Mother Gothel's Daughter

Chapter 3: The Heir to the throne

Three months had passed when Esther and Fredrick got news of an incoming attack, one day they went to the traders market outside of the main town to buy their weekly produce when they overheard that the Prince would be returning early to help his father as he was dreadfully ill.  As expected this confused the heir considerably as his Father had not been in contact for seven months.

Once they returned they made a unanimous decision to visit the Castle.  The Prince and Esther packed their bags and made passage through the undergrowth to the Castle.  

Upon arrival they were created by Hans, the King's chamberlain.  Prince Frederick was taken to his father's quaterss whilst Valoria and her mother were treated to a fine banquet of food.  When The Prince returned, a solemn smile was plastered as a mask on his face and took Valoria upstairs with him to show her grandfather.

The Prince was in a twisted position, his father, his kingdom needed him but so did his family and it wasn't safe for his daughter to stay in the forest.

If he stayed with his Kingdom, his father would marry him off to Princess Arianna as part of a business arrangement.  He would be able to stay in the tower with his daughter but she would be known to everyone as his cousin that he visited and brought back with him as their parents had died and they would never be able to see Esther again.

Or

He could let his father die with no heir to the throne and let the Kingdom be taken over and because he has royal blood, he would have a bounty on his and Valoria's head.  The positive being able to see Esther and Valoria  but there always being a shadow of impending doom following them.

After hours of discussion, Esther and Frederick decided that it would be safer for their daughter and better for everyone for them to stay in the Castle.  That night was a tearful last night, Esther wrote a song her mother used to sing to her before she passed away down so that Valoria would always have something to remind her of her mother.  They made a promise, 'We shall never forget our love, never forget each other and one day we will meet again but 'till then we need to move on with our lives'.  By dawn Esther was in the wind making her way back to the castle.

In the following weeks the news of Princess Arianna arriving was the hot topic of the town.  When she arrived she quickly fell in love with the Prince and Valoria but Prince Frederick did not feel the same way.  

As the weeks passed, The King's condition worsened and worsened until he got Hans to finally agree to be Frederick's advisor and to set up a wedding ceremony for them both.  One week later they were married, Arianna was oblivious to her husband's unhappiness.  As for her, she was ecstatic over the event.

Once the events of the last month had piled up, the Prince started to feel some emotion towards his new wife but deep in his heart he felt he was not where he was meant to be.