The Princess' Arranged Marriage

The King gritted his teeth at the thought of his people starving for another winter, but there was nothing he could do about it. It did not matter that he was the one producing the crops his people need. What mattered was that he needed the weapons which he could only get from his neighboring Kingdom. As much as he would love to go a year without this trade, he knew that if he did that, the same Kingdom selling him weaponry now would be the Kingdom to attack him if they knew that he did not have the means to protect himself.

And there was nothing he desired more than to take the head of the arrogant prince from that demon-infested Kingdom, the same prince who was sitting in front of him and acting like he should be bowed to even though he was sitting in front of the King of this kingdom.

“You know that my people will starve if we give the ratio of crops you want. You know the year has been hard on us, and yet you increased the percentage.”

The prince who sat opposite him shrugged. “I do not bother myself about things when it is of no concern with my Kingdom. The only way I will be concerned about what you just said is if you are not going to do business with us this year, and then I will take the trade and go to some other Kingdom to present my conditions to them. I am sure they will show me more gratitude than you have shown me.”

The King took in deep breaths. “I am sorry that I have not be hospitable, and I will accept the trade, I am just wondering if there was a way that we tweak the options a little,” the King suggested even though he knew that Prince Flynn would agree to do no such thing. He had to try at least once for his people.

“I am sorry but no. If we want to tweak it according to you, then I might have to return here, and believe me when I say that I do not want to come back here in the next two weeks. I prefer to come back in three months’ time for the exchange. “

The King sighed. He had done his best. There was nothing more he could do, and he knew that if he pushed the issue that the annoyance in front of him would actually do something that he was going to hate. “Fine, I will sign the contract for the terms of this trade,“ the King conceded, already feeling the suffering of his people. There was a reason why his Kingdom was always the poorest, and that was because of the Kingdom close to them. He knew that sooner or later he would have to do something about this situation before they would leave him crippled.

Flynn smiled as the King put his stamp of approval on the agreement. It was a good thing they could do this quickly because he did not want to spend a night close to the palace. He knew he would not be able to stay away from the King’s only child. There was something about the girl that whenever he spent the night in the palace, he could not help but terrorize her. She was his favorite toy, and it was about time that the toy became his permanently. His parents wanted to stay low for some time before avenging his twin’s death—no, murder was more like it—but his parents knew they were insane if they tried to fight a war with Prince Ken’s Kingdom any time soon. They needed the additional help of another Kingdom, and that Kingdom would have to be this one. They were planning on making the Kingdom theirs by crippling the Kingdom, but it is taking too long. Of course, he could try the strategy of marrying the heir to the throne like his sister did, but that got her killed, and his parents certainly did not want to lose another child.

Even with that, he knew he wanted that princess who had been dubbed the warrior princess because she could fight. “Your daughter,” Flynn said with a pause and a smile. He always loved it when he made people powerless, especially when they were powerful people in their own right, and he got the reaction he was hoping for from the King.

When the King heard that bastard mention his daughter, he froze in panic. He knew that the spawn of Hell was enjoying his reaction, but his mind closed off when the prince mentioned his daughter. “Yes, what about her,” the King asked as he aimed for nonchalance, but the full-blown smile on the face of demon who was sitting opposite him told him that he failed epically at it.

“I was thinking of offering for my hand in marriage,“ Flynn said, and he tried to contain his chuckles when the King went pale. He knew that if the King were not sitting down, he would have collapsed where he stood.

“My daughter is not really suitable material for marriage,“ the King said, but Flynn smiled.

“She is the heir to your Kingdom; she is going to have to marry pretty soon,“ Flynn said as the King trembled in his seat. There was no way he wanted to be related to the demon in front of him; he had heard of what Prince Flynn liked to do with the women he was with. He could not imagine his daughter being owned by the Prince. He would turn her daughter into a shell of what she was in the first month of them being together. “I am sure you did not expect this gracious marriage proposal, so when I return for the conclusion of the trade, we will discuss it more then,” Flynn said as he stood up to leave.

When the King stood up to escort Flynn out as the protocol demanded, Prince Flynn waved him to sit back down. “No need for protocol as we are about to become family,“ Flynn said with a laugh as he left the King’s study.

The King put his hands on his head. There was no way he could get out of this situation without a war. If he refused the proposal, there would be bad blood within the Kingdoms, and everybody knew what the Kingdom of Corthin did to other Kingdoms they did not like. His Kingdom was doomed.

“Your majesty, Prince Flynn left two hours ago. What are you still doing here?“ the Queen said when she entered the room. She was surprised and scared to hear the envoy from Corthin was around, and it included the prince. She knew that whatever they wanted from the trade was not going to be good, but when it was reported to her that her husband has been in his study for two hours after the envoy left, she knew that this time, the news she would get was seriously going to be bad.

The King lifted his red-rimmed eyes to stare at his wife, the mother of his beloved daughter, a daughter he wished he had married off years ago, so that this would have never befallen them. “What are we going to do, Mirabelle?”

The Queen stared at her husband who she had never seen look so defeated. “Is the trade deal that bad?” the Queen asked her husband as she rushed to his side to rest her palm against the flat of his back to offer him some measure of comfort.

“The trade went as I suspected it would,” the King said with a sigh.

“Then what is wrong?“ the Queen asked in a perplexed tone.

“Prince Flynn expressed his desire to court our daughter,” the King said with a sigh as he used a hand to rub his face.

The Queen froze at the King’s statement, and when she could control her rage, she replied to the King in a serious tone. “I hope you told him that our daughter is of no use to him.”

The King lips twitched at that statement by his wife. Through all the years they spent together, she never failed to bring a smile to his face, especially when he was in a terrible mood. “As much as I wanted to tell him that, I couldn’t, unless I want to insult his kingdom. We really cannot defend ourselves if they decide to attack us because we insulted a member of the royal family. And he did not request it; he hopes that when he comes in three months, we will present him with our daughter for a wedding,“ the King said as the Queen froze again.

The Queen connected the dots as she felt her throat close up. No, there was no way she would allow that monster near her daughter. He was going to break her daughter’s spirit, and Alexa was nothing with her spirit. “We cannot say no”

The King closed his eyes in defeat. He could not protect his family, and his daughter was going to suffer for it. “We cannot,” the King repeated even though he knew that his wife was not asking a question.

“We cannot let him take our daughter away and break her,“ the Queen cried out. “Alex, he will ruin her forever. She will become a shadow of herself.“

“I know, Mirabelle. Believe me. I know. But we do not have another option. The only other option we have is to refuse, and if we do, it would be taken as an insult. They will retaliate and destroy this kingdom, and then they will still take her away as spoils of war, and you know how they will treat her then.“ The King stood up to face his wife, which turned out to be a good thing because she went pale, and her legs gave out just as the King reached for her “Mirabelle,“ the King said as he put her in his seat. He knew better than to point out that future for his wife. She had a hard time giving birth, and she nearly died before she could give birth to their daughter. They would have tried for more children, but the physician told them that another pregnancy would kill the Queen. He refused to bring another woman into the royal family even though he was pestered to provide a male ruler. He knew that the Queen would never let go of the guilt she felt about not providing a proper heir. That was one of the reasons why she never complained when Alexa started to act like a son.

“I am sorry. I should not have said that,” the King said as he helped his wife to the seat he vacated in anger.

“It is alright. I needed to hear that,“ the Queen said as she pressed her hands together to stop them from shaking terribly. “So, what do we do now? “

“Now we prepare our daughter for marriage,“ the King said bitterly.

“Give me some time to think of another solution. If I cannot come up with something in the next week, then we can tell Alexa,“ the Queen pleaded. The King knew that they needed to draw out the rage of their daughter when she learned that she was about to be forced into marriage. Yet, he was willing to let his wife think of something. If it could prevent Alexa’s marriage to Prince Flynn, then he was all ears.

“Fine, but nothing more than a week,“ the King said as the Queen smiled.

“I will try to think of something good in that time. Thank you,“ the Queen said with a smile.

......

The Queen spent the majority of the given time locked in her solar being alone and thinking. There was no way Alexa would be able to escape marriage, but she could be married to someone other than that disgusting prince who was known for breaking girls’ spirits. If it were hearts, she would have little problem with him besides the actions of his family, but no, the boy like bruising the females who had been in his bed, both physically and mentally.

If her daughter had to marry, she needed to get married to a person of the same station with her, someone who would be able to fight against Corthin and win, someone who did not need much convincing to marry a girl who acted like a boy, someone who the royal family of Corthin was afraid of. And there was just one royal like that in the other Kingdom they shared borders with, and everybody knew that the prince was married. Everybody had heard the story. They hanged Fallon, the only princess of Corthin, when she stepped too far and told the Kingdom of Corthin to stay out of their business.

There was a strained peace between the kingdoms which seemed like moments before a war. They needed the loyalty of another kingdom to tilt the scales, and she was sure that was the reason why Flynn wanted to marry Alexa, and she refused to give him that satisfaction.

Everybody hearing the stories also meant everybody had heard of the prince who was happily married with a son and had no reason to want for a second wife, not that she would allow her daughter to be a second wife to anybody. There must be somebody who held a huge sway in that Kingdom who was her daughter’s age and not yet married. The person might not be a prince, but he would be close to being one, and if he were a good friend of the crown prince, then it would be even better.

The best choice was Lord Jared, and although he was a hero, he was not yet married, which made people wonder what was wrong with him.

Well, she would get the answers herself. She would go to the Kingdom of Kythia, present the issue in front of those the matter concerned, and hope that they would help her save her kingdom and her daughter.

But first, she needed to tell her husband, which would not be easy, but she knew it would be easier than letting Alexa know that she was going to be married to a man she had never met and that she had no choice in the matter. She was so not looking forward to having that conversation with her daughter.

The Queen arrived at the Kingdom of Kythia very weary from travel. Her health was not the best, so she tried to avoid travelling, but this was a necessary travel she could not avoid. Her Kingdom was in danger, and the only way to prevent that danger from coming to pass was this.

After she was rested, she was taken to the King’s study, which he used to entertain royal visitors and the like.

“Queen Mirabelle, welcome. How is your health?” the Queen said as she kissed the visiting queen’s cheeks.

“The same as always,” Queen Mirabelle said with a small smile.

“So, what brought you here?” King Julian asked the visiting Queen, ignoring his wife’s glare.

Queen Patricia glared at her husband even though he was pointedly not looking at her direction. “I am sure that what His Majesty was saying is that it must be something serious for you come visit since, although you are always welcome, you don’t make social visits.”

Mirabelle smiled at Patricia. She was used to rephrasing her husband words because he too said them without thinking about the repercussions. “I understand, and you are right. This was not a social visit.”

King Julian’s body went stiff. For Asteria Queen to come and ask for help, it meant that something huge was happening. “Alexander is well, right?“

“He is fine. We are fine, but trouble is on our doorsteps—on all of our doorsteps,” the Queen said, maintaining eye contact with the King and Queen.

“Go on,“ Patricia said.

“Before I say anything, Prince Ken has to be around,“ Mirabelle stated.

“He is on his way; he is putting Kendrick to sleep,” the King said with a smile.

“I believe congratulations are in order since your grandson will soon be three,“ Mirabelle said as Patricia smiled.

“Thank you for your congratulations,“ the King replied just as a knock sounded on the door. The door was pushed opened, and Prince Ken walked in.

“Have you all gotten far?“ Prince Ken asked, but his father shook his head in reply.

“We waited for you. Take a seat, Prince Ken,” Mirabelle answered as Ken moved to join them at the table.

“What is wrong?” Ken asked as soon as he drew out his chair.

“The Kingdom of Corthin has been making us dependent on them, and they threaten us any time they like. They went too far last time,“ Mirabelle finished softly.

“What did they ask for?” Ken asked, looking at the Queen.

“Prince Flynn wants my daughter as his bride. We have all heard of the things he does to his bed companions.“

Queen Patricia was the first to break the sudden silence. “That is terrible. And you said your kingdom is dependent on his?”

Prince Ken stood up in anger. “I cannot believe those people. We should have killed Flynn when we had the chance. We need to rid the world of this scum.“

“This means they are making their move. They decided that they do not need the peace anymore,” Julian said with a sigh.

“We did not want to be involved with this disagreement, but since Prince Flynn dragged us in the middle, we would like to side with Kythia. “

“I am not getting a second wife,“ Ken stated.

“I never said you should. All I am suggesting is that somebody who inspires fear in Flynn should be my daughter’s husband. That person will get to be King one day,“ Mirabelle said as the royals all thought about it.

The King connected the dots. “As soon as Flynn gets married to your daughter, he is going to do something to your husband. That is your suspicion.“

“Yes, it is,“ Mirabelle answered simply. Now they all understood why she came alone even though her health was not the best.

“You already have someone in mind to be your daughter’s suitor?“ Patricia said as Mirabelle nodded.

“Who?” the King asked.

“Lord Jared, your son’s best friend.“

“So that is why you wanted me to be present,“ Ken realized.

“Yes. But I also wanted to know if there is anything wrong with him. He is not married, and that makes one suspect that something is wrong with him. “

“Jared is okay. There is nothing wrong with him. Why did you choose him, apart from Flynn and all this war business?” Ken asked to know what the Queen had going on in her head before he’d present the issue to his friend and advise him to go for it. Jared helped him choose his wife, and although an opportunity had fallen on Jared, the least he could do was to make sure that the option was the best for his friend.

Unlike the others, he knew that Jared getting married because of love was out of the question. His heart had died long ago, and although he did not know many details, he knew more than any other person alive, including the lady Jared had fallen for.

“He seems like the perfect match for my daughter from what I have heard about him,“ Queen Mirabelle. When Prince Ken did not say anything and continued to stare at her, the Queen sighed as she gave up the truth. “Lord Jared is perfect for my daughter because I know that he would not break her spirit or try to change her. The rumors about my daughter acting like a man are true… she behaves like a son, not a daughter, just like how Lord Jared’s sister does. I heard that he has a strong bond with his sister. I want a son in-law who would not try to change the way my daughter is.“

Prince Ken nodded with approval. The explanation passed his judgement. All that was left was Jared’s approval. “I am not too comfortable with this,“ Ken’s mother said, bringing him out of his head. “Jared should marry for love. “

Ken laughed at his mother’s words. “Do not worry about that, Mother. Jared will not have a problem with the match; he will not feel forced into it. If the match is suitable to him, he will go for it,“ Ken said as he stood up and bowed to his father, then kissed Queen Mirabelle’s hand and his mother’s cheeks.

“It would be better to inform Jared of this in the morning,“ Ken said, and with that, he turned and left the room.

“We will inform Jared’s parents of this discussion this evening. Tomorrow, I hope that Jared will meet with us, so we can iron out the details,“ King Julian said as Queen Mirabelle smiled in return.

All she was praying for was that things should go as planned.

………

Jared woke up to the sound of his parents celebrating. Lately, he was getting more uncomfortable in his house. That had to do mainly with his parents trying to marry him to any female that was available; they had even asked him if he preferred men, which was laughable. During the days before Ken met Annabelle and became a family man, they broke a lot of girls’ hearts, but these days, going to taverns and drinking alone was no longer enticing.

Jared frowned when he realized that his parents’ voices were coming closer to his room. He quickly went over his duties in his mind. He was not slacking, so why were they coming to his room? He knew it was his room because his sister stayed in the other side of their home.

Before Jared could think of an excuse to run off or to even get dressed, the door of his room banged open. “Son, we’ve got good news. “

Jared let out a groan. He had learned that whenever his parents said that they had good news, it meant that he was not going to like the news one bit. “I could have been naked,“ Jared complained as soon as his parents came into view.

“So?“ his mother asked with raised eyebrows. “I did give birth to you. “

Jared knew better than to start an argument with his mother in the morning without anything in his stomach, especially an argument about how much he has changed within the last twenty-five years. “What is going on that made you to wake early today?“

“We have a new bride for you,“ his father said gleefully.

Jared sighed; he should have suspected it. His parents would probably be ecstatic about making him married. In fact, his parents would be ecstatic over anything that would make their chances of having a grandchild within the next two years increase. “No,” Jared said as he started to get dressed.

“You have not even heard anything about her,“ his mother said in angry tone.

“Any decision you make about finding me a bride is always wrong,“ Jared reminded them.

“The king chose her this time; it wasn’t our decision,“ his father said with a smile that broadened when Jared whipped his head around to stare at his father in the middle of yanking his trousers up.

“What?” Jared asked.

“The king has decided to intervene in the crisis,“ his mother said happily as Jared blinked at his parents.

“Not being married yet is not a crisis,” Jared stated as his mother snorted.

“You should look at it from our perspective,” his father said.

Jared sighed. His parents never listened. He guessed that he would have to go and discuss this with the prince. “Who is the unlucky girl this time?’

“Princess Alexandra of Asteria,“ his mother said with some much glee that she even clapped her hands. Jared was under no illusion about what that meant. It meant that his mother was already imagining bouncing her grandbabies on her lap, who also happened to be heirs to a kingdom.

“Before I say anything that will put the kingdom in danger, I need to get the full story, and I am sure that the only story you got was the one that said I am going to marry the princess,“ Jared said with disapproval.

“You cannot blame us. A princess is willing to marry you. We are not the ungrateful sort to look a gift horse in the mouth,“ his father stated as Jared groaned.

“Well, I never did count on getting the full story from you, so I need to get dressed to ask Ken what is going on,“ Jared said as he continued to get dressed.

“Prince Ken. Show some respect. That man is going to be your king someday.“

“You never referred to me as a man before, and me and Ken are the same age.“ Jared noticed as his mother released another snort as if the very thought of addressing him as a man was laughable. “I will address you as a man when your son is two.“

Jared growled at his mother’s words. “I need to get dressed so that I can go and see Prince Ken. “

“Do not let us stop you. Besides, I want to warn you not to ruin this arrangement; you certainly cannot do better than a princess. And I heard that she is interesting so that means that your life with her wouldn’t be boring at least,“ his father stated with a smile as Jared’s growls increased.

“You two are annoying,“ Jared said as he moved towards the door.

“Where are you going?“ his mother asked.

“Another room to get changed since it is clear that you will not allow me to change in peace.”

“Without bathing,“ his mother said with her nose wrinkled. “I just hope that he will drop these habits of his when he does get to his wife’s kingdom.“

“What the heck am I hearing,“ Jared said as a means of greeting his best friend when he entered the room. He was never one for formalities, and Ken never let him keep them. In fact, it makes Ken annoyed anytime Jared tried to keep up the formalities although Jared still did it when others were in the room. This time, Jared did not check who was in the room; he was too angry to care about broken protocols. Besides, whenever Ken was with his son, nobody was allowed to disturb him, which was why Jared was surprised when the guards allowed him to pass through the door. But that surprise turned to annoyance when they congratulated him on his upcoming nuptials, and it aggravated him that everybody knew more about his upcoming wedding than him.

“Heck,” Kendrick repeated as Ken turned from his son to glare at his friend who just taught his child a word he was certainly going to pay for later at the hand of his wife, Annabelle.

“That is grown up word, Rick. Don’t repeat it,“ Jared ruffled the young prince’s head.

Ken narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “How many times have you done what you just did?”

“As if I will knowingly incriminate myself,“ Jared said with a scoff.

“I guess you heard about your approaching wedding?“ Ken asked.

Jared snorted. “Not if I can do anything about it.”

Ken sighed. “It is time you let go, Jared. You have been holding on for way too long, and it is unhealthy for you. “

“So, you want me to get married without love,“ Jared said with a mock gasp.

“As if you will ever let yourself fall in love again,“ Ken returned. “Honestly, this is the best you can do. I never knew what happened between you and Arianna, but I know even if she came pleading for you to take her back, you would have some reservations about it,“ Ken said.

“Maybe,“ Jared conceded, knowing that there was no way he could lie about that, at least not to Ken. The boy knew him so well that he could differentiate between a lie and the truth. “But how did Alexandra even know I existed?“

“She doesn’t; her mother does,“ Ken answered.

“So that is why the queen is here,“ Jared said with a frown.

“You are losing your touch, Jared. I thought that you would have already figured it out since you heard about your upcoming marriage,“ Ken said with a laugh as Jared frowned at him.

“Not funny,“ Jared grumbled.

“I know, but your marriage will be a political one,“ Ken stated as Jared looked at him in confusion.

“Explain everything from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out,“ Jared ordered, but when Ken raised his eyebrow at the command, Jared added, “please.”

So, Ken explained everything with the occasional cursing from Jared. “So that is why you have to marry the princess. I wish I could help you get out of this like you helped me with Fallon, but…“

“I understand. Now that I know the reason why the queen came by herself, I am not even feeling angry anymore,“ Jared said with a sigh.

“This is the best option for all of us,“ Ken reminded him.

“I know, but I never wanted to get struck with someone like my sister.“ Jared grimaced at the thought of his sister standing beside him in front of a priest dressed in white.

“Your sister and Princess Alexandra are not alike, just their behaviors and mannerisms,“ Ken corrected.

“Whatever you say. I guess that this is the point where I agree to see the queen, and we work out the details of my arrival to her kingdom,“ Jared said with his face pale, looking like he was suggesting his death.

“Not with that expression on your face. Marriage is a great thing,“ Ken reminded Jared.

“Please, like I wasn’t here when you got married to Fallon.“

“True, but Fallon was in a class of unhappiness on her own,“ Ken stated as both of them shuddered as the same thoughts of the girl who terrorized their lives and almost destroyed the kingdom.

“Okay, I need to see Queen Mirabelle, my future mother-in-law,“ Jared said as he clapped Ken on the shoulders. “I will find you when I am done with my conversation with her about her daughter and all the other small details we need to iron out. “

“Okay,“ Ken said with a nod as Jared kissed Kendrick on his brow. The child had fallen slept in the middle of his father explaining the reason for the proposal, not that Jared could blame the little guy. Apart from his angelic face, Jared knew that if the issue was not concerning his life and his kingdom, he would have fallen asleep too.