In the royal castle of Olympia.
The royal family had just finished having their dinner when Cedric, the royal steward, rolled down the scroll the messengers had delivered and started reading.
"The royal majesty, King Vincent of Tario humbly reminds the kingdom of Olympia to start the preparations for his union with Princess Zaria of Olympia….."
Princess Zaria did not hear the rest of the message, her head already spinning. The day she dreaded and prayed to never come had actually arrived. She had been keeping her fingers crossed because she was turning twenty-one years old of age in two month's time. That was when the treaty between her kingdom and that of Tario would come into effect. She was promised to wed King Vincent the day she was born, something she found absolutely ridiculous. She had hoped that he would find one of his many conquests suitable to be his queen and cancel the agreement with her kingdom, but clearly not.
"You look flushed, Darling. Are you okay?"her mother, Queen Helene asked with a concerned expression, something that only made her daughter angry.
She looked at her mother in disbelief. She blamed her and her father for signing her off to a despicable monarch when she was just hours old.
"Am I okay? Mother, Father, I told you that I will not wed that obnoxious man!"
She made herself clear to her parents from the time she turned sixteen years old and heard all about her future husband from other princesses and noble girls at Royal academy. She begged her parents a countless times to reverse the treaty she was not even part off, but that was all in vain.
"Not this nonsense again! You shall wed King Vincent, it is your royal duty."
King Bradley was getting weary of his outspoken, rebellious daughter. Marriages between royals had always been planned this way. It was how he married her mother. It was how all royals wedded and a way to strengthen bonds between kingdoms. His daughter was behaving like it was a life sentence.
"Oh, Dear," Cedric embraced himself for the storm. Having been with the royal family for years he could already predict what would happen. Princess Zaria was never one to roll over and take orders from anyone, her father included.
"How is it my duty to wed a man I don't love?"
Princess Zaria really struggled with the concept. She believed that there should be more to marriage and life than fulfilling royal duties.
"Love? What do you know about love?"her mother asked, sharply.
"We are too privileged to be married for love, Sis," Prince Cullen resonated a statement deeply instilled in him by his parents, but his sister has never been one to conform to social norms.
"Says who? Just because things have always been done a certain way does not mean they can't change. I hate him, Father!" she cried. Surely her parents have seen technology developments, culture and norms changing. She found nothing logical about being forced into a marriage she did not want.
"How can you hate him? You don't even know him. Not that it matters. This union is good for our kingdom."
King Bradley's stern voice usually got the mightiest of man shaking, not his daughter. She lifted her nose up in defiance instead, ready to defend her case.
It was true that she had never seen King Vincent, nor talked to him. That was because she intentionally avoided attending his thousand royal balls and any gathering he was likely to attend, but she knew all about his obnoxious behaviour. She always received hundreds of calls after his exorbitant events and heard all about which Princess or Lady he took to his bed.
"He must have a thousand bastards by now," her friend, Sarika would say.
She snapped her trailing mind back to her father's response. They all knew King Vincent's popularity with the women, yet insisted on honouring the stupid treaty.
"So, you will sacrifice my happiness for the kingdom?"
Her question was the last straw for her father. Banging his fist hard on the table, rattling the dinner plates and startling his daughter. King Bradley was not prepared to discuss the matter any further.
"You are a royal, privileged from birth. This is your duty, one you shall execute. Do you hear me?"
Princess Zaria stood up, impatiently lifted her gown up to facilitate her exit and stormed out, too furious to acknowledge the law that was her father.
"Zaria!" King Bradley shouted behind her. "What has gotten to this child!"
Queen Helene quickly got on her feet and massaged her husband's neck in an attempt to calm him down. Her daughter clashed a lot with her father because they both had very strong personalities and hot tempers.
"Let her be, Honey. She will eventually calm down and come to her senses."
"She better, because marrying Vincent, she shall."
.
The stable boy could tell by her brisk step that the princess was in a foul mood and got out of the way. All royal employees adored her and her generous spirit, but sparks flew when their beloved princess was angry. With her horse brushed, fed and ready, he was certain that she would not need anything from him. Not so long after, he emerged out of his hiding and watched her disappear with her black mare.
Wind blowing through her hair, the sweet scent of azaleas filling her nostrils and the sense of freedom watching over her. She urged her beloved horse.
"Come-on, Olympus. Take me far from here."
The mighty beast grunted before taking quick strides and then galloped out of the castle, heading towards the planes of Azaria.
"Faster, Olympus, Faster!"
A moment of brief calmness was immediately replaced by anger as her dilemma came crashing to her.
"I shall not wed that man! Absolutely not!" she screamed inside, pushing her horse harder. She could not understand how her parents could not see how preposterous the whole arranged marriage custom was.
Olympus was still dashing forward when something crossed her path, triggering her natural nervous horse instincts.
Her front feet sprung up to the air, propelling her rider backwards and sending her rolling down the flowery planes.
The princess groaned before quickly springing to her feet despite the sharp pain on her left ankle. It would be a nightmare if her parents found out about this. The conservative bunch would never let her ride again. Just the thought of it was enough to suppress the urge to take a seat and nurse her ankle. She quickly fixed her gown and brushed away the flowers sticking on it.
As if feeling guilty for her exaggerated response, Olympus trotted to her side, prompting her owner to run her hands over her belly.
"It's just a duckling, Olympus. Such a majestic beast and you get terrified by a little duckling!"she exclaimed in disbelief when she discovered what startled her horse.
"Your Highness." A strong husky voice greeted behind her.
"Your Highnesses are my parents, thank you very much!" she snapped before turning around to find a man in his late twenties, smiling at her.
"Your Majesty will suffice," she added, feeling guilty for snapping at him for no reason.
He flashed her another breathtaking smile, revealing his unrealistic perfect set of teeth. He heard all about her hot temper and found it quite intriguing.
"You hurt your ankle, let me have a look," he said, immediately kneeling down before her and touching her ankle.
"No, don't…" her warning came too late. Besides being terrified of him worsening the pain she was trying to suppress, she was a royal and not anyone could just touch her.
Anyone else would have quickly realised his mistake and backed away, but he was not the type. She was his mission, one he had no intention of failing at executing. He looked up at her instead, their eyes meeting for the first time and the time immediately came into a halt.
"I will be gentle, I promise."
He was the first one to snap out of the frozen state and peeled his stricken eyes away.
She sighed before sitting down and letting him check her ankle, which was already swelling.
"Deep breaths and relax." Like hypnosis, his hushing voice filled her ears, bringing her complete relaxation and trust in a stranger.
Taking him in, tall, sharp jaw, sharp eyes and a majestic aura. She would swear that his mannerism was of a royal or at least a noble, but his liberal attire completely disqualified him to be in either of those categories. The faded blue jeans were "unroyal" like. The white t-shirt was too tight for comfort and her already galloping heart. He was a complete misfit to her first assessment.
Realising that she had been staring, she forced her eyes to look away. She would not want to be caught ogling a complete stranger. She's never really paid much attention to the opposite sex. In fact, many irritated her, but he was different. He promised to be gentle and somehow she believed that he would and alas! he was. His coordinated gentle massage made her ankle feel so much better, among other things.
With the pain almost gone, she now had questions for him.
"What are you doing in my plane?"
"Not mine but this is my …"she hesitated, her usual smooth tongue deserting her.
"Your sanctuary?"he completed her sentence, still gentle massaging her sprained ankle. Unlike her, he knew all there was to know about her.
His response caught her by surprise, forcing her to look back at him. She was certain that they had never met, yet he knew how she referred to the flowery planes of her kingdom.
"Something like that."
"It's mine too. This place is quiet and serene. Things just come into perspective when I visit it,"he explained with a perfectly modulated tone.
She swallowed her saliva, that was exactly how she felt about the planes of azalea.
"What?" he asked curiously, when he found her studying him.
"That's how I feel about them too."
Somehow, her admission made her feel bare to his sharp eyes. Like her very soul was presented to him for analysis.
He chuckled, everything so far a dream come true for him. Princess Zaria was much more beautiful in person than any of the many photographs he had of her. The photographs did not quite capture her flawless skin, the honey brown eyes and the perfect beauty mark above her left lip.
"It must be the azaleas. Tell me what's upsetting you so much that you almost broke your leg?"
"Who said I am upset?"
Princess Zaria was starting to be anxious about him. How he seemed to be so smooth, daring and easy to talk to when she hardly spoke to any man besides her family and royal employees.
He stopped massaging her ankle and looked directly into her eyes. "Everything, Your Majesty. Your beautiful eyes should be sparkling, not dull. Those rosy cheeks should be glowing and my world should be lit up by your presence, yet it's only darkness I feel."
"You are cocky."
He chuckled, her every response amusing him.
"I am Oscar."
"Zaria."
"I know! The whole world knows the most beautiful princess to ever grace planet earth."
Her cheeks started to burn. She knew that she was beautiful but the way he said it made her feel very strange.
"Zaria! Zaria!"
She jumped up to her feet, like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. That was her brother's voice and she was suddenly nervous. Being seen with this man, who made her blush, would be a royal scandal and a possible execution for him.
He once again flashed her with his breathtaking smile before gently holding her hand, gracefully taking a bow and planting a light kiss on the back of her hand. She watched him disappear into the trees before letting out a sigh. That's when her brother came into her view.
"There you are. Father wants you back in the castle."
"Why?"
"Princesses don't wander off to planes, Zaria."
She rolled her eyes at him. Her brother was all about rules and duty, she could never relate. She always believed that there should be more to life than social norms, rules and duty. Something about Oscar made her feel like that life was not impossible.
"And the royal wedding designer requests to speak to you," her brother added, snapping her mind off the hot stranger back to her reality.
"I don't want to talk to a wedding designer because I am not getting married. What part of that do you not understand?"
"Hey, I am only a messenger."
"But you think this is right, marrying me off to a man I hate?"
"Let's just go home, Zaria."
Prince Cullen learned years ago to never get into any argument with his sister because he never won any of them.
Princess Zaria limped to her horse and quietly rode home, taking the stranger she met along with her in her mind.