Happy Ever After

Bright

"I need an heir to the throne!"

"I'm your heir to the throne!"

My father looks at me and sighs heavily as if he couldn't believe his bloodline produced someone as stubborn as I am.

Pot calling the kettle black I say because King Guntithanon was legendary for being headstrong.

Which meant I was probably going to lose this argument. Which I should also have probably have predicted from the start. He was the king after all. Perhaps some would think a prince had some sway over the king but in our case, that just was not true.

What people fail to understand about royalty is that from the moment you are born there are traditions and rules you have to quickly learn and strictly follow. And the closer you are to the throne the longer the list of rules and longer still the amount of people eagerly anticipating your failure.

I have lived this life for 24 years. I was well aware of my duties and how inescapable they were.

Honestly, I didn't know why I even bothered to protest in the first place.  It has been this way for hundreds of years. And even when cars start to fly, I am certain nothing will change.

My father must have felt my epiphany dawning. "Can I arrange a meeting then?"

I fight back the sigh wanting to escape my mouth. "But of course, Father."

"Good! I assure you the daughter of Earl Green Kittiyangkul is worthy of your love and devotion. Her name is Dara Kittiyangkul."

"Very well, Your Majesty." I try to keep my voice neutral, even though deep inside I just wanted to bang my head on a nearby wall. Perhaps one with ornate carvings for maximum damage.

"As you well know, the Kittiyangkuls are progressive." My father says the word with disdain. "That means, Dara has been given a choice. She can say no to the betrothal should she wish. I expect that you will do everything in your power to get her sweet yes."

My fingers flex anxiously. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

The King eyes me. "This is not a death sentence, Bright. It is merely a marriage. And if you are worried that this will prohibit you from laying with whoever you please, then I assure you that you are allowed to take in royal concubines of any gender."

I choke on my own saliva. "Father!"

"What? I am merely speaking the truth. If monogamy is what's bothering you then am assuring you it's not even an issue."

"Father , can we please never talk about laying with other people?"

"We are both adults here, Bright. And we will be discussing this from time to time as I said, you need to produce an heir."

Discuss my sex life with my father and his advisors? Please just kill me now.
Not that there was any sex life to discuss. The lovers my father thinks I am worried about are non-existent. Perhaps he was thinking about the Lady I went on one date with when I was sixteen. Or that young royal I couldn't shut up about when I was thirteen.

I smile to myself as I remember him. He was flying a kite in the palace garden. Or at least he was trying to. He kept running but the wind wasn't cooperating. He did not get frustrated though. He was laughing. Wild and loud and absolutely free. So different from me, who was merely watching him as stiff as a statue, afraid to earn the ire of my royal guards.

He spotted me then and urged me to help him. His eyes glittered like a thousand stars. Who was I to say no?

It took so many tries and a hundred breathless tumbles into the grass but finally, we got the kite to soar.

He offered his hand then so I shook it. He laughed and told me he wanted a high five not a handshake, we were kids, we weren't forty two! I must have looked so confused. He said that if I liked handshakes better then he could teach me a secret handshake - one that no one else would know about. I remember my heart leaping for joy - but he never got to teach me. I never even got to know his name. I was whisked away by my advisor and my guards, reprimanded for the state of my clothes and my hair.

I waited for him in the gardens every day for a whole year after that. Hoping he'd come back and teach me the handshake. But I never saw him again.

I don't believe in love. Royals marry for station and power. It would be ludicrous to believe in something as juvenile as love. But that was probably the closest I have come to it. That boy with a kite. I wonder how he's doing right now? And if he still ran around laughing? He must have lived so far away that's why he never came back. Good for him, being a royal in Kingdom Guntithanon would have only killed the fire burning inside him.

Then he'd be like me.

I know what you're thinking. Boo hoo poor little rich prince. You're probably rolling your eyes as I tell you about my feelings. How hard could it be after all to be a spoiled prince?

I don't do false humility. I am aware of who I am and how perfect I can seem.

I am aware I am more handsome than most. My father at fifty five years old, turns heads whenever he walks in a room. Not to be outdone, my mother , the queen, is a cherubic and plump woman who can put any young maiden to shame.
As their son, I am no different. I am aware of the whispers when I am introduced, I am aware of the stares and the swooning. And I have received more than my fair share of indecent proposals.

I have accepted none of them.

Not that I've never been tempted.

But I was raised to take my position seriously. I am supposed to be perfect. Clean and scandal-free.

I can settle for no less than the best.
Gold medals for archery and horse back riding.

Captain of the debate team. Captain of the football team. Graduated class valedictorian and all around teachers' pet.

On my shoulders was the destiny of a whole kingdom.

And now, it falls upon me again to continue the legacy.

It did not matter if I loved her. It didn't even matter if I liked her.
It was my duty to marry her. It was my duty to make her say yes.

Dara Kittiyangkul, get ready. Whether we like it or not, I am your destiny.

I have to be.