Full Circle (gxg)

Chapter 12

The ride back to the palace was slow. Partially because they were constantly on the alert for Prince Martin, and also because Aven wasn't used to being on a horse with her upbringing. They had decided to stay off the main road, and hid in the trees whenever another horse came by, which they did frequently. They rode together in silence, always keeping an ear out for anyone approaching, and yet all Aven wanted to do was talk to Princess Knallia.

How could she be in love with someone she barely knew? But how could she not be in love with someone who accepted her for what she was, and furthermore risked her own safety to come rescue her? She just wanted to sit back under the tree in the hunting preserve and talk for days, she needed to know everything she could about her.

She was also struggling with the loss of her father. She knew why he did what he did. The king would have killed them both as soon as he got what he wanted, and she was proud that he had given everything to give her a chance at freedom. But it didn't make it easier. Several times she found herself crying while they rode, only for Knallia to reach over and briefly touch her hand or arm to cheer her up. They had tried to hold hands while riding, but their horses were too big, and they kept bumping into each other when they tried.

Aven added hand holding to the list of things she needed to do with Knallia. Oh, and more kisses, those were on the list as well. The random tears turned to random blushes as she occasionally glanced over at Knallia to see her looking back. Every time their eyes met, she couldn't help herself from burning up and smiling.

She thought often of her mother now too. Normally she didn't think too much about her, having no real knowledge about her past. But with everything her father told her down in the jail she truly wished she could have known her better. She seemed a lot like Knallia, wanting to marry for love. Wait a minute. She suddenly realized some particularly important aspects of that conversation that she hadn't have a chance to talk to Knallia about, and this brought a smile to her face.

She leaned over between the horses, "Knallia, what are our plans when we get back to the palace?" she whispered.

Knallia frowned. They had been in such a hurry to leave the campsite and get away from Martin that nobody had voiced ideas on how to proceed. She was afraid for her father's reaction to meeting Aven based on his refusal to rescue her. To find out that she was a girl might cause him to explode in rage, a same sex marriage wasn't unheard of, but it was never anything discussed in their family so she didn't know how he would feel about it.

Until she had met Aven, she hadn't known how she felt about it either, but her heart knew how she felt about it now.

With the city in view, life was intruding on her fantasy world with Aven. Could she just run away? Could she ask Aven to pretend to be a boy again until after the marriage? No, that wouldn't be fair, she wanted Aven to be Aven and not have to disguise their love.

She had to be truthful. "I don't know," she whispered sadly.

"I do!" Aven replied.

Knallia turned to look, and Aven was gazing at her with her eyes alight and happy again. "What do you think we should do?"

"I need to meet your father; I want to present myself as a suitor for your hand," Aven stated confidently.

Knallia was stunned, that was not at all the plan she expected to hear. "Are you sure? He is already against us!"

"I'm sure. Trust me?" Aven pleaded. "I have an idea."

After all they had been through, how could she not trust this woman? "Of course!"