The wedding ...

On the fifteenth day, I rushed to the throne room when  the messenger arrived from Aragón. He said the reply would have reach us few days ago but there was a little argument about the wedding. 

“What happened?” My father asked. “Why the delay?”

“Prince Ivar. He was sick so the Emperor had to wait for him to recover first, my Lord”  Antonio answered with a bow. He went to where my father was sitting and handed a letter to him.

My heart beat faster as he struggled to open the letter. My eyes moved with his, while the letter was read silently. Was the news bad?

“Tomorrow?” The king asked with a surprise look. I wonder what was the content of the letter!

I moved closer as the messenger knelt down in front of the throne.

“My king, that is the final decision of the Emperor. We have no choice than to obey” he told us. 

“Send news across the kingdoms. Tell the palace courier to announce that tomorrow in this great palace, I will be wedding my daughter princess Rania to Prince Ivar.

No. I didn't his  last word. What did he just say? Whose name did my father called ? Prince Ivar? 

Nobody told me I was getting married to the dark lord called Ivar. My mother knew about my feelings for prince Alaric. Maybe father was mistaken again.

I waited patiently for the messenger to leave the room. My blood boiled when mother came after. She was also part of this lie. 

“Rania, you are here?” She asked looking at me then my father. The dress she wore made a flappy sound along with footsteps.

“Yes. I wanted to ask father why he is mistaking prince Alaric to Ivar the dark lord” I said, with gritted teeth. I was controlling my self from yelling at them. They were my parents and I kept the respect.

“Who said you were getting married to Prince Alaric?” The king shouted. He managed to stand from his seat and walked to where I was "it's Ivar. The wedding date has been set. Go to your room Rania and start preparing for tomorrow.”

I was shocked. Was this my father? 

“I refused, father. There will be no wedding tomorrow” I managed to say with courage. We were trained never to oppose the decisions our father made.

Both father and mother had a shocking expression. At least I was not the only person who shock at the end of the day. I left there for my room immediately. 

The maids and guards were surprised to see me cry. I could hear mother's voice calling me to wait. She wanted to explain everything to me but I need no explanation. The harm was already there. How did they expect me to marry the brother of the man I loved?

I entered my room and locked the door from inside. Few minutes later, mother came Knocking along side with two other, which I guessed was my sisters. 

The more they knocked, the more I cried. I wished they could all go away. 

I went to my bathroom and sat in a bowl filled up and cried my heart out. The thought of being a wife to that devil's son scared me. I wished father would change his mind.

"Please open the door Rania. We need to talk about this I heard mother's voice. Instead of unlocking the door. I sank back to the bowl. Let death do justice.

**

When I woke up, the room was filled up with people. My head was spinning. Mother was sitting next to me on my bed. She was crying.

I tried to get up but they stopped me.

“She is awake, thank God” Annabelle said, wiping her tears away. Wait was I still alive? Even death rejected me. Prince Ivar did not want me to escape him that's why he sent back from the land of death. Such a evil man should not dwell here on Earth.

Many scary stories were told about him. I did not want to spend the rest of my life with a such monster.

“You scared us , Rania” mother said, holding my hand tightly. She cried so much that her eyes were dark.

The physician was still present in the room. I saw her mixing some of those bitters herbs again. I hated them as much as I hated prince Ivar.

“Has father change his mind?” I asked  , looking at her to see if there was a ray of hope.

“Leave us alone” mother commanded. Quickly, The maids and the physician left the room. My sisters were still present. They sat on the bed with smiles. 

“Did he?” I asked again.

“No. You must understand this that your father is not in the position to change who you will marry” She said, bitterly. I noticed the marks that appeared on her forehead. She was very stressful out. This wedding has caused us more harm than good.

“Why mother?” I asked.

She stood up from the bed and made her way to the door. I wondered if she was not going to answer my question!

“Rania, you have to understand that your father sold you to the Emperor. You have cleared all the debts this kingdom owns. This is a decision of a king and not a father. I hope you understand one day, my love” Mother left the room after saying this. My sisters were also surprised that our father did that.

I sat on my bed the whole day . Mother came and informed me that the Emperor will soon arrived. It’s was evening and I became restless. It was my wedding day , instead of being happy, I was sad.

My sisters came with a lot of maids to dress me up. Some of the members of the royal family came as well. They wanted me to be worthy of prince Ivar. But who cares?

I just wanted him to tell his father that he changed his mind about the whole marriage stuff and he wished to marry another woman. Like princess Elizabeth, whose kingdom was closed to theirs.

“Is prince Ivar also come?” I asked foolishly. Which man won’t make it to his wedding? I could tell that he was desperate to get married to me or else he would not have set a date so closed.

“He will come, don’t worry” one of the women who were making me up said with a smile. She was my mother’s friend and makeup artist for years. “Are you Missing him?”

Did I just hear her clearly? How earth was I going to miss someone I don’t care nor have ever seen before. “No, I don’t.”

Disappointed, she continued with the make up. In no time , they were through with both the dress and makeup. A veil was used to cover my face. It’s was a culture that my husband does not get to see my face until we are about to consummate the night. But who was going to do that with him? I might even run away if they dare to leave me alone with him!

‘Who will you run to' I asked in side my head. All my life, I lived in the castle with my family. We have never go outside. Father said it’s was forbidden and we all obeyed him.- Which was bad!

Mother came in to the room to check if I was ready. She was impressed when they said we were done with everything. Even without seeing her flawless face, I could feel the excitement from her voice.

“The Emperor is here. He is waiting downstairs” she told us. I was not able to see what was happening around because of the veil on my face. Mother came closer and whispered “prince Alaric is here. Behave yourself or you will lose us.”

I understood what she meant. I was not supposed to have any relationship with the prince except that of a brother in law. The punishment for betraying a prince was death. Since it was the Emperor’s son, my family would not be spare in this case too. For their sake , I was going to endure this.

I knew my father was just trying to be strong. It was difficult for him to hand me to the Emperor but he had no choice here.

“Mother, I am sorry for trying to kill my self” I apologized.

“No. I am not angry my dear. We understand how you are feeling but this is fate” She started. “Some marriages are arranged but they end up with love. Can’t you see me and your father?”

Oh that story! We found it boring. Annabelle and I wished our love stories to be full of adventures – maybe that was why God gave me the world best man to marry, the dark lord!