My Lord, My Love

Rijing

Chapter One

"Mom, you can't do this!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I must."

The young girl stared at her mother, disbelief clear in her features, eyes wet with unshed tears.

"The Lord of our lands has requested for a daughter from each family in order to search for a suitable Lady to rule his lands with."

"Mom--"

"Pack your things and you will go tonight. End of discussion."

"Yes, mother."

Before she could turn to go, her mother called her.

"Lena, you know that I want for you to fall in love before marriage just as much as you wish for it, but I really have no say in this matter. I must follow Lord Kaiya's orders."

With one last apologetic glance towards her daughter, she left the room. Lena contemplated for a moment before deciding to put the blame on the Lord. It was his fault that she had to leave to live in the castle and leave her mother, his fault that she was crying, and his fault that she would never have a chance to fall in love.

Of course, there was the possibility that she would not be chosen and the Lord would be engaged to a gold-digger. 'That would certainly make my day.' Lena thought to herself with no trace of humor.

'Why does he need so desperately to marry someone anyway?'

She decided not to think of his reasons behind the motive. Rulers were quite selfish and hardly made any decisions that would benefit their people. Reluctantly, Lena packed her bag. She found that she didn't have many belongings. The only things she treasured in the bag was a picture of her entire family and a ring given to her by a very dear childhood friend.

She sat on her bed for a moment and looked out the window. The sun had already set and the sky was darkening. It was almost time.

As soon as the stars were visible in the night sky, girls of all ages were gathered at the border of the village. Seconds later, the whinnies of horses could be heard in the distance and the clattering of carriage wheels sparked the excited whispers of the females.

The chattering of the girls standing nearest to Lena infuriated her to no end.

"I hope the Lord chooses me. He's rich and I hear he's quite handsome."

"Nah. I look way better than you. And my chest is larger."

Both girls continued to bicker over the complete stranger.

Lena sighed and shook her head. 'I hope the Lord chooses one of those two. That way, I'll be allowed to leave.'

No sooner than when Lena stepped into the carriage, they arrived at the castle. Naturally, she was awed by its magnificance and size. Even if the Lord didn't have a brain, he sure had good taste.

The girls were ushered into the western part of the castle to await the arrival of the Lord. They didn't have to wait for long. A figure hidden in the shadows now occupied the throne at the opposite end of the room. The conversations stopped and every girl waited for the Lord to speak. Some were disappointed to not be able to see his face.

The Lord made a hand motion and almost immediately, a subordinate appeared by his side, slightly bending down to listen to the Lord's orders. After five minutes' worth of whispering, the subordinate straightened and cleared his throat.

"The Lord has decided to conduct a sort of trial to choose his Lady. The trial alone would take about a month or two. As you know, sheltering as well as food and attire will be provided. You will each be assigned a separate room and a maid. Are there any inquiries?"

Twenty hands shot up. Some questions included, will there be formal meetings with the Lord? Are we allowed out of the castle? When are we allowed to see what the Lord looks like? Will the Lord dine with us?

Lena rolled her eyes. As soon as the commotion was over, she raised her hand. "Can I leave?"

Her words echoed loudly in the now silent room. Both the Lord and his subordinate turned to look at her. So did thirty other girls.

The subordinate took a deep breath and calmly answered every question. "One, no, you may not leave until the Lord has chosen his intended." At this, Lena folded her arms across her chest and made a face.

The subordinate continued. "There will be formal meetings and the Lord will not dine with all of you at once. He will choose a different girl to dine with everyday. You are, under no means, allowed to wander beyond the castle grounds. As for seeing the appearance of our Lord... he will decide when that is necessary."

Disappointed murmurs could be heard throughout the room.

"Now, if you will all choose a maid to bring you to a room, we will be off."

The subordinate gestured to the back of the room where maids were lined along the wall, smiles adorning their faces.

Lena waited until one was left. The last one seemed rather... intimidating, should I say? It wasn't her appearance, but the actual atmosphere around her. It gave off a sense that she was one who could be quite influential and commanding if she were not a maid.

The maid looked at Lena and smiled a smile that Lena returned. It was no surprise that the other girls had quickly chosen the shy and obedient maids who would be easy to bully and order around.

"Shall we go?"

Lena nodded. 'Her voice sounds sweet.'

Feeling eyes on her, Lena turned, only to notice the subordinate smiling at her maid. She turned to look at the maid and noticed she, too, was smiling. As if they knew something she didn't.

And although she couldn't see the Lord's face, he seemed to hold some feelings towards the girl as well. Lena was puzzled by this, but decided to brush the matter off. As they were walking, Lena decided to make small talk.

"So, what's your name?" Lena asked, jollier than she felt.

"Ella."

"Ella. That's a nice name. My name's Lena. Hm. They sound similar, don't they?" She chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Umm... so can you tell me a little about the Lord?"

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"What's he like?"

Ella laughed. "Well, for one, he has quite the temper. He can be unreasonable at times, but great to be around. And a little stubborn if I do say so myself. You'll see in all due time."

Lena frowned. "Well, that doesn't tell me much."

"Mistress--"

Lena made stopping motions with her hands. "Woah, woah. Call me Lena."

"Lena. Were you the one who asked, 'can I leave'?"

"Yes actually." She replied sheepishly. "I hope you weren't offended by it."

"Oh, no. I just never heard it before. They usually wish to stay longer."

Lena pursed her lips. "I see."

The rest of the walk was silent. Sooner than expected, they arrived at her assigned room. 'Wow' was her first thought when she saw the room. It was the same size as her entire one-floor house.

"It's very elaborate." Lena chirped, now in a much better mood.

"I'm glad you like it. You may settle in. Call if you need me."

"Sure. Thanks."

As soon as the door shut, Lena plopped down on the bed. It was soft, and, just as she expected, comfortable. She lay there for a moment before proceeding to unpack.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the glass door leading to the balcony of her room right after she completed her task of unpacking.

Curious, she slid the curtains open. A boy that seemed to be around his twenties peered in. Lena chewed on her lip. 'Okay. There's an attractive guy standing outside the balcony, which is part of the castle, which belongs the the Lord. Oh, great.'

As quietly as possible, she slid the glass doors open. The boy stepped in without hesistation.

"Okay, who are you?"

"Don't worry. The Lord knows me. He won't do anything."

"No. I meant, what's your name?"

"Oh." There was a short pause before he said, "Fallon."

"I'm Lena. So, mind telling me what you're doing here?" She had to look up to talk to him since he was a good seven inches taller than her.

"Well actually... I kind of snuck out. I'm not allowed to go outside, so I thought of this. You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No."

He let out a breath of relief. Only then did Lena notice that he was dripping wet.

"Is it raining outside?"

"Yes."

"Hold on. I'll get you a towel."

Lena walked into the restroom connected to the room and grabbed a towel off the shelf. When she returned, he was gone.

"Huh. Strange..."

The next day, the Lord's subordinates informed everyone that the Lord caught a cold and would not be able to greet them until the following day.

"Again, this is strange. Too much of a coincidence..." Lena muttered under her breath. Then she shrugged and decided that it was likely that is was just that. A coincidence. So she let it go.

The following night, Fallon appeared outside her balcony again. Lena invited him inside.

"Where did you go yesterday?"

"I had to leave. Sorry." He sneezed.

Lena stared at him for a while. "Do you have a cold? Your voice sounds different."

"Yes. From yesterday."

She sighed and searched her drawers. When she found the medicine for curing colds, she handed it to him.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"So, why do you only come through this particular balcony?"

"Am I bothering you?"

"Hardly. I'm just wondering."

"Well, stop wondering." He laughed.

"You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"No."

"Well, that's just fine."

"I will tell you. Just not today. One day."

Lena smiled. "Alright. I'll hold you to that."