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The lights of cameras flashing blinded me even through the fabric. I huddled into Aric's side so he could hustle me towards the front doors of the palace where Oshal royal guards stood waiting to open them. My mother wrapped an arm around my shoulders, playing the role of the doting mother for publicity’s sake. As if she hadn't been the one to subject me to such scrutiny in the first place.
Her smile was smug as the media huddled closer, shouting and jostling one another in their bid to get a decent shot of a black clothed blob. How wonderful that must look on the news.
But they would try anyway, and wasn’t that what my mother truly wanted?
Aric guided me up the steps, and the guards hauled the doors open when they saw his haste to get away from the press. Once we were over the threshold safely, Aric separated from me as the doors thudded to a close behind us.
The noise resounded like a pounding through my very soul. Sealing me in and relinquishing me to my fate. Another closed door on a temporary cage.
"This is ridiculous," Aric groaned, casting a glare at our mother. She couldn't be bothered to care, not with the way she'd puffed up in joy that her plan unfolded as intended. If only being inside meant I could take off the veil, but that wouldn’t be allowed until we were in the privacy of our rooms, with no one to see me before the grand reveal.
“Welcome, your Majesties. Your Highness,” a tiny woman said as she greeted us. With dark hair in a bun, a clipboard in hand and a clipped, no-nonsense voice, she prattled on with polite urgency. “Welcome to Oshal. Marcus,” she said and a tall gangly man nodded. “King Aric of Lantis, Queen Mother Aethelind and….”
“My daughter,” Mother inserted vaguely with a mysterious smile. Knowing I was safe from her scorn from behind the veil, I rolled my eyes.
“My mother is a drama queen,” I whispered to myself with a sigh that ruffled the black veil. Aric elbowed me in the side, discreetly and playfully scolding while our mother demanded attention.
“Of course,” the tiny woman said, and gestured to one of the guards. “Sebastian will show you to your rooms.”
"Your rooms are right this way, Your Majesty.” He deferred to my brother and held out a hand to gesture us up the winding stairs to the left.
"Lead the way," Aric said, taking my hand in his and pulling me to follow him. I didn't need the encouragement. I wanted nothing more than to be tucked away in the privacy of our rooms. To enjoy my last few minutes of freedom before everything was stripped away, and I was put on display.
"I can't wait for this to be over," I mumbled, making Aric chuckle. Because most of my words were not meant for him. They hadn't been meant foranyone.
"Soon, Alina," he sighed, patting my hand. The walk up the stairs proved arduous, but the view it offered of the grand entryway below made the climb almost worth it. The luxury and wealth came like a stab to the heart. The beauty of it had something inside me threatening to shatter. The white marble of the rail against my free hand was cool to the touch through my glove. Soothing, somehow.
A short walk down a wide hallway brought us to a suite of rooms we would call home for the next week. A common room and three bedrooms to ourselves, all with ensuites. Massive windows overlooked the courtyard at the back of the palace, with a view of the city below and the water in the distance. As guests, we were offered the most stunning vistas, in rooms built to impress the royals who would be looking out.
As soon as Aric dismissed our escort and closed the common room door, I flung the veil off my face with a gasp for fresh air.
"Oh, Alina. Don't be so dramatic," Mother scolded, throwing open the doors to the bedrooms. Claiming the largest for herself, she dropped my bags in the smallest of the three rooms.
"I didn't see a veil on your face," Aric snapped at her, fussing and brushing my hair back from my cheek where it was plastered from the sweat. "How convenient that you would be unaffected by this stupid arrangement."
Mother glared at my sweaty hair, her face twisting into disgust. "Off to the shower with you." She swatted the air with her hands. "We'll have to blow dry your hair all over again," she sighed.
"Would you give her a minute to breathe?" Aric growled, making Mother huff and turn on her heel to go to her room.
She paused in the doorway at the last second. "Ten minutes, Alina. Then I expect you'll be in the shower.” She raised a finger sternly and warned, “And don't get too close to the window."
As soon as her door slammed closed, I defied her. Walking right up to the window that spanned floor to ceiling, I stared down. Lights twinkled in the garden, creating a romantic atmosphere that I envied for others who might be able to enjoy it with someone who made their heart race and feel like dreams could come true.
For a Kingdom with such a ruthless reputation and a cold ruler, the beauty of Oshal was astounding. The staff who moved about with smiles on their faces never looked pained or overworked. I doubted the rumors could be entirely true, because there was no way that someone so evil and callous could create something so beautiful.
"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Aric asked. "To have the ability to give your people something like this; what must that be like?"
"You'll know one day," I reassured him, even though it pained me that I wouldn't be there to see it. Tears stung my eyes. That was perhaps the most painful prospect of leaving home.
Leaving Aric behind.
We stared down at the grounds below together in silence, enjoying one of our last moments of solitude together before we inevitably knew that mother would interrupt it and physically force me into the shower herself. When there were only a couple minutes left in my reprieve, I stepped away from the window to pace.
I was already moving towards my room when her door opened, and she started out by scolding Aric, who needed to get ready as well. He had princesses to woo, because with a less prosperous kingdom, that was his only hope of obtaining a suitable bride. It wouldn't be enough—not if someone else coveted her. But my mother was determined, and she would always push for more from her children.
I didn't bother to lock the bathroom door, even as I hurried through my shower. I'd already been waxed and primed and prepped back home, so I made quick work of it. By the time I stepped back into my bedroom, clad in the robe provided, she stood next to the vanity in the bedroom, tapping her nails impatiently.
"Please, do take all day, Alina. I clearly have nothing better to do than wait on you." She rolled her eyes, and I stepped over to the vanity and dropped into the chair.
