Sigrid was looking out at the royal gardens through an open window and she was pleased with what she was seeing. After the delicious heavy meal they had eaten, Princess Thalassa had taken it upon herself to take a walk with prince Firron through the gardens.
The weather was still dull and it was drizzling. The two were sharing an umbrella. If Thalassa stuck to the knowledge Lord Givenchy had imparted to her and the little seductive tricks Elarin had taught her, she would be a step closer to achieving Sigrid’s goals.
"You look mighty pleased with yourself." Roland plopped down in a chair next to her.
"I bested your mother and aunt, so why not be pleased? It was a close call when Emmah....." She stopped talking because Roland stood suddenly and he carried her. "What are you doing?"
"We are going to play in the rain." he told her. He walked to the window and leaped out of it.
Sigrid let out a high pitched scream because for a moment, she thought they were plunging to death. Her heart raced at three hundred sixty kilometers per hour, like a racing car on a race track in a high stakes competition.
"You can open you eyes now." Roland said.
She opened them reluctantly, and realized that they were on the ground, in the gardens. Roland had touched down successfully.
"I think you forget often that I am a mage knight, my love. Jumping out of high places is like drinking milk to me." He chuckled.
Sigrid pushed at his chest and he set her down, she took a few deep breaths and calmed herself. As the rain fell on her, she felt the urge to return to the warm safety of the castle.
"It is raining Roland." she reminded her husband.
With a mischievous grin, he answered, "I know. You said I should be more romantic so I am giving you romance." He spread his arms out wide as if he was giving her the sky or the whole world.
The servants raced from all corners with umbrellas, cloaks, sheets and towels. They were like a scared flock of geese. "Your highness, this is highly inappropriate." Mrs. Elsworth shouted.
"You will catch a cold!" Bellowed Sir Samuel.
Charles, Roland’s butler was already shoving a towel into Roland’s hands and gesturing at the other servants to dry the hair of the crown prince which was useless because they were still standing out in the rain. No matter how much they dried it, it would just end up wet again.
"Oh for goodness sake! I am knight, I have been to war in worse weather than this." Roland grabbed the towel out of Charles’s hand and thrust it at Sir Samuel’s chest. He bent down and removed his boots, then looked at Sigrid. "My love." he extended his right hand to her.
"Your highness," Lanai whispered in a cautioning voice.
Sigrid laughed and threw caution to the air, she removed her shoes and stepped on the ground with her bare feet. Initially, the cold made her wince but it quickly dispersed and warmth filled her body.
She and Roland shared a cheeky glance and they took off running in the direction of the gardens, specifically the area with some puddles. Sigrid jumped in the water and splashed Roland with a puddle.
"Hahaha." She laughed in a deep voice, mimicking his silly laughter that he had been forced to make when she called his laughter girly one time. "I challenge you to a sword fight using our fingers."
Roland raised his hand and he made the sound of a sword being drawn. "Lady Blanche, today you will meet your doom at my finger sword." he declared.
Sigrid burst into laughter, she was struggling to keep a straight face and she managed to do so as best as she could. The silly grin she had could not be wiped away. "Lady Somerset, I will kick your ass and end you today."
Roland lowered his hand, "Lady Somerset!!" he exclaimed. "Blanch has male enemies like Lord Pendragon, call me Lord Pendragon,"
Sigrid cleared her throat and said, "Never." She looked up and laughed in a deep voice again. "You cannot fool me Lady Somerset the battle lines have been drawn now fight or die." She run towards him, yelling "Yaaaaah."
A playful fight ensued with both of them making silly sounds to mimic sword fighting. Sigrid’s finger touched Roland’s chest and flopped limply like he was about to die.
Meanwhile. the servants formed a defensive umbrella fortress on the side lines, watching what they concluded to be a romantic scene with equal degrees of confusion, amusement and horror.
The finger fight turned into a flower fight and they descended on the poor flowers to the great horror of the royal gardeners who could only watch helplessly.
Mr. Norm, the head of the gardeners whispered to Charles, "I swear, they are going to ruin the royal garden. And you know who the king and queen will blame? Us."
"It is like we are watching over children," grumbled Jesting. "It was difficult enough trading the unsteady waters during that royal lunch and now we must cross our fingers and hope the crown prince and princess don’t fall ill from playing in the rain or the king will tan our hides. It reminds me of the first time the crown prince climbed a tree as a child and got stuck. I spent an hour coaxing him down with pie."
The royal chef laughed. "I baked that pie and he said it was too piey!! To date, I do not know what he meant. How can a pie be too piey?"
The servants were not the only ones discussing Sigrid and Roland’s rain adventure. Even Prince Firron and Princess Thalassa had paused their walk to watch.
"Is he really the crown prince of your kingdom?" Firron asked.
Thalassa nodded, cleverly, she leaned against Firron. "Do not mistake his playfulness right now for weakness. I think this is actually the first time that I have ever seen him playing. Roland is always training or dealing with politics. Meeting the right woman has been good for him."
"Mmmm.." Firron smiled down at Thalassa and she smiled back before lowering her eyes to hide her blush.
As the rain started to pick up in strength, the servants attempted to coax the couple back into the castle and failed.
Sigrid used magic to turn Roland’s flower sword into a frog and she chuckled at his disbelief.
Roland held the frog up triumphantly, "Behold! A royal knight in green armor! Sir Sam Froggy, head mage knight of my army. He is here to defend me."
Sigrid giggled uncontrollably.
Sir Samuel frowned. "You have got to be kidding me." he mumbled.