Caroline was about to push back –she wanted to push back– when some part of her brain snapped her back to reality. She pulled back again, this time out of Emory's arms, and stumbled away from him, turning so she was facing the other way. Her hand came up to her forehead. "No . . . I." Her mind reeled. She turned towards Emory again, realizing she had just left him standing there. "Should we . . . should we even be doing this?" She struggled to catch her breath. She looked in his general direction, fearing what she would do if she looked at him again. She walked to one of the stone benches surrounding the clearning and sat down, facing Emory.
While Caroline’s change in manner had confused the Prince initially, he could understand where she was coming from. The two of them shouldn’t be having such a clandestine moment, especially since they hadn’t even become engaged. If word got out then it could cause a stir and some more than unsavory may be thrown around. Emory walked over to pick his fallen jacket from the ground, folding it over his arm. He could feel a slight warmth radiating through his gloves, a warmth he knew to be Caroline’s. With a small smile, he turned to her. “Forgive me, princess, I was completely stepping over the boundary. I shan’t do it again.”
Caroline was able to catch her breath and her mind cleared somewhat as Prince Emory grabbed his coat off the ground. "Thank you, Prince Emory." She nodded to him and stood from the bench. "We should head back. I suspect we will be missed. The two of us especially." She could not believe she had done that. She barely knew this man. What if she was trusting him too much and word got out? Who was she? One dance with a person and suddenly she was kissing him. She started to walk into the maze. "Thank you for the dance. Now follow me. I do not want you to get lost."
Emory fell into step with Caroline, his hands clasped behind his back. "The dance was my pleasure. Thank you for showing me the center of the maze." The relationship between the prince and princess was now, surely, going to change. But how were they to act now, in public? The same as before? Emory had never gotten this far into anything before, he had never even kissed someone before, so all of this was new, terrifying territory for him. Would it be in their best interests if the two of them treat each other as friends rather than political allies?
Caroline knew what she was doing, and she suspected Emory knew what he was doing too. The overly formal language. The way they didn't walk too close together. It was as if their parents were both standing right next to them. As if they had just been caught. . . . So they both overcompensated. "Thank you for coming with me." Caroline started to sigh, then quickly stifled it, hoping Emory wouldn't hear it. She may as well try to get to know him. They would be spending lots of time together, after all. "So Prince Emory. How do you find Eberton so far? I know it must be quite different than Valedinia."
"It is vastly different to Valedinia, princess. Valedinia is more of an industrial kingdom with fewer rural parts. That's an aspect where Eberton has always surpassed us, what with the amount of forestry and landscape you have." Life in Valedinia was always hectic, everyone was always working and it seemed that his people had forgotten what kind of luxury it was to be able to see frost form on flowers, or even just flowers themselves.
If Emory's father decided to invade Eberton, he would waste no time in seeing the rural areas destroyed, making room for industrial life to prosper—something that Emory himself was strongly against. He loved the country, the clean and refreshing air it brought them, to destroy it would be like destroying the earth itself.
The prince shrugged his jacket back on, dusting it off after fastening the buttons, just as they made it back to the ball. Something appeared to be off with a number of the guests, and familiar voices could be heard shouting in the distance.
