"Someone Like You" Ch. 2
*This is an Alternate Realty Story, so things may seem strange. Remember only the commoners speak slang and the time period and the things in the story may not match. The women will dress in a mixture of 19th century and 20/21st century clothing, and so will the men.
+ 1496, March 17 +
+ Andreas Palace: The Parlor +
Mass this morning was even more boring that it usually was, if that's possible, the only thing good was that mother was actually up for going. I spent the entire time looking around the congregation for any signs of Acadia's guests, the Duke and his brother. But to my dismay I was stuck with my brother and his horrible snoring. For a Prince he was really quite crude at times.
And now we are left with this mindless lounging as we wait for the cooks to finish lunch. Sometimes I actually find myself wanting to do things differently, like live a different life not as a princess, it's way too complicated at times.
"You know the war across the ocean is getting quite complicated, my country, the fair Brighton, is contemplating a taking of action. Would you be disappointed if I went to war my dear?" Marquess Cristian Von Hatten asked as I sat on a chair in the corner of the parlor and he stood beside me watching me drink tea.
I threw a snarl at him and replied with an arrogant air, "Do you think that Ladies, such as I, really have any care of those matters?"
"Not at all my dear Mikaela, I was honestly trying to extract a possible endearing remark from you." He replied with a smile, I hate the way he smiles, as if he has all the answers and all the solutions.
"Well, in that case, no, no I don't think I shall miss you if Brighton decides to join the war. Rather, I shall be glad to be rid of you." I said, giving him a small smile and standing making my way away from him as quickly as I could without rushing.
I stopped as I made my way toward the sliding door that lead you out into the court yard, someone was laughing heartily, a sound that I quite enjoyed hearing.
I looked around, searching for the owner of the beautiful sound, and I quickly found it. There, not too far from me, stood Draco Grandberry, I raised my eyebrow and said in my sweetest voice, "Sir, may I ask why are finding such pleasure in my displeasure?"
He made his way towards me, his greenish-gray eyes twinkling delightfully, "Princess I take no pleasure from your displeasure, I only take pleasure from the priceless expression on the Marquess' face."
I looked back at Cristian Von Hatten and laughed almost loudly at the confusion plastered on his face, "I see." I looked back at the beautiful man who stood in front of me and asked, "Take a walk with me?"
"Please," Draco replied linking his arms with mine, "anything to get away from some of those people."
"I truly understand." I replied as he lead me through the door into the cool air that greeted us heartily.
"Beautiful." I heard his whispered as was watched my cousins played a game of Badminton, with their partners watched as they tried to play against each other.
"What is?" I asked looking up into the dragon eyes that were staring at me intently.
"Everything my eyes are taking in at the moment." Draco replied with a little sly smirk, he was quite the ladies man, no doubt about that.
I was happy that my skin was darker than his because he would've been able to see the blush that crept up my neck to my cheeks, "Come, tell me about Madison."
"It's a wonderful country, just north of the Sahara desert, beautiful trees, rolling hills, I think you would like it." He replied as was sat at the small table that was used to play cards, but I never played cards way too boring for my taste.
"And why are you not courting some lucky lady from your own country?" I asked in a manner that would have gotten me hit if my mother were around, she always had said I was too blunt and forward for a lady.
Draco gave a small smile, his eyes looking surprised at my laxness in speech, "None of them have met my requirements and my family's requirements as well."
Before I could say anymore his handsome brother made his way over to us, his face devoid of a smile and his eyes devoid of emotion, he looked like the men that I used to dream about as a child. He reminded me of the handsome, victorious, men that courted my oldest sister when I was a child. I tried not to stare but I couldn't take my eyes from his long, tall, broad frame. He was my every dream.
"Morning Draco," Omari said patting his brother on the shoulder and glancing over at me with an almost disinterested look, "and Princess Mikaela."
"Ah, Omari, sit, " Draco directed as Omari pulled out a chair and sat next to him, "sit, we were just discussing my choice of female or lack of a female companion."
Omari snorted at the statement and looked at me with disgust seeping from his eyes, it wasn't disgust exactly it was a mixture of emotion and displeasure, "Princess, my brother may never settle down, don't let him make you think any different."
For the first time ever I struggled for words, he had spoken to me in a tone of voice that made my tongue feel catatonic, "Sir I'm sure one day that a man as charming as Draco will find a female companion worth keeping."
Omari smiled at me and my body felt the same catatonic feeling as my tongue, "He is charming Miss but your assurance is not shared by me."
Draco laughed, the same beautiful sound that had stopped me earlier, his laugh was beautiful but his brother was heavenly, "Ah, Omari you mustn't make her think lowly of me."
I hesitantly turned from Omari with a small grin, "Draco I could never think lowly of you."
"See not only is she beautiful but she is tolerant." Draco replied with a look at his brother that confirmed Lexy's comment on his thinking highly of the ladies and only led me to agree more with Lexy's comment on Duke Omari Grandberry's mysterious ways as being romantic.
"Beautiful is a creature that seems to be well known to her." Omari said looking even more bored, his accent making him sound as exotic as he looked, he avoided my gaze as he stood up.
"Where are you off to brother?" Draco asked looking at his brother who was now looking around the courtyard with little interest.
"Probably out to the stables for a ride, I shall see you at lunch." Omari said quickly as he walked toward the stables, leaving me to wonder he acted as he did.
"The most eligible man in Madison and he had the strangest ways with ladies." Draco replied shaking his head, if this was the way he was with all women, the ladies in Madison must be in a fit of butterflies.
+ Andreas Palace: Later After Dinner +
I had excused myself as quickly as possible after dinner for reasons that were too obvious to every one in the dining room. Cristian was hovering over me during dinner and if I'd stayed in that room a moment longer that duck wouldn't have settled in my stomach long before it saw the light of day again.
I don't know exactly where I'm headed, my long dinner gown getting rather dirty at the end, my hair flying behind me exposing my shoulders and my eyes closed as my pace began speed up.
I stopped as the lake came into view and I sat on the rock at the edge, breathing deeply. I swear being a Lady was too much for me sometimes, I wish my brother was here to reassure me that my blunt, forward, ways weren't wrong. But Stephanos had returned to Rifenal to take care of Crystal before the baby was born. I tell you she's too fragile to be the future Queen of Acadia but he loves, her that's all that matters.
During dinner Draco had sat next to my older sister Liane so I had no one to talk to, even though Sergio was on my other side he was no help he was too deep in conversation with my cousin. So I was left with the man who doesn't have a clue.
My eyes wouldn't leave Omari and I think the idiot Marquess knew it, Omari avoided my eyes like the plaque, and it left me wondering about him. And it also left me wanting to curse Cristian Von Hatten to the very depths of the ocean.
Every time I thought of his dark amber eyes, his strong manly hands, his perfect pouty lips, and his deep soothing voice it leaves me with goosebumps and tingles down my spine.
I'm only 17, it's only natural that I have sexual desires. Right? Isn't it normal for me to lust after something that I can't have. Right? Lust...can so easily become something more...only if you let it.
But how can I lust for a man who is so much older than me? He's only 23 though. How can I lust for a man that obviously thinks of me as a child, a man who looks at me when he thinks I don't see, a man who is a mystery to me.
"Something on your mind?" An accented voice questions from behind me, my neck heats up as I feel his eyes on me.
His voice makes me lust for his touch, he's heavenly, even in the moonlight, though I have yet to turn to face him, "A lot actually."
He stands next the huge rock that I'm sitting on looking down at me, his body silhouetted in the moonlight, "I hate too see you so upset Mikaela."
I fear if he says my name again with such passion I shall scream, but no, I shall contain myself like a proper young lady, "Oh please, Duke Grandberry, don't worry yourself about me."
Omari sits next to me with a concerned look and whispers, "It's Omari."
"Omari." I reply breathless, he's still looking me as my breath quickens it's pace and I feel like I can't breathe.
"Are you sure that you are fine?" He asks taking my hand, I'm shaking now, I'm quite happy that's it's dark and my skin is dark because I'd be as red as a tomato.
"Just a little weak is all, I'll be over it in a moment." I replied looking down at our intertwined hands and then into his eyes.
"When you excused yourself after dinner I thought you looked rather angry but now that I look at you I can see you are quite upset over something." Omari says softly, laying his hand on the small of my back, I didn't think he even saw me leave the dining-room.
"Thank you for caring." I say under my breath, not really thinking he didn't hear but the look on his face tells me something else. Something I was only beginning to hope for.
"It's quite easy Mikaela." He replied still staring into my eyes with concern and a wall that I can't quite get past. Is that lust? Maybe it's my reality mixing with my fantasy again.
But before I knew it he had stood up and walked away, I didn't know what happened but I could feel that heat that he had left next to me. What was going through that man's mind?
I'm determined to find out.
+ Andreas Palace: The Drawing Room: Draco And Omari +
I stood in front of Draco watching his eyes dance across the room with some kind of happiness, what he felt and what I felt were obviously different. I was ready to go home, where I can brood and sulk in my own way...alone, I want to get away from this place. It's obvious he doesn't.
My youngest, and only, brother Draco was so much different that me that some found it hard to believe we were brothers. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe it myself but looking at him I can see that we have that same quality that unexplainable.
"Mikaela is quite a sweet girl isn't she Omari?" Draco asked, his greenish-gray eyes gleaming happily at the thought of the youngest and most charming princess of the Andreas Family.
"Girl and sweet aren't exactly the words I'd use." I said looking over him again, noticing the knowing look he threw at me.
"She's something all right and the Queen thinks she's perfect for me." He said grinning from ear to ear, something about that made me angry. Wasn't she good enough for me?
"What do you think?" I asked putting my hand in my pocket looking at the beautiful painting of the Jamaican Queen that hung over the fireplace mantle.
"I think she's perfect for you, my favorite brother, when she's around I can see you try harder to be unhappy and I quite enjoy the obvious lust in her eyes when she looks at you." He replied with a short laugh, it wasn't often that he was so blunt in his speech and I could tell that he was serious.
But he wasn't lying, when that young lady is around I have to try to scowl, brood, and be pessimistic. She was something to me that I had no want of her to be, she was the object of my affection, I could already feel it. "I could never drag her into my issues."
"But what if she wanted you to? She seems to be so much stronger than most ladies, she could very well bring you out of your needless pain and torment. Loving a second time is what could heal a broken first love." He replied taking a drink of his wine, leaving me to wonder when did he begin to actually make so much sense.
"Princess Mikaela Andreas is the epitome of my dreams, yet she's so unattainable." I reply more to myself than him, Draco knew I felt when I first laid eyes on her at the wedding yesterday. He had been beside me when I spotted her walking into the church arm and arm with the idiot that wanted to marry her.
"And yet she sees something in you brother." Draco said sitting on the armrest of the nearest chair.
"You don't know that Draco, she's shown no interest in me." I replied halfheartedly thinking of the brief moments that I've been in her company.
"Ha! You, my dear brother, are blinded by your own cynical beliefs." Draco laughed throwing his head back in a way that most ladies couldn't help but be attracted to him.
"So what do I do?" I asked not exactly understanding what I was asking advice on, thank God that Draco had some idea.
"You approach her, of course in a gentlemanly manner, and you court her like any self respecting Duke." My brother replied, sipping again from his wine glass, I always did think he had more class than I did.
"That's the obvious answer but I feel this sudden urge to run away from this fleeting feeling I'm getting. But is running my only answer anymore?" I asked, again, more to myself than to Draco. Who was now staring at me as if I have three heads but the amusement in his eyes is hard to miss.
"No, I don't think it is, it shouldn't have been in the first place Omari. But Mikaela could be the answer to all that if you would let her be." He said looking at the Queen's painting and then at all the ones that the lined the Drawing room walls.
"I don't know Draco, I just don't know." I replied sitting down quickly, hitting my head against the wall. Draco was shaking his head again as I drank out of the rather warm wine and said nothing for a long while.
"Well, I think you ought to decide soon my dear brother, for Queen Gwendolyn has an eye me and her as a couple and I shall think I wouldn't mind it." He said raising an eyebrow at me and then leaving me all alone in the Drawing room, alone with my demons.
"I think I shall mind it." I whispered to the fire after he'd left the room, the object of affection -- rather the object of my confusion, was also the reason of my massive migraine.
+ Andreas Palace: Mikaela's Room+
(Her POV)
I was sitting in front of my vanity thinking about Omari in the moonlight as Lexy straightened the room up before I went to bed. My mind had flown to one thought as I made way up to my room. What did he mean?
Omari was hard to figure out, he wasn't easy to read as his brother was, not even as easy to read the Marquess. He was a like a book with a beautiful cover and coded pages. He was a like a book with a title written in a half-dead language. He was like a novel only half written. All the things that would intrigue me to keep the book close, stare at every chance I got, and try my hardest to translate.
But before I could think any more of it a soft knock came to my door, I sat my brush, which I hadn't used, down asking, "Who is it?"
"Your mother." Came a soft reply that sent Lexy clamoring to open the door for her Mistress, the Queen.
Lexy curtsied as my mother walked into the room, a smile sitting comfortably on her face, a smile that always seemed to meet her eyes, "Lexy will you excuse us?"
Lexy nodded her head backing out of the room closing the door behind her, "Yes, Mistress."
My mother looked at my lovingly running her fingers through my shoulder length hair, "How are you feeling dear?"
"Tired is all." I answer, rather unanimatedly, I forgot that I didn't finish my dinner completely with Cristian Von Hatten picking at my nerves so.
"Are you sure? Is there something else bothering you?" She asked knowingly looking at my reflection in the mirror with affection.
"I'm s --," I started but thought better of it, if it was a way to get rid of him mother would know it, "Mother, it's the Marquess. I hate to disappoint father so but I find him a bit -- how do I say this nicely -- revolting."
She laughed, in an amazingly amused tone, "That's all to obvious my dear, your father and I just wish you would marry soon but there's no push to be married before Liane."
I frowned a little, it was all too obvious why they wished me to marry, for our country, for our land, for our dynasty, "Does anyone marry for love anymore? Or is that word so disconcerting that we are to avoid it at all costs?"
Mother patted my head smiling at me in that annoying way that clearly read, 'child you have much to learn', "Plenty of people marry for love and plenty don't, I know I did but there are many that aren't as lucky as I to meet the man I love and get to marry him too. Social circumstance can hinder that and yet some people without that obstacle don't marry for love either."
"Do you think I could marry for love rather than money and prestige or connections?" I asked looking at her expectantly, my mother had a strange way with words sometimes she was a poet and yet sometimes she just spoke in riddles.
"Of course you can, the one you love may meet you at any corner, for all we know he could very well be under our roof at this very moment." She smiled as I turned to face her, I wanted to ask her so much more but now wasn't the time. She seemed sort of pale and I knew she was cold, my room was without a fire because I was still warm after my encounter with Omari.
"But does the one I love have to be someone you or father set up for me?" I asked looking up at her in her pale pink robe and her hair in a messy bun, she just as lovely as she did in the paintings that father had made of her all the time.
"No. Your grandfather didn't set me and your father up, we met at a party my mother had after the war was won and your father and his father attended. We met there, at first I lusted after him forever it seemed but really it was only two or three months, our engagement lasted six months after my father agreed to our marriage and we were married in the United Jamaican Church in Kingston." She replied with a faint smile as she went through the memories.
"But --" I started and she cut me off with quick word and a hand on my shoulder.
"No more tonight darling, the rest you will learn without me I believe, good night." She whispered in her soft accented voice, kissing me on the cheek and walking out the door leaving me with more hope than I had ever had before.
But hope for what really?