< A year after>
Sania stood on the balcony for what seemed like an eternity. It had been several months since the war ended and the surviving knights had returned, yet there were no signs of Damien.
She refused to believe that anything had happened to him, and she asked questions about his well-being from the others, but they claimed he died in the battle long before it ended.
"Waiting for him again, Sania?" Her mother's voice came from behind. Over the past few months, she had comforted Sania but was secretly delighted because her daughter would have nothing to do with the man she despised.
Sania turned to her mother, and tears gathered up in the corner of her eyes as always.
"He promised me," she uttered.
"Hmm." Her mother sighed. What more could she do to make her daughter forget Damien for good? As much as she enjoyed Damien's demise, it hurt to watch her daughter in so much pain.
"You have to let it go, Sania, you will be getting married tomorrow and you cannot keep up with this attitude in the presence of your husband."
"Is it fair mother?" Sania interjected and looked into her mother's eyes.
Being caught in her daughter's gaze was unsettling, so she averted hers and said,
"Life is never fair to us, women, but we all adapt. Look at me, do you think that I wanted to marry your father?" She asked and paused to observe her daughter's expression.
"Your father was not as powerful or as wealthy as he is right now when he married me. Sure, he was a King, but I wanted a King more powerful."
"However, Men, their pride, and ego and secret ambitions and inconsideration and... I don't even know what other word can be used to describe it." The Queen emphasized each word to better express herself.
"They succeeded, and got me married off to your father, and guess what Sania? I adapted. And it didn't just stop there, I grew to love him and I had two sons and four daughters for him. And if we are to meet in the afterlife, I will marry your father, again and again."
Sania listened to her mother and couldn't help but wonder if the old lady intended to make her situation worse.
"It worked out for her, doesn't mean it would for me," she thought.
"I cannot assure you that your case will be like mine, but if you behave well, you have the power to make it like mine. Damien will not return, and I'm sure that wherever he is right now, he wants the best for you." She ran her finger down her daughter's cheek, and wiped off the stream of tears.
"Promise me, Sania, that you will behave, King Taffi will treat you well if you do."
"If there is anything I'll promise you, Mom," she interjected.
"Is that I will not kill him." Having endured enough of her mother's lecture, Sania stood on her feet.
With a sigh, she dashed out of the balcony, through the curtains, and into the hallway.
She slowed down as soon as she was far away from her mother and allowed the tears that had gathered up in the corner of her eyes to fall down her cheek.
She stopped in her tracks, leaned her back against the wall and slowly bent her knees until she was seated on the floor.
Sania soaked a part of her dress in tears and threw the tiara off her head like it was a worthless piece of jewelry. She knew that it was the last day she had to cry, and she was willing to make it count.
Unfortunately, the day she dreaded came faster than she wished for.
......
Sania walked into the throneroom the next day with a smile on her face. This pretentious act stems from Sania's willingness to protect her social dignity, rather than the fear of her father's wrath.
She cursed every breath from her nostrils and wished they were her last. And would prefer a home in the grave, rather than in the arms of a King whom she had yet to meet.
Sania also tried not to ignore whoever waved at her, as much as she despised the moment, Sania was compelled to remain composed as it was a custom.
"You look more beautiful than the first time I saw you." The young man who stood next to King Ezra remarked. He looked like a young Prince, and Sania assumed that he was King Taffi's son.
'But where was King Taffi?' She wondered and acknowledged with a smile,
"Thank you, my Lord."
King Ezra smiled at her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He couldn't help but recall how much he had warned her to keep a smile.
"You look beautiful," he remarked and admired the royal blue ball gown on her, adorned with blue sequins from the waist downwards. He also couldn't overlook the perfectly curled hair that rested on her shoulders as it reminded him of when she was a child in his arms.
He took her hand, and in front of the guests, he placed a kiss on the back of her palm and finally handed her over to the young man who had complimented her looks.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man began with a charming smile. He had long dark curly hair and deep blue eyes capable of hypnotizing his love interest. But Sania wasn't dazzled by his looks.
"My name is Taffi Yoshabed," he said and placed a kiss on the back of her palm before Sania withdrew her hand from him.
Sania was stunned, she stared away from him to her father and back with an expression of surprise. She expected an old King who probably had twelve wives, and several children that were old enough to be her age.
Instead, she was faced with someone as young as herself and immediately assumed that he had recently been crowned.
"Is anything wrong, my Princess?" He asked but Sania shook her head from side to side and allowed him to continue his introduction.
"As I said, my name is Taffi Yoshabed, ruler of Azeera, and it is such an honor to be here today. Many times that I held your hand, Princess, was only a dream. But now I'm faced with reality and it's better than I dreamt of," he added, and let out a broad smile whilst looking into her eyes.
"Let me tell you something," he continued, and took a few steps forward, away from Sania and to the center of the ballroom.
"I'm not going to boast about what I have accomplished within the past three years, or boast about my worth."
He turned around briskly and faced Sania again,
"I can boast about how many times I've seen you and how much I wanted you to be the Queen of Azeera!"
He emphasized the name of his Kingdom in a loud voice, and that was immediately followed by a loud cheer from those who were present in the throne room. Some raised their cups and yelled in excitement, while others clapped or just smiled.
As for Agatha, she stood among the crowd with a straight face. She understood how much Sania wished to be absent, and how difficult it was to keep her mood in check.
"I told your Father, long ago!" Taffi continued and walked from one point to another as though his feet were on fire.
"But he didn't let me speak to you once,"
"We all know the tradition, if you like a Princess, you must go through every procedure to have her. And that is exactly what I did! And today, I can finally ask ."
When he paused, the ballroom went silent, it was the moment that Sania dreaded, the part where her heart said no, but her duties as a princess were in control. Her heart beat rapidly and her knees became weak. While she watched as Taffi took a ring from one of his guards.
The Royal ring was a symbol of love, made of gold, and adorned with tiny pieces of diamond. The cost of the ring was enough to feed all the villagers in Azeera for a week and the only way to tell if Sania agreed to the marriage was if she took the ring from him, wore it on her finger, and kissed his cheek.
If she failed to perform one of these acts, then the marriage wouldn't hold, and it would be assumed that she needed some time to think about it. In such cases, the suitors would leave, and return after a week to know what was decided.
All eyes were fixed on Taffi, as he took the ring and walked up to Sania. He held it up with his thumb and index finger and looked directly into Sania's eyes.
"Will you become the Queen of Azeera?" He asked.
"We will rule the Kingdom together, please Sania, I'll do anything you ask me to."
Sania was exasperated by his act, she strongly believed that Taffi had discussed with her father to make sure that she accepted the ring. So his sugar-coated words were noises to her, and she was tempted to slap him across the face but refrained.
"Everything is unfair to women huh? We are slaves to men, and instruments for trade huh? This may become the biggest mistake that the Kingdom of Azeera has ever made." Sania kept these thoughts to herself and proceeded to accept the ring.