Sienna's Secret

I'm a princess in a dying country. We have been ravaged by war and are running out of money. The only way to save my country is to marry a prince. He comes from a very powerful and mysterious family. There are many rumours surrounding his family. Many say they are beasts in human form, complete savages. I'm terribly afraid to leave my home and country behind and possibly be marrying a monster. Any time I feel like changing my mind I just have to walk outside and see my people, beaten and starving to death. I cannot let them down. I have one week until the wedding and the country is now abuz in excitement to finally have a better life. I walked into the dress shop with a fake smile plastered to my face. "Oh, Princess Delilah we are so happy you're here! We have about 10 dresses that we want you to try on to pick from. Sorry we don't have more but we've done our best!" The seamstress, a heartbreakingly thin frail woman for her age, almost squeals in joy. I wave off her apology. "I'm sure whatever you have made will be absolutely stunning, I'm happy to try on anything you've made." She then smiles and claps her hands "well then let's get started! Marissa bring out the first dress!" A meek little girl of about 10 walks out absolutely drowning in the dress. I let out a little giggle at the sight and she blushes and looks sheepishly away. "Okay let me help you into this and see how you look." After a lot more struggling than was necessary I was finally in the dress. I walked over to the mirror and my breath caught in my throat. It was stunning. It looked and felt like the bottom layer was made of silk, with a bunch of fluffy white tulle on top. It had a sweetheart neckline and the entire bodice was covered in jewels.The bodice was also a corset and pushed up my breasts, and accentuated my small waist. It had two little straps helping hold it up and it looked to be made of diamonds. I began to softly spin side to side and with every move the light danced off of the jewels causing a light show on the walls. "I don't think I will need to try on any other dresses. This one is perfect." "Oh nonsense try them all on, have fun with it!" I just nodded staring at myself in the mirror. Many hours later after I had tried on all 10 dresses I still absolutely adored the first and none of the others compared. "Well what did you think?" She asked, obviously proud of her work. "I loved them all! But the one that stole my heart was the first one. It was just perfect." She nodded and snapped her fingers. Marissa nodded understanding and went to grab the first dress. "We will have this sent to the palace for you post haste. I hope the rest of your wedding is as beautiful as you were in that dress!" The seamstress said a little humor in her voice. I blushed, "Thank you so much, and I'm sure it will be." I then left the dress shop sighing a little. They used up so many precious materials on those dresses. I mean I guess since I'm going and marrying a powerful prince our country will be better off but I still feel guilty. I continue my walk down the nearly empty street. As I pass an ally I hear some women whispering. “Have you heard the most recent rumors about Prince Sienna? He was on the battlefield covered in gore, and laughing! He is absolutely insane and I feel bad for our princess, she’s so brave.” “That’s nothing compared to what I’ve heard. I heard that he and his family kidnap virgins and bathe in their blood.” said a second voice. A third voice, pipes up almost cherrily “His family absolutely loves war and destruction, probably why they are so rich! The Queen is a real nutcase however, I’ve heard that she has eaten a whole rabbit raw and still alive, just to freak out some new soldiers!” I shivered as I passed by. What am I getting myself into? These people sound absolutely mad. Hopefully these are all just rumors. Surely no one would eat a rabbit, fur and all...right? I decided to head back to the palace for today, I need to rest and get my mind off of the Prince and the upcoming wedding. I lay in my soft bed and look at the ceiling, a rush of thoughts keeping me from falling asleep. I have never seen the prince I’m going to marry. I hope he at least is easy on the eyes given that I doubt there will ever be love in the relationship. I’m very jealous of the girls in the books I read, who get to marry for love. I’m having to give up on that for myself and it isn't very easy. I sigh and roll onto my side, I really hope they don’t sacrifice me considering I’m a virgin. Surely those were only rumors. They could be perfectly lovely people. Please let them be perfectly lovely people.