Side by side we stroll down across the kingdoms land, the field is of the purest green, they sway like waves as the wind brushes through the stems of the grass, gently tickling at my ankles. It was a different scenery, behind the castle was ethereal, radiating nothing but life, life fit for a Queen. I shift my eyes from the land to the little swan aside me.

Out of everything there was to see. My eyes only craved to see her.

"This land has stories." She tells me, stepping forward on a mini hill that descends to the field below it. Her gown flows with the wind, and her glossed curls bounce in sync. "My father tells me this land wasn't like this when my great grandfather was King. The trees were far to withered and the soil was poison, he spent the majority as his life as king, digging throughout all these acres, replanting what was lost."

It was like she held my hand and we jumped to the past. Yet the shivers that race down my spine disrupts the symphony I was to feel in this moment. The hairs erect sharply onto my nape, the breeze of the wind only enhancing the cold that runs through my blood stream. With Tiana gazing out into the field, my eyes slid just a little higher above her.

A window in the second story of the castle, and a skeletal silhouette that stood behind an all-white curtain. We were being watched.

"Shall we go down?" She cuts my stare, and our eyes meet again.

"Yes, my queen." I extend my palm to her yet again, leading first as I descend down the mini hill. And as she slid her soft palm onto mine, that same electrical flick occurs again.

Her skin was warming up and her hands trembled leaving me to only grip a lighter firmer. My chest rams to the feel of her touching me and it was evident by the way my chest rose and fell, my breathing was heavy and before I knew it there was a strain down below.

I clear my throat, ripping away the eye contact in case of any other wondering eye, continuing on as we descended with her hands entangled in mine. My strides are minimal, knowing my legs are longer, but I make it down before her and I turn fully extending another hand for her to grip. Cautiously she is keen on her steps but smiles in gratitude seeing me.

Despite our caution, her gown was long, and the ends were caught under thin of her heels, a breath gust from Tiana's lips and in a nano second, she slid from the top, her hands tighten on me for protection. My instincts activate and my arms wrap around her as I fell back.

I groaned to a sharp pain that shoots at the back of my head, all whilst trying not to look at the beaming sun, its rays are like knives slicing through my brain.

"Queen Tiana, are you alright?" The maids speak at once as they rushed to the scene.

My fingers were dug into soft strands of curly hair, but as the ache in my head subdues, I glanced down the little swan in my hands. She trembles with fear, and I huffed, blowing the top strands of her hair with my breath, she snugged in my arms, no scratch.

She is nestled into me, her head rests on my chest with her hands clenching my suit until she lifts her head. The strands rests on her face and I use a finger to glide them off until our eyes meet. "You're alright my Queen." I breathed lullingly, curling my lips at the corners.

And in her moment of tranquility, she huffs back, laughing at the moment.

"My queen," The maids interfere, "Please take my hand." One of them reach out.

"No, it's ok. I'm alright." There was a twinkle in her eyes as she looks back at me. "I am more than ok." she breathed.

Things only took a turn when her knee brushed between in between my thigh. Her brows creased and she rubbed it again. "Oh, dear I'm sorry. I think I am rubbing your pistol."

I swallowed, her kneeing my groan only hardens the organ further, with the help of the maids she was on her feet, they tend to her gown and removed any residue from her hair as I stood up and turned away from view to palm this ache growing hungrier in between. The smell of her pheromones still lingers onto my clothes, and I breathe in sharply.

I catch the stare of a little maid who was nearby, she so happened to be standing a few inches from me while I diverted my attention away. The lids of her eyes were widened to saucers, and she couldn't help her grey eyes flick between my eyes and the organ that I fisted, despite my stare she never turned away, only seeming intrigued by what she saw as her expression melted to a lust.

"Annita." A voice called sharply. The little maid shook by her name, and her head bows with shame, but the red of her cheeks weren't showing any remorse. "You may head back to the castle now." Tiana says dismissively.

The organ pulses in my hands but the strain wasn't as bad, and I turn to Tiana only to be met with those eyes of daggers. Her eyes swirl with malice as the maids walk hastily back into the castle, leaving me to wonder what it is I did wrong.

"Have I displeased you, my queen?" I cock my head and my brows creased, eager to find the reason behind such a look as I stepped closer.

Her silence was loud, and it irked me. I hover above her and she falters her gaze, relaxing her shoulders. "Perhaps what you have done in the past was normal, but here try and not sleep with the woman of the castle and of the land, ok?"

I grit my teeth, entangling my hands behind my back as she goes on. So, she was paying attention to Kristoffs words.

"Men have urges, I understand." she sighs, her voice drawls lowly until it was barely anything more than a whisper. "Women clearly fawn for you, just keep you actions to a minimal."

"Women, your highness?" I cocked a brow, angling my chin slightly to the right.

"The bishop's daughter, the woman in the cottage and now the maid I-"

"Forgive me my queen, the woman you saw in the shed previously is an old friend of mine, we grew up together at the ..."

Her eyes widened for the word, but I thought quickly. "Orphanage."

Tiana's eyes relaxed, "Orphanage?" she questioned, in a breathy tone.

I nod.

Her eyes glide away with her brows furrowed, as if she was at a loss for words. "I- I am very sorry for your loss. How did - how did you lose ... your um." She is hesitant to say more, but the scars have healed long ago.

"My mother was ill my queen, and my brother was ... his life was taken very young."

"And your father?"

A flick of remorse whips at me and I grit my teeth, as I stared into her eyes, I saw the eventful day back then, back at my home, with those men, and my clothes drenched in my father's blood.

"He got involved with the wrong people." I spoke.

Sorrow swims in her eyes and light tears brim the lid, a tear gland steadies itself at the edge of her bottom eye as she bit her lip, and with a blink, the gland fell, and then another slid down her cheek. It reminds me than, her words back in the supply closet and how she related to my situation.

"I'm so sorry you went through that."

I could not for the life of me understand how easy it was for someone else to cry on your behalf, how is it she was able to feel my pain without ever walking through my shoes and feeling the scars on my body. Before, I looked at her and my mind brims with lust, and now I look at her as she spills tears for me and all I want is to soothe this thumping in my chest and pull her closer to me than ever.

A teardrop rests at the top of her cheek just underneath her eye. Steadily I raised a hand, determined to be the one to wipe the tear I caused, and her eyes follow my finger. Using my knuckle as I gently smeared the drop away from her, a wind breezed through us and her hair strands blow to the left, as does her gown.

Forgetting my circumstances I lean down. Her moist lip's part, readying for mine, lava travels down my stream at a sensational rate just at the thought of our lips meeting together, her lashes flutter and her breath became erratic.

"We can't." She whispered than, and like lighting I flung myself from her.

My chest thumps, reminding me the circumstances, we are out in this field with at least a hundred windows and possible eyes, and here I was ready to embrace a married woman, A married Queen that I am to protect.

"Your highness. Please forgive me, that was irrational and inappropriate please I -"

"No need," She cuts me off, her expression still flushed. "A part of me wanted you to."

In my peripherals a shadow moves from the window above and I grit my teeth, the feeling of dread is brought down again but this time ten folds than before. "Please my queen, lets finish the tour."

And she does just that, taking my hand as we walked side for the remainder of the day, our distance was too close for comfort, and we were occasionally meeting each other's eye. The sun sets, and the land is now dusk.

Remorsefully she looks up to me and I noticed the sadness, "There is still many more I would love to show you."

And there are many more moments I want to spend with you, my little swan.

"I guess for now, this is where we part until we can have moments again."

"I'll always be at your side my Queen."

The way I have always wanted to be my Tiana.

We stand at the side of the castle, secluded from windows, lights and eyes. Seconds soon turn to minutes, and we do nothing but stand there and hold each other's gaze. "I never asked." she finally says. "What does that tattoo mean?"

I crease my brows following her gaze, my right arm. And the only visible tattoo at the moment is the design on my pinky, inked in bold hunter green was the word 'Promise.' Years of memories told just by this simple word alone, the corner of my lips curled at the end looking down at it as the past floods my brain but clear my throat only to reply.

"A symbol of a very special day."

I see the confusion etching on her features, her eyes stare blankly as she glides them away, before nodding. "That must have been some promise."

"Indeed, my queen."

The land in orange soon darkens, the glow against our complexions fade leaving us silhouetted in a shadow, I never looked away as did she, as the sound of drums beat in my chest. I could plant myself in this garden and never rot. The same way I stare into her eyes and never blink, just like before when we looked at each other and the world seemingly went silent.

The luscious length of her lashes as they fan on her cheeks, and that radiant elegance she exudes. I'm at a loss for words by how much she has flourished.

"Who?" I break the silence. My words cut her daze and her head cocks in question. "Who is that I remind you of?"

And with that her eyes sparkled brightly like the stars as she held back a smile, "A very special person to me."

Just above her head my eyes capture a floating little light against the cemented wall of the Royal home, a dim glow of very minimal yellow, swirling loosely into the gentle wind. It seemed to have captured Tiana's eyes and she follows the drifting glow.

An astonishing expression inscribes itself onto her face, "A firefly." She gasped. The little bug plants itself onto the sleeve of my dress suite, crawling Its way up to the elbow, "It likes you." Tiana purred, the end of its body flickering a bright glowing yellow. "I have not seen one since I was a child."

It's wings flap with haste, readying for its departure. After so many years, I meet the little insect that used to guide me home, and the touch of its mini hands welcomed a strange comfort, Mother, were you here? or maybe it was my brother that is talking to me after many years of me never seeing him again. As a gust of wind blows harshly, the bug flees with the air, soaring with the gentle current, its wings balancing in the air it flaps away, leaving behind the touch of comfort it came with.

"My mother use to tell me If a firefly lands on you, someone from the heavens is nearby, telling you it will be alright."

The comfort spreads like wildfire, soft words spoke from someone I value highly in life. I can sleep well even when I am distant from her.

"Well, I guess. I guess I better go in now." She speaks timidly, her gesture said otherwise as she does not move an inch. "Good night."

As she takes a step I halt her, my hand rising in between us before she can walk past, a bold move I took, for no apparent reason other than to selfishly defy this never-ending ticking of time and continue to glance at the stars that twinkle in the corners.

"What's wrong?" she questions.

A spark flicks downs to my abdomen when she looks up to me. I curl my fingers, drowning in the battle raging inside my mind, my fingers trembling in the midst. Should I tell her? should I spill this secret now? or after she hates me for the rest of her life? either way I was destined to lose her.

I'm simply torn. "Forgive me my queen. I thought you might slip again with your gown." The demeanor I put forth were no match for the intense anxiety crumbling throughout my body like a shattering building. She is destined to hate me in the end, so for now, let me keep her smiling.

"Thank you." she gushed. "I will be alright. Good night."

"Good night my queen."

Good night, my little swan.