Regal [h.s au]

55. My queen

HARRY

"Will you marry me, Harry?"

Amelia's question lingers in the air between us, heavy silence weighing me down as my mind slowly absorbs her words. Shock washes over me, my eyes carefully trailing over her features, searching for a sign she is playing a joke on me. Surely this cannot be real, Edward has proposed to her less than ten minutes ago and here she is asking me the very same thing.

"Are you going to make me kneel?" She asks in a humorous tone, but I can tell she is nervous and hurt by my lack of response.

"What?" I manage to ask, feeling very confused. "Are you serious?"

"I am." She nods, brushing her thumb over my cheekbone.

"But what about Edward?" 

"Edward knows I care for him, but that is all there is to it. Care, not love." She smiles faintly. "I didn't give this a lot of thought, but I do know that I don't want us to go into that battle separated and angry at each other. I love you and I want you to be my husband, simple as that. What happened earlier with Edward has made me realise what I truly want and with whom, no matter how long it might last. Two days or fifty years, I don't care."

My heart swells in my chest. "Are you sure? We can wait until I'm King."

She takes my hand in hers and gives it a light squeeze. "If, God forbid, you fail to accomplish your mission or something happens to either of us, we will have no regrets."

I feel a brief prick of pain because of her words, knowing they are true. "You stole my line, the man usually asks the question," I joke after a few moments of silence, fighting off a smile.

"Yes, and pirates are usually men, royal advisers are usually men, it gets boring after a while, doesn't it? Someone needed to change all that." Amelia grins, brown eyes twinkling. "So what do you say? Will you marry me?"

"Hmm, and where is my pretty glittering ring?" I raise my hand and wiggle my fingers, grinning teasingly.

She punches my arm lightly. "Harry, this is serious!"

I laugh and cough dramatically, straightening my posture. "Alright, I'm ready. Can you ask the question again?"

She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Ugh, just marry me, will you?"

"Yes," I reply, not missing a beat. "Absolutely."

"I might not have a ring, but I have this." She lifts a red flower, handing it to me almost shyly. "A flower for my flower prince."

The smile on my face gets impossibly wide as I take the flower from her hand, raising it to my face and inhaling its sweet scent. Amelia then practically pounces on me, throwing her arms tightly around my neck as I groan in surprise and wrap mine around her waist, spinning her around. A surge of happiness rushes through me, something I haven't felt in a long time. Dozens of thoughts spiral through my head as I try to process I have just gotten engaged to the woman I thought I irrevocably lost. A deep laugh tumbles from my mouth, my head turning to leave a chaste kiss on her cheek. 

I carefully set her down, my palms cupping her face as a sudden realisation strikes me. "Wait a minute, we don't have time to find a priest or anything-"

"Say no more, I'm here," Silas announces as he ceremoniously walks into my tent, spreading his arms with a wide grin on his face.

"You are not a priest," I remark, glancing at Amelia and her conspiratorial smile. 

"No, but there is this ancient witch ceremony they used to perform to get married. It doesn't hold the same value as the real wedding, but you can always do it properly after you get your kingdom back. Until then, I will be your priest." Silas winks, a smug expression on his face.