Ash's POV

"Ash..." Finn whispers, his voice coming out hoarse and low. He never uses my name, much less my preferred name when he addresses me. I turn away from him, feeling embarrassed and overwhelmed and sad and scared and disappointed and...

He grabs me by my waist and pulls me back toward him before snaking his free hand into my hair, with his palm resting on the nape of my neck. He steps closer to me, until our bodies are almost flush against each other.

"Finn, you don't have to do this," I breathlessly whisper.

"Oh princess, I have always wanted to do this."

Then his lips are on mine again but this time he initiates the kiss, and it is most certainly not short, rushed, or unpracticed. When he does break the kiss, I am left blubbering and an incoherent mess. He releases his hand from my neck and pulls me into a firm hug.

He strokes my hair as I lean into his hold. I feel my magic bubbling under the surface of my skin, demanding to be let out but I stifle it. I want to stay in this moment, distraction free, forever. Tomorrow, everything will change regardless of what I want. I don't have a choice. I knew I would eventually have to marry someone, and I knew that my parents would likely choose that person for me. I just didn't know it would be so soon.

"Ash?"

Finn's voice breaks me from my depressing thoughts, and I lift my head up off his chest to look up at him.

"You didn't have to do that," I say quietly.

"I wanted to. Plus, you deserve to have a good first kiss before you marry a stranger."

"A good first kiss, huh?" I tease and he lets out a hearty laugh.

"Was it not? I would be happy to try again," he teases back, and I grin at him.

"As tempting as that sounds, you shouldn't even be in here right now."

"And yet, you were the one to pull me in, princess."

"Hmm...maybe so. And as much as I would like you to kiss me like that again, I shouldn't let you."

"Why is that?" he asks, twirling a piece of my hair around his finger.

"I think if you kiss me again, I will want to cross a line I should not cross. I can't let you into my bed; that has to be for my husband only."

He is silent for a moment before he asks me another question.

"Are you scared?"

Yes. "No."

He scoffs but softens his voice anyway, "I will be right by your side the whole time, Ash. You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

"Even if you are..."

"I am not afraid," I interrupt.

"Well even so, I will still be here to protect and serve you. That is one thing that won't change, even when you are forced to marry a stranger."

"Maybe he will be lovely."

"I hope so. You deserve to have something lovely in your life."

We fall into a comfortable silence as he continues to hold me in his arms. Minutes tick by and the only sounds are our breathing and my pounding heart, which I am pretty sure he could hear with how loud it was beating in my chest.

"I should probably go," he finally says, and I reluctantly step out of his hold. He turns toward the door and just before his hand lands on the doorknob, I open my mouth.

"Thank you for being my first kiss, Finn."

"Princess, the pleasure was all mine. I will see you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He slips out the door and I walk over to my bed. I let myself fall into the still unmade mess of silky sheets from last night's slumber and without even changing out of my muddied gown, I fall asleep.

The morning sun assaulted my eyes sooner than I wished it would. A knock on the door had me cursing as I untangled myself from my sheets.

"Who is it?" I call out.

"Miss Dahlia," the sweet voice replies, and I scurry to open the door. As soon as my handmaiden's eyes landed on my unkempt and rumpled appearance she gasped and shoved her way into my room.

"Lady Locklynn," she scolded, "You are looking rather unpresentable this morning! Did you sleep in your gown?"

"Good morning to you too, Dahlia."

She waved a dismissive hand at me before shuffling toward the bathroom to start a bath for me. I gave up on trying to convince her that I could bathe myself years ago and instead enjoy the feeling of her washing my hair for me.

"Lady Locklynn, how are you feeling today?" Dahlia asked while she selected my attire for the day. I know she was really asking how I am feeling about meeting my future husband this evening.

"I'm fine."

She gives me a pointed look and I change my answer.

"I am a little nervous."

"Don't be. You are a beautiful woman. It will not take long for him to love you. You are good, Lady Locklynn."

"Thank you, Dahlia. I just hope he doesn't try to stifle me. I don't know if I could be married to someone like that."

"I don't think anyone could successfully stifle you, Lady Locklynn. If you have survived Lord Locklynn's teasing and tormenting, I think you will be just fine."

It is no surprise that Dahlia dislikes my brother. I don't think anyone other than my father likes Aiden. He is pretty much the worst. Jealousy makes people do stupid things. Aiden is only a year younger than I am and he hates me. He hates me for being born first, sealing my place on the throne instead of him. He hates me for being a stronger witch than he is. He just hates me because, well, I don't really know exactly why he hates me so much, but the fact is that he does, and I have had to deal with his jealousy for my whole life.

After my bath, Dahlia dresses me in a simple dove gray gown so I can attend my classes. She scolds me again for getting mud on my gown from yesterday but the whole time she is smiling because she knows that given the chance, I will do it again. She also promised to be back at my room in the late afternoon so I can spend several hours getting ready for my meeting with my future husband.

I thanked her and waited patiently for Finn to show up to escort me to my classes. And right on time, he strolled down the hallway, dressed in his normal pressed dark suit, his armored vest atop his shirt. His tousled dark hair conflicts with the crisp lines in his clothes, giving him both the appearance of a guard and a boy. His blue eyes sparkle when they land on me, and he smiles as he offers me the crook of his arm.

"Good morning, Lady Locklynn," he says, and I can hear the joy in his voice.

"Good morning, Sir West. Would I possibly be able to convince you to let me skip my class today if you come with me?"

"You need to attend class today. King's orders, remember?"

I sigh dramatically, "Well, I tried."

"It was a valiant effort, Lady Locklynn," he teases.

I roll my eyes at the sarcasm in his words and let my mind wander to the stranger I will be meeting later. Will he have kind eyes? A nice face? Will he offer me a practiced fake smile or a genuine one? Is he as nervous as I am? Does he want this marriage? Will he treat me with respect, or will he treat me like the current King treats his Queen?

"Lady Locklynn, relax please."

I blink and realize that my magic has made another uninvited appearance down these halls. Fast moving swirls of red and blue light bounce off the walls, leaving a burnt mark wherever they touch. Marring the floors, ceilings, and walls with small black spots of soot. Oops.

I call my magic back to myself and it obeys.

We exit the main castle and I try to suck in as much fresh air into my lungs as I possibly can on the two-minute walk to the academic building. Finn drops me off at my classroom door and positions himself directly outside. His presence is a comfort that is a constant reassurance.

"Lady Locklynn, you're late," Ms. Harper chides me as I walk into the room and take a seat at my desk.

"My deepest apologies. The future Queen needs time to prepare in the mornings. It takes time to get looking this good," I casually say, flipping my hair over my shoulder. My words earned a few snickers from the other students and a glare from Ms. Harper. When I am Queen, I will have no issues gaining support from my peers. It is the older generations that dislike my "unruliness."

Unruly or determined? I like the sound of the latter more.

I listen to Ms. Harper drone on about the same topic we have been discussing for months now; the war between witches and werewolves that happened over a century ago. Witches were right, werewolves are horrible, blah blah blah. It is the same information just presented slightly differently every time. Instead of actually listening, I practice levitating my pencil above my paper and then practice directing it to write words onto my papers.

By the time Ms. Harper finally shut her old wrinkly mouth, I had successfully written a page's worth of sentences without ever picking up my pencil in my hand. As soon as Ms. Harper dismisses the class, I am headed straight for Finn. It is almost time for lunch now and I am hoping to convince him to let me eat out in the garden.

Thankfully, he was in a very convince-able mood today.

We sit in comfortable silence as we eat our lunches, just like we have done a thousand other times before. He knows as well as I do that when we are finished, he will have to drop me off at my room so I can spend the next four hours getting all dolled up in an attempt to impress a man I have never met.

Finn will escort me to dinner and then leave me. Alone. "An encouragement to enhance my future marriage," the King called it. I call it, "a chance for me to practice murder if necessary." But Finn promised he wouldn't ever be far away and all I would have to do was call for him and he would come to my side.

Our finished lunches sit discarded behind us as Finn leads me for a gentle stroll through the gardens. He is silent as I admire the beauty surrounding us. The gardens are my favorite place on the entire castle grounds. They are left ungroomed, except for the paths that wind around through the natural flowers and plants that grow here. The cobblestoned path is well worn, making me wonder how many other girls wandered these paths as an escape from their realities too.

Finn reaches his arm up to brush some low hanging branches out of our way as we walk under my favorite weeping willow tree. The branches grow over the path, and it makes this section of the garden look like something out of a fairytale. I think if I ever had the option, I would have a little cabin deep in the woods where I could be surrounded by nature all the time. Maybe I would line the shelves in my reading room with magic supplies and books of every kind.

Maybe my future husband will let me build a cabin like that. Maybe he will even build it for me.

Finn clears his throat and I realize I have let my magic out. Soft pink lines of magic whisk around us, forming little hearts in the air. I love that my magic can reflect my emotions but sometimes it betrays me like the little traitor it so casually wants to be.

"Daydreaming about your mystery man again, princess?"

"You know I don't like it when you call me that," I retort to Finn's insinuating question.

"Oh I know, Lady Locklynn, but it is quite fun to rile you up."

"And for your information, yes, I was. I want him to love me."

"It is very easy to love you, Ash," Finn blurts out.

I stop our walk and face him, "Sir West, you can't say things like that."

He blinks and quickly bows his head, "My apologies, Lady Locklynn."

I click my tongue to release him from his apology. Taking his arm again, I move us to start walking. I shouldn't have kissed him yesterday, but I was scared my first kiss would be stolen from me by my future husband and I wanted to have the choice to give it away. He was simply the best option. I love Finn but I can't ever be in love with him. I don't even know what being in love feels like.

I speak up, turning my face up to the sun as a traitorous tear escapes down the side of my face.

"I'm scared, Finn."

"I know. But I won't be far. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I trust you."

"Good. Now, we need to be returning to your room so you can get ready for your dinner."

"Do we have to?" I whine and he chuckles but steers me back toward the main castle. I sigh in reluctant acceptance and fall into step with him.

I watch the birds fly over our heads, dipping and gliding with the gentle breeze and I wish I could fly like them. They look so peaceful. Not just peaceful....

Free.