The garden was not big enough for one to get lost in and not as orderly as one would expect from a noble ground, but it still displayed the Royal family's wealth. Tall, spacious trees made sunlight get to the floor in patches, and well-trimmed bushes or smaller plants covered every part that wasn’t the stone trail crossing one point of halls of the castle to another. Gabe couldn’t tell for sure since she had never personally been there, but by people’s accounts, it looked like a part of the Enchanted Woods was pieced out and placed there, in the heart of the city.

Once they got out Samir immediately started wandering around, marveling at the atmosphere. Gabe knew him to be interested ever since they got there, although he had contained his impulse to explore before the Prince’s presence. Well, she supposed that was a good thing since she wanted them all to leave his side as soon as possible.

Manny, who Gabe couldn’t notice was rather composed compared to her other sisters, looked at her with a question and she nodded ever so slightly at her.

Everyone they talked to (also gossip they heard throughout the years) said that room they were in just now was what the one guests usually were placed in. Members of the Court very rarely went through the inner door, instead opting for crossing the Garden to reach it.

Again, Gabe couldn’t say for sure since that was her first time there, but they betted those stone paths could quickly get to the area for formal meetings and to the inner parts of the Castle. Manny was, from the start, on watch-out duty to get as close to the other side without losing sight of them.

“Alani, sister, why don’t you go keep an eye on Manny? She always listens to you the best,” Gabe suggested as Manny ran excitedly after a butterfly.

Alani looked at her, seeming to subtly get something, before squeezing her hand. She excused herself to the Prince and followed the little one.

Gabe looked at Lulu, the only one left besides her and the Prince, and froze as it was clear as day that she looked either overwhelmingly bothered or wholly unsatisfied. Ah, Gabe thought, there was that.

“Oh my, it seems like the problem now is with Miss Lulu!” the Prince jested.

“Please forgive her, your Highness,” she answered before the younger girl could have a chance to open her mouth, “Ever since little she was quite sensitive to being outdoors…”

“...Because there are always bugs everywhere, sister! And the air is just so humid!” She defended herself.

“Though she does seem uncommonly sensible today,” Gabe gave a warning look that was wasted on her. The Charm again. Was it affecting Lulu to make her aloof or affecting Gabe to make her tone too soft?

The Prince observed the younger one.

“If you hate it so much why did you insist on coming?”

“Because of her, why else?” she gave an accusatory look to Gabe.

Silence stretched for dangerously long seconds.

“She must have felt pressured to come since the others came as well, Miss Gabe,” strangely, it was the Prince who relieved the pressure, “I think it will be alright for you to go back, no? Your parents will be back soon enough too,” and without a need of a second word she retired inside with heavy steps.

Convenient, if not a little uncomfortable.

They paced forward ever so slowly, side by side, and she could hear the birds chirping and the leaves rustling. Manny and Samir were talking in the distance, and Alani’s chuckles filled the air. When she turned back, Lulu had already entertained herself by trying to measure the pillars. The weather was nice, and the sunlight was in that perfect spot of a shade less before getting hot. Gabe almost forgot she was in the presence of the future king. She almost opened a genuine smile.

“So, Miss Gabe,” her heart jumped at his voice, “ Your sisters listen to you a lot, don’t they?”

The Godsdamning Charm, she remembered. How could she have forgotten it in so little time?

“We spend a lot of time by ourselves, Your Highness,” she held her back straight, “So the younger ones have a lot of respect towards the elders.”

“You don’t seem to respect your elder sister as much as the little ones respect you, though.”

“We all respect Alani the most,” Gabe said it and regretted it at the spot. That was not what she intended to say. Why would she say something so… truthful to him?

She turned her head to the side, trying to manage her face.

“Is that so? If that’s the case, then she sure does listen to you a lot. Perhaps the responsibility of taking the front in formal events usually falls onto you?”

“Yes,” she spat against her will.

“Why is that so?”

“Because I have both the aptitude and the will. Alani taught us that we ought to never do anything if that isn’t the case.”

“A very kind older sister. Not many families have the luck of having that.”

She had to do something or it wouldn’t take long until he got to her secrets. The offensive, she remembered.

“Was that your case, perhaps?” she turned the question back at him, staring him in the eyes.

The Prince looked at her, pausing for a moment.

“The fae lineage is known to be able to produce only one offspring,” he explained.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Gabe suppresses the urge to cringe. Of course, that was common knowledge. Her Majesty the Queen only had one son.

The embarrassment must have made some of her remaining control slip because she followed with:

“It must have been a lonely childhood, then.”

He seemed to think about it.

“You could say that, I suppose,” but there was something in his tone that made her doubt his words. This seemed to somehow help her get a little looser from his machinations because she could swear she could see his face a little better than before.

“Your mother must have supported you, though. It is known to all in the Kingdom that she loves you the most, and there is no way a child can be lonely if they have their mother by their side,” she continued pressing.

He opened a yellow smile to her advances.

“My mother is before anything else, The Queen,” he didn’t allow her to continue, “And you. Even if you have your sisters, don’t you still feel lonely, Miss Gabriel? Having to deal with the Prince’s Charms all by yourself?”

She halted her steps, and so did he. The Prince turned to her, a faint smile still present and Gabe knew that even without the Charm acting upon her, it would be foolish to pretend she had not understood what he meant.

“It's The Burden of Those Who Know,” she quoted a popular saying in their district. If the others were oblivious to what was happening, then the responsibility to do something fell upon those who weren’t.

He nodded, seeming to approve of her reasoning.

“How, Miss Gabe?”

“It was obvious, was it not?” she lowered her head, gritting her teeth at her inability to just lie, “Neither my sisters nor I were behaving as usual in such a setting.”

“No,” he denied, “It shouldn’t be obvious at all. If it isn’t the case of you having a special bloodline,” he waited for her denial to continue, “Then it could be because of a peculiar upbringing. Did you meet a Fairy before, Miss Gabe? No? Then perhaps, it could be the works of some… Bodily influences. Is that the case?”

“I took medicine for my nerves, yes. I knew I would be on the vanguard so I wanted to make sure I would feel… Ready,” Gabe’s eyes watered out of pure frustration.

Seeming to notice her very obvious distress, the Prince resumed their walk, offering his arm for her to take. How would she deny the Prince? They walked side by side, closer than before.

“Oh my, why say things as if we are on a battlefield, Miss Gabe? You don’t have anything to lose.” she felt that again, the easiness in his voice, “You and your family are being graced with a wonderful chance, aren’t you?”

“What chance, Crown Prince? What do you mean by that?”

Gabe couldn’t help it, she was just furious. His tone was just so sure she would be grateful that he meddled with their lives, intending to make them their dutiful little life-saving charm. So sure. And he questioned her about all his doubts but not once, not once he asked if she wanted to share those with him or what she wanted to know.

They stopped again, his face very close to hers as they yet again stared at each other. He had a long, slender nose, she notice amidst her fury. And lighter lashes, almost as red as his lips, contrasting deep black eyes.

“You know, don’t you?” he said quietly.

Yes, she did, but if talking meant she would lose control of what she would say, then Gabe would remain quiet.

“How?” He shook his head as she continued with her lips pressed together. He pointed at her sisters with his chin, “Them. You don’t want them to be chosen, do you? Why? Is it because you want to take it for yourself?”

“Never,” she spat again.

“Then why? Your older sister is already getting past her prime, and she seems reasonable enough. This should be the perfect opportunity for her, no?”

Gabe shook her head thinking of ways to convey what she wanted without sharing what she didn’t, because it was obvious at this point the Prince wouldn’t stop until he was satisfied.

“You refuse to share your secrets and yet try to force me to share one that isn’t even mine,” she denied his influence, “How would that be fair, Your Highness?”

“I am your Prince. It is more than fair to share key information to whom you are subservient to, isn’t it?”

“And one of us is to be your Wife,” she rebuked, “We deserve at least your courtesy to allow us to choose when we will share what’s in our hearts.”

“… Is that so? Then don’t make me wait for long, Gabriel. I was never known to be of the patient kind.”

They stopped at the gazebo in the middle of the Garden, and her sisters were close enough to notice something wasn’t right. She raised her hands, indicating that they should continue as they were.

“You know, Miss Gabe,” he watched the others with her, “You seem used to making the decisions for them. But you know that the choice of who will marry and who won’t isn’t yours for you to make, don’t you?”

“Is it yours then?”

Surprisingly, he shook his head, his voice lower than normal.

“If it was do you really believe I would be marrying any of you?”

Gabe turned to him, watching his slightly more discernable face – and the bitter smile that was settled there – thinking that maybe, only maybe, he wasn’t so in control as she thought him to be.

“Apologies,” he said, dispersing what somber feeling he had, “That was rude of me. I didn’t mean to insult yours or any of your sister’s virtues, of course.”

She sighed, debating whether or not she should give him the grace of the truth. Gabe was still angry, of course, but she could sympathize with the sentiment of being forced into a position you didn’t want to be. And even more, it frustrated her to great lengths that he didn’t seem to notice how hypocritical he was being.

“Pay it no mind, Your Highness,” she continued where he left, “You can’t control your circumstances, but you at least have options. For us, all there’s left to do is to say yes regardless of what any of us wish.”

“Isn’t being married off to the person their parents see fit the duty of a diligent daughter?” he raised his eyebrow.

“Perhaps,” she fought to find the words she wanted to use again, “but our Alani thought us to have a mind of our own. And in my mind, there is only what is best for my sisters first, and then all the rest.”

“And the best is for them to be far away from this Castle, is it?”

“You have already looked for yourself, your Highness,” she pointed at them, playing carefree in the garden, “Do you believe any of them have the aptitude?”

“Your oldest sister has,” he immediately answered.

“What about the willingness?”

He silenced at that.

“... Keeping secrets won’t take you very far, Miss Gabe, and if you want my support (and we both know you need it if you ought to keep having such a strong mind) give me at least something, won’t you?”

Gabe would never give him any more than he already had. What else could she gift him with? Ah.

She promptly took out the bag she was keeping in her pocket.

“Well, do you want some cinnamon biscuits then?”

He stared, flabbergasted for a second, and then laughed. It was a carefree laugh, one as if he really meant it, and Gabe finally allowed herself to relax. She quietly thanked Mr. Marcus in her heart.