A/N: Yes, another story from me very soon! Just another experiment, kind of AU as well…
The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me
It was a busy time in the Queen's life, not that it wasn't always busy but this time… it was even busier and more complicated…
Her granddaughter had returned from college, celebrated her 21st birthday and was starting to learn more about her duties and responsibilities before ascending the throne at the end of the year- but things got a little more complicated when parliament decided that she needed to be married within 30 days before she was able to become Queen.
The Queen herself had her own duties and responsibilities, as well as her own problems with parliament- particularly with Viscount Mabrey continually pushing his nephew as an alternative heir to the throne, and acting delighted when Clarisse was forced to ask the young Lord to stay at the palace, which had caused even more 'complications'- and Mia had had caused a few problems, albeit innocently enough, herself and there were times when she had wondered whether she would survive until the end of the year….
But all of that was forgotten during a late morning stroll in the garden with Joseph- they had been discussing Mia's latest 'incident' (being caught in a closet with young Lord Devereaux, two days after the announcement of her engagement to Andrew Jacoby, Duke of Kennilworth) and while Clarisse had been despairing of Mia's maturity, Joseph was trying to reassure her that it would be fine… when suddenly, as they came to a stop in the pagoda and Joseph cleared his throat…
"Clarisse, my dear, forget about the wedding for a moment," he began and Clarisse turned to look at him expectantly- he looked a little nervous, she noted to herself, why was he looking nervous?
"In a month you will no longer be Queen and I will no longer be your Head of Security…"
Yes, she knew that, she nodded at him encouragingly- what was this leading to? She had no idea what she would do in her retirement (although she suspected that she would be helping Mia in the first few months, not that she minded as she knew that the young woman would need some assistance).
"I think… I think it's time we bring our friendship out of the shadows."
Friendship- that's what they called their relationship (or what they referred to as their relationship) and while she knew that the inevitability of their relationship moving forward (and she was looking forward to that part, she had been dreaming about it for a very long time) but she hadn't expected him to say what he said… propose… to her in the middle of the garden, in the middle of an extremely tense time in her life…
Joseph was watching her expectantly, clearly wondering whether she would give him a response now or… but Clarisse knew that she couldn't make a decision on the spur of the moment (much as she dearly would have loved to, she loved Joseph and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him), there were other things, other issues that needed to be considered… namely, Mia…
"Oh… Oh, Joseph," she began, stammering slightly, still taken aback by his proposal and the thoughts that were whirling around in her mind as he reached out and took her fingers in one of hand, one finger gently stroking her hand.
She paused a moment, trying to gather her thoughts into a reasonable, structured sentence, something that she had never had to worry about before.
"There's a wedding to be planned…. Mia needs to win over the people of Genovia, all in less than thirty days…."
Joseph had been watching her patiently, tenderly, with a small smile on his face, waiting for her to finish her answer- and Clarisse was painfully aware that she hadn't made a really coherent response- before he spoke again, and this time, his words genuinely surprised her.
"Perhaps you should consider the duty you have… to yourself," he reminded her quietly and Clarisse was momentarily speechless.
"Oh!" she looked away, flustered and embarrassed and completely unlike her normal cool, calm and collected Queen- the façade had been completely swept away by Joseph's few words, and she glanced around for a moment, to regain her composure (and was relieved to discover that there were no gardeners around the pagoda).
"Clarisse… please, my darling, please think about it," he added almost beseechingly and she finally gathered the courage to look into his eyes again and she softened as she reached over and gently caressed his cheek with her free hand, a gesture of love and affection that they had long since perfected, a secret signal that belonged only to them.
"I will… I will," she repeated and it was Joseph's turn to relax.
"Good… good," before he glanced around the garden and then glanced at his watch. "I suppose that we will have to get back now, I believe that you have another princess lesson with the Princess in about ten minutes."
"Yes," Clarisse said with a sigh, glancing around as Joseph stood up and then held out a hand to her. "Yes, that's what is on my schedule next… I hope she's not going to be too silly."
"She won't be, she's learning and trying," he said reassuringly as he squeezed her hand. "It's difficult for both of you but you'll get there…"
"I hope so," she said softly as they began their walk back towards the palace, still side by side but Joseph's arms were behind his back again- it was as if the moment that had just passed between them had never happened.
Did it happen? She thought to herself- thinking to yourself, you're being ridiculous, Clarisse said sternly. But did it really happen? It happened so quickly…
Yes it did.
Did he really just propose to me?
Well, he wants to bring your friendship out of the shadows, so that means….
Yes. He proposed.
"Clarisse?" she suddenly realised that he was talking to her and she turned to see him looking at her oddly. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Joseph," she smiled gently at him. "Just preoccupied with other matters."
"Hopefully not Mia- both of you will be fine."
"No, not Mia."
He proposed. He did. He really did.
Now, all I need to do is make a decision….