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Megatron stood by his study’s window, arms crossed against his chest as he leaned against the wall, watching down into the garden below. The castle’s garden wasn’t anything special; in fact, most of it had been turned into training yards for his soldiers a long time ago. But there was still a nice section dedicated to flowers and plants and the like for the castle staff who wanted to relax outside and for doctors and botanists to gather and study herbs.And it was where his guest enjoyed spending a lot of her time.Eclipse was out in the gardens again, sitting with a few ogre servants while Lugnut stood guard. Three women, one man… And the five of them were chatting and weaving what he could only assume were flower crowns. Eclipse did enjoy making jewelry out of flowers… And the others seemed to be having fun too, though it was a little harder for them to make theirs as nice as Eclipse’s; probably because she had smaller, daintier hands.She had only been here for six months, but the staff had really warmed up to her. Especially the younger servants, which he was grateful for. He knew that, back home, Eclipse did not have many friends and had been quite lonely. Fortunately, she did not have to suffer that here. The younger ones seemed to take her to like ducks to water.One of the servants, the male, suddenly came up behind Eclipse. Megatron watched as the princess laughed, allowing the man to sit behind her and begin braiding her hair. His chest tensed up and fingers clenched on his arms. Seeing another man touch her, innocent or not… He knew he had no right to be angry, but she was his.At least the possessive part of him believed so. It was one of the reasons why he had “rescued” her from her homeland in the first place. So she would not belong to another. So he would not loser her. She may have only been nineteen and he may have never loved before, but his feelings towards her were just that. Love… or so Bombrush insisted. He was probably right though. He had never been like this over anyone before.And he could not bear the idea of someone beneath him having her. He wanted her. Badly. To kiss her. To hold her. To push her down and make her his… Primus, he even wanted to make her his wife. His queen, to rule by his side, bear him heirs, be with him until he died… He wanted her more than he had ever desired anything in his life. Perhaps even more than he had desired overthrowing his father all those years ago.He couldn’t though. He had promised Eclipse that she would be safe here. No one would do anything against her… including himself. Her feelings for him were not the same as his. Primus, for all he knew, she could have been in love with Lugnut. If that were true… He honestly didn’t know what he would do.He could not get angry with Eclipse and he certainly couldn’t punish Lugnut. You can’t control the heart, he had read once. He didn’t remember where he had read it; he just knew he had and that he could not do anything if his fears were true. He had promised to protect Eclipse, to bring her happiness and security living with him. He could not go back on that.When he saw the male servant finish braiding Eclipse’s hair, he turned away. With a heavy huff, he moved back to his work. He couldn’t keep thinking about it. He had a kingdom to run and work to do… He could not let this consume. He wouldn’t.Eclipse hummed to herself as she made her way into Megatron’s study. Lugnut had been escorting her when he had been called away to help the general with something. He had been hesitant to leave her unattended, but she had been able to convince him to leave her. After all, she was close to his study anyway; she would have been fine.She pulled the braid over her shoulder to look over it again. Mazir could make beautiful braids… It was so comfortable and pretty, especially with all the flowers he had put into the braid. It reminded her of the princesses in fairytales she used to read as a little girl.She turned the corner, smiling when she saw two guards stand outside of Megatron’s study. At least she knew he was still in there. A part of her had been worried he had left and then she wouldn’t know where to go.She turned the corner, smiling when she saw two guards stand outside of Megatron’s study. At least she knew he was still in there. A part of her had been worried he had left and then she wouldn’t know where to go.The guards saw her approach, immediately standing at attention as they both bowed politely to her. "Your Highness," one of them said."Hello. Is His Majesty still inside?""Yes, Your Highness," the other said. "Here, let me..."She smiled as he opened the door for her. If the guard was letting her in, then Megatron was probably not doing anything busy. At least she wouldn't be rude if she came to say hello and ask where she could go to have tea and read more books."Who is it?"Or maybe not. "Oh, forgive me, Mega-Your Majesty. I had only stopped by to see how you were doing."Megatron, who was sitting at his desk looking over papers, paused for a moment before looking up. His eyes widened for a second when he saw Eclipse standing there, the guard still opening the door for her. "Eclipse?""Yes... If you're busy, I can leave you to your-!""No, no..." He gestured his hand for her to come in. "You're fine; these documents are tedious, that's all.""Oh..." She walked inside, thanking the guard as he closed the door behind her. Once it had closed, she relaxed her shoulders and approach Megatron's desk. "Really, Megatron, if you're busy, I can always come back. I don't want to interrupt your work.""It's just finances and little things that need my approval," he said, standing up. "It's nothing. I can push this onto Shockwave if necessary."Eclipse raised an eyebrow. "... Shouldn’t you do your own work?""He enjoys it; it's fine.""Just because he enjoys it doesn't mean you should saddle him with every finance document that you need to look over.""Trust me, Eclipse; your afternoon tea and reading is what Shockwave sees this as. He'd be in heaven if he had nothing but this to work on all afternoon."Eclipse giggled as she reached his desk. "Are finances not something… you're familiar with?" She didn't want to imply that he might be bad with numbers.Megatron shook his head. "It isn't my best; fighting and strategy were my best subjects. But I was a decent student in finances. It's not too bad most days... My current problem is that I cannot figure out how this number came of these reports from one of our ports.""It's not adding up?""That or I'm just missing a document." Megatron looked through several papers before throwing a hand to his head, "And while Shockwave is more than willing to do this for me if I have other important matters, I don't want to have him look into something like this unless I can be sure its suspicious enough to warrant his investigation. I will not waste the time of my loyal advisor simply because of a misplaced paper or a number I forgot to add."Eclipse hadn't seen much of the politics of her family, but she knew enough to know that something like this in their finances wasn't a good thing."Maybe I could help?""Hmm?""I'm... I learned a bit about numbers and finances in my studies. And maybe a fresh pair of eyes could help?"He eyed her for a few moments. She looked eager to try and it was hard to say no to her when she was looking up at him with those bright purple eyes of hers… Shockwave might have advised against it, considering Eclipse was still technically a foreigner, but just having her look through the numbers couldn’t hurt.So he stepped out of the way, allowing Eclipse to pick up a few of the documents and bring them to her face.As she studied over them, his eyes went to her hair. Still in that braid the servant made… with flowers. Flowers that complimented her skin. Then he looked to her face, seeing her brow furrow as she tried to concentrate and calculate the numbers in her head. Trying her best to be of use, trying to help him… He swallowed, having to look away for a moment as his hand balled up into a fist.He wanted her so badly, so much… Maybe too much. He was probably in love with her and he didn’t know how to deal with his emotions. He never felt like this for anyone, especially not a human. The only thing he had ever felt for them was contempt, but her… No. He just wanted her to be his. And seeing that servant touch her made him angrier than it should have.“Ah!”He looked over at Eclipse, who was smiling to herself as she came closer to him. Her arm tight against his as she pointed to where she found his error.“You forgot to divide from the taxes here, where they had built new schoolhouses and the church…” She continued to speak, but Megatron wasn’t paying attention. He just continued to look at her hair, her face, her smile, her dress… Everything was his. He didn’t want to give her up. He had refused when her family tried to send her away. And he refused to do it now.Eclipse stopped when she felt a hand clamp over her wrist. The grip was tight, not painful, but it still caused her to look up in confusion. She was taken aback by the hard look on his face, a wave of anxiety coming over her. Had she done something wrong? Maybe he didn’t want her to see that stuff?But before she could say anything, he pinned her down on top of his desk. She gasped in fright, dropping the documents all over the floor as he held down both of her wrists.“Me-Mega-?”“You’re only eighteen,” he growled, causing her eyes to widen in fright and confusion. “You… You’re still so naïve. You’re young and childish… and your parents wanted to marry you off. To some human king who would have destroyed that naivety. That innocence…”Eclipse didn’t know when his hands released wrists, one hand at her stomach and the other gently taking a hold of her throat, his fingers brushing against her chin. She tensed, gasping again as her hands came up to push at his shoulders. Fear pooled into her chest as she tried to figure out what she had done. He seemed angry, and she had seen him angry before… But this was somehow different. It seemed even more frightening than when he was shouting and giving out orders to his men. This was so different and she didn’t know what to do…He suddenly held her chin in place. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, but then he leaned forward. And his lips pressed on hers, his… tongue slipping inside.Eclipse froze, her eyes wide as they could go. Her entire body froze up, only her fingers twitching against his shoulder. What…? What was happening? His… His lips were on hers. And his tongue was inside her mouth. He was pressing them together, molding her lips to his, his tongue moving around hers…Was this a kiss?“Mmm…!” She started wiggling underneath him, her hands pushing at his shoulders but to no avail. “Mmm! Mmm!”He let go of her chin, only to take both of her hands and pin them down. That only made Eclipse struggle more, trying to kick at him as she tried to figure out what was happening. Megatron… He was kissing her. Her friend was kissing her like the lovers would do in some of serial novels she read. Passionate and in love and… in bed. Nothing chaste or anything like that.Megatron broke the kiss, leaving Eclipse gasping for air. His other hand went to her hair, which had come undone while the flowers fell out of it. He couldn’t stand seeing them. It was as if that servant staking his claim on a woman he had wanted for so long… She wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him. Because he loved her.“I saved you,” he hissed, ignoring the terrified look on her face as she tried to break free. “I saved you from a loveless marriage, from a man who would use you until it killed you… That makes you mine!”“I-! I-I don’t-!”“You’re mine!” he snarled, his hand tightening around her wrists. “You think I saved you just some worthless, lesser man could have you?!”“Pl-Please!” Eclipse choked out, terrified and confused as the grip on her wrists grew tighter. “M-Megatron, you’re-!”“No one else can have you! You belong to me!”“Megatron, please!” she screamed, tears trickling down her face. She didn’t understand what he was saying or doing and her arms hurt. She didn’t know this sort of Megatron. The one glaring at her and shouting and saying all of these things that didn’t make sense… This wasn’t Megatron. It wasn’t him. “Y-You’re hurting me! Stop it, please!!”The study doors suddenly burst opened. Both of the royal turned around to see Bombrush, Lugnut, and the two guards who had been outside earlier rushed in. They all froze when they saw the human pinned beneath their king, the general and two guards shocked while Lugnut just looked horrified.But then Bombrush’s shocked melted into angered bewilderment, stepping forward while the other stayed back. “What the hell are you doing?!”His shout was enough for Eclipse’s tears to double. She sobbed, shaking like a leaf as her mind tried to piece together what was happening. She had come into help. Then Megatron suddenly pinned her down. Violently. And then he kissed her. And he sounded so angry…Had she caused this? Had she done something wrong? She hadn’t meant to bother her friend; she just wanted to help…Megatron turned to her when her sobs grew louder. She had her eyes shut tightly, body trembling beneath him. The documents had been scattered everywhere, he had her pinned down, her hair had fallen out of its braid… She was frightened and confused and crying. And he had been the one to do this to her in the first place.As if he had been shocked, he jumped away from her. Eclipse, tears just pouring down her face, sprang from the desk and ran to Lugnut. He didn’t hesitate in kneeling down and pulling her into a tight hug. He ran his hand through her hair, trying to calm her down as he whispered gentle words into her ear.“… Lugnut,” Bombrush said, never taking his eyes off of the king, who was just staring at the table. “Take Miss Eclipse… somewhere else. Lux, Rem – go back to your posts.”“W-What-? But General-!”“Just… Take her somewhere to rest.” Bombrush spared a glance at them, seeing Lugnut looked hesitant and unsure of what to do. He knew the other didn’t want to leave his king like this, but he was the only one who could comfort Eclipse at the moment.But Lugnut didn’t move, even when the other two guards had. He couldn’t just leave his king like this. He was the only one who understood the relationship between him and Eclipse. He had to stay to help… But the woman in his arms was sobbing, shaking, and he also knew he couldn’t just leave her to someone else. He was the only other person in the entire kingdom who could help her.“That’s an order, Lugnut.”He snapped out of his thoughts to look up at Bombrush, seeing him glare at him. Even though he served only Megatron, Bombrush was the general. He had to follow his orders, even if he wanted to stay with the king. So, giving a deep bow, he lifted the sobbing princess and the doors closed behind him.It was quiet for a few moments. Bombrush kept his eyes locked on Megatron, who was breathing heavily as he moved to run a hand down his face. The ogre looked like he was ready to burst any moment, so Bombrush knew he had to be cautious. And be prepared to duck out of the way should his friend explode.“Megatron… Breathe.”Megatron stormed away from him, moving to his desk to plant his hands down firmly on them. His arms were shaking, his breathing had labored… He didn’t know what the hell had happened. Eclipse had been just here, helping me with some stupid budgets and papers and he just… pinned her down. He had lost it, pinned her down, and kissed her. Told her she was his, as if he owned her. Because he was in love with her…He pressed down harder on the desk, causing it to dent. Love or not, he attacked her. He forced himself on her, forced a kiss on her… He hurt her. Even though he had promised her all those months ago that if she came with him, she would be safe. That she had nothing to fear if she chose to leave with him. That he would protect her from anyone and everyone, including himself.Then he had to break that promise because he couldn’t control himself for two seconds.Bombrush moved out of the way when Megatron had picked up a vase that had been on his desk and hurled it at the door. The General bit the inside of his cheek when it shattered on impact before turning to back to the king. He was panting hard, eyes filled with rage as his hands shook. Yep, the man was about to explode and if he didn’t say something soon, he would probably do something else he would regret.“Megatron, you need to–”“I don’t need a lecture!” he snarled, throwing another vase across the room. “I know what I did! I know what happened and I know why, so I don’t need you lecturing me! You’re not my father, you’re my general!”“But I’m also your friend,” Bombrush said, walking towards him. “And what just happened was amazingly stupid of you. Eclipse has finally gotten comfortably living here and you just-!”“I said I know what I did!” he repeated, turning to face his general. “And you-! You were the one who wouldn’t leave it alone! You were the one that kept pushing and pushing and now look what happened!”“What the hell are you talking about? I only ever-!”“You were right!” he shouted, banging his fist down on the desk, causing it to crack under its strength. “Is that what you wanted to hear?! Fine! You were right, you have been right since the beginning and now everything is ruined because I-!”He suddenly stopped, his hands balling into fists as he looked away from Bombrush. The general could only stare at him, slowly trying to process what he meant. Yes, for a while now, he had been teasing his friend about his relationship with the human princess, but that was mainly just him having fun. Though he had been a little serious and had told Megatron to just tell her. Certainly nothing drastic though.“… Megatron, did you-?”“I love her.”A silence fell over the room. Bombrush couldn’t actually believe he had said it. He knew his friend had never really loved anyone before. He had no mother, his father had been useless, and he never had any sort of attachment to anyone. As a boy, he had never learned love. As a man, he hadn’t seen a reason for it. Women wanted him because he was the king, nothing more or less. They didn’t see him as anything other than the king.Except Eclipse. He was her friend. Her dear friend that she would write to all the time, even if her parents would have completely disapproved. She had grown attached to him and he had grown attracted to her. Now that she was here, so close to him that he could touch her…Megatron ran a hand through his hair. This was a nightmare and he wished it would just end. But it wasn’t. This was real and he had frightened her. Primus only knew if she would trust him after this.“I didn’t want to hurt her,” he finally said. “I just… I don’t know.”“You snapped.” Bombrush walked up beside him, slowly just in case he got angry again. “You have the worst temper and you’re terrible at controlling yourself. This…” He huffed, not really knowing how to make the king feel better. “It was probably just a matter of time.”“… I know.”“You’re not planning to leave things like this, are you?”Megatron shook his head, but didn’t say anything more. What could he say, really? He didn’t even know what he was going to say to Eclipse… But Bombrush was right. He couldn’t just leave it like this. He would give her time to calm down, but he had to talk to her today. He had to apologize as soon as possible, so she wouldn’t think that what had happened was okay. Or think it would happen again.And he had to be honest. He couldn’t lie to her and tell her that it was some sort of misunderstanding or he had been stressed. She had to know. She deserved to know. He just hoped she would be willing to listen when the time came. Lugnut had brought Eclipse to her room, sitting on bed while she sat in his lap. They had been like this for an hour now, the poor princess crying into his chest the entire time. She had calmed down a little, her sobs reduced to whimpers. But she still trembling softly in his embrace and she held onto him tightly, as if she were afraid to let go.All he could do was run his hand through her hair in an attempt to calm her down. He wanted to tell her everything would be fine, but she didn’t seem to want to hear it. She kept asking why and if she had done something wrong. Despite assuring her she didn’t, she just couldn’t understand what had happened.She said it was scary. That it hurt. That she thought she had done something wrong and that Megatron had wanted to hurt her because he was angry with her. Lugnut knew his king would never, but he didn’t have the chance to tell her that in the middle of her hysterics. She wouldn’t have heard him over her sobs.“Miss Eclipse,” he murmured softly. “It’s all right, I’m here.”“I-I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I-I didn’t mean to-!”He shushed her. “I’m sure His Majesty has his reasons… He didn’t want to hurt you, Miss Eclipse. It probably wasn’t anything about you.”“I-It had to have been me… H-He was so mad, I-I shouldn’t have bothered him-!”“No, no…” He moved Eclipse out of his lap, sitting her down on the bed while he moved to the floor. She looked confused for a few moments as he kneeled down in front of her, holding her tiny hands in his large one while the other cupped her face. “King Megatron cares for you, he didn’t mean to hurt you, what happened… It wasn’t your fault.”He honestly still wasn’t sure what exactly had happened. Eclipse hadn’t been coherent about it, just sobbing and blaming herself and thinking she had done something wrong. The only thing he knew was that she had gone in there to see him and by the time he came into the room, he had found his king pinning her down onto the desk.He knew Megatron had strong feelings for Eclipse. He also knew he didn’t want to hurt her… But his king had a temper. And was incredibly possessive. Maybe he snapped. Maybe he realized just how strong his feelings were, at the worst moment possible… He couldn’t have been sure. As much as he wanted to protect Eclipse, he couldn’t insult his king in any way. He treasured Eclipse, but he would always be loyal to Megatron.There was a sudden knock on the door. Eclipse flinched a bit, curling up into herself while Lugnut just rubbed her hands.“Enter,” Lugnut said for Eclipse, never taking his eyes off of her.He heard the door open, but did not turn around, still trying to keep Eclipse calm. But then she looked up at the door and gasped in fright. She pulled her hands away from him and scooted back onto the bed, shaking in fear. Confused, Lugnut looked over his shoulder to see what had gotten her so shaken…He wasn’t expecting to see Megatron standing there, closing the door behind him.“Your Majesty?” he said, eyes wide with shock.He didn’t say anything, his eyes locked on Eclipse. The poor princess had kept herself hidden behind Lugnut, holding her hands close to her chest as she curled up into a ball on the bed. He should have expected such a reaction, but it still hurt to know that she was afraid of him. And it was his own fault too.Bombrush had wanted him to wait until tomorrow, but Megatron knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t let Eclipse go to sleep tonight thinking he would come into her room in the middle of the night to try and hurt her. He wanted her to at least feel somewhat safe, even if after this, she never trusted him again. “Lugnut… Stand guard by the door.”Lugnut opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he felt hands on his arm. He looked back at Eclipse, who was gripping him tightly. She shook her head, terrified to be left alone with the king. Afraid he would do something else or worse…“He’ll be in the room, Eclipse,” Megatron assured her, stepping closer to the bed. He ignored her cowering flinch. “I only want to talk.”Eclipse hesitated. She peeked around her friend to look at the king, who still kept his eyes locked on her. She spared a glance at Lugnut, who just gave her a single reassuring nod. Well… It wasn’t like Lugnut wouldn’t be in the room. And Megatron did look remorseful for what happened… Though she was still frightened, he was her friend. They both were. And even though Megatron did that, Lugnut wouldn’t let him hurt her again… At least she wanted to believe that.She slowly let go of the ogre’s arm, scooting over to sit on the edge of the bed. Lugnut spared her a few more seconds before moving to the door. As he situated himself at his new post, he could only watch his king slowly approach the young human. Eclipse still looked unsure, but Megatron… Primus, his king was actually trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. Just so he wouldn’t frighten her more than he already had.And when he saw the proud ogre king actually kneel before her, on both knees, Lugnut almost thought his king had been possessed. He never acted like this, for anyone. But for Eclipse… He could only hold his breath as he watched the scene unfold before him.Even though she probably didn’t want to be touched, Megatron stretched out a hand to place on her knee. She flinched, ready to jump away, but he did not tighten his grip. It was enough to make her look at him though, which was what he wanted.“Are you all right?” he asked.Eclipse bit her lip, but slowly gave a small nod.Megatron’s eyes glanced at her wrists. There were still small abrasions on them, but they would heal with a little time and ointment. Once he was done here, he would call for Knock Out to come down and see her. But now… Now he had to get through this. Even if he was tossing aside some of his pride to do it, he had to tell her what had happened and why this wasn’t her fault.“… I’m sorry for breaking my promise.”The princess seemed to look a little lost for a moment. She couldn’t remember what promise he was talking about.“When I came for you that night… I promised you that you would be safe here.” His hand moved to gently grasp hers. Eclipse jumped, but he kept his hand where it was. “I promised that… if you came with me, I would protect you from everything and anyone. Including myself and I… broke that promise today. I’m sorry.”She vaguely remembered what he was referring to. Primus, the night he came to get her, it had been so overwhelming, she honestly didn’t remember processing it thoroughly. She remembered him telling her what could happen to her and she remembered him promising to protect her… And then the next thing she knew, she was on the run with the Ogre King and his trusted bodyguard. Which had been a rather exhausting trip in of itself.“Eclipse. The things I said… I didn’t say any of it because I was angry with you. I… You know I have a terrible control over my temper, but what I said wasn’t because you had done something wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong. Do you understand?”So she hadn’t done anything like she had thought. But that didn’t mean everything was all right. He… kissed her. Pinned her down. Frightened her. Surely, she must have done something for him to snap like that.“Th-Then why did you…?”He knew what she wanted to say, causing him to huff and shake his head. “Eclipse. I can’t lie to you anymore about this. And what I will say might… cause confusion, I understand that, but you need to know.”“Kn-Know what-? Megatron, what are you-?”“I’m in love with you, Eclipse,” he said, making sure to look her right in the eye. Saying it out loud always felt so strange, but actually saying it to Eclipse? Primus, it was liberating. As well as anxiety-inducing. “I love you. And I’m a… possessive man. I don’t want to lose you to someone else. And that was why I had snapped. It was wrong, I know. But I wasn’t angry at you. Do you understand?”Both Eclipse and Lugnut were stunned by the sudden confession. Lugnut knew his king had strong feelings for their friend, but… He had never loved before. For the longest time, Lugnut was convinced he didn’t know how. He never saw other women as potential lovers, just one night fucks to relieve his stress. And for him to fall for a human, of all people? He was stunned, even though he shouldn’t have been so surprised.And Eclipse… All she could do was stare at him. She almost thought she had heard wrong if it wasn’t for his intense gaze. The Ogre King was… in love with her. He loved her. And apparently, he was a very possessive person over the one he loved. Like some of her heroes in the romance serial novels she had owned. Where they wanted to be the only one the heroine looked at… Megatron was the same, it seemed.“You… love me,” she said softly.“I do.”“S-Since when-?”“I don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing his fingers over her hand. Her delicate, small hand that he could easily engulf in his. “But I didn’t bring you here because of that. I only wanted you to be safe… I didn’t plan on telling you about this.”Eclipse bit her bottom lip and looked away. Megatron loved her. But that wasn’t why he took her from her homeland. He wanted to protect her, he didn’t plan to tell her… But because of what happened, he had to tell her. So she wouldn’t misunderstand. So she wouldn’t think that this was something random and that he would do it again…Unless he would. He might, if he got… possessive again. She just couldn’t be sure and the next time, someone might not interrupt them. What he had done had been… frightening. Even if he loved her, she didn’t know how to react to his affections. His kisses, that stare, those words… It had all been so new and so much that she wasn’t sure if she could handle it.And she knew not to compare him to her fictional books, but she couldn’t help it. Those were all she had go by. She had no one else to really talk to about this. When the men in her stories fell in love with the women, they didn’t say lovers at the end. There was more to it than just ending with them falling in love.Swallowing, she steeled herself to look back up at him. “If you… love me… Does that mean you… you want to marry me too?”Megatron didn’t answer for a moment. He could feel Lugnut staring at him, probably wondering the same thing. After all, never in his entire life did he say he would ever marry anyone. To be perfectly honest, he had no desire to ever get married. He had never met anyone worthy of being his queen, even though he knew he would need heirs one day.But then he met Eclipse. And she… Primus, she would have made a great mother for his heirs. Capable, compassionate, understanding, loving… She was still too young, but he knew she would have been a good mother. As for marriage… He wanted her. Badly. He didn’t just want to bed her. He wanted her and only her. He had already admitted that he loved her. To have her as his queen, his wife… He never would have thought he would want a human at his side for the rest of his life, but looking at her? There wasn’t any doubt.“I do,” he said, watching her mouth fall slightly agape. “I love you. I want to court you. Marry you and make you my queen. I want you by my side, Eclipse. I want all of that…” Then he took his hands away from her, rising to his feet. “But I don’t want to hurt you or frighten you. I… I only wanted you to know the truth.”She didn’t know what to say to that, her cheeks turning red. He… said he loved her. Wanted to marry her and have her a wife, a queen of all things. Her, who was just a young human princess he was kind enough to provide refuge to. Because he was in love with her and wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.Her face turned bright red, her hands coming up to clamp over her mouth. Megatron huffed, turning away from her. If she had an answer, he didn’t want to hear it. At least not now. He needed to prepare himself for a rejection; otherwise, he feared he would do something else stupid.He walked towards the door, Lugnut quickly snapping out of his thoughts and opening it for him. But before the king left, he turned to his personal guard. “Stay with her tonight. Strika will guard me in your place.”“Yes, Your Majesty.”Megatron didn’t say any more, barely acknowledging the other’s bow before leaving the room. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be, but… What was done was done. He hurt her and these were the consequences. Primus only knew if she would ever trust him again. He hoped she would, after everything that had happened between them before this stupid disaster. Surely she wouldn’t hate him for this.At least that was what he had to keep telling himself. He had to believe that he hadn’t completely messed everything up. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he had. And hopefully she would come back to him, politely reject him, or maybe even tell him to give her some time.It was wishful thinking, but it was all he had. At this point, he would take what he could get and hope for the best.