He

30 1 2
                                    


I let the wind wash through my hair, pushing it back. Staring far into the distance of the Swedish highlands and the marshes below, there were starlings and skylarks singing peacefully. I closed my eyes, the breeze flattened my long blonde lashes to my under eyes, The world was happy, yet I felt sadness.

The trees were but shadows against the mildew sky. I felt nothing but resent yet my love for the weather prevented me from being angry. I enjoyed the wind in my face and the grey cloudy sky. It was a blanket to cover how I felt.

I like wearing coats, there is something about the comfort of being able to turn the neck up and distance yourself from the world. I am a solitary person, I love being alone, well that is what I like to think, trapsing in the land enjoying the solemn views and hoping for something interesting. I am very protective over people, they are very precious to me, I cannot live without them of course, however I have the need to stay away, there are few who I enjoy the company of. Although I am reported to be cold, I am anything but that, my demeanour is icy for sure and I have great power over others even in my young age, but that does not change the fact that I have a very big and loving heart. I am just waiting for the right woman.

Making my way down towards the castle is much more tedious than heading away, the ground is slippery from late autumn and just the general dark aura of the palace pushes you away. The chafed black gables and the lack of paint is never welcoming. There is no real path to or from the hill at the edge of the palace grounds, so the hike is long and treacherous around the unkept parts, although I do enjoy those parts the most.

Reaching back to the front of the palace I touched my hand to the door frame; chucks of paint wore out beneath my fingers. Although the family was rich I always wondered why they let the country palace weather away.

‘Crown prince Wilhelm, let me take your coat’ a maid scurried up behind me

‘Thank you’ I said in return. My tone was harsh, and I knew it, no wonder people found me so cold.

‘Darling how was your walk’ My mother was coming down the grand staircase wearing all black as usual, her face downturned. Although I loved my brother dearly, mourning him like she did made it feel worse.

‘The same as usual your highness’ I bowed, the stern look on my face did not change, your highness that is not the way one should address their mother.

‘I have a ball planned, you are to pick a wife’ her tone was similar to mine, I knew exactly where I got it from, looking me up and down she scowled.

I knew I was attractive, I always was, portraits of me off all ages were sold in foreign lands, Face of porcelain, hair as fair as gold, deep coffee eyes, my lips were little peaches, apparently they were a pleasure to kiss, or so I had been told, but I was the prince, so all of these could be fabrications, I could even look at myself in the mirror, a disgrace to the royal family.

The days rolled by quickly, I dreaded every ball, the fact that my mother told me I was going to find a wife was not new news to me, she had been telling me that since I was twelve, it had become routine of her to tell me almost every week, she had been married by 15 and had had Erik when she was my age, 16. It hurt to see her so destroyed all the time, overcome with disappointment and sorrow, the King was no help, although being my father I could not see him as such, a pitiful man, no care for women or their rights. I had heard the cries when my younger sister had been conceived, they were not happy cries, they were cries of pain and despair.

My sister had died when I was 6, she was only 3, she would have been a goddess, blonde hair and the rarest blue eyes, as blue as the sea, or so I had been told, I have never seen the sea. She was sweet even for a toddler, far more respectful and happy than I had ever been. Her death affected me and my mother the worst, I heard my mother cry for days on end, she hardly ate. Since then, she has been harsh, and after Erik died it’s been even worse.

HeWhere stories live. Discover now