Nathaniel was standing behind his desk when Akhile entered. The silence in his office was haunting, like a funeral or the silence at the bottom of a grave where your loved ones have left you for eternity.
The windows overlooked the Meadowlands' scenic view, with the windowpanes being emerald green with a contrast of red and yellow at different angles. Akhile used to be Catholic, so what came to mind was going up to a Priest for her confessional.
"Princess Cora," he said, raising his head just enough.
"Master Nathaniel," she replied.
He grinned and raised one of his thick red eyebrows. "I am inclined for you to call me Nathaniel, or Nate, or…my honey! Daddy, or my dearest fiancé."
Akhile sat on a chair opposite his desk. An elaborate mahogany desk. She plumed on the chair, and the chiffon on her dress made a whirling sound, like when you throw out a plastic bag with rubbish inside. She sat, posture straightened, hands folded tightly on her lap.
"Yes," she replied. "Hello daddy!" She said it loudly so that the butler in the hallway could hear this.
With great conviction, Nathaniel refrained from a response. Instead, he fixed his grin and sat on his big, leather armchair.
"Master Nathaniel to you then." He signed to the butler to bring beverages and a snack for the Princess. "Make sure to bring a basket of peaches, she's rather fond of them."
"You have been behaving unpredictably," Nathaniel said.
Akhile blinked. "By walking outside?"
"By avoiding structure," he replied. "Our way of doing things is structured, and that matters."
"So does freewill," she said.
"In your position," Nathaniel said calmly, "freewill is a privilege. Your entire life is governed by duty."
There it was. Calculation, and then the judgmental stare.
"You said this marriage was inevitable," Akhile said. "Not that I would be monitored."
"I said nothing about monitoring," Nathaniel replied. "I said inevitability."
He stepped away from the desk and toward the window, hands clasped behind his back.
"The blood moon marriage is not symbolic of a dark occurrence," he said. "It is governed by rules."
Akhile's swallowed hard.
"What kind of rules?"
"Timing. Location. Vows. Witnesses." He paused. "Consummation."
The last words startled her. "Consummation?".
His grin returned. He noticed that she looked absolutely innocent and naïve about all of this. Nathaniel found himself staring a bit to intensely at her. He studied the fuzz on her upper lip, and assumed it came from the peaches. He wished he could ask her to lick it off…maybe that was inappropriate.
Her brow was always cross, like she detested his presence. It made him feel discouraged because he too, was being forced into this betrothal business. He would have a grumpy, condescending wife.
"Precisely," he continued. "No deviation from the above-mentioned steps."
"So, this is a merger," she said flatly.
"It is survival," Nathaniel replied. "Romance is not important."
"And I'm what?" she asked. "A vessel?"
"You are the binding clause." He broke out laughing.
Anger flared, hot and sharp.
"You don't get to reduce me to an object," she said.
"If you were who they believed you to be," Nathaniel said quietly, "you would already have accepted this."
She stiffened.
"What…what do you mean-?"
"It means Princess Cora was raised to understand duty," he said. "She did not question anything so much."
"And I do," Akhile said.
"Yes, there is something strange about you." Nathaniel replied. "You have changed. It's as if overnight."
He turned fully toward her now, studying her with new intensity.
"You think in systems," he continued. "You think like a commoner, someone not born of this kingdom. That is not how you were described."
"Maybe your information is outdated," she snapped.
"Or incomplete," he said.
She laughed once, bitterly. "Let me guess, my feelings are irrelevant too?"
"Entirely," Nathaniel said. "As are mine." He cleared his throat and waved to the butler to bring in the tea and his glass of gin. "Do you think that I too want to be tied to a woman I don't love?"
Akhile froze in her midst. The butler poured some black tea into a white porcelain cup and brought it steaming on a saucer, to Akhile. Nathaniel however, prepared his own glass, with ice and a chopped mint leaf.
"I understand that this is not for love. I have been lectured to on a barrage of requirements from me, the love section is always first. Besides, I couldn't understand someone to marry you for love…maybe for your status in society, your money."
"Touche!"
Nathaniel took a large gulp from his glass and forced it down. He felt his throat ablaze for a moment, so he, pinched his eyes and let out a sigh.
"We have to consummate our marriage…what does that mean exactly? Are we husband and wife on paper or for this treaty, or will we live separate lives?"
"Probably. I live in Neilelis Town for the majority of the time. You may stay here if you want, but you will be my wife until death do us part. Although my husbandly duties are only to help you have an heir for the kingdom, you can't date anyone else. As for me, however, that's not appropriate for you to know."
"So, this is an admission, clearly put," she said. "You'll marry me and continue bedding whomever you want."
"My personal habits do not interfere with duty," he replied.
The lack of shame unsettled her. At least he could respect her rank as a royal Highness.
"And what is expected of me?" she asked.
"Compliance," Nathaniel said.
She frowned. "I think I have had enough of this for one day." Akhile put her cup on the side table and stood up to leave.
Nathaniel shot up immediately to grab her arm, "Just one last thing…maybe 2 more things."
Akhile snatched her arm away and tightened her fist.
"You bastard! How dare you grab me like that?"
Nathaniel stepped away and smacked his forehead in frustration. Akhile wanted to leave, but she was afraid. Cora would have stayed to be told about duty.
"Princess Cora," he said, "I apologise, that will never happen again." He crossed his eyebrows and stiffened his face. In the meantime, that dark aura which always accompanies him began to dim the room.
"Apology accepted," said Akhile.
In that instance, Nathaniel walked over to Akhile and grabbed her left hand and held it in between his large hands. Akhile's hand was tiny and exaggerated Nathaniels true size.
"I mean it, I'm sorry. I- sometimes-... my temper…" He stopped talking and looked for a reaction from her, but she was not reciprocating.
Akhile could feel his cold hands against hers. The ice from his drink made him feel cold, his entire being was cold.
"What can I do to make you smile again?"
Akhile remained neutral. "You could let go of my hand."
Nathaniel dropped her hand immediately, almost as if he was caught in a trance and had come back to his senses.
He cleared his throat and said, "Please sit, we are almost done." He continued, "The next blood moon is in 6 months. We have to be prepared for when the time comes."
Akhile tried her best not to respond. The argumentative Cora needed to keep quiet and listen.
"Therefore, we need to spend as much time as we can together so that things are not…awkward."
Akhile finally said, "So you do agree it's kind of weird to marry a stranger and the consummating part. I would have to be drunk on 2 bottles of wine or something stronger, eeuw! Makes my skin crawl. You should probably bring your gin as well."
Nathaniel laughed, a loud, forced laugh. "I don't need gin to make love to my wife."
"Oh man, 3 bottles of wine then. How would you just…,make it happen? Do you have any tips perhaps?"
"Cora, this is very inappropriate. You are a lady, a princess."
She stood up again and paced to the green windows. She peered out, arms folded. "I am a lady, but if I'm going to do this, I need the truth, I need to be prepared."
"Okay…" Nathaniel grinned and for a moment, Akhile could sense that she had made him blush. "I don't have any tips... When I'm with a woman, any woman I'm attracted to, I just bed her."
Akhile coughed violently.
"Princess Cora, when it's all said and done, you do not have to worry about that. We will cross that bridge when we get there."
"Okay, I guess."
There was a lingering silence between them. Time was needed to process this information.
"Princess Cora?"- called Nathaniel, breaking out of his vow of silence.
"Yes?"
"I will not make you do anything you don't want to do. Please understand this. I want you to come to me willingly, not because you are forced by duty."
"But I thought you said-"
Nathaniel interrupted her. "You have my word."
Akhile walked back to her seat. She was calm and relieved.
"You will begin working for me, starting next week," he said.
Akhile stared. "Working?"
"You will be my wife in 6 months," he continued. "Which makes you a shareholder of our company. I need you to fully understand the ways of the company."
"But I'm not trained for this."
"You understand supply chain," he said. "Project management, risk management?"
"Correct."
"Then that's settled," Nathaniel replied calmly.
The dull pressure stirred faintly near her temple. She gently massaged with her fingers.
"You think you'd like having a personal assistant?" he added.
The words landed harder than she expected. "Yes."
"Good. You will relocate temporarily to the Neilelis industrial town," Nathaniel said. "Where you will observe operations firsthand."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you remain ornamental," he said. "And ornamental things break."
Silence.
Akhile thought of the orchard. Of Norman. She longed to bury her feet on the ground and recenter again.
"When do I start?" she asked.
"Next Monday."