Watching him walk down the southern road made her heartache all the worse. Princess Evangeline of Agrisolis stood at one of the four gates of Glandarin where only days ago she had visited to look at some of the plants along the road. He had even come along with her, saying it wasn't right for a princess to travel alone. She twirled her long brown hair wondering when she would see him next.

She had met him when she was reading a book, which didn't often happen. The castle of Glandarin had a very small, limited library, so few people ever walked by it when she was there. On this particular occasion, she had been reading one of the romantic novels, Of Royal Ties, when she looked up. She was greeted by a curious sort of man that she had never encountered before.

He wore mostly a faded red, the color of his shirt and jacket, both of which seemed uniquely ornate and casual at the same time. The same color adorned his boots, though his pants were a black speckled with white and brown grains of sand. The most peculiar was the cloak he wore over his shoulders. It had no hood but wrapped around his neck, much like some of the scarves she had seen women wear in her own city. The dried brown of the cloak had lightened into almost a pale tan that complemented his neatly messy nest of blonde hair.

It wasn't often that just anyone stumbled into the library, so it seemed only natural she should speak to him. Of course, Evangeline, for all her time in royal courts and overly garish dinners, didn't have much experience starting conversations.

"Are you looking for a book?" She chose. It seemed like a reasonable question to ask someone that had just walked into a library, no matter how small it was.

He seemed a little startled, but quickly recovered, "No, I wasn't exactly aiming to be in this room at all. I was looking for my sister actually. She is often down here on the lower level." Of course he hadn't meant to find her, he likely didn't even have an appreciation for all the fine literature around him.

A little bothered by the man's presence, she responded, "Well, since you are here, you might as well introduce yourself. Then I have some reading I must return to."

"Of course," he agreed "I am Prince Magnus Neala of Notosin, and I shall be taking my leave." He bowed deeply and said something else, but Evangeline was lost in another thought.

Was this really the Prince Magnus from the south? Rumor had it that Prince Magnus was a mighty warrior and often led the armies of Notosin against the enemies of the five kingdoms. When she heard the stories, she had imagined a bulky man, covered with scars from battle with a permanent scowl. The young man before her couldn't have been more than a year or two older than herself, and she was only nineteen years old. She wouldn't say he was overly handsome by any means, but he did have a particular rugged look that was hard not to appreciate.

As he watched her, waiting for some response to whatever he had said last, she became very aware of the book she was holding. Heat rose to her face at the thought of anyone knowing she wasn't only in the library for research. She quickly stuck a flattened dryan tree leaf in the page she was on and shelves the book.

"Your name?" Prince Magnus asked again, "You needn't tell me if you don't wish to, but I do always enjoy knowing the names of the people that I meet." She was relieved to have not missed a truly important question and nearly laughed, though it would be awfully awkward in her present situation.

"I am Princess," and she tried to muster up some sense of divinity and royal honor here, "Evangeline Aethia of Agrisolis. I'm certainly pleased to make your acquaintance." She wasn't certain how convincing she had been of royal lineage, but she hoped he knew she was telling the truth. Many nobles and lords often didn't believe her at first thanks to some of her mannerisms.

"Well, then I assume you must be here for the Kingdoms' council as well. I am glad we could meet before the council began."

"Yes, it was good we met." A still silence followed in which neither she nor Magnus moved. He had said he was going earlier, but the conversation had progressed. Perhaps he was waiting for her to say something else.

"You said you were looking for your sister, correct? Do you know why she would be down here on the lower level? There isn't much unless you have a very specific place you mean to be, like this library." It was true that the castle's underground lacked many things to do, housing only the library, the dungeons, and a few assorted essential services to the soldiers and other men that stayed in the castle.

"She has taken a liking to a prince from Borea, whom I can't say I am overly fond of. He spends a good deal of his time on the lower floor, so I assumed she might be here." He seemed to think for a moment before asking if she knew the way to the enchantress's small shop. She didn't.

After an exchange of goodbyes, Magnus turned and headed back into the hall to find his sister. Evangeline considered pulling one of the botany books from the shelf to continue her research, but the call of the novel was simply too great. She pulled "Of Royal Ties" back off the shelf and flipped to the page she had marked with the leaf. She sat carefully in her dress and let the leaf flutter to the ground before opening the book and returning to her fantasy of finding true love.

She saw him again next at the first council meeting, she was seated across from him, and she she first noted the absence of his strange scarf-cloak. Perhaps it was not a very ceremonial piece of clothing. Without it she could more clearly make out his features, and she could tell that her previous judgement on his looks had been correct. He was rugged, but in a good way. He seemed to have intentionally made himself look closer to a commoner. It was almost relatable. Of the royalty of the five kingdoms, Agrisolis had always been overlooked, underestimated, and lower in class than others.

Next to Magnus was who Evangeline could only guess was his sister. She looked nothing like him, her red eyes clashing with his brown, raven black hair instead of blond, and a look of seriousness when it came to council matters. Magnus however was always smiling and being jovial during the meeting. Evangeline hadn't met anyone that smiled so much except her little brother.

The only time Magnus didn't seem to be happy was when Brenson of Borea was speaking. He must have been the Prince that Magnus had mentioned, because his sister seemed to hang on Brenson's every word.

When Magnus spoke, he was confident in himself, always clearly stating what he wanted and he didn't seem to have any sort of second agenda. He was just so trustworthy.

"-and I would like to hear what Lady Aethia thinks. Perhaps she could provide some insight from Agrisolis." She suddenly realized that Magnus had been speaking about her, but she was so busy studying the people around the room she had forgotten to listen to what he was saying.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry. You meant me. What were you asking about again?"

There were a few chuckles from the Dytikala representatives, and some definite glares from the elves, but Magnus only smiled.

"I was addressing the problem of our kingdom's relations. At the moment, we are all in good standing with King Raegis, whether by treaty or origin," he gave the Dytikala representatives a glance at this. It almost made up for the laughs. "But in truth we have little connection with each other. What would you propose we do?"

Evangeline hadn't expected any serious questions to come her way. Everyone knew that Agrisolis was mostly a farming kingdom, only good for food, sun, and peace, not much else. Of course, this has to do with one of those things.

"I suppose we cou-" she tried to say. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by a bit of a squeak from the Princess of Notosin.

"Oh, I've just had the grandest of ideas!" Her voice wasn't necessarily irritating, but Evangeline hated being interrupted. "We should intermarry the royal families!"

Did this girl have nothing on her mind except Prince Brenson? Unfortunately, Evangeline has to admit it was a possible solution. Evangeline was not particularly a fan of the proposal, because unlike this particular princess, many other marriages would not be out of love. She knew many of the princesses would be forced to marry someone they didn't love, and even as the thought spread, she could see the eyes of many of the men turning into lustful glances. Some of the women even nodded as though they had a particular prince in mind. Slowly, around the room, men's gazes settled on a particular woman, many on the princess herself, and others.

Magnus had originally been staring at his sister in shock and then a mix of disappointment and even anger. Slowly though, he seemed to settle as comments of agreement came. He looked down and seemed to think in shame, not letting his gaze wander. Evangeline also cared to notice that none of the mens' gazes had landed on her. She looked back to Magnus and found he had finally looked up.

He was looking at her.

His gaze wasn't lustful like those of the Dytikala royalty, nor even desiring. It held a question. What if I get paired with her? Could she be someone I could love? Who wants this woman? Evangeline wasn't sure what he thought, but so many ideas flew through her mind that she couldn't think.

"No."

She almost looked around to see who had spoken up before she realized that she had been the one to say it. She was almost never forceful, but love wasn't something that should be forsaken.

She tried to recover, "Now, I believe you could be right that perhaps further interaction of the royals would increase our relations, but not through what you are suggesting." The princess scowled for a moment but her gaze shot between Evangeline and her brother, then smiled.

"Then what would you suggest, Farmer girl?" It was a slight that Evangeline had heard before, but it struck differently from someone that lives in a desert. Those that could produce food in their kingdom were valued. It was an impressive way of seeming like she was opposing Evangeline, but truly saying she supported her.

"I don't believe arranged marriages between the royals of the four outer kingdoms would benefit us. In fact, a marriage of two people who despise each other might even hurt our friendships. We should encourage those who have love to marry, and increase our interactions. This yearly council can't be the only place we see each other." Evangeline hoped that enough of the council would agree to turn down the decision. She felt her hands and knees shaking, but she continued to speak strongly. When she wasn't defending the basic idea of love, she mentally recited a list of rare plants that could be found in Agrisolis.before long, her list ran short and she looked to Magnus for support. Why she did, she wasn't sure, but when she met his eyes, she only had to start another list of plants.

Before she knew it, the council decided to arrange parties and gatherings for the royals of the four outer kingdoms. The meeting for today was adjourned and Evangeline found her way to her comfort spot. She went to the small library and opened a book.

"Of Royal Ties" seemed so much more real after the debate she had just withstood. Fortunately, it was enough of a fictional world that she could still escape into its story of a princess falling for a man, but knowing she could never have him. She had read it once before, so she knew the man actually turned out to be a prince in the end and the two of them lived happily ever after. Still, it made her wonder if she would ever have a prince that truly loved her.

As if in answer to her thought, there was a knock on the open door.

"May I come in?"

At the open door of the library was Magnus Neala, he was smiling about something. Evangeline wondered if perhaps it was this prince that could be the one, with his rugged looks and neatly messy hair.

"It is a library, Prince Neala, it is open to anyone in the castle. However, I would like to know why you are here."

Magnus laughed, "Yes, I guess it is, but in truth I simply wanted to congratulate you. You held your own in the council today. Opposing my sister's suggestion must have been difficult."

"I was shaking, Prince Neala. I don't normally do something like that, but..."

"Oh, there is no need to be so formal here, Evangeline. I am certain you only did what you knew was right. I agreed with you from the beginning, but I didn't want to challenge my own sister. Rin was thinking of only herself and Brenson in that moment, but you thought both about protecting the idea of love and the dignity of the courts."

Evangeline wasn't sure how to tell him that what he said meant so much to him.

"One last question..." he seemed a little hesitant to ask this last thing.

"Of course, Magnus. I will answer it if I can. Think of it as a thank you for coming to talk with me." She didn't mean to, but she smiled at him. Normally, she didn't interact with others this well unless they were plants. Today must have been a day of exceptions.

"If my sister's original suggestion had been the end decision, did you have a suitor in mind?" It was quite the personal question, and she didn't exactly have an answer. She was too busy being disgusted by most of the men to consider any of them as potential suitors except...

"Not particularly," she said a little later than she meant to. "Tell me, Magnus, do you read much? Personally I use plants and books as an escape so I don't have to always be the Evangeline you saw in the council."

"I would have to say that my sister is more well read than myself," he admitted, "and really I haven't read a book for fun since I was young."

"Well then, we need to change that!" She said, intrigued by the idea of reintroducing this handsome prince to the world of literature. "For a renewing reader, perhaps an adventure novel or something a little more serious." She picked a collection of books off the shelf and did a second scan of the titles she chose. Finally, she put half of the large stack back on the shelf and handed Magnus the remaining five. In truth, she had slipped one romance novel into the group with adventure novels.

"Well, I guess I can trust the advice of an expert. Would you mind if I try to read one now?" he asked.

"Here? Out loud?" Evangeline asked. She didn't understand why he would want someone else to hear him reading, but still he nodded and randomly pulled one of the books from the stack. Evangeline immediately regretted slipping that romance novel in with the rest of them.

"Well, I always said that if something is fun, it is more enjoyable with others. So, can I read with you?" Slowly, Evangeline nodded. There were no chairs besides the bench she was sitting on, so he sat next to her and opened his book.

He had nearly read half the book by the time he stopped. Evangeline realized that she had actually started falling asleep and was now leaning her shoulder against his. The contact seemed to buzz with magic, and she was suddenly very awake.

Magnus stopped reading, and said, "You know, if my sister had gotten her way..." he paused for a long moment as if he was scared to say what came next.

"I think I would have liked to be with you, Evie." She felt like she was going to burn from the inside out for a moment at the name he had given her, but slowly the burning sensations faded. She smiled and simply laid her head against his shoulder.

"I think I would have liked that, I think." She was so flustered she was repeating herself. While the sensation of the butterflies that were flying in her stomach up to her throat was unusual, there was something comforting in it. She closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the moment.

The rest of the week of council was the longest she had lived. Magnus finished reading the novel and started another with her, and he even offered to help her with her botanical research. Finally, she found herself there at the South Gate. She had to wave goodbye to Prince Magnus Neala of Notosin. She was certain her heart could endure until they next met to resume what she had only thought she could find in fantasy. She was certain, until he chose to kiss her goodbye. He hadn't kissed her the entire week, only been there with her.

It was only a little kiss on her cheek, a moment of warmth that spread across her body. Then he was going, he and his sister were walking down the southern road. She felt the spot on her cheek burning, and she held a hand to her face. She tried to grasp at the feeling before it faded, not wanting it to disappear. She knew that one spot would torment her until they met again.

Maybe reality could be just as fantastic as her books for once when she saw him again. One thing was certain now. After only a week together, she was in love with Magnus, and she didn't regret it in the least.