A Withered Soul

Annaliese POV: The carriage was cold as we rode through the streets heading towards the castle. I sat across from my brother Charles, waiting for him to finally say something on our early morning ride. You see today was the day that King Henry chose the bride for his son Prince Jaime. King Henry was a strong and compassionate ruler over Red Rock, whereas Prince Jamie was a ruthless warrior. There were murmurs throughout the castle staff that the prince was even abusive towards his countless mistresses. Every noble in our kingdom has been dreading this day for a long while now. Charles finally cleared his throat and turned towards me. “We’re hoping that your plain looks will defer the king from choosing you” he said he took a moment to wipe the windows to look outside then he turned back towards me again. “Remember what father and I told you to do. You smile, nod, and laugh. Try not to sound too interesting or educated. We want you to be overlooked. Even if it is just rumors about the prince, it could mean the difference between life and death if it isn’t.” He then went back to reading his book letting me know he was finished with our conversation for the time being. I wasn’t like the rest of the family, they looked as if they were royalty themselves. They were tall, beautiful, people made a point just to get a glimpse of them. I was always mistaken as their servant. I was 23 years old with a short and slender frame. Although I did have beautiful long flowy hair that was the only thing people found beautiful on me. I heard a long clang come from outside and as I peered out the window I saw a long drawbridge had been lowered down from the stone walls. Dread passed over me as I realized we must have arrived at the castle. The time had come that I must face the King and learn what my destiny had in store for me. The carriage came to a stop and as the door was opened for me, my breath was taken away from the beauty that the castle held. It was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen. The castle held the most beautiful opal walls with gold and emerald accents all over. As I climbed the stairs and walked through the doors I realized I completely forgot about etiquette and turned to find Charles. He was still at the base of the stairs but he scurried up them to escort me the rest of the way inside the castle. “I was so mesmerized by the castle, that I forgot to let you escort me inside.” I said with a hint of laughter towards the end. Charles chuckled and just shook his head as we headed up another flight of stairs these were even more magnificent then the ones outside. “You’ll find that the ballrooms beauty will make the outside seem insignificant compared to it” Charles and my father had been to the castle many times for business trips and for balls. Father was actually away on a business trip to another kingdom. He and Charles never found the castles breathtaking since they were always away at one. This was my first trip to the castle, hopefully it will also be last. We rounded a corner and were then met by a servant asking our names. We then got to go through two golden double doors and as they announced our name we descended our final flight of stairs. Charles was right this was the most spectacular room I had ever seen in my life. The women wore the most emasculate ball gowns while the men were in the most intricate suits. My eyes drifted across the room until they were met with a pair of green ones. The man I locked eyes with was the most handsome man I had ever seen. He had a tall lanky but muscular figure, with shoulder length black hair. His jaw was chiseled, but his eyes are really what drew me in they were green with speckles of gold in them. He was sitting rather lazily in his chair. He had one arm slumped over the chair and the other holding his head up his left leg being propped up by the other arm of the chair. He had a rather annoyed look on his face. Though the longer we held our gaze the more it seemed that he looked less annoyed and more intrigued. “Annaliese, are you even hearing a word that I’m saying?” Charles sounded exasperated with me. “I have asked you three times, if you’d like me to get you a drink before we join in the welcome ball festivities.” “Yes, but first Charles who is that man sitting up on that chair over there?” Charles looked at me with a bewildered look on his face. “Annaliese, that man is Prince Jaime.” My face grew red in embarrassment. How could I not have known who he was it seemed so obvious to me now. I mean the man was even sitting on a throne, but I couldn’t get past his extraordinarily good looks. I couldn’t understand how such a good looking man as himself could be labeled ruthless or abusive. I just felt drawn to him as if I needed a part of him all to myself. All the dread and fear I had been feeling on the carriage ride over disappeared. It was now replaced with desire and lust. It took everything in me to remind myself that this was the man that had killed thousands of people without a second thought and would likely have me executed if I were to become his bride. On our way to the refreshments table the King stood up to make a speech. “I wish to thank all of you for coming here today. As you know over the next two days we will be holding individual meetings and festivities so that I may choose the future bride for Prince Jaime. I wish all of you the best of luck and can’t wait to get to know you all better.” “What he doesn’t realize is that he’s sentencing one of us to our deaths by this decision” A young blonde woman next to me whispered under her breath. I c****d my eyebrow at her “What do you mean by that?” “Well rumor has it that on one of his many nightly escapades with one of his mistresses took a dark turn. That next morning one of the servants here caught him dragging her dead bloody body through a stairwell. Some say it was a suicide, but with the Princes reputation I would suspect foul play.” She had a sly grin on her face as she downed a glass of champagne and slinked off. Surely the King wouldn’t put his nobles at risk if this had been true I decided to just brush it off and follow Charles to a table to sit down. “There are lots of rumors going on about the Prince throughout the nobles here today. I believe whichever young lady that’s picked is even more at risk than what we believed before.” He drummed his fingers on the table as he spoke a habit he had for when he was nervous about something. “Mara’s pregnant. She told me right before we left.” A smile broke over my face as I jumped up to hug to him. “That’s great news! Why do you seem so solemn about it?” “I think I’m just terrified of being a father.” I didn’t have time to reply when I felt a finger tap me on the shoulder.