The Princess's Dangerous Betrothal

Chapter 1: Family Tea

Eiley stared at her own stomach in disbelief. “How?” she muttered to herself. She ran her fingers over her skin looking for the blood that had been there moments ago.

“Miss Eiley, are you ready for your fitting?” Leigha called to her through the door.

Eiley quickly put her shift back in place. “Yes, just a moment.” She splashed some water on her face and carefully dried her eyes.

“Is everything alright, miss?” Leigha asked, clearly noticing the distress on Eiley’s face.

“Just an…oddly vivid dream. I’ll be fine in a moment,” she snapped. Then softening her voice, she said, “I love what you’ve done with this gown,” as she examining the lace trim.

“Thank you, miss,” Leigha said with a small curtsy. “If you’ll just lift your arms, we can do the fitting and get you off to breakfast.”

Eiley obliged and let Leigha pull the dress over her head. She twirled, admiring herself in the mirror. “Oh, it’s perfect!”

Leigha beamed, and lifted the skirt. “This hem might be a bit long, and I’ll need to take it in here…” She put some pins in the dress near Eiley’s shoulders and wrote some notes for herself.

Eiley twirled again then had an image of her wide sleeves getting caught in a candle. This was the newest style, so why should she be suspicious of it? Eiley frowned, trying to tell if this was a memory or random thought. “Can you take the sleeves in here?” she asked, just to be safe.

Leigha looked surprised, but said, “Of course miss, I’ll get that taken care of.” She took some measurements off Eiley’s arms then said, “Perfect, I’ll have that ready for the ball in no time. I laid out a dress on the bed for you to wear today.”

“Thank you, Leigha. This gown will be the best part of the ball. Such a shame it’s to celebrate an engagement to someone so loathsome!” Eiley said with a laugh.

“Whatever do you mean? Have you heard new rumors about his highness Prince Warren?” She helped Eiley take off the gown and carefully folded it over the trunk.

“N-no. I just.” How did she know anything about Warren? “I’m just assuming.”

“Well don’t get too down about him!” Leigha told her encouragingly. “You’ll get to meet him in just a few hours.”

“Yes. That’s today,” Eiley said distantly. She picked up the dress draped across the bed. It was a good choice. This shade of lilac was her favorite, and the lace was soft enough to be comfortable in addition to making her feel very attractive.

Eiley slipped it over her head and let Leigha tighten the laces up her back.

“There you go, your highness. Would you like to take a shawl?” Leigha asked.

“No, that’s fine,” Eiley said with a clip to her voice. She smoothed the skirts under her palm, enjoying the poof from the layered petticoats when she spun around. “Thank you, Leigha,” Eiley said, before taking a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and walking out the door.

              Eiley’s slippers sunk into the plush carpeting in the hallway. She smiled. She had always thought the décor in the residential area of the castle was too dark and aggressively harsh, and installing carpets had been her father’s concession to her.

The guard stationed at her door bowed when he saw her.

“At ease, Thomas,” Eiley said, not bothering to slow down.

Thomas fell into step behind her, keeping an appropriate distance. Thomas had been assigned to Eiley’s guard duty just recently, and he was proving to be one of the few that couldn’t be scared away by her antics. Which isn’t to say she was behaving. Just that Thomas was good at getting her home safe when she went looking for trouble.

“Good morning, Mother!” Eiley announced when she entered the dining room.

An attendant scrambled to hold the door Eiley had opened for herself, but she walked inside, ignoring him.

Eiley kissed her mother on the cheek, then went to hug her sister. “Is that my necklace?” She demanded.

“You said I could borrow your jewelry!” Isabella stated defensively.

Eiley scowled at her for a moment, but there was a joke behind her eyes. “It looks better on you anyways,” she said with a wink.

Eiley sat down at her usual chair and snapped for the attendant to pour her tea. Someone darted forward and placed the cup of warm liquid in her hand. Eiley nodded without looking at the servant and poured sugar into her cup. The sweetener was a bit of a luxury, but, as princess, it was easy to find for her.

“This isn’t hot enough,” she said quietly to herself before waving her fingers to summon that warming blue shimmer. In seconds, steam rose from the mug, and she sighed happily. “Where are dad and Ro?”

Isabella tensed and the Queen sighed the word, “strategizing.”

Eiley rolled her eyes. “They spend entirely too much time on that.”

“We’re trying to run a country, dear sister,” Ronan said, closing the door softly behind him.

“That hardly seems a difficult task, dear brother,” Eiley said, smirking at him.

“Don’t indulge her, Ronan,” the King said as he stepped into the room. “She’s just trying to rile you up again.”

Ronan scrunched his nose in a huff, but sat down silently. He leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the table, and opened the book he’d been carrying across his lap.

“Get your feet off the table!” Eiley snapped. She grabbed a roll off the table and hurled it at Ronan’s head.

Ronan snatched the roll from the floor where it landed. “If I’m to be king, I need to start making my own rules now.”

The roll crumbled when it hit Eiley’s face.

“Children!” the King roared, but they both ignored him.

Eiley reached across the table, grabbed Ronan’s ankle in both of her hands, and pulled. Ronan’s legs jerked forward, pulling his hips off his seat. He yelped when his head hit the back of his chair.

Ronan slammed his book on the table and swung his legs to the floor. “Happy now?” He didn’t wait for her response, he just returned to pouring over the book.

“Thank you, Ronan,” Eiley said with a beaming smile.

“Children, I need all of you to be on your best behavior when the delegation arrives from Reslandlia.” The King’s face was stern, but only his youngest was looking at him.

“Daddd, why do we have to do this?” Eiley whined.

“Eiley, give him a chance,” the Queen implored her. “You seemed so excited about this just days ago.”

“I was excited about the ball. I wanted a party in my honor. I did not want to be sold off like your prize warhorse.” Eiley scowled into her tea cup.

Ronan laughed. “Prince Warren would get a better deal with one of our warhorses.”

Eiley flicked a pastry at his head, and he snapped it out of the air to take a bite.

“Can’t we just throw a party for me without involving the Reslandian prince?” Eiley whined. “I have some lovely ideas for the h'or d'oeuvres. Plus! I have some adjustments to make to the guest list! I was thinking–”

“We’re not adding more of your friends to the guest list,” said the Queen.

“Yeah, we don’t need any more of your lowlife friends here,” said Ronan.

“Most of these are your friends too!”

“Yes, and I don’t try to bring them around for court events.”

Eiley rolled her eyes. “Do I have to do this?”

The King scowled. “Eiley, I expect you to welcome Prince Warren and make a good impression. Just like I know you’ve been taught.”

There was a knock at the door, and Lord Carys came in. “King Nathaniel? The nobles are waiting.”

“I’ll be right there,” the King answered his long serving advisor. He stood up, taking his tea with him, without another word to his family.

Once he was gone, Ronan returned to teasing Eiley. “I rather thought this would be an agreeable arrangement for you. Given your particular history with suitors.”

Eiley glared at him and shot a warning glance at their mother. Though Eiley’s choices were questionable, the Queen was unaware of most of them. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want the choice,” said Eiley, her voice softer than before.

Ronan gave her a sympathetic smile across the table. “Maybe you really will like him.”

“Maybe,” said Eiley, but her expression made it clear that she didn’t believe it.

“Regardless of what you end up thinking about him, I’m sure you can make him impressed with you.” Ronan said.

“I thought you were on my side with this!” Eiley snapped.

“I’m to be King, Eiley. And this betrothal will benefit our kingdom.”

“I have to go,” Eiley said hurriedly, pushing away from the table. “I need to get ready.” Then she fled the room, ignoring the questioning glances from her family.