My first several lessons go quickly and without incident. Each of my teachers were clearly under the impression that I was an ill-mannered girl from some village on the very edges of the kingdom. They are each surprised to find that not only do I know how to properly dine, dance, read, and write, I can also do so with the elegance of a future queen. What they don't know is that I am a future queen, the question is whether I'll be future queen of this kingdom.

The real problem arises when it's time for my dress fitting. I assume that the Queen Mother felt I would not have clothes fitting my time here and that I'd need more clothes worthy of being int he presence of the previous king, previous queen, present king, and future queen. Unfortunately, because I have wings that are strapped to me via a corset and would be at last partially visible if I took my dress off for a fitting, I can't do one without some trouble. Thankfully Sia, Mirriania, and Ben came up with a plan. Sia and Mirriania send the seamstress away, claiming that she's needed elsewhere while they write down my measurements for her and pick out various dressse I can wear during my stay. By the time the seamstress arrives, exasperated because of the running around she had to do as a result of Sia and Mirriania's lie, everything is done for her. I'm even wearing one of her dresses to prove Sia and Mirriania did well.

Before I leave the seamstress, I change back into my flower-dyed dress with the help of Sia and Mirriania. And it's finally time for me to meet with Casimir.

Vin and one of the guards who relieved Vin and Inaria this morning walk me to the gardens, where I'm supposed to meet with Casimir. I see him standing at the entrance, looking very charming with a wide, inviting smile and a clean suit. Charming, but a bit unnatural.

"I don't trust him," Vin whispers to me so that the other guard can't hear.

"Of course you don't.  They're the people we're possibly about to go to war with.  If you trusted them, I'd be worried," I respond. "Now drop me off and leave like you're supposed to."

Vin gives me a look that expresses his feelings about what he's supposed to do, but I ignore it.  I smile as Casimir takes the last few steps towards me and watch through my periphery as Vin and the other guard back up a few paces.

"Zinnia, I'm glad you stayed," Casimir says with a smile.

"I said I would," I respond.

"Yes but sometimes when something as amazing as that happens, I tend to wonder if it was a dream or if it was reality."

"I think I'm beginning to understand why all the ladies at the ball wanted to gain your affections; why so many are still trying."

"Because I'm a prince?"

"Because if you speak to everyone the way you're speaking to me, it's likely that every lady in the kingdom would be infatuated with you."

"Including you?" he asks as a smirk tugs at his lips.  He holds out his arm and I take it as he leads me the last few steps out of the castle.

"You'll have to try harder than that if you want to gain my affections as well. After all, you seem like quite the handful."

"When you say things like that it's no wonder I thought your agreement to stay in the castle was nothing but a dream.  Why would you agree if you felt that way about me?"

"I haven't the slightest clue.  Maybe I'd gone temporarily mad?"

"Then are you still mad?"  I give him a curious look, so he explains further.  "You're here now, so you must still be mad."

"I'm not mad," I laugh.  "But I'll admit, I don't know why I'm here."

That's not true, of course.  I know exactly why I came, but I won't tell him why.  I refuse to let him know of either reason.  The first reason would cause problems with both my people and his, while the second reason... I'm not completely sure of it. I don't even know why I'm bringing it up.

"I won't question it," he says with a smile.

We walk through an arch wrapped in vines and purple and white flowers.  On the other side of the arch is a more secluded area in the garden surrounded by hedges.  There are three other entrances from the area that perfectly match the one we walked through.  The stone path we're walking on leads directly to an iron table in the center of the garden that has such small and intricate detail that I assume it was made specifically for the royal family.  The two chairs placed on opposite sides of the table were clearly made for it, having a similar design.

I look to the arrangement of the table, noticing the three tier cake stand in the center.  On the bottom tier sits a variety of sandwiches, on the middle tier sits scones and biscuits, and on the top tier sits some type of cookie I've never seen before in varying colors.  I smile, noticing the similarity between the color scheme of the cookies and the color scheme of the zinnias I assume Casimir had planted in the area.  I almost missed them, but I see that there are red, magenta, yellow, and white zinnias outlining the path in a pattern.

"Do you like it?" he asks.  "It was the best I could do in less than a day."

"This is... absolutely perfect," I answer honestly.  It couldn't be more perfect.  Generally, I think everything would be more perfect in the moonlight, but I really believe this is just about as perfect as this could be.

"Good."  He smiles and pulls my chair out for me.  Once I sit and pull my chair in, he rounds the table and sits in his chair.  Almost immediately after Casimir sits down, a man walks over and pours tea into my teacup.

"Thank you," I say which he responds to with a smile and a nod.  "You really didn't have to do this much."

"I  wanted to.  The smile, the absolute pure joy I saw on your face after we walked under the arch made it all worth it."

"You're only making it harder on yourself."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well if you're doing this much to impress me the second time we see each other, imagine how much you'll have to do even by our fifth meeting.  You're backing yourself into a corner."

"If I can't make you that happy every time we meet, then you deserve to spend your time with someone else."

"You're a very charming prince."

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment," I reply immediately.  "A lot of men are charming.  They know just what to say and when to say it and how to say it.  Ladies fall for that charm quickly without even knowing what's happening only to find out later that he's everything she wanted to avoid.  I don't want charming.  I want whatever you were when we met.  Fun, sincere... thoughtful."

He sits back in his chair with a smile that reaches his eyes.  He stays that way for a few moments, his smile unfaltering the entire time.  "Will you come somewhere with me?" he asks.

"Now?"  He nods.  "I don't know.  I was really looking forward to tea and I'm very interested in these cookies."

"The macarons?  You like them?"

"I don't know.  I've never had one, but they're certainly beautiful."

"You've never had one?  Then I'll make sure they're packed for us."

"Packed?"

I watch as Casimir calls over one of the servants standing by the hedge surrounding us.  He whispers something to which the servant responds to with a nod before leaving.  "So what do you say?  Come with me?"

"Why?"

"Because more than anything, right now I want to give you what you want."  Seconds later, the servant returns with a basket and a blanket and hands them to Casimir who puts the blanket over one arm, freeing his other arm for me.  "So?"

"Since I'm curious," I respond, taking his outstretched hand.

He smiles at me and leads me out the arch opposite the one we entered through.  "We're to be left alone," he says as we pass by.  Everyone in the area nods once and we make our way through the garden. I glance back at Vin, who's still visible at the doorway. It's clear the effort he's using to stay where he is instead of following us.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"I thought I told you last time, I really like surprises."

"Then I'll surprise you with something next time, but I don't like surprises."

"Next time?"  He smiles like a child who's just been given the best birthday present possible.  "I like how that sounds."

"Don't get ahead of yourself.  There has to be a next time. I'm stuck here for days now that I've made a commitment.  Besides, I'm still not completely sure why we're doing this.  I liked the the cute little private tea time we were having."

He looks back at me with a slight frown.  "That wasn't private.  The servants in our castle are the biggest gossips.  My parents hired them for that exact reason.  They want to know exactly what happens today, which means I have to put on a small show for them and to an extent, so would you."

"Is that where the charm came in?"

"I like to think I'm naturally charming, but yes, I was more so than usual because I knew it'd get back to my parents."

"They don't like the sincere, kind, thoughtful version of you?"

"Well, the ladies they've tried to set me up with in the past have apparently found me a little annoying to talk with, cheap with presents, and too selfish."

"Selfish?"

"I don't think they enjoyed the sudden changes in plans."

"You do that a lot."

"Only when I can tell someone isn't enjoying themselves, but you're the only one who's ever enjoyed my corrections."

"Like the zinnias?"

"Yes and hopefully, you'll enjoy this too."

"This being...?"

"Well, I want you to see the zinnias in the daylight.  They're just as beautiful, but at this time of year they also tend to have wings."

"Wings?"  My question is answered immediately after asking it.  Every other zinnia has a butterfly perched on top and several other butterflies are fluttering through the garden as if this is their home.

"Did I get it right?"

"You haven't gotten it wrong yet."