Forced to marry the crown prince

the princes choice

As I walked into the courtyard of the palace I looked around, at least another hundred girls were there. There were so many noble families after the war, the king gave rank to all the men who fought with him from the beginning. Looking around I could feel the judgment coming from the other ladies. I don’t blame them. I mean if I was in their shoes I would be looking at the under dressed girl too but I didn't care, they were all dressed beautifully. They were all dressed as a future queen should. I pitied them, overcome by the need for money and fame they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. "Welcome Ladies" The Kings voice boomed across the courtyard, I had forgotten how his voice always seemed to invoke fear to those who didn't know him. He had always scared me, but he never seemed to scare my father, and for that I trusted him. Not anymore. "I hope that your trip to the castle wasn't too draining and unpleasant because the fun is not yet over,  for today is not a social calling but a change. the events of today will forever change the world, today my beloved son will choose his bride. Ladies I hope today works out in your favor." And with that the festivities begun. I let out a small snicker, 'beloved son' Ha as if he could love anyone besides himself. He promises peace and calm but wherever he goes war and chaos follow. with that the grand door opened and every girl flooded to only what I could assume was the prince making his entrance. I took a few steps back without looking and bumped right into someone. I quickly turned around and gave a slight bow . " I am so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going, that was so clumsy of me, please forgive me" I didn't dare look him in his face I was too embarrassed and far to scared he would hit me. instead he just chuckled and I saw his hand reaching out towards my face. I flinched hard thinking he would ht me but he just lifted my face to look at him. I was surprised he wasn't surging with anger. Instead he was smiling. a flood of relief ran through me and I took a deep breath tying to calm myself. "It is perfectly fine, no harm was done" I tried to look at the floor again but his hand was still there resisting my movements. "however" He spoke again "I was wondering why you were attempting to sneak towards the wall and not towards the prince?" his voice was deep and calm hinting his curiosity. something inside of me felt uneasy, but I still felt like I could trust him. I looked into his eyes, they were a deep blue. they seemed so familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I laughed nervously before answering. "Um, well you see, I don't actually want to marry the prince exactly." with that he dropped his had and crossed his arms, puzzled. "Really? and why is that, I would have thought every girl in the kingdom would want to be a queen." his face seemed mocking and playful. he was actually quite handsome, he was tall, he had dark black hair and beautiful deep blue eyes. his smile complimented his facial features and made his eyes all the more beautiful. I quickly looked down at his chest to stop myself from looking at his face any longer and saw the royal crest. that could only mean one this this man was a knight of noble birth. only knights of noble birth wore the royal crest on their shirts the rest only had the seal on their shields, their shirts were just the royal colors. now I really couldn't fall for this man he was close with the king, All noble knights were. "hem?" he gave a slight couch to get my attention and my eyes shot straight up to his. I felt my cheeks blush and I smiled in an attempt to cover it up. "I'm sorry, uh what was the question?"  He smiled and I felt butterflies in my stomach, I cursed inwardly and looked at the ground again. "I asked  why you were walking away from the prince and not towards the prince, wouldn't you want to be queen?" his voice gave me a sense of security and I looked up at his deep blue eyes again, and with that the butterflies were back. "Me, queen? No" I gave a slight chuckle, "That is the last thing I want. His face seemed shocked, was it really that hard to believe? he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "Really? And what do you want if not to be a queen?" I felt my cheeks blush once more. "If I told you you would laugh and think I'm foolish"  his face softened "I would never think a lady foolish"  "okay, but only if you promise you won't laugh at me." "I promise" I took a deep breath and decided I could trust him. "You see, I don't want to marry the prince because I want to marry for love, and I know it's rare but my parents had it and they were so happy. I want what they had, I want to marry a man who loves me more than money or power, I want to marry a man who will come home from a long day at work and still want to play with the kids, someone who will kiss me even when we are fighting because he loves me no matter how stubborn I can be, and I want to love him too, I want to be able to trust him with everything because I know he loves me and not because he feels responsible for my well being. and I know I'm holding out for something that may never come, but I hope that it will. But the price could never give me that, I mean I've heard the stories, and from the sounds of it hes incapable of love, but those are just stories and I know that I shouldn't judge so I wont, but that still doesn't change the fact that I don't want to marry him, so I dressed in my most plain dress and I'm keeping my distance" I thought for sure he was going to laugh at me and call me crazy but he didn't, he just stood there looking at me. I tried to decipher what his eyes were saying but I came up blank. " And why would I think that that is foolish? I think that you are one of the only girls I have ever met to actually have dreams, and I like that. And I don't even know your name." I smiled happy he wasn't laughing at me. "Kathryn, My name is Kathryn" he smiled and reached for my hand gently kissing it. "Well Kathryn, I am so sorry for what is about to happen." and before I could say anything he had stood back up and raised his hand into the air to signal something. With that trumpets started playing and the King come back out to the balcony. the prince started up the stairs to join the king, and that's when I noticed that that wasn't the prince. this man had blonde hair and the prince had dark black hair. And jut like that i put it together, the prince wasn't going up to the king, the prince was standing right next to me. I looked up at the man standing next to me fear surging through my body. He looked at me knowing I had figured it out.  but the only think I could bring myself to say was: "No" his face softened, "I'm sorry Kathryn, but I had to find you"