Princess, It's Me

The Tailor

Stephan’s POV

“And exactly why do I have to do this?” I asked as I looked at myself in the mirror. I was getting fitted for a suit for my upcoming birthday. It was just the start of one actually. The tailor had just the base of the suit which was a dark blue.

“Sir, you know that this is required for the ball. Now raise your arms.” I did as I was told. Perfect, a ballroom full of strangers who will do nothing but whisper and stare at me as if I was on a pedestal on display in a museum. I hated the fact that my father thought it best to hide me from my people until I was of age. I had no friends, no relation with anyone. Honestly, I was a nobody. All I had was the title of “Prince” and that really didn’t say much about me. I heard the gossip of the people and what they thought of my family.

“Your Highness.” The tailor dropped his head in respect and backed away from where he was working. I saw the reflection of my father through the mirror. He represented a statue: no emotion, no smile. He recently started to get some wrinkles around his eyes which at least gave him some sort of facial features. His dark brown hair hid behind the crown on his head and his face, as stated before, had no features, no beard or mustache.

His eyes shifted from looking at the suit to finding my eyes in the mirror. We stared at each other for a moment before, and I swear to God, this man cracked a smile. It was minimal, a slight raise of his right lip, but that was enough for me to turn around and I had to ask, “What’s wrong? You ok?”

He continued to stare at me with his smile for another moment before his smile faded. His attention shifted to the tailor who still had his head bowed. “Gold.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Gold. Just enough to accent the suit.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

With that being said he left the room. “He’s gone.” I told the tailor who finally lifted his head. “Just out of curiosity, why do you bow your head? Out of respect, I know, but that was way too long.”

“Any and all members of royalty get that level of respect.” The tailor responded as he continued to work on the suit.

“You don’t show me that ‘level of respect.’” I teasingly said.

“When you are publicly bestowed the throne as your inheritance, then I will no longer be able to speak to you or look at you the way I am doing now.”

“Your words wound me.” I replied with my hands on my heart as if I felt a tightness from his words. “I think of it more disrespectful if I enter a room and everyone was looking at the floor. As if I was getting ignored or something. Could you imagine all the work you’re putting into my lovely costume, I mean suit, and no one in the entire kingdom appreciates your craftsmanship?”

The tailor laughs at my words as he finishes his notes. “Your suit should be ready by the end of the week. Any adjustments will be made that day because I will have a horde of people wanting the best dresses and suits in the kingdom just for your birthday.” He helped me remove the pieces of the suit I was wearing and packed them away before leaving me.

Although I tease him, he is the only person in the kingdom who has seen me. I’ll be turning 20 in two weeks and I have never left the castle. I could have easily escaped or ran away, but from what I hear, I will be the King of everything. If I endure this torment of a life, then I will be able to be a better King than my father and give the people what they deserve.

We deserve better.

“I know, but we can build a life better for ourselves and those in the kingdom.”

WE deserve better.

“Listen Xavier, soon we will be able to be out and about, and we can find her, ok?”

Xavier was getting more and more inpatient about finding our mate. Unlike my father, I’m a werewolf. Xavier, he is my wolf. He could sense something outside the castle walls during the night and he felt like it was our mate. The connection was so weak that I convinced him that we were overthinking and believing it was there when it wasn’t.

A mate is a destined person who you were meant to be with. You share a special connection with your mate that is so strong that it could kill you if your mate dies. Identifying your mate is easy because you could smell them from a mile away and their touch becomes intoxicating. The connection that we feel at night is weak. Too weak to be a mate bond.