The Gift of Beauty | ONC2020

Chapter 14

The sun was already on the horizon when they first felt the heat. It was the first sign that they were going the right way. Just like the trees they had seen before; some had been completely charred to ashes. The heat that was coming off them still was intense.

But Brandon refused to be scared off by a bit of warmth. Bravely he walked past the flaming moulds. It was hot, and sweat was pouring off of him, but it was doable. The fire had been smouldering for hours now, and was quickly becoming less hot.

Not far ahead he saw the crater. As fast as he could he jumped inside, Rose shortly behind him. It looked exactly the same as the one they'd seen the night before. The only difference was a rock that was lying in the middle. It was a normal grey rock, and didn't look like anything special. But Brandon knew better.

As soon as he reached it Brandon put out his hand. He wanted to touch it; to feel what a star would look like. The thing they had been looking for a month.

"Ow!" He said, as he pulled his hand away. He heard Rose chuckle behind him. It turned out the fallen star was still hot.

He turned to Rose. "Do we need to wait for it to cool down?"

Rose shook her head. "No," she said, and got the dress out of her bag.

It didn't escape Brandon how short she was being. On the way here she had barely said a word to him either. He couldn't blame her, after what happened last night. He had to admit that he couldn't get their kiss out of his mind either.

The thought of her like that... It had never crossed his mind before. After all, he thought she hated him for most of their journey. Recently it had seemed that she had warmed up to him, but being in love was quite a leap from there.

But now that it had happened, he couldn't figure out how to get the thought out of his mind. Even now, hours later, he could still feel the touch of her lips on his. He could still feel how soft they were, how warm her breath was.

But he had to put it out of his mind. He would soon be back in Kios, with the dress, and he would be together with Victoria. It had always been his dream. Once he'd see Victoria he'd be able to put Rose out of his mind, Brandon decided.

Rose had now finished her preparation, and once more spoke words that Brandon didn't understand. He had gotten used to it now, and didn't even try to understand what she was saying anymore.

Before his eyes the dress changed once more. The silver and gold of the moon and the sun were still the dominant colours of the dress, but here and there appeared a few shiny little stars in between. They were small enough to miss if you didn't look for them, but somehow the subtle touches of the little pockets of light made the dress significantly more beautiful. Beautiful enough that Brandon didn't doubt for a moment that it was going to win the king's competition.

They travelled the rest of the way back in silence. It was an easy road to travel, now that they were getting closer to Kios. There were knights around these places that made sure that no foul beasts terrorized these parts of the world.

When they reached Kios' city gate, Rose turned to Brandon and gave him the dress. "Here you are, Brandon. You've earned everything it'll give you."

"Are you not coming with me?" Brandon said, aghast. "You put in as much work as I did, if not more!"

Rose shook her head, a weak smile adorning her face. "The castle is the home of the nobles, Brandon. It's your home. There's nothing for me there."

She gave him a hug. "Goodbye Brandon. Good luck with your life as a king. Maybe I'll catch a glimpse of you in your carriage once." She laughed weakly, and left Brandon behind.

The reality of their stations came crashing down on Brandon. Over the last month he had completely forgotten that she wasn't part of the nobility. And while that didn't matter outside the city, it meant everything inside.

But would he really never see her again? Brandon had gotten so used to her presence over the last few weeks, and he wasn't sure he could handle that. He tried to put her out of his mind as he walked towards the castle, but he just couldn't let it go.

"Brandon! Brandon!" A familiar voice awoke him from his thoughts. "You're back!"

Brandon turned around and saw Andrew, his best friend, running excitedly towards him. When Andrew reached him he jumped into his arms and gave him a hug. "Man, I didn't think I'd ever see you again! What happened? You've got to tell me everything!"

Brandon laughed. He had missed his friend on the road, and was happy to hear his voice again. "Don't worry, I will. But that's going to have to wait. The king's competition is ending soon, and I have to make sure that Christian doesn't become the next in line for the throne."

"You've actually done it? You managed to get the dress?"

Brandon nodded. "It wasn't easy, but we managed to do it. All thanks to you, too. I couldn't have done it without the shop you pointed me to."

"Brandon," Andrew said, looking at his feet. "Before you meet with the king, there's something you should know."

Brandon cocked his eyebrow. Did something happen while I was gone? The king wouldn't have chosen a winner already, would he? "What is it? What happened?"

"It's about the competition. While you were gone, some rumours were started. At first I wasn't sure. But then I met him. I met him Brandon, it's all true. I'm so sorry."

"Calm down, Andrew. Just tell me what's going on."

"Princess Victoria's in love with a peasant. Some guard. King Edward got wind of it and he wasn't happy. He forbade her from ever seeing him again. He then came up with the competition as a way to get her to marry. That way he could make sure that she married someone of status. And get her out of his hair, of course," Andrew said.

"What happened to the guard?" Brandon said.

"They locked him up in the dungeon. From what I've heard Princess Victoria begged her father to spare him, and said she would only agree to marry someone, anyone, if he was still alive." Andrew smirked. "I don't even want to think about what's going to happen to him once Victoria is married off."

Brandon agreed, though he wasn't really paying attention. His mind was somewhere else entirely. For years he had been in love with Victoria, and he had always believed that the only reason they weren't together is because she hadn't noticed him, that he was too low a rank to be on her radar. But he now knew for sure that that wasn't true. If she noticed a guard, then she surely could have noticed him.

More surprisingly though, Brandon found that he didn't really care. He just felt bad for Victoria. She had found love, and wasn't able to make it work due to her title. Something she could do nothing about, and didn't ask for.

He sighed. "Thanks Andrew, but I need to get to the palace. The competition ends tonight, and I need to make sure my dress it going to win. We'll talk later."

Andrew looked at him in disbelief. "You're still going through with it? What happened to her deserving to be with someone she loves? Is that all gone now that she loves someone else than you? Did you really just want to be king, all this time?"

"I'll explain everything later, Andrew, I promise. But I have to go now. Before the competition is over," Brandon said, and he started running towards the palace. He should have just enough time.