To Love A Princess

Chapter Seven

Before Damen and his father left, I had no time to speak with him. I know Damen is going to be furious that I didn’t tell him that the wedding was being moved to a sooner date. But I had just found out myself not too long ago, so he really has no real reason for being upset with me. But once they did leave, my father had begun the preparations for real this time since there’s no longer room for procrastination. He had set up a cake testing for Damen and I for Monday. While he took care of the wedding, I went to go see my mom to talk to her about my life. Of course I didn’t tell her about Olivia. There was just no way I could now. Seeing her in the state that she’s in, it makes my heart hurt. There’s just so much I wish I could do but there’s only so much I can do. I wish I could take away her illness and be able to have it so she can live her life the way she wants. After growing up poor and having nothing, she deserves everything. I was fortunate enough to have everything from day one. 

After having dinner with her, I grew tired and went to my bedroom to prepare for bed. Next thing I knew, I was up continuously throughout half of the night. Growing restless, I put on my robe and slippers and wandered around the castle aimlessly with no destination. I did this for about an hour before I realized that I wasn’t going to sleep for awhile. That was three hours ago and now it’s currently seven-thirty three in the morning. There’s no point in going back to sleep now. 

“Your majesty,” one of the servants greeted with a curtsey. “You’re up quite early. Shall I have the kitchen staff prepare your breakfast?”

“No thank you I’m not really hungry this morning,” I replied. 

She nodded and I turned in the direction that led to my bedroom. Pushing the door open, I head my ladies waiting, talking quietly amongst themselves. The three of them had their hair in a bun like normal, and today they all wore matching dresses for some reason. The dresses reached the floor and the sleeves reached their elbows. They were also made of velvet and they were orange. Must be a special day for them. I also noticed they had placed the bottom of the dress on my mannequin and the rest of the materials were placed on the floor. I cleared my throat to get their attention. They all looked at me as if they had done something they weren’t supposed to and had gotten caught. 

“What are you all doing here?” I asked curiously, closing the door. 

“Your father sent us. He told us that the wedding is being moved to next Saturday and that we need to be working on your dress and have it finished for the rehearsal. Is it true?” Jessamine asked. 

I sighed. “Yes it is true as much as I wish it wasn’t. Don’t tell anyone else I told you or you’ll all be out of a job. The queen doesn’t have much time left and I know she was excited to see me get married. The doctor suggested we move the wedding to a date that is closer so she’ll be able to attend.” 

“Oh my,” Loryn gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. 

“There’s no way King Leonard is actually doing this!” Inelda exclaimed. “I mean you already don’t want the marriage and for him to move it up like this isn’t right.”

“But as a princess it’s her duty to do what’s best for the kingdom. Even if it does mean giving up the rest of her life to ensure her people are safe and protected,” Jessamine butted in. 

“Her duty?” Loryn scoffed. “What about her happiness? Her freedom? Her-” 

“Ladies please that’s enough,” I cut in. “I agree it’s not fair. But I’m part of this family. I am Princess Isabelle Vivian Reynolds and this is the life I must live whether I like it or. I didn’t choose this life, but this is the life I was given and I’m grateful for it. Now are we going to continue to talk about how unfair my life is, or are you going to work on my dress?” 

The three of them went silent and I knew what the silence meant. “Alright then. Let’s get started then shall we?” 

*******

“I think this is it,” Loryn smiled. “This is the final product.”

I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled at my reflection. I had no other commitments for the day, so the rest of the morning and half of the afternoon was spent working on my dress. They were able to finish the dress three hours before dinner. It wouldn’t have taken so long if there weren’t so many breaks taken. 

“It’s just… wow,” I gasped. 

It was honestly one of the most basic but beautiful wedding dresses I’ve ever seen. For someone who doesn’t really want to get married, this dress doesn’t say it. But I don’t want anyone else to see it until the wedding. Or even be able to visualize what it looks like so I’m not going to say anything to anyone. 

“Okay we have to go. When you take it off please put it on your mannequin so it doesn’t get ruined,” Inelda said. 

I nodded and stepped off of the stool. “Wait I meant to ask you earlier but why are you all wearing matching dresses?”

“Oh well it’s Loryn’s birthday and we’re celebrating after we’re finished here,” Jessamine responded glancing over at Loryn. 

“I’m so sorry I had no idea. Happy birthday Loryn,” I told her with a smile. 

“Thank you,” Loryn smiled. 

I nodded and crossed the room. Once inside my wardrobe I put on a royal blue ankle length dress that had long sleeves. The dress was purely made of cotton fabric which made me feel ten times more comfortable than I felt in the past few hours. It was softer than my wedding dress that’s for sure. All the accidental poking caused me to become a little frustrated but at some point they stopped. But they didn’t stop for long. Slipping into my blue flats to match, I took my hair down from the bun I had put it in, letting my wavy hair fall down my back. There was still so much time before dinner so I decided to go spend time with my mother. My ladies in waiting had left once I was done changing. I hope Loryn has a nice birthday. If I would’ve known this sooner I would’ve been able to plan something for her. 

Walking down the hall towards my parents’ bedroom, my mind began to wander towards Olivia for the first time today. I hope the new date isn’t throwing her off. I wish I could see her before then but my schedule will be filled with so many wedding preparations that I won’t be able to see her before then. And if I can manage to squeeze in some time to see her, I wouldn’t even know what to say. But I shouldn’t be filling my head with what ifs. I’m marrying Damen and there’s nothing that can change that. 

Before I knew it I had found myself in front of my parents’ door. I knocked twice before entering. I knew my father was off doing something so it was just my mother. When I opened the door, I noticed that it was dark. All the candles had burned out. How come no one came to light them? 

“Who goes there?” I heard my mother’s soft, weak voice ask. 

“It’s me mama. Isabelle,” I responded as I closed the door. 

I walked over the bed and stood next to her. Looking down at her figure made me want to cry. She’s been losing weight and a lot of it. In the past two days she’s easily lost three or four. But I find it hard to believe since she has been eating her meals. 

“Hi mama,” I greeted kissing her on the forehead. 

“Hello Isabelle,” she responded softly, a small smile trying to creep onto her face. “How are you?” 

“I’m fine. The question is are you okay? You’re losing weight but you’ve been eating haven’t you?” I asked. 

She sighed. “I have been. But then the food comes right back up about twenty minutes later.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me? Does Dr. Owens know about this?”

“Dr. Owens hasn’t come by since your father told you the wedding was being moved to next Saturday.”

My face fell. “You heard that huh?” 

“Oh sweetheart I heard all of it. I’m not deaf.” 

“I’m sorry mama. It’s just.. You and dad know I didn’t want this marriage to begin with. And for him to do this it just makes me upset.” 

“I know baby,” she sighed as she lifted a hand to caress my cheek. “But you were born into this life. If I could take you away from all of this I would but I just can’t.” 

I sighed. “I just wish King Harold and my father would’ve thought of another way to create peace between our kingdoms. I mean having your only children marry each other doesn’t seem like the best solution.”

“Isabelle honey, I know you don’t want this. I don’t want this for you either trust me. If I were able to go back in time with the knowledge I know now, I would have rejected your father’s proposal. No mother wants to see their children be sent to marry someone they don’t love. But this happens to be the way things work. If I would’ve known that you’d be going through this…” she trailed off. 

She sniffled and I wiped her eyes before any tears could fall. I planted yet another kiss on her forehead and looked at her in her forest green eyes. “You couldn’t have known. I don’t blame you for any of this. You were young and in love and happy. Don’t beat yourself up over this okay? Prince Damen is a nice man. I’ll be taken care of without a doubt.” 

“I just only hope that someday you’ll be able to find a way out of this mess your father has gotten you into. I hope one day you’ll find true love and be happy and not have to pretend to be.” 

“I do too. But Prince Damen understands that I’ll never love him. He sees me like the little sister he’s never had. Even though we have to act as if we are a real couple.” 

“Listen Isabelle. You’re a smart woman. I’m sure that you’ll find a way to make things right.”

I gave her a small, genuine smile knowing that she was right. Even though I’m well aware Prince Damen would take excellent care of me if we were really in love, I just don’t know what to expect since we both know the actual truth. My mother knows only half of it, which is better than nothing I suppose. 

“Okay I’m going to let you rest now. You look exhausted.” 

“Well when you’re practically on your deathbed, that happens.”

My face fell at the thought of my mother passing. This is going to break me in half once it happens. So far every time I see her she seems to be getting worse. But everything will be okay. She’ll no longer be suffering from whatever this is, and that should put me at some ease. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and said my goodbye for now. I also lit the candles so the room wouldn’t be so dark. The smell of cinnamon quickly filled the room which caused my stomach to growl. The sound of the machine beeping faintly in the background made me sigh. I wish that stupid thing wasn’t here. I wish she wasn’t deathly ill. I wish these past few months didn’t happen at all.