Heart Over Sword

The following day the prince and princess were in the library from 10am starting their first lesson on the Hythen language. The bookcases seemed to go to great heights; ladders were situated at each wall for any to use. A few tables were left here and there, and the smell of ink, paper and dust seemed to fill the air. Unlike the rest of the palace that was filled with marble floors, white bricked walls and paintings and plants to blend well with the brightness and pristine grandeur of the court, the library was another matter. The floors were still of white marble, but the only thing brightening up the room was the large arched windows and the fireplace.

Otherwise, it was notably only used for studying, which was the purpose of the library for any nobles staying in the palace. There was another section to the library through some golden doors, but this was off bounds with guards stationed outside the doors at all times. The King's personal library was past the golden doors that only a few were rumoured to have ever entered. 

Prince Conrad and Princess Evanna stood awkwardly across from each other, a large mahogany table between them as they stared anywhere but at each other. Their engagement had yet to be announced, and as far as Prince Conrad knew, only his mother and possibly Evanna's mother learned of it. But the young children knew they had to follow orders of their Kings. Princess Evanna glanced at him and to the books in his hands, then pulled the chair out, taking her seat without saying a word.

Prince Conrad cleared his throat and took his own seat before wordlessly handing her the other book and opening the first page. "Let us start with the alphabet and how each letter sounds," He instructed quietly, his voice calm though he felt anything but. The princess nodded her head, and they started the lesson; it was purely academic though he found himself glancing at her and staring from time to time.

She was now absorbed in the lesson and seemed to even enjoy learning something new. At first, Conrad was surprised by how quickly she picked up on the language but then he was reminded of the foreign tongue with which she spoke to her mother.

The only thing Conrad did find strange was that Princess Evanna didn't seem to look at him once unless she was watching his lips while he spoke the sentence from the book in Hythen. She was incredibly indifferent to him, her future husband. His face was scrunched up by the idea of being married to Evanna, but he wondered what this princess was truly thinking. The night before, she seemed to already be plotting something, and today she was obedient and never mentioned what they found out. 

By the end of their lesson, the prince left a little perplexed by the girl who he was starting to believe was nothing more than trouble. They parted ways at the floor to ceiling wooden doors, and he wondered if she was trying to avoid him; after all, he was residing in her part of the palace. But he did not care if she was or not; it did not disturb him in any way. She was just some princess who had the burden of being betrothed to him. Once it was announced, her name would be intertwined with his, their fates sealed. Any rumours of either of them would affect the other. 

The following few lessons followed in the same manner, but sometimes the young princess would question the prince about his homeland after specific topics of different goods were only sold in the North, among other things. Conrad could see she put aside her loathing of the prince for her interest in learning more about his kingdom. And from there, he would then question her about Dunhurst, not because he didn't know a lot about the domain, but he wanted to see how educated the princess was of her own kingdom. He knew his brothers Harald and Halvar, who were of the same ages, played and fought more than acquiring knowledge about the kingdom their family ruled over.

Some servants who passed by Prince Conrad and Princess Evanna whispered and gaped at the sight of the children who were now studying so diligently and not fighting each other. It seemed their first meeting had circulated through the palace walls, and even the servants knew of their already crumbled relationship. Conrad could hear their gossips and did his best to ignore and focus on the princess speaking perfectly to him in Hythen. Although his temper was slowly boiling in his blood from what he did hear. If it wasn't from their discussions about his nickname and where it stemmed from, it was about the princess and how she did not compare to Princess Isabel.

"You can see how hard Evanna works, but she will always have commoner blood in her.."

"Shh! The Demon Child is glaring at us! What if he can hear us?!"

"From there? No way. And what does he have to glare about? I'm sure this is all an act. It is their punishment for fighting."

"Maybe the young master is annoyed because he has to spend his time with such a lowly princess."

The maids giggled and glanced in the young royal's directions. They were to the right of the prince, cleaning the windows at the far end of the library. Conrad sent daggers in their direction and knew that they'd suddenly feel cold all over from his look alone. 

"Eeek!" They squealed, instantly returning to cleaning the windows with nervous side glances. But they did not speak another word since. Good.

What insects. They comment about Evanna's commoner blood, yet they are nothing but peasants themselves.. Prince Conrad clicked his tongue and met the bright green eyes of the princess, who wiped the small smile that was on her face. What was that?