💍The Proposal💍

Part 6

I was the king now. It was
strange, but I was ready. I'd spent my whole life preparing for this, and I had some great ideas. Within a few hours, I was filling out papers and doing the work of a king.

I was sad about my parents,
but it didn't really seem like they were gone. This must've been how America felt about her father. I was still very anxious and excited to talk to her, and I hoped it would go well. I'd been practicing what I was going to say in my head since the moment I found out she was okay. I sat up a little straighter at the thought of her becoming my wife, my queen. We could do so many great things together.

There were about a dozen
different people buzzing in and out of my room at a time. There were maids, guards, and advisors. I already had a giant pile of papers to deal with. I could tell I was going to be very busy. But when America appeared at the door, time stopped. She looked at me for a second, and I could see the love in her eyes. I could also see she was trying not to show it.

"Your Majesty," she breathed,
falling into a low curtsy. I smiled at her little attempt to be formal. I instructed everyone else to leave, but I was too distracted by America to be fully paying attention to them. She was gorgeous even with scrapes on her arms, messy hair, and a ripped dress. Everyone bowed and exited the room. She slowly approached me. "I'm so sorry about your parents," she said.

"It doesn't seem real yet," I
said, motioning for her to sit. She sat, and I continued. "I keep thinking Father is in his study, and Mom's downstairs, and any minute one of them will come in here with something for me to do." America was the only person I could talk to about this, yet another proof of our undying love.

"I know exactly what you
mean," she replied, and I gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know you do." I held her hand and kept talking. "She tried to save him. A guard told me that a rebel had my father in sights, but she ran behind him. She went down first, but they got my father immediately after." I shook my head sadly, as this was starting to feel more real. "She was always selfless. To her very last breath."

"You shouldn't be so surprised.
You're a lot like her," America said, reminding me that I'd done the same thing for her. I didn't know what I was feeling. It was a combination of love, sadness, and about twenty other things. "I'm never going to be quite as good as her. I'm going to miss her so much." America rubbed my hand, as if to console me.

Then I remembered what I was
planning to do. "At least you're safe," I said. "At least there's that." We were quiet for a minute. It was kind of nice just being here with her, but I needed to do this. "There's something I want to show you," I announced, barely containing my excitement. "Mind you, it's a bit rough, but I think you'll still like it. Open the drawer here," I instructed. "It should be on the top."

She took some documents I'd
been working on out of the drawer and gave me a questioning look. I nodded toward the papers. She read it slowly, and a confused but happy look came to her face. "Are you... going to dissolve the castes?" she asked, obviously thrilled. "That's the plan," I smiled. "I don't want you to get too excited. This will take a long time to do, but I think it will work." I explained it to her, and she seemed awestruck.

We held hands again, and I
continued. "I want you to know that this is all your doing. Since the day you called me into the hallway and told me about being hungry, I've been working on this. It was one of the reasons I got so upset after you did your presentation; I had a quieter way of reaching the exact same goal. But of all the things I wanted to do for my country, this would have never crossed my mind if I hadn't known you." She breathed with excitement and looked over the document again. My heart swelled to see her so happy. It was time.