Chapter 4 The Proposal

“See you next, my love…” Jacques swathed Celestine with his warmth. His soft smile drained the flame inside Celestine to not touch his lips with her gentle stares. Otherwise, she held that desire, sensing every ponder of her heart but she bit her lips.

The harbor breezes blew his hair, he held the hat back as the wind bustling.

Celestine smiled and gripped the young man’s fingers as if there was no much time left to spend with him, racing the horse ridings, catching some butterflies around the suburbs, or laughing together for silliness and crazy stupid stories or jokes, listening to him playing a flute or a guitar for her and let her admiring the beauty he possessed with some poems she wrote to dedicate for him. Her heart still yearned for him to stay.

She sighed. The ship would bring him back to his kingdom was whistling. “Take care yourself, Jacques.”

Jacques looked at into her eyes. “Could I practice what you taught me?”

Celestine widened her eyes. “Not in the front of those people.”

Jacques giggled. He kissed her forehead and waved at her before getting aboard to the ship.

Celestine kept watching the man’s back and every single step he made to reach the ship from the ladder steps.

The tide was playing with the wind. The seagulls were flying to entertain the sky with their flipping wings, shrieking as saying good bye to beautiful moments.

The ship got fading away from her sight, sailing beyond the sea horizon.

Celestine crossed her arms and realized they had separated along by the oceans to meet.

Silence was thumping her mind, returning back to a moment they met for first time inside the garden of the Wallachian.

A young man with a good talent on playing an instrument with some strings on its neck. His fingers were beautifully dancing, swaying around those strings to vibrate some sounds. He was enraptured the young woman’s eyes while he performed his talent in the front of the guests of the Wallachian king.

“Here you are.” A man voice that she avoided approaching her from behind, disrupted her imagination into crumbs.

She could feel his breath scoffing on her back.

She turned around, finding King Dragon standing behind her.

“King Dragon. I wonder how many eyes you have, my lord.”

She curled her nose. “You like a spider, having many eyes.”

The man smirked, tilted his chin while he was staring her through his side eye. “I took that as a compliment, my dear.” He fixed his mantle. “As a king, I don’t like to get loose in my controlling power. But you, you are only a daughter of a king, should be nice with a king like me.”

He hit her with his piercing stare. “Be kind, be aligned to the power you need to gather your people. Your kingdom is counted in times.” He scoffed. “Many snakes around you, young woman. You are naïve, greeny to face each of them.”

Celestine gasped. In a few seconds, she took a half bow. “Thank you for your appreciation, my lord.”

“I am not interested to submit myself as one of your mistresses or women of your pleasure.” She hissed, pulling his dress and was about to scurry leaving that place.

King Dragon yanked her wrist, halting her from leaving. “You should be proud of that. How many women begging for that, they are even willingly to become everything I ask them, they do whatever I need although I don’t have to say any words. Just to get a night sleep with me, taste a piece of luxurious life I give to them.” He gazed at her, warning her to behave with his commanding eyes.

Celestine pulled her hand away. “I am not the kind of your toys, my lord. And, I am willingly fighting for my dignity.” She hissed, throwing her eyes to Ersa asking for leaving the place.

King Dragon smirked, looking back at Celestine and Ersa leaving the place from his glimpse.

“Let’s see how this games will end, my dear!” He uttered, watching slightly the back of those women entered the cart with coach man.

The afternoon ran without any clouds on the sky for it was raining yet. But, the wind blew to twirl some falling leaves on the ground, making rustling twigs of the trees as the two horse men entered the castle. They required to meet Celestine.

“Princess Celestine, we’ve been sent to give you this invitation.” A man in uniform of the kingdom appeared inside the library where she spent reading some old scriptures what her teacher told her.

Celestine took the folded paper, tied up with the kingdom ribbon with her holding breath.

“We ask for your permission to dismiss.” The man rose from his kneeling and bent down his head.

Celestine moved her chin to give him and his other friend dismissed from her sight.

She opened the letter and it was the command from King Othello to attend the dinner in the palace. It was the plan about her engagement ceremony with King Dragon.

Celestine gritted her teeth after reading the letter. Her hand was clenched and she felt her blood pumping more faster…the heart was pounding with heavy feeling of denials due to the proposal.

‘It seems more like a pushing offer to me and make me to agree in every point my uncle trying to submit without giving me a time to negotiate.’ Celestine threw the invitation to the floor.

‘I should make my way…’ she thought.