part of Caroline for fear of genuinely making her uncomfortable. But he held her hand all the same, and gently placed his other hand on her waist. The melody from the castle was gentle, almost melancholy, however it gave Emory the impression of two strangers forming a bond over time, eventually falling in love with one another. His feet began to move in time with the tune, guiding Caroline into a gentle dance.

Caroline softly hummed to the music as she danced with Emory. She noticed his lose hold on her, as if he was afraid to touch her. She tilted her head and smiled at him. “I don’t bite you know. At least I haven’t yet.” She grabbed his hand a little tighter, though not enough to hurt him. “Besides as you said, there are not any prying eyes here to care. We’re just dancing.” There wasn’t anything more to it, so why should there be such a fuss? Besides, so far she didn’t hate dancing with him. He was very good, and made up for her own lacking skills.

"I suppose we are," Emory smiled, gently tightening his hold around Caroline's waist. "Though it does feel a little odd without the pressures of social standards." He dipped her down gracefully, and when she was pulled up to her feet their bodies were closer. The dancing took a turn, moving the two of them out from under the arch and around the rest of the garden. The statues became the audience, but the judgement didn't come with them. Everything felt so…peaceful. Lifts and precise spins followed as the music continued, but time seemed to slow as Emory met Caroline's sparkling eyes. He found his mind wandering, thinking of a possible future where she would lead a kingdom with both the fire and love that sat in her heart, and strangely he wanted to be a part of that future.

Caroline was about to say something when she was swept up in the music and the dancing and her partner’s smile. Everytime she spun away from him or he dipped her she closed her eyes, and opened them again each time he pulled her to him. His smile was contagious and she couldn’t help but smile too. He spun her and his jacket flew off her shoulders, though she barely felt it. Her blood pumped through her veins and she thought that she had never felt so alive. As the song ended they came together, pressed up against one another. Caroline panted and smiled. She could feel Emory’s heart beating through his chest. They stared at each other for a moment, eyes locked. Caroline felt as though she had never seen anything more lovely and thought she could have danced with Emory for forever.

Caroline's eyes were locked on Emory's, as his were to hers. The heat that passed between their bodies made up for the chilly breeze, giving them the warmth they needed to remain outside for just a little longer. The smile on Emory's lips was a broad, dazzling grin, as though he had just done something amazing for the first time in his life, and when he looked into Caroline's eyes he only wanted to smile more. She was so beautiful and perfect, his heart felt like it could explode at any moment. Suddenly his heart was racing for a completely different reason, no longer out of breath from dancing. The smile begin to shrink until it was a look of awe that was displayed on his features. He didn't know how she would react to what he was about to do, but if he didn't do it there and then he feared he would never do it at all. One hand was still around her waist, while the other moved up to gently cup her cheek. Then hesitantly, almost scared, he leaned down with closed eyes and pressed his lips against Caroline's.

Caroline gasped as Emory leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. For a moment all she could think was ”Oh.” Then she couldn’t stop thinking about how soft his lips felt against her’s. She tilted her head back and let Emory pull her towards him as she kissed him back. One of her hands came up to cup his face. His mouth was warm and she could have stayed like that forever, but she pulled away. “I-I need to catch my breath.” She gulped the cold air, her eyes not leaving Emory’s. His cheeks were flushed and she knew here’s were probably flushed as well. Then she looked at his lips and decided she was just fine. “No I don’t.” She leaned into Emory, kissing him again, her eyes closing.

A soft "mm?!" vibrated in Emory's throat as Caroline leaned in to kiss him again. That was not the reaction he had expected from her at all—more like he had expected her to push him away in disgust. One of his hands gently cupped the back of her head, his fingertips carefully delved into her beautiful soft locks at the nape of her neck. He could practically feel the heat in his cheeks now, as their lips moved slowly against each other, and it was a nice, gentle heat. Her lips were so delicate, so supple. He pressed a little firmer, but not too much that it would hurt her.

Caroline was about to push back –she wanted to push back– when some part of her brain snapped her back to reality. She pulled back again, this time out of Emory's arms, and stumbled away from him, turning so she was facing the other way. Her hand came up to her forehead. "No . . . I." Her mind reeled. She turned towards Emory again, realizing she had just left him standing there. "Should we . . . should we even be doing this?" She struggled to catch her breath. She looked in his general direction, fearing what she would do if she looked at him again. She walked to one of the stone benches surrounding the clearning and sat down, facing Emory.

While Caroline’s change in manner had confused the Prince initially, he could understand where she was coming from. The two of them shouldn’t be having such a clandestine moment, especially since they hadn’t even become engaged. If word got out then it could cause a stir and some more than unsavory may be thrown around. Emory walked over to pick his fallen jacket from the ground, folding it over his arm. He could feel a slight warmth radiating through his gloves, a warmth he knew to be Caroline’s. With a small smile, he turned to her. “Forgive me, princess, I was completely stepping over the boundary. I shan’t do it again.”

Caroline was able to catch her breath and her mind cleared somewhat as Prince Emory grabbed his coat off the ground. "Thank you, Prince Emory." She nodded to him and stood from the bench. "We should head back. I suspect we will be missed. The two of us especially." She could not believe she had done that. She barely knew this man. What if she was trusting him too much and word got out? Who was she? One dance with a person and suddenly she was kissing him. She started to walk into the maze. "Thank you for the dance. Now follow me. I do not want you to get lost."

Emory fell into step with Caroline, his hands clasped behind his back. "The dance was my pleasure. Thank you for showing me the center of the maze." The relationship between the prince and princess was now, surely, going to change. But how were they to act now, in public? The same as before? Emory had never gotten this far into anything before, he had never even kissed someone before, so all of this was new, terrifying territory for him. Would it be in their best interests if the two of them treat each other as friends rather than political allies?

Caroline knew what she was doing, and she suspected Emory knew what he was doing too. The overly formal language. The way they didn't walk too close together. It was as if their parents were both standing right next to them. As if they had just been caught. . . . So they both overcompensated. "Thank you for coming with me." Caroline started to sigh, then quickly stifled it, hoping Emory wouldn't hear it. She may as well try to get to know him. They would be spending lots of time together, after all. "So Prince Emory. How do you find Eberton so far? I know it must be quite different than Valedinia."

"It is vastly different to Valedinia, princess. Valedinia is more of an industrial kingdom with fewer rural parts. That's an aspect where Eberton has always surpassed us, what with the amount of forestry and landscape you have." Life in Valedinia was always hectic, everyone was always working and it seemed that his people had forgotten what kind of luxury it was to be able to see frost form on flowers, or even just flowers themselves.

If Emory's father decided to invade Eberton, he would waste no time in seeing the rural areas destroyed, making room for industrial life to prosper—something that Emory himself was strongly against. He loved the country, the clean and refreshing air it brought them, to destroy it would be like destroying the earth itself.

The prince shrugged his jacket back on, dusting it off after fastening the buttons, just as they made it back to the ball. Something appeared to be off with a number of the guests, and familiar voices could be heard shouting in the distance.

(El bumpo)