The sun rose bright over Greystone, spilling gold across the castle lawns. Eleanor could hardly sit still through breakfast, her eyes straying again and again to the windows that overlooked the gardens.
When the meal finally ended, she slipped outside, her small slippers tapping against the stone steps as she hurried toward the hedges.
"Eleanor!" William's voice rang out before she had taken three steps into the grass. He was already running, his hair untamed, his grin full of mischief. "Come on, I'll show you the maze. It's the best part of the whole garden!"
Eleanor's eyes widened as she looked at the towering green walls of the hedge maze. "It looks enormous," she whispered.
"That's because it is," William said proudly. "But don't worry, I know all the turns." He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the entrance.
They ran laughing into the first path, the maze swallowing them up. Their voices bounced against the walls as they darted left and right, chasing each other, daring one another to go faster. Eleanor's cheeks glowed pink from the effort, her laughter spilling like music.
But soon she slowed, the walls stretching taller, the paths twisting endlessly. "What if we never find our way out?" she asked, her voice trembling just a little.
Before William could answer, another voice came — calm, but warmer than before.
"You'll lose your way if you don't look carefully."
Theodore appeared around the corner, taller and older, his dark hair slightly mussed as though he'd been running too. His eyes landed on Eleanor, and this time there was no formality in them — only a flicker of amusement.
"I told you I knew the way," William muttered, crossing his arms.
Theodore smirked faintly. "You were about to take her into a dead end." He pointed to the right path and then, to Eleanor's surprise, he reached for her hand. "Come. I'll take you to the fountain."
Eleanor blinked up at him, then smiled shyly as their hands touched. Unlike William's quick, tugging grip, Theodore's was firm and steady, but she noticed the way his ears turned pink when she didn't let go immediately.
William groaned. "Oh, Theodore will just walk slow and ruin it."
To prove him wrong, Theodore suddenly darted forward, pulling Eleanor with him. She gasped, laughing as her skirts swished around her legs, his quiet nature breaking for just a moment as he ran like any other boy.
When they burst into the maze's center, sunlight danced on the waters of a great stone fountain. Eleanor's breath caught.
"It's beautiful," she whispered.
Theodore, still holding her hand, grinned — a real grin, bright and fleeting. "Told you it was worth it."
---
From the terrace above, their parents watched the children, their voices low.
"They suit each other," Lord Greystone murmured, his eyes fixed on his eldest son.
Lady Beaumont folded her hands in her lap. "It is early yet."
"Not too early," Lord Greystone replied. "Our agreement stands. When they are of age, she will be his. And from the look of it"—he nodded toward the fountain, where Eleanor and Theodore sat side by side, their laughter mingling with William's playful splashes—"fate agrees with us."
Lady Beaumont's gaze softened as she watched her daughter. "Let them play for now. They need not know what waits for them."
And so the children laughed in the garden, unaware of the promise that already bound them, unaware that their games were the beginning of something far greater than themselves.