The Girl of Many Worlds | (Story formerly known as "Multiworldcial")

Chapter 18

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Princess Jade," Zander said as he bowed and Maya curtsied. "How are you feeling today?"

We stood outside of The Haven, my palms sweaty. I could tell him that—I could tell him that I was feeling awfully nervous and wanted again for the floor to swallow me up. But I held my reservations inside and curtsied back.

"I'm okay," I said.

"May I say, your hair looks lovely today," Maya said. "It's very beautiful."

"Thank you," I said shyly. The two suns in the sky and her comment made me feel warm; it was so easy to get me that way.

The townspeople around us no longer paid any mind to me. They'd walk by and bow, or present their daughters to him as an offer of marriage. They made passing comments such as, "She's very good with the Blue Light. She's the strongest in The Town. She'll make a perfect ruler."

The daughters always looked shy and some shot daggers my way. While we had walked over to The Haven, one of these interactions led to me being questioned.

"So you're Princess Jade?" a girl's father asked. He was tall, stocky, and had a mustache dressed face. It curled at the ends, a look I mainly only ever saw in movies back on Earth. "Tell me, darling, for a human like you, do you have any access to The Blue Light?"

"I... no..."

"Yes, she does," Arden said. "Her powers may lay dormant because of her humanness, but that doesn't take away her connection. Do not question the Princess like that again."

The man's eyes widened as his daughter and wife glowered at me. What the heck did I do? I didn't tell them not to question me!

"So, is she going to be the one you marry?" the man asked.

My face flushed and I glanced at Arden uncomfortably. I wonder if he felt the same way? Him and I, married? I just started my life as an adult. I still barely knew who I was, and then I'd have to think about marriage? Surely Arden didn't even see me that way, anyway—I was the pawn, the package in a deal. Protect me and declare war on Mercury. Release me when we hopefully have one. That was all.

"Who I marry is my business, and my business only," Arden said coldly. "Do not question me again. Ever."

Realizing they overstepped, they instantly bowed and curtsied before scurrying off.

"Do you get this every time you come down here?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "Now that I'm to marry as according to tradition, many of the parents want their daughter to be my wife. It's quite taxing."

"Oh sure, a bunch of beautiful women being presented to you all at once... it must be really hard for you."

"It is when you know most of the time the parents are not entirely truthful with their claims of their daughters being skilled with The Blue light." Arden twirled one of the various rings he had on around his finger as we continued walking.

"So... you can only marry someone who is powerful with the Blue Light?"

"Yes." He glanced over at me. "I'm sorry that they were so rude to you."

"They don't particularly like me because I'm human."

"Sure, that may be the case for most people down here, but really the family was threatened by you."

"Threatened? I'm the least threatening person out there. It's not like I have a claim to you. I don't even have an active connection to the Blue Light in order to be a Queen."

He smiled—I think for the first time ever—and said, "Threatened by your beauty, Princess. Although, we will work on your powers." My heart thumped hard for a second. I recovered quickly, though his smile was still seared into my mind.

Although he was stopped multiple times, we'd finally made it to The Haven and greeted Maya and Zander. I knew we had to go inside but I absolutely dreaded the thought.

It was much quieter than yesterday when we entered. Ichabod was still as friendly as ever. He waved at me and I returned it.

Then they saw Arden. Instantly everyone in the room bowed or curtsied. "King Arden," Ichabod said. "It's an honor."

"I came because I heard you were not welcoming to the Princess yesterday. Is this true?"

"Yes," a female voice piped up from near the oven. "Some people here were very rude." The girl had silver curly hair, dazzling periwinkle eyes, and also a darker olive skin tone like me. I noticed her yesterday but had no idea who she was. She was one of the people who genuinely seemed interested in me.

"Thank you for your honesty, Zaria," Arden said. Zaria! This was the girl who Zander thought was well suited for Arden. I could understand why. She looked absolutely stunning. I felt like a shadow in comparison to her. If they got together, they'd make gorgeous kids.

Whoa. Got way ahead of myself there. And, admittedly, I would be so jealous. A part of me still had a mini crush on Arden. But with so much more at stake, I knew this would be something I'd have to get over. Who had time for crushes when your life was so much more complicated than it used to be? And who had time for crushes when the guy you had a crush on was looking for a suitor to be married to? I wasn't trying to get married.

Arden turned to me and asked, "Point out all the people who were rude to you. I will handle them accordingly."

The room grew still instantly and my heartbeat kicked up. I was going to protest until I realized Arden would hate that. I thought back to earlier when he angrily told me not to humiliate him. How would it look if I contradicted him? But, on the other hand, I didn't want anyone here to get in trouble. They were scared of me. And I wanted to try to be sympathetic... like Arden is trying to be with me.

I bowed my head and said, "My king, I wish to give those who were rude to me another chance to be around me before you pass judgement on them. Would you please grant me this request?"

I peered up. His eyes were wide and his expression soft. "Of course, Princess."

I faced them, wracking up the words in my brain to say. Lana in particular looked frightened. She was definitely the most outspoken and the nastiest to me. But it came from a place of fear from what she was taught. I couldn't hold that against her.

"It's true that I'm human," I said. "Although I'm mixed with other worlds and realms apparently..." I glanced over at Arden for approval and he nodded, so I continued, "... I was raised only as a human. I lived in a world filled with violence and... 'mayhem', I guess. But I'm not a product of that environment." I swallowed nervously. "Already I've been so amazed by this world. I respect it. And I respect all of you. There are good humans out there. I hope I can prove to you that I'm one of them."

Besides Ichabod and Zaria giving me sweet smiles, nobody else did or said anything for a minute. Lana looked down and others looked between me and Arden.

Finally, Arden broke the silence. "You are all to treat her with the dignity and respect a Princess deserves, or the consequences for you will be dire. I hope we all have an understanding." He motioned to me with his head to follow him.

I let out a shaky breath as we entered back into the sunlight.