The King's Only True Love

Chapter 2: Their Encounter

She stood at the roadside as tears fell from her eyes. Since she was going to die, she might always break a rule.

Nobody is supposed to look the king straight in the eyes but that is what she is going to do. They are supposed to bow their heads low whenever they are in his presence but she was not going to bow since she is going to die either way. Acacia shed more tears as she thought about her mother, she will never be this disobedient in her afterlife.

She brought down her head cover as she looked up at the carriage approaching. The carriage approached further and stopped 2 feet away from her.

She noticed the way the knights looked at her in pity, they didn't say a word to her or told her to bring her head down because if they do they too will die.

She looked at the carriage and waited for the king to come out from it.

Gideon knocked on the carriage door and it was opened "How many are they?" Emerald asked without looking at Gideon.

"It's a young girl your majesty" Gideon answered, deep down he felt pity for her but there is nothing he can do.

Emerald sighed "I knew someone would disobey for sure"

"Do you want us to take care of her?" Gideon asked, he was hoping for the king to say yes so he could think of a way to help the young girl.

"No, I want to see the one person that disobeyed," he said and went down from the carriage. Emerald looked at the whole surrounding and breathed the fresh air before walking to the front to see the young girl that disobeyed.

Acacia moved her eyes to the other side of the carriage since that was where she was hearing footsteps.

When Emerald walked up to the front and met eyes with Acacia the anger he was feeling inside was replaced with a warm feeling. Why? Shouldn't he be in rage with the fact that she was staring right at him instead of bowing her heads down low?

While his heart was being replaced with a warm unexplainable feeling, Acacia's heart beat more rapidly in fear as her whole body trembled and tears kept on pouring out from her eyes. It took all the strength in her to stand on her foot and stare right back at the handsome man in front of her who was unbelievably the wicked king. Now she believes the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover' she had seen that in one of the numerous books she has read.

He stood some feet away and looked her straight in the eye. Why was he standing there instead of ordering them to kill her? He had this unreadable look on his face, his face looked so innocent like a man who hasn't committed crimes against his people. She would have never thought that this innocent outward-looking man was the wicked king.

Was this a staring contest or what? She was looking straight at his gold eyes and he was doing the same, but he was different. The way he was looking at her was different, it felt as if he was looking right into her soul and seeing her fears right now. She got tired of staring and then looked away.

All the knights stood there in silence as they were confused by the whole staring context.

When she was no longer looking at him he advanced toward her until he was standing close to her. Emerald raised her chin so she would look at him.

At this point Acacia could no longer breathe properly, she was dead scared. All the cruel things he has done since he became king replayed in her head.

Emerald didn't like the fact that she was afraid of him, but he has instilled so much fear in his people that they will be so scared and even anticipate their death.

"Breathe properly," He said in a calm, sweet way.

The knights were shocked by how calmly the king had spoken to the girl. Emerald wasn't a loud talker, but when he spoke, his words carried a lot of command and authority and even instilled fear in his listeners. This was the first time they have had him speak with so much kindness.

Acacia was also shocked by the way he spoke to her. If this was how kind he spoke to his people, nobody would be so afraid of him.

She tried her best to breathe easy, as she waited for the next thing he wanted to say or his next action.

"Much better," he said as he looked into her eyes "What a strange color of eye you have," he said as he ran his hand through her face.

Acacia flinched and stepped back a little. But he walked closer to her, closing the gap between them.

"Here I was thinking this town was so boring and uninteresting that I started regretting coming here, but I was completely wrong," He said as he touched her cheek.

Oh no, was he planning to r**e her and then kill her afterward? There was no other explanation for the way he was acting towards her. Acacia thought in her head as more tears fell from her eyes.

Emerald cleaned her tears as they fell from her eyes "Meeting you made this town way more interesting than the other places I have gone to in my life" he said

" Please," Acacia said as she cried even more " Don't do any other thing to me, just kill me only," she said with a trembling voice.

Emerald didn't understand what she meant by him not doing any other thing with her. " What's your name?" He asked

Acacia swallowed hard " Acacia" she stammered

"Acacia" he mumbled, " what's your full name?" He asked

Acacia widened her eyes, if she tells him her full name he will be able to trace her home. " Please your Majesty," she said crying "Just kill me already, I know I have disobeyed your orders by going to the farm," she said

" Stop crying," he said with a calm sweet tone yet again "Just tell me your full name," he said.

Acacia shook her head " I can't" she said stammering

The knights widened their eyes as they couldn't believe her audacity, she was going to die any moment from now, they thought.

She just acted disrespectfully to her king for the 3rd time, but she doesn't care since she is going to die anyway.

"It's fine," Emerald said and everyone was shocked yet again including Acacia.

She looked him in the eye to see if she could tell what was going on in his head, but his face read no emotion. She couldn't tell if he was angry right now or displeased.

Acacia felt at ease knowing he won't be knowing her surname, that way her mother can stay safe.

Emerald looked at her basket of flowers and picked up one of the purple flowers. He broke some of the stick away and placed the flower on top of her ponytail. "Suits you and matches with the color of your eyes," he said as he looked at her eyes.

Acacia was mystified, what he did just now was weird. She has read so many romantic books to know that this was a romantic gesture. She didn't know why but she wasn't as scared as she was from the beginning, was he not going to kill her for disobeying him? She wondered.

She felt like asking and so she did "Are you not going to take my life your Majesty?".

"No, why would I do that?" He said and Gideon raised a brow, the king he knew would never say that, it was like another person was speaking.

Acacia's mouth was left wide open, she was so shocked, this was quite unbelievable. Although it was the first time she was standing before the great king Emerald.

The king Emerald she has always heard about would never spare your life after disobeying him.

"Because I had disobeyed you" she responded.

Emerald touched her face and she flinched again. He overlooked what she did and kept on tracing her face with his finger "You are an exception" he said.

When such a gesture and words are coming from the wicked king, then it should not be regarded in another way.

She watched as he slowly stepped back away from her "You can go" he said

Acacia widened her eyes in disbelief, she placed a hand in her ears to be sure she heard right. He was going to let her live?

Acacia had to blink severally to make sure all this wasn't an illusion, that it was real. She stood there still trying to recollect what he just said when she had his next statement.

"Or do you prefer I take you with me now?" Emerald asked her.

Acacia immediately came back to her senses "No no I will go" she said stammering. It was best to leave now, but what did he mean by, Now? She wondered. Was he planning to capture and kill her later?.

Overlooking his last words, she bowed her head 3 times in apology "I'm sorry your Majesty for my disobedience" she said.

Acacia looked up and saw that he was just staring at her, not responding to her apology.

She held her basket properly and covered her head. She looked at him one more time before running away from there.

She ran as fast as she could at full speed. It was true when they said fear can make a person develop a skill or ability he/she never thought they had. The way she was running very fast was unbelievable, like an experienced racer.

Emerald watched her as she ran very fast and a small grin appeared on his right cheek which didn't escape the notice of Gideon. Gideon looked at Acacia running and then at the king "Why would he let her go" he wondered.

When Emerald lost sight of Acacia, the small grin on his face disappeared. He turned and Gideon immediately bowed his head down.

"Gideon" Emerald called out

"Yes…your Majesty" Gideon said

"Send two men to investigate everything about that young lady. She has a rare purple eye color, let them use that as a description in finding everything about her and they should do it in disguise, within 24 hours" Emerald commanded

"Okay, your Majesty, '' Gideon responded.

Emerald looked in the direction she ran in one more time before getting to the carriage and starting his trip back to Hilton.

Acacia breathed in relief when she finally got home , but she knew that she was in big trouble because her mother was already home waiting for her. She slowly walked into the house and headed to her room.

"Where did you go to Acacia?" Her mother called out to her as she hugged her from behind

Acacia froze in the spot when her mother called her, she was getting ready to be s*****d but her mother's action had shocked her.

"You this disobedient girl, I told you not to leave the house but you disobeyed me. I thought something bad had happened to you" Her mother said as she sobbed.

Acacia became emotional too and tears fell from her eyes. She also thought something bad would happen to her, but here she was, were their ancestors protecting her? because she being alive right now is a miracle, an unexpected one. Acacia cleaned her tears immediately before her mother would see she was crying too.

Mrs Marian released her hold on her daughter and faced her. "Why did you leave the house and where did you go?"

"I went to pick fresh flowers from the farm," she said calmly with heads down.

" What!! You went to the farm!! Why would you go to the farm when I asked you to stay at home because the king was around" Mr Marian said in distress.

" I'm sorry for disobeying you mother, I shouldn't have left the house" she said and tried not to cry as she remembered all that happened earlier.

" Did you come across the king in any way?" Her mother asked.

"What?" Acacia asked and pretended like she was shocked by her mother's question.

"Some people said they saw his carriage heading to the farming area. So did you see him by any chance?",

"I…..I had not seen him by any chance mother. I don't even no how.....he looks like" Acacia said. She had to lie, if she didn't her mother would be so worried to death.

"Are you sure he didn't see you?" Mrs Marian asked her daughter again. They would both be in great danger if he had seen her. Her daughter might be home back safe, but if by any chance he had seen her, they are both in great danger because no one was supposed to go to the farm today.

Acacia's heart dumbed loud in her chest. The king didn't only see her, she had stood close to him and even perceived his scent, saw his gold eyes, his dark hair, his tall height and every other feature that made him handsome. The king had spoken to her calmly, asking her her name, he had put a flower on her hair and had touched her face. Was she supposed to tell her mother all this? Definitely no, she can't.