My Princess

Chapter 4

"I cannot believe you Narcissa. Disgracing the Kingdom of Black like that. I will not stand for this!"

I flinched as the King angrily let his fist fall onto the desk in front of us, causing the papers and trinkets to jump with the force of the hit. He was absolutely furious, face turning red as his eyes blazed, and I had the good sense to stay silent as I sat beside the princess on the large ottoman in the corner of the office space.

After the ball had ended we had all been ushered into the main part of the palace, finally out of the eye of the public and where the King could unleash his anger upon us. I knew just by the King's body language that we were in for a Hell of a punishment.

Narcissa being his daughter would most likely be spared, but I was nothing to him. In his eyes I was the cause for this blasphemy. I could very easily be killed.

Flashback to the end of the ball:

"Well, there you have it. The princess has chosen Y/n y/l/n to take her hand in marriage." The king was obviously mortified and would surely have much to say to us in private later. But for right now I reached over and intertwined my fingers with Narcissa's, my expression unchanging but managing to give the other girl's hand a squeeze as I released a sigh and resigned myself to whatever fate lay in store for us.

For right now, I had my princess.

The minstrels hesitantly started up the next song, afraid of angering the King further but knowing it was their job to perform once the announcement had been made. The crowd parted down the middle as the two older princesses took the hands of their husband's and elegantly made their way out onto the dance floor as it was customary to have this first dance with the newest member of the royal family.

Narcissa and I followed the four, side by side as equals, until we were in the dead center of the ballroom surrounded by curious eyes. As all 6 of us began dancing the crowd joined in, albeit hesitantly, flabbergasted by this turn of events.

As for myself I had decided to just embrace my current circumstances and enjoy the time I had with the beautiful young woman before her father tore us apart and forced her to choose another. Our bodies moved as one, our souls merging together as we flowed across the dance floor as gracefully as if we had been partners for all of eternity.

All I could see out of my peripheral vision was a blur of color and movement, my gaze fixed to Narcissa's eyes and occasionally flitting down to her full, red lips as I became increasingly more nervous around her. I was falling fast for this enchanting girl but I knew I shouldn't get too attached for she was a princess, and I was but a modest commoner.

A few more songs were played, and a few more dances were shared before the night came to an end around 4 in the morning. Everyone had become tired and intoxicated, slowly filing out of the palace with their respective partners to continue their drunken fun within their own homes.

As soon as the ballroom doors had closed once more the King and Queen ushered their family and me through a door in the side of the room leading into the main hallway. The King silently leading our little group through the castle until we found ourselves in a secluded office space, ready to take on the man's anger.

End Flashback

"Narcissa I do not know what game you are playing at but you have put us all in quite the predicament. Those prince's are going to return to their own kingdoms and tell their father's what has happened. They will try and take over this Kingdom in rebellion and we will be shunned for such blasphemous activity. I hope you're happy with this commoner Narcissa because as I see it, you are no longer my daughter."

I heard Narcissa's sharp inhale as her father's words sunk in, tears appearing in her big brown eyes. My own eyes shot back and forth between the crying princess and the King, astonished by his cruelty towards his own blood.

"Father.." she started, trying to think of some way to reconcile with the man.

"No. You had your chance Narcissa. You failed. You will leave this Kingdom tonight. With her." My breathing picked up and I tried in vain to think of something to say as my frazzled brain tried to comprehend what the man had just said. I was getting kicked out of the only home I'd ever known...

"No she didn't do anything. Let her stay. I'll go just let her stay." Narcissa pleaded and I hoped the King would take pity on me. As much as I liked the girl this was my home, my aging father was still here, this was where my mother took her first and last breath, I couldn't leave.

"Father.. I encouraged her to do this. It's my fault." Andromeda spoke up, eyes begging her father to reconsider.

"My decision is final. The both of you will be gone by tonight." I couldn't hold my tongue any longer.

"Sir.. please. I have my elderly father to care for. There is no one else." The man's hardened eyes never so much as twitched, uncaring of the wants of someone as lowly as me.

"Then you should have thought about that before enticing my daughter now shouldn't you? Leave. Both of you." And with that last icy remark, he and the Queen made their exit. At least the Queen had the decency to flash her daughter a look of remorse as she wiped a single tear and turned her back on us to follow her husband out of the room.

Silence fell around us as Narcissa fought her emotions and the elder princesses thought about what to say in order to comfort their youngest sister.

"Cissy.." Andromeda started but Narcissa fled the room, running in a seemingly random direction and leaving me alone in their large home.

I swallowed nervously, keeping my head down and waiting on someone else to speak.

"Y/n.. I am so incredibly apologetic for how this turned out. I never meant to have the two of you evicted from the kingdom. Please, I know I don't have the right to ask for anything of you but.. I beg of you.. try and take care of our baby sister." Andromeda was fighting tears, eyes begging me to make sure her littlest sister made it out there in the real world.

"I will. I promise." Bellatrix was obviously trying to remain stoic but I could see the clenched jaw and tightening of her facial muscles as she fought her own emotions about losing her sister.

"Cissy is stronger than she appears. She can be incredibly hard headed and willful but she is kind and will do whatever she can to aid you." I nodded towards Bellatrix whose eyes had hardened as she spoke, pushing any emotions she may have about the situation aside in favor of helping me to keep the other girl out of harm's way.

Andromeda gave me a few words of advice for dealing with the youngest Black sister as she walked me to the front doors, Bellatrix going upstairs to find the distressed girl.

"She's never been outside these walls. She doesn't know a thing about keeping herself alive and hasn't done a thing for herself since she was born. She was always the favorite being the youngest, and mother and father doted on her. I believe that's why father reacted as harshly as he did. His perfect little princess finally did something for herself." She trailed off and I could see it in her eyes that she was becoming lost in thought, reminiscing about the good old days of when they were children and wishing things had worked out differently.

Narcissa and Bellatrix appeared from the stairwell a short time later, Narcissa with a small bag of her belongings slung over her shoulder and more appropriate traveling attire. She had obviously been crying but Bellatrix had managed to get the girl smiling again, the young princess giving me a nervous little side smile as we locked eyes.

"Come here baby sister." Andromeda pulled her in for a tight hug, whispering apologies into her ear which Narcissa just brushed off.

"I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad you helped me realize I needed to do it Andromeda. We'll be ok." The three shared one last family hug before I took the princess's hand in mine and gently pulled her out the front doors.

I couldn't help but notice the Queen watching us from around the corner as we left, tears falling down her face as she watched her last daughter leave the palace and realize she would most likely never see her pride and joy again.