At the dining table Lily tried her best to avoid the grins and smirks Peter was sending her from a few seats further away. She focused on her sister rambling on and on about this fiancé of hers, but Lily didn't quite capture anything about him. She felt a soft hand coming from her left. It was Arthur.

„Are you alright?" He whispered. But Lily couldn't help sinking even deeper in the soft pillows of the chair. Her mother shot her an angry glare from across the table. Lily swallowed and straightened her back. „I'll guess you just got me tired from this afternoon." She shot Arthur a magnificent smile. 

She noticed Peter staring too and as he saw her pulling herself together, his good mood disappeared. She laid her hand on Arthur's arm „But that doesn't mean I didn't like it." She said loud enough for Peter to hear it. It was true, she did enjoy the sword fighting lessons. Arthur grinned. 

Peter excused himself and stood up, leaving the other guests stare at his sudden exit.

„How rude." was the first thing Queen Isabella whispered towards her husband but loud enough for everyone to hear. Merlin quickly defended his apprentice „You'll have to excuse him. He's rather busy with a certain project I gave him. It's the first time I've seen him so eager. We should admire his motivation." 

Lily wasn't sure motivation was all that moved Peter but she decided to wisely keep her mouth. 

After dinner, Arthur walked up to her. „Would it be inappropriate if I asked you to  join me on a garden stroll?" He bowed. Queen Isabella nearly pushed Lily down the stairs in her attempts to match the two royals. 

Lily took Arthur's arm with a smile. The gardens were even prettier than they were in the morning. Small lights were hanging high in the trees, and decorating the many small fountains. The whole garden bathed in a dimmed light, that made the colors even brighter than they were in the daylight. Lily mostly stared in awe at her surroundings.

Arthur started their conversation. „You know, I really liked spending time with you today." He smiled. Lily couldn't help but feel really at ease when she spoke to Arthur. „Yes, me too. We should do it again soon." Together, arm in arm, they continued their walk. 

„We will have plenty of time, actually. You know, our families have already made the deal." Arthur suddenly threw at her. Lily was a bit shocked but nevertheless she could've expect it from her mother. After all, Athena was engaged the day she met her prince. „So... it's official now?" Lily wondered. She was somewhat disappointed. Of course she didn't expect much romance, but just bluntly stating they were engaged now, wasn't romantic at all. She thought back at the library. The rules for royals are just different.

Arthur took her hand and jogged towards a more hidden place back in the garden. It was even prettier than the rest if that was possible. It was a nice small star gazing house. She looked up at the stars. 

Then Arthur got her attention back. „What are you doing?" Lily laughed. He was standing a bit nervous. But he took both her hands in his.

"Lilith, I know we haven't known each other for long, and I know the decision is made without our doing, but I..." He kneeled down on one knee, „I have the feeling this is right. Will you please do me the honor to see if my intuition is true and become my wife and Queen?" 

Lily was shocked. It was all happening so fast, though she knew one day or another it would become official. She knew the decision was already made, she didn't quite have a choice. But she appreciated it that Arthur did this effort even if it wasn't necessary. She sighed and smiled. With one hand she tilted Arthur's head up, making him stand up again. „I'd love to." She knew most royals didn't even have a friendship in their marriage so she was blessed actually. She leaned in and kissed him.

Arthur pulled his arms around her waist as she pulled him closer, her hands folding together at the bottom of his neck. The kiss was nice, but Lily couldn't help thinking about the fire Peter's kiss ignited. This was different. She pulled back. Arthur looked at her, a smile spread across his face. 

Lily suddenly felt very guilty thinking about Peter when she had Arthur by her side, who she knew would never harm her. Arthur slowly slid a small silver ring around her finger. A line of crystals were twirling around. „It's beautiful." She replied. 

Arthur took her face in both hands „Can I?" He asked but Lily didn't have to respond since she already felt his lips on hers again. She smiled and decided to stop thinking about Peter. She would get her love, even if she had to make it herself.

♕ ♕ ♕ ♕

From his balcony Peter saw two figures wandering back towards the castle, arm in arm but too close to be just friends. He frowned when he noticed Lily and Arthur walking up the stairs, laughter rising up. The light was reflected by something on Lily's finger. 

No, it can't. Did she really... ? 

Peter turned his back towards the window and slouched towards his desk. The pages of his books were all opened on the same map of an unknown island. A sketch of the young woman hidden between the pages of one of them. He took it out and laid his fingers on top of it, slowly touching where her cheeks would be.

He remembered the first time he saw her. 

„Peter, remember be careful. If you spill anything, I'll make you lick it up, and we both know how dangerous that can be." Merlin said, angrily pointing with his finger, before he ran downstairs looking for his formula rolls. Peter rolled his eyes, high up in the windy tower. He started putting the bottles away in the cabinets when a sudden wind entered through the cracked window. Papers were flying around, a globe fell over, and books landed with a loud thud on the floor. 

Peter sighed when he saw what damage the wind had caused. One bottle was spread across the entire table, soaking the papers with difficult translations and methods in a light blue sparkling juice. He collected the papers and hung them on a line hoping for them to dry, he cleaned the table as good as possible. Luckily it wasn't liquid fire, then there would've been no table left to clean. He put the bottle away but noticed a small drop of the blue liquid left on his fingertip. Without thinking he licked it off. When he realized what he had done, a white flash covered his sight.

He saw flashes of a young blonde girl, about his age, maybe younger. Her curls moved as she did and she smiled and waved at him. Another vision where she was swimming in the sea. She stood up, the water forming tiny crystal drops on her skin but just when he noticed she wasn't wearing anything but the vision switched. They were together laying on a forest ground,their hands intertwined. A breeze making one strand of her hair fall in front of her eyes. Flash. She was standing underneath a waterfall, her bare back towards him. She seductively looked over her shoulder. Flash. They were walking together in a garden, the morning sun barely shining through the clouds. When he turned around he saw her dashing smile before everything went black and he stood back in the tower. 

Dizzy from the visions that had only lasted a few seconds, he held on to the closest thing nearby which unfortunately was Merlin. „Liked what you saw?" He said and he firmly took the bottle from Peter. „Expecto Futurum." said the perch label. „Oh, boy. I do hope that you liked what you saw"

That was about 4 months ago and the image of the girl had  never left his mind. He wondered about her name, her character, her past, her interests,... 

At the dance, his attention was caught when a young blonde girl, around 17, maybe 18 years old walked down the stairs in a magnificent red dress. Her blue eyes connected with his and she smiled. The exact same smile he had seen in his visions. She was even prettier than he could remember. It seemed as if her image in his head had been blurry until he saw her in real life. Peter didn't dare to look further at her so he went back to his conversation where he had lost all interest in. He couldn't believe that he had just seen the girl from his future.

He turned around, looking for her and he noticed her. She took Arthur's hand, the Prince who he was working for with Merlin. He sighed. He didn't have any luck, did he? The two royals danced around laughing and talking. Peter got more frustrated as time passed. When he noticed Arthur was finally leaving her alone, he took his chance. 

He was determined to win her heart over, just like she did with his. 

A/N ♡
First of all, thank you for all the great comments ! Made my day !

I want to apologies for the long time it took to upload this chapter. But I've been busy with my exams lately and I've been skiing this week where I didn't bring my computer to, so that explains why it took so long to update :)

Please comment and vote, would make my day :)

x

Quote♡
He's more myself than I am.

Whatever our souls are made of,

his and mine are the same.

- EMILY BRONTE