"Ah, a prince lying next to me on a sandy shore... this could put those silly fairytales to shame, your highness."
The lad had to laugh. He often forgets how real she was. How unrefined and unsophisticated like those princesses his father presented to him. The young lady beside him could be rude, vulgar and rough but above all, she was honest. She shows things a proper princess would never show to her groom-to-be.
The wind blew and the crowned prince found himself staring at the girl beside him. She looked so soft lying there with her eyes shut and her lips slightly parted. Her tanned skin glowing against the bright sun, and her hair... the prince loved her hair so much. Her dark brown locks were tangled, wet and matted with white sand. If his people could see her now, they would agree that she was perfect for him.
"Let's stay like this forever," he blurted out while brushing away the strayed hair from her face.
It was her turn to laugh. Her lips curved into a smile and cackled. Her shoulders involuntarily shook as she took her time to chuckle. The prince was in love with the sound of her laughter but he can't make his curiosity go away. So he asked her what she deemed funny about what he said.
"There is no forever, my prince," she answered. She giggled, her eyes still closed. "Poets made us believe there could be infinity when you are in love but they are crazy and we are not so we should know better."
The soon to be king remembered the first day he met her. She was caught making funny faces when the king was conducting his speech. Others found it offensive but he was the first one to laugh. The prince asked the knights to present her to him for he wanted to know more about her. She stood in front of him, any hint of repentance was never observed on her face. She was proud regardless of the cinders on her cheeks. The holes on her dress were patched carelessly and it was hard to know whether it was naturally gray or the dirt made it that way.
He recalled the way she smelled. She smelled like freshly made bread. Her hands were white because of flour and every time she tucks her hair behind her ear, the residue of the flour gets on her brunette locks. The prince laughed because of the sight, she made a face but later on joined the glee. The prince thought time stopped, he was a standing stone in front of her adoring her crooked teeth when she laughs and the way the corners of her eyes wrinkle when she closes them to feel the moment. She wasn't perfect, she wasn't a princess or even a proper lady but she was lovely. And from that moment on, the successor of the crown knew who he wanted to sit beside his throne as he rules the kingdom.
"They are not crazy, they are in love," he protested.
She crinkled her nose while pondering over the notion.
"Different forms, same creature."
It was one of her amusing characteristics. She always has a way to prove someone wrong. Sometimes, the prince concludes that his love thinks too much. Princesses would no doubt agree about anything the prince would say but not her, never her. She has different views on things and he loved to hear them all from her. She was witty and opinionated. She could be king if only she was born a man but that doesn't really matter. She once told him gender should not be the basis for choosing who would rule. Not even one's right of birth. The ruler should be someone who has the ability, courage, and knowledge to lead.
She should be the queen. The young prince thought. He decided that when he becomes king together with her as his queen, he would govern it with her. He would hear anything she would say about things that matter.
