The kings study never changed. It always stayed the same, even when Lily was little. Books and maps littered the floor, the desk was also cluttered with letters and personal notes, no matter how often the maids cleaned it up. The walls were covered floor to ceiling with shelves full of old books, candles, souvenirs, and letters from other kingdoms. Lily glanced past the book with the golden edges and landed her gaze on the family portrait hanging above her father. The painting was old, made when her mother was still alive. Lily noticed how much she looked like her. Long, wavy, blond hair, bright green eyes, pale skin with rosy cheeks.
After a few seconds of staring at the painting, she looked at her father.
"So, what did you call me here for? What did you want to talk about"
"Well, Lily. You're going to be eighteen soon."
Lily nodded.
"And as you get older, so do I. I'm running out of years I can rule this kingdom."
"Oh father, you're not that old yet!", she insisted. Stephan only grunted.
"As I was saying, this kingdom needs someone young and strong to rule it. Someone with plenty of years left on them!" 'You mean you want someone to take over so you can focus full-time on your more important secret matters.', she thought.
"So why did you call me here?"
"Well, I think it's time to start looking for a husband for you."
"WHAT! No!", she exclaimed, almost jumping out of her chair.
"Now don't be irrational about this, Lily. You knew this day was coming. You've grown into a fine young lady, one fit to rule this kingdom. But a queen can not rule without a king to rule over her. You know that."
"But! Papa, I don't want to get married yet! And definitely not to some random prince! Papa, I-"
"Enough! I don't want to hear it! This has always been part of your future, you knew that. Every princess has to grow up and marry a prince at some point. Now don't worry though, I'll find you the perfect prince. Only the best gets to marry my daughter."
"Oh but Papa! I don't ever want to marry a prince! Please Papa, you know that I-"
"Enough!! Not another word!", he shouted. "We've already talked about this! So unless you intend on spending another two months in your room, I suggest you bite your tongue!!" Lily's first impulse was to persist in trying to convey her own views to her father, but after thinking twice, she bit her tongue and decided not to. She knew it would be futile. His mind was made up, and nothing she could possibly say would make him change his plans. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to cry.
"Now, I've already spoken with a king not far from here, and he has a son only a few years older than you. His name is Alex, and if you ask me, he seems like a splendid choice." Lily sniffled in response.
"Haah-, fine. He'll be joining us for supper tonight. Make sure you're ready. I'll give Elizabeth the clothes you are to wear...you may go now." Lily fought the urge to leap out of her seat and storm to her room where she could cry on Lizs' shoulder and tell her everything,
Slowly, she got out of her seat, not bothering to put it back into place, and walked out the door, closing it softly.
As she walked down the hallway, she thought about marriage. A covenant between two people. An eternal promise of love. Something once, so sacred, is now a simple partnership. An alliance merely for the convenience or betterment of two kingdoms. 'Married... why so soon? Why can't I wait like mother did? She didn't marry till she was twenty-five. Just a few more years! That's all I want!' She knew she had to marry eventually, she couldn't escape that. 'But seventeen?' She thought. 'I'm only seventeen! I haven't even seen outside the kingdom yet!' Lily felt as if her life was being given away before she could even live it. She thought about the prince she had to meet tonight. 'Will he understand me? Will he let me talk to others? Will he listen to me?' Question after question ran through her mind as she walked down the empty hallway. Passing a pot of flowers, she stopped to pick one up. 'Or will he treat me like a vase of flowers, only good to be looked upon and never heard.'
When Lily got to her room, Liz was waiting on her bed, reading her favorite novel.
"Welcome back Lily! What did your father want to talk to you about?" Before Liz could finish, Lily fell onto the bed face-first and hugged her pillow.
"What's wrong?", Liz asked as she put her book down.
"He's gonna marry me off to some prince!", Lily blurted out. She got up and sat crisscrossed in front of Liz, hugging the pillow on her lap.
"Oh no, when?", Liz asked.
"He's having me meet someone tonight!"
"That soon! Well he's not giving you much time to prepare." Liz wrapped her arm around Lilys shoulders.
"I just...I'm not ready Liz. I haven't had enough time to do any of the things I've planned! I won't be able to see other places, meet new people, fall in love! I won't be able to do any of it if I get married as soon as I'm eighteen!", she sobbed. Liz smirked,
"What?" Lily sniffled. Giggling, Liz answered,
"You mean you haven't had enough time to find a cute girl to run off with?" Lily smiled with embarrassment and playfully hit Liz with the pillow on her lap.
"Shut up! That's not what I mean! I'm just not ready to get married yet."
"Uh-huh-", Liz said sarcastically, "so if Abigale would show up today, and ask you to marry her, you would say no? Cause I'm pretty sure you'd say yes."
"I- that's not far! I-I-... it's different with her because- cause she-", Lily stumbled with her words, then decided to let Liz have the victory.
"Fine! I just don't want to marry a guy, so what?" Lily buried her face in her pillow.
"I know, I know. I'm just teasing you."
"What am I gonna do about tonight, Liz?"
"Well, I think, if you can't change it, go with it. Then you can make a plan from there."
"What do you mean? Are you saying I should just marry the guy?" Lily pulled her gaze from her throw pillow to look at Liz.
"I'm not saying that. I'm saying, go to the dinner. Try to have fun, maybe he's not that bad. When the night's over, think about it. And if you really don't like him, tell your father you want to look at your options before you decide who you like. It'll buy you some time, and it's not like you have to tell him that you don't like any of them. He'll just think you're being picky."
"Haah-- Ok. Thanks, Liz. You always know what to say. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I'm just glad I can help," Liz said as she hugged Lily. Her embrace was comforting, it reminded Lily of holding Abigale in her arms, the warmth of her skin, her lips gently pressing against her neck, her soft hair on Lilys' cheek. But when she opened her eyes, Abigale was still gone, and Liz was the only person with her.
A knock on the door caused them to jump away from each other, startled.
"Who is it?", Lily asked, wiping the tears from her face.
"It's Mary...I came to fetch Elizabeth, the king wishes to see her. Is she with you?"
"Uh-oh,", Lily said sarcastically.
"I'm coming. Do you know what he wants?", Liz asked.
"I think he wants to give you clothes for the princess to wear tonight, but I'm not sure. It's not my business."
"Will you be ok if I go?", Liz asked.
"I'll be fine! Go. You don't want to be late, might get you on his bad side.", Lily joked.
"I'm going, I'm going." Liz walked over to the door, then stopped.
"Don't forget you have a hot bath waiting for you."
"Oh, Right! Thanks a lot, Liz."
Lily walked over to her bathroom. A cloud of steam drifted through the door as soon as she opened it. 'Ahhh~ A nice, hot bath sounds perfect right now.' She untied her dress, letting it fall to the floor, and slipped into the soothing, warm water.