When Worlds Collide

Chapter 3

The argument Lucy had with her father left her in a very tense and unpleasant mood. Once again the sultan was running her life and not letting her have so much as one say in it. He just wanted to tie her down and keep her as his perfect princess forever. Keeping her away from the world, expecting her to always say and do whatever he wanted regardless if she thought if it was right or wrong. It was infuriating beyond all reason.

"He never hears me, he never tries to understand." She complained to her hand maidens in the palace gardens. "And he refuses to let me live my own life. It isn't fair."

"Who told you life was fair?" Aquarius asked.

"I do love my father and I know he means well, but some of the things he does is just nonsense." Lucy said. "All my life he surrounds me with knowledge of the world and then he seals me off in this palace. It's almost like I'm a prisoner."

"In a really, really, nice prison." Aquarius snarked.

"But having riches doesn't mean having happiness."

"I'll have to trust you on that."

"I wanna see the world. I wanna know what it's like to go dancing in the streets or to smell the spices at the market place or to sail across the seas or climb the mountains. They are just so many wonders to explore. That's what I want right now. Not a husband."

"He just wants to do what's best for you." Aries said. "And he does want to make you happy. He is just under the assumption that marriage will make you happy."

"How can marriage make me happy when I'm not even in love yet? No, forget love, I don't even have any real friends yet."

"What are we, chopped liver?" Aquarius said.

"Oh sorry, except for you two, and you're great,  but I want to broaden my horizons. See what other kind of people are out there. But how can I do that when I can't even go outside?" She sighed again. "You know sometimes I think maybe I should just leave. Go out on my own and see the world for myself."

"I don't know Princess." Aries said. "For someone like you the outside world might be kinda overwhelming."

"Is that a promise?" Lucy joked excitedly.

"I think it'd do her some good." Aquarius said.

"You do?"

"Honey, I've never seen anyone who needed to get out more,. I mean your father is wise but he doesn't know everything and he can be wrong. Everyone has been wrong about something. By the way, don't ever tell him I said. In this realm, pointing out monarch's flaws can cause a person to lose their head."

"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me." Lucy assured her. "And you're right. While my father is benevolent ruler, he is wrong about some things, and I think he might be wrong about me. I think he's wrong to just keep me here and choose who I can be with. If only he'd listen to me."

"Have you ever tried to talk to him about it?" Aries asked.

"There's no number of times I've tried to talk to him. But he just assumes that I'm just being young and rebellious. That someday I'll understand. Well what abut him? When will he understand? Maybe he would if I did leave."

"But where would you go, Lucy?" Aries asked. "How would you live? With all due respect, do you even know where anything outside of Lazan is? I mean you could get lost or hurt or kidnapped."

"Okay you might have a point there." Lucy said. 

"We understand how you feel." Aries told her. "But you shouldn't make any rash decisions. Especially when you're upset like this. Maybe you should take a moment to relax and cool off,  and think things over."