And so, Prince Thomas talked to his wife, the princes talked to each other, and the three of them attempted to convince the King and Queen. Before long, Markus was sent for, and the discussion continued. The Queen did most of the questioning, and the Crown Prince and his wife did most of the answering. The Second Prince only answered when a question was directed at him, and Markus only spoke when the Queen refused to let someone else answer for him. Finally, with no decision having been reached, the King asked to talk to Markus alone, and everyone else was told to vamoose.

“How old are you?” The King spoke imperiously, but Markus suspected his lofty manner was put on to impress, rather than true to his character. The King was tall, like his sons, but his amiable expression and unruly beard took away any chance of appearing imposing.

“I am nineteen years old, my lord.”

“And do you think your nineteen years have given you the experience required to stand by a prince’s side?”

“In all honesty, I have no idea what is required to stand by a prince’s side. It was never my aim to marry a prince; I only wish to marry your son.”

“I think you may have the Queen convinced, my boy, but although the people answer to their king, a king has to answer to his people. Do you think they will accept you? My courtiers are useless, squabbling fools – there’s a good reason we only have three – so I wouldn’t bother to consult them on this, or anything else. But I don’t need anyone to tell me that the neighbouring kingdoms may very well look down on us for this. We are at peace, and I am sure that peace will continue, so we have no need of allies, but it is always good to be on equal footing with the other kingdoms, especially since we are so small. This is not a straightforward matter.”

The King sighed. “Fairy- tales might say otherwise, my boy, but love isn’t all-important. There are other things of value, like having a family. As much as I love my wife, my children mean far more to me. Are you really willing to forgo that?”

“Family is also very important to me, my lord. The only kin I have is my sister, but she is now married. If she has children, I intend to love them and look after them whenever it is needed. As for Prince Alexis, I hear that his brother’s wife will have a child before long. With that much family, I can hardly think myself unlucky.”

“Hmm… Love is a fickle thing, my boy. I don’t believe in any such thing as ‘true love’, just people we can love to some extent. It is no rare thing to learn to love another. What will you do if someone else comes along, and it seems Alexis could love them instead?”

Markus felt sure he was being tested, but he could not determine which answer the King wanted. Would he want Markus to be persistent or to step aside? “My lord, I’m not sure I can answer that. It is difficult enough to know what I should do in such a situation, but even harder to guess what I would actually do. Perhaps I should let him go, if I thought he could be happier that way. On the other hand, perhaps I should try to make sure he was happy enough with me that he would never feel himself lacking in anything. The only thing I know for sure is that if he was to choose someone else, I would not stay here. I could never bear to watch that happen. If we parted ways it would be completely and utterly.”

The King chuckled. “Well, that’s about as good an answer as any of us can give, and I appreciate your honesty. Now tell me, for I’m rather curious, would you plan to continue gardening after marrying my son?”

Markus was a little taken aback at the question. “I… hadn’t thought of it, actually… my lord. I’m not sure. I do enjoy my job, and if I found myself with lots of time to myself then continuing it would seem to make sense… but if that was impossible then I wouldn’t be too gutted.”

“You don’t seem to have thought things out very well. Is there anything you are sure of?”

“I am sure that I love your son. And there is plenty of time to discuss and decide upon these things.”

“Ah, I give in! Both my children are very stubborn, I’ll have you know. Alexis is set on marrying you and Thomas is set on helping him. My wife seemed quite open to the idea, and even my daughter-in-law agrees with you! I have tried not to spoil my sons too much, but somehow I always end up giving them what they want. Fine, fine. So be it! Go and tell Alexis that I’ll let you marry.” He said this grudgingly, but again Markus thought this was more for show than out of any real resentment.

“Thank you, my lord.” Markus bowed and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Markus,” the King added, calling him back. “You can leave out the bowing and the ‘my lord’s from now on.”