The Sisters Of The Court

Chapter 10: Alice

I shut the door behind me and decide to write a letter to my elder sister Beatrix since I have not written to her in a while. I have three older siblings, my brother Carl was the oldest, then is was Victoria, Beatrix, and finally me. My brother and sister are in their late  forties and fifties with children some just a few months younger then me. It gets quite uncomfortable at family gatherings.

I sit down at the vanity that was provided and start to write my letter to her. I write to her about the wedding, my travels here, how different Russia is. I express to her how I much I miss Germany. I finish the letter and seal it. I write down her address and leave the letter on the desk. I was never close with Carl or Beatrix, but she recently has started making an effort to having a friendship with me.

I know that once I get the chance to leave Russia, I am going to visit my family in Germany. As for England I should visit my Auntie Victoria soon. After Uncle Albert passed she has never been the same since. I hear a knock on my door. Its probably Scarlett or Olga those are the only two people I can think of that would need something from me. I get up and open one of the double doors, in front of me stands Grand Duke George, looking nervous . "Alice I-,"

"What are you doing here George?"I ask, filled with hurt. My heart feels as if it's aching. One moment he is interested the next he is not. What is trying to do?"I am here to see you."he keeps his gaze fixed on me. "How do you find out where my room is located?" I ask.

"Nicholas,"

Of course it was Nicholas, they are so close to one another compared to their other siblings. "You should go," I suggest but it's more of a demand. I can not believe he would toy with me. "I cannot leave my dear, every single minute when I am without you, my heart aches."he confesses. "I am done with your mind games."I weakly tell him. I want to believe him so much.

Tears begin to stream down my face. We danced together, he established his interests towards me I reciprocated those feelings just for him to change his mind. Tossing me aside as a child would with a toy they are bored with. He sighs wiping the tears away from my face. "Let me in Alice, please give me a chance to talk this out with you." No matter what I can't help but listening to him. I step aside and he enters my room while I shut the door behind him. He sits on my bed and I sit next to him, ready to listen to him.

"I don't know what I have done to hurt you Alice. But I know that you have been avoiding me since the night of our walk through the gardens."he explains. "Well I will just clear it up for you! You changed your mind, you do not enjoy my company anymore! I knew that we were going to kiss, yet you pulled away because I am not worthy enough! You have someone else in mind."I break down into tears.

"No, No, No! You have it all wrong!"George kneels before me, taking my hands into his. The warmth his hands give me sends shivers down my spine. "The only reason why I didn't kiss you is because I did not want you doing something that you would have regretted. I knew that the moment our lips would touch that I would not be able to think rationally. I didn't want myself to form feelings for you. Alice I am sick, I know that I don't have much time in this world and I didn't want to hurt you. If I would have stayed away, you would have eventually found another man worthy of your love. But I just could not help myself. You are the only one for me Alice. Ever since I saw you at Uncle Sergei's wedding all of those years ago. I wanted to go up to you and spark a conversation but once my mother noticed she did not allow me to leave her side. She kept making up excuses. I shouldn't have listen to her Alice, I- I love you so much, I can't be away from you any longer."he admits.

I stand up taking everything in, looking down at the man kneeling before me. He held onto my hands tightly. "L-love me?"I repeat. He's sick? "Alice when you were avoiding me I could not stand it. I wanted to see you so badly, I yearned for you, I missed holding your hand. I wanted to have you in my arms and apologize multiple times for whatever I have done. I also could not image you being with someone else without jealousy emerging ."he flushes. Everything clears up, all of my suspicions and questions except one. "What about that woman?"I ask. "What woman?"he looks confused. "I saw you speaking to a women in a yellow dress, she had dark brown hair." I clarify, looking down at him. He gets off the ground, "Lena?! She is a married Countess that constantly tries to get with me. I try to avoid her as much as possible."

I stay silent, I want him to continue talking "Alice,"he takes my hand again, making me look up at him, "Alice I love you. I can't live without you, I need you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life."he kneels again, taking out a beautiful blue diamond ring from his pocket, "I know it's selfish of me, that I want you all for me, in my short life I want you to marry me Alice."

My world has stopped, I was being proposed to. I have tears falling down my face. My heart was about to leap out my chest, my brain had a million thoughts at once but my gut was telling me only one thing,

"I- yes I will marry you,"