Happy Ever After

Bright

"Did you call just to torment me?"

"That and I was bored."

My finger hovers over the end call button but before temptation could get the best of me, Tia gives me a colossal pout.

I sigh loudly. My sister knows precisely how to entrap me.

"Tia, I am at a charity lunch. I can't stay on the phone for long."

"Is it true you're getting married? And you didn't think to tell me? I had to learn from one of our nosey cousins?"

"Which cousin? How do they know?" I shake my head. "It doesn't matter. I am in the process of courtship. Father hopes it ends in marriage."

"Ah a woman with a choice and a prince who has none. How interesting."

"I have a choice!"

Tia snorts. "So you want to get married? Can you tell me anything about the girl you're courting aside from her name?"

"I have read every file that the royal security team - "

"Wow. How romantic."

I wanted to argue with Tia but what was the point? Besides, this call cannot go on any longer. It was unbecoming for a royal to be on the phone in public.

"Tia, don't give me grief. This is my duty. The King all but ordered me to get married and give him a grandson. You don't say no to a King's order."

"He's our father! Not just the king."

"Yes. But I am also his successor. And not his favorite darling daughter."

"He'd understand if you don't love her."

There was a split second where I was tempted to tell Tia about our father's stand on concubines but thankfully whatever was left of my pragmatism took over and I kept that tidbit to myself.

"Tia, I really have to go."

"Fine."

"Scold me when you're back from India. I miss you."

"I miss you too."

We end the call. And I stare at the blank screen for a moment, wishing I could join Tia and backpack around Asia without a single care. I can imagine myself already- hiking through mountains, pitching tents, strumming my guitar in the Valley of Flowers. Perhaps as I explore through New Delhi, Jaipur, and fly to Seoul then Bali - I'd even find that young boy with the kite. He wouldn't be a boy anymore, we'd more or less be the same age and -

"Already cheating on Dara?"

A voice breaks my daydream and I turn around, almost dropping my phone.

Metawin. Of course.

The six foot tall nuisance.

Ordinarily, I would not let myself be sidetracked by something as mundane as competition. I was bred, molded and coached to perfection. I knew how to handle insignificant competition with both hands tied behind my back.

But Metawin is not someone I can underestimate. He is effortlessly handsome, - one of those unfair beings that could roll out of bed and unto a stage and still capture everyone's attention. You could tell as well that he had the wit to back up those looks. All he needed to do was smile and people would gladly eat up his every word.

In other words, he is completely unlike me.
He is a natural. Whilst I am completely rehearsed.

Not to mention, that he has known Dara for much longer. I imagine he knows all the ways to make her swoon. Not that I have spent any time imagining Metawin doing anything. I never think of Metawin.