Princess Zaria hardly slept after her conversation with her best friend. She was aware of the state of the art palace King Vincent was building. Every radio station and everyone was talking about. Apparently, no expense was spared to build it. What she did not know until her conversation with Princess Sarika was that he was building it for his concubines. Everything about King Vincent made her furious and fuelled her hatred towards him.
Dragging herself out of her chambers, she descended the stairway to join her family for breakfast. The dark circles around her eyes told a story of someone who had not slept in days.
"Your Highnesses," her strained, foreign voice pulled at the maids and the royal stuart's hearts as she curtsied to greet her parents.
To the servants, Princess Zaria was the life of Olympia castle. Her jovial laughter and melodic voice lifted their souls, but everything had become gloomy and dull. They hardly saw her because she has been spending most of her days at the planes of Azalea and most of the evenings locked up in her chambers.
"Nice of you to finally join us. I was starting to think I have no daughter. Maybe I should throw a banquet in reverence."
King Bradley's sarcasm was because his daughter had not dined with them for over a week. That was the day the Tario messengers delivered the message to start preparing for her wedding.
The princess sat down and did not bother explaining herself to her sarcastic father. She felt no need to since he was a big contributor of her pain.
"Rumours are the famous palace of Tario has been completed. Motion detecting LED lights, tiled floors and marbled countertops. It is quite amazing!"
Prince Cullen's attempt to lighten the mood and draw the attention away from his sister only achieved the opposite.
Their mother was always ready to glorify King Vincent, something that only made her daughter angrier.
"And you, My Darling, get to be their Queen," Queen Helene beamed, returning the attention back to her emotionally exhausted daughter.
"It is a walking distance from the castle, where I am to be a resident. I am so blessed that I will get to see my husband's concubines every time I look outside the window. How blessed indeed!"
"That's nothing to be perplexed about. It's nothing new. Vincent can do whatever he likes in his kingdom."
Her father's dismissive response was brewing up a familiar feeling inside her. A Queen rumoured of doing the same would be called very colourful names and executed without a trial.
"Yes, he can and he must if he wishes, but leave me out of it," she responded with her nose up.
"Not this nonsense again! I have Marius infiltrating our southern border again. We need Vincent on our side."
"So, I must marry him for that?"
"Would you rather we lose the most valuable piece of land to our enemies?"
"That has nothing to do with King Marius infiltrating our borders. We will fight him like we have always done for the past decade. I don't have to marry that despicable man!" she cried. She found it unfair for her parents to put all this on her.
"Our men are getting tired of being away from their homes. We have kept Marius away for years, but he is getting stronger and he keeps coming. We can't afford to lose the southern border."
Princess understood her father's sentiments. The southern border was the richest part of their kingdom. It was where their gold and coal mines were located. Unfortunately, it was very close to the Kingdom of Ranic and it's king wanted it all to himself.
"I know that, Father, but…"
"But nothing! The alliance with Vincent is the only thing that will keep that greedy Marius away, forever. You shall marry him, period! It is a command."
Besides all the benefits that came with being associated with the kingdom of Tario, King Vincent had more troops than any other kingdom. No King in their right mind would dare risk going against him. This, to King Bradley was worth getting her daughter wedded despite her objections.
Princess Zaria swallowed hard, her throat drying, her every breath becoming laboured and painful. The treaty alone was binding, but she hoped to somehow get out of it. Her father was her King, his command was her ultimate law. That meant she will marry the man she hated no matter what.
With that, her appetite vanished, tears filled her eyes, but she was not the type to cry in front of adversaries. She stood up instead, picked up her gown and stormed out.
Cedric and the maids casted down their eyes. They knew from the moment the queen spoke that their princess would soon vanish from the castle.
Princess Zaria was marching towards the stables when her lady-in-waiting, caught up with her.
"Your Majesty, your lunch," Daisy said and quickly passed on the lunch box she concealed under her coat.
The princess blinked back her tears. Daisy was a few months older than her. She liked her very much, not only was she smart and selfless, she felt like her true self around her.
"Thank you, Daisy. Truly."
Daisy was one of the few people she trusted completely. She had, in several instances gone beyond her duty to help her. Some of those occasions, like this one, was going against her parents, which was a punishable offence.
Daisy curtsied before running and sneaking back inside. There was nothing she would not do for her beloved princess. Many believed that she was not married and resided in the castle permanently because she was obliged to. All they knew was that the princess had thrown a huge tantrum when she was informed that her lady-in-waiting was getting married. That led to her wedding being cancelled. What they did not know was that she never wanted to marry the cruel, filthy old man her stepmother organised for her and her princess was the only one who cared and did something about it. No one knew that she could now read, count and write. That she could dance the most intricate dances because her princess secretly thought her. For that, she would risk anything to make her princess's life easier.
.
Down the flowery path to her favourite spot, Olympus knew the way and could take her there with her eyes closed. Too familiar with the harmony between them, the majestic creature could feel something amiss. Her rider was too tense, her legs were squeezing her a bit too tight, making her edgy.
She was almost there when a figure emerged out of nowhere and up went her nerves, together with her front legs.
"Olympus!" Princess Zaria exclaimed, right before she was thrown off her horse for the second time in less than a month.
Expecting to hit the ground any moment, she found herself in the strong arms of the last person she wanted to see instead.