Little Town of Torriden (rewriting off Wattpad)

1 ~ What?

Annora and Estelle strolled through the royal garden and admired all of the beautiful plants surrounding them. Each plant was unique in its own way, beautifully sprouting in different patterns and ways. Once they had picked a few, plucking each one carefully so as to not damage its delicate nature, they headed inside to retrieve a vase, one of which had handpainted flowers that wrapped around the base and beautiful colors at the top. Heading to the table, they stumble upon Danielle, one of their maids. Danielle had a sweet smile on her face as she took the vase to place it on the table, allowing Estelle and Annora to walk around the village. It was a bright, warm day, and both Estelle and Annora greeted all of the townspeople, grabbing some bread from a local saleswoman along the way.

Estelle nudged Annoras arm as they passed by Oliver. The three exchanged eye contact and smiled before they continued to a little pond. It is there that they saw Dylan, a sweet little boy that held a frog before it hopped away. The sisters smiled and walked up to Dylan, starting a small conversation. The small group had become friends, as they always saw each other around the town and the princesses had always loved to talk to him.

Later on, the two decided it was time to head back. As Estelle and Annora were walking toward the castle, Estelle holding a basket with some bread and flowers, they saw Kian walking to them with a serious look on his face.

"Is he walking to us??" Estelle asked, confusion hanging over her.

"I- don't know..." Annora answered, unsure of what to say. Before long, Kian began to speak to Annora.

"Curtis has been wondering where you two were, says he needs to talk to you, Annora."

"What? Why?" Annora spoke in a confused tone.

"Does it look like I know? Just follow me." Glancing over to Estelle, he continues. "You, go inside the castle, head left, and don't follow us."

Both confused, the two exchanged looks before Estelle walked into the castle, leaving Annora and Kian alone.

"Follow me." The man showed no expression on his face.

Annora and Kian entered through the great doors of the castle and walked through the extravagant halls in silence, before Annora broke it.

"Why would your father want to see me?"

"What did I say about me not knowing? Do you expect that to change somehow? I'm not magic Annora." The girl looked down in embarrassment and kept following Kian.

"We are here," Kian said as they approached two huge, intimidating doors. "Well, go in." Gesturing his hand, he left Annora on her own, walking away.
As Annora was about to knock on the doors, Curtis opened them and smiled.

"Annora!" he seemed to be announcing, "Come in, come in."

Annora walked into the finely decorated room and sat down on one of the chairs.

"May I ask why I am here?" Calmly, the princess tried to get answers without sounding impolite.

"Yes, your father and mother were going to tell you on your birthday, but I wanted to tell you now in case you take it as bad news, and it won't ruin any plans." The man intertwined his hands and rested his arms on the desk that lay in the end of the room.

Confusion crossed Annora, but she composed herself quickly and replied. "Oh, thank you, but what is it?"
"Once you and Estelle have your birthdays, you will be paired with a prince from a nearby village. You may be ecstatic, but you may be disappointed, so now you know." The girl didnt know what to say as Curtis's words left his mouth.

"What?! They can't do that!" Annora raised her voice. She hesitated before speaking again. "Wait, how come you didn't want Estelle?"

Curtis sighed. "I needed Sebastian to deal with her."