Edmund felt like he was walking on air, as light as a cloud. That girl had been absolutely enchanting and beautiful. The most gorgeous creature he’d ever seen. Long red hair that curled in ringlets as it billowed down her back, ivory skin, the most gorgeous green eyes, green as foliage or trees, and the face of an angel.
Fira, his aunt, talked of things like love at first sight. Saying she’d seen people struck by it and there was nothing they could do about it. He’d thought it was all poppycock. It was the single area where his aunt, who was no nonsense about everything else in life, was, well, for lack of a better phrase, full of nonsense.
But that wasn’t the case. This wasn’t a time when she was mistaken. No, as in everything else about life, she had been right about this. He returned to the castle, met by greetings of “Highness” and “Prince” and many bows. It was both comforting and disturbing. The bows meant he was treated with respect, but did they actually respect him? There was no way to know for certain.
His father some respected, but more feared. And after he died, his aunt had taken over the kingdom and ruled with a fair and even hand. She was really a placeholder, as the kingdom was really his. She was the elder stateswoman tasked with running things until he came of age, which was this winter. Part of him longed for the change, while part of him simply longed to be a person who came and went as he pleased, a guy who could stumble into a clearing and find a beautiful maiden on any given day. Yet, he didn’t eschew responsibility. He felt an obligation to Fira, to his people, not to let slide away the work had been done repairing the kingdom after Errol’s demise.
He arrived late in the day, too late for him to hear whatever matters his aunt was overseeing at court. His hope was to slip into his chambers, change out of his clothes, which had gotten muddy on the journey home, and then have a meal. Only when he arrived in his chambers, he found his aunt sitting in a chair at his dressing table.
“Aunt Fira,” he said, forcing a smile. “I’m surprised to find you here.”
She sighed, her white hair piled in a fancy knot atop her head. “Edmund,” she said, exasperation in her voice. “I know you love the outdoors, and I know I have encouraged that love in you, but at some point you must perform some of your duties. I’d hoped you’d stay and overhear disputes.”
Disputes were an unpleasant matter, one he didn’t care for. He detested people fighting. His father had done nothing but fight, and what had it gotten the great King Errol? Decapitation; his lifeless head returned to the castle with the message, “He will trouble kingdoms no more.”
Edmund shook away the gruesome memory and looked at his aunt. “I am aware,” he said. “I just prefer some of the other matters, the diplomatic missions. I have made several journeys and know many of our neighboring kingdoms well, dear aunt.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Dear Edmund, diplomacy among others is nothing if you cannot be kind to those in your own kingdom. You work so hard not to make your father’s mistakes of frightening all in his wake that you find new mistakes of your own to make. The people of your kingdom are very important, too.”
He nodded. She was correct. “Alright,” he said. “Tomorrow morning I will sit through court, so long as I have the afternoon to myself.”
Fira raised an eyebrow and examined him closely. “You look quite happy and carefree today,” she said. She put her hand to her chin and added. “In fact, you look smitten.”
Edmund tried to stifle his shock. He had no idea how that woman knew so much. She had a way with people, and particularly with him. She was the only parent he’d really ever known. His mother had died in child birth and his father was always off on some quest. Only Fira, Errol’s older sister, had stayed to care for the child he left behind. She had been fierce and independent in youth and intensely loyal to those she loved. While she was loving, she had never married.
“Auntie, you know me too well,” he admitted.
“And whom is this girl? Someone from court?”
Edmund shook his head. “I don’t know much about her, except to say that she is different from us, and fantastic. I plan to see her again tomorrow afternoon.”
Fira smiled, exposing a few wrinkles on her face. Fira’s hair had whitened years and years ago, when she was just a young lass, but her face was always youthful. While her face still appeared relatively smooth, he knew she was slowing with age. “That is good,” she said. “I think you need to find a maiden who tames your heart so you want to stay settled.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be tame, auntie. I’m a wild thing. Isn’t that what you’ve always said?”
“Yes indeed, I did say that. But all of us can be tamed by love. Your father was, and I think that if he had endured its bitter end more easily, he would have been a better ruler.”
Edmund bristled at mention of his father. He didn’t want to be anything like him. He wasn’t anything like him. He was more like Fira, strong and honest.
“Dear, I hope that you don’t think Errol was all bad,” she said. “He was misguided. You’re very much like him in some ways, in the good ways. Tall, strong, thoughtful at times. But, when your mother died, taken from him just at the time he most needed her, at the time that should have been his triumph, he didn’t know what to do. Rather than opening his heart, he hardened it. Instead of pushing through the sorrow and appreciating the wonders he had left, he closed himself off and sought only the things that could not hurt him. He sought more land, more things, things that could not be taken from him capriciously. Things he felt he could defend. But, in life, we all suffer losses. It doesn’t mean we harden our hearts. It means we simply must love what remains more and be open to new things.”
Edmund sighed as he stared at his aunt. Always so wise. “I wish he’d listened to you,” he said. “Perhaps he would’ve been a better man.”
Fira smiled wistfully. “We cannot change the past, dear. We can only improve our futures. And if the young lady who you are so smitten with is as smitten with you, then that can only bring good tidings.”
Edmund chuckled. “When it comes to love, you are always so positive Auntie,” he said. “I sometimes wonder at how that can be.”
“I used to be a bit like Errol, hard on love, but my friend Radella taught me a thing or two at a time I needed it most. If you can find happiness in your life, the world will be better. I thought Radella might be able to get through to your father at some point, but I was wrong. So wrong.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Just remember that if you find love, treat it with care and hold on for as long as it’s yours.”