Rather be a Lover than a Fighter

Chapter 7: The Marriage Interview

A knock on the wooden door caught my attention and interrupted me while I was signing one of the last papers. I glanced into the direction of a small window and the orange light that it projected on the ground showed me, that the sun was already rising. The door was opened slowly and my maid entered the room with a short bow, which I answered with the usual annoyed nod, since I told her told her to stop doing that years ago. "I see you started to work early again, your Highness", she commented worried, before taking a look at the nightgown, I had thrown on in a haste at some point during the night. "You could have sent for me", my maid quickly argued, "I would have helped you out of your dress, it must have been difficult getting out by yourself". Truth be told, it was quiet a struggle to get rid of all of the layers by myself, but I have done it often enough already, so I was able to deal with it. The only answer my maid got though, was a quick shake of my head, so she would not have to worry about the reason I did not call for her. There was no way I would wake one of my servants in the middle of the night and disturb their much deserved sleep, just because I forgot to change right after dinner. None of them knew about my irregular sleep schedule, and I would like to keep it that way, because they would surely have share that information with the king at some point and he did not need even more reasons to keep me from the battlefield. "You will have your breakfast with Prince Voldron", Charlotte suddenly said, while stepping up to my desk, "your father ordered it". I only nodded, there was nothing else to say, the kings orders could never be questioned, nor discussed no matter how much I had to say about them anyway so it was better to simply accept them. "He arrived already, much sooner than expected, so you shall eat your meal together", the girl continued far more politely than necessary, "shall I start dressing you up, your Highness". Instead of answering, I finished the signature during which, I have been interrupted, before putting the paper aside on a small pile, and finally nodding in agreement.

The dress I wore had a lot of layers and was made with heavy, but beautiful fabrics that complimented each other perfectly, especially combined with the embellishments. I would have been overdressed for a casual breakfast, but since it was actually a marriage interview, my maid pulled out some of the best clothes in my possession. While I walked through the hallways of the castle, I had to suppress the urge of ripping the dresses bottom a little bit in order for my movements to be less restricted. Of course, I always wore dresses when I was in the palace or had to make appearance as a Princess, but I could never really get used to the formal ones. They were heavy and needed to be dragged across the floor, which restricted my range of movement and thus, made me feel too vulnerable. "Good morning, your Highness", came from a voice, of somebody that seemed to have sneaked up on me, which made my head snap around quickly. I was very surprised that he was able to sneak up behind me, because even if I was focused on my own thoughts, that rarely happened anymore. "I see you have dressed up for your meeting already", the servant said and bowed just as deep as yesterday evening, and I could do nothing but nod slowly, while examining the bottom of my dress. "Oh, just so you know", the boy quickly said, "I have personally delivered that letter of yours to the King, so there is no need to worry". That was faster than I would have expected, it usually took the servants quiet some time to get through to the king, because of all his duties. A quick nod and my raised eyebrows were supposed to show how impressed I was, but I believe he would have realized it even without the gesture, because he observed me so closely. "Excuse me, but I have to go, good luck with your marriage interview", my new servant said suddenly, "you look beautiful, your Highness".  One last bow, answered with another nod from my side, was meant be a respectful goodbye, before we passed each other.

"Good morning Princess Lora", Prince Voldron said as he rose from his chair to perform a small bow, "it is a pleasure to finally meet you". After the doors were closed behind me by two servants, I bowed as well and nodded politely instead of an actual greeting, which I deemed unnecessary. "No worries", the Prince said and smiled widely at me, "your father already told me you were rather quiet most of the time". I nodded again and forced myself to give him a small smile, which seemed necessary in this situation, to not let him judge me as impolite. "Come and sit, your Highness", he suddenly suggested with a wave in the direction of the table next to him, "I believe you did not have breakfast, right". I was very used to skipping meals by now because I could only eat when I did not feel like my throat was closed up or I would puke, but I still nodded quickly in agreement to seem polite. "Then you have to sit and eat with me",  he said delighted and hold out his hand, eager for me to take it, "I have not eaten yet either". I took his hand with a grateful nod and let him lead me to my chair, which he even pulled out for me, like a trained Prince should. Afterwards, he went back to his own chair on the opposite side of the small, round table and sat back down. "Do you like the location I chose for our first meeting", he asked, as he saw me looking around with a face that most likely looked so confused, even toddlers could see. My head snapped back to him and I nodded hesitantly, since the castles giant green house actually was, one of my favorite places. My father must have told him that right after his arrival, just so they could set it up nicely before I even heard about his entrance. "That is good to know", he answered and a sigh of relieve left his lungs, "I have heard from my people that you were a fighter, so I was scared that you were not much of a lady, luckily I was completely wrong". One of my eyebrows most likely twitched, so I could only hope that Prince Voldron was as oblivious as he sounded and did not notice it, though I probably would not mind. Still, the king was very clear, about wanting me to finally marry someone and with the amount of Princes I have rejected, this one was undoubtedly going to be my last chance. "After our marriage, you will not have to worry about fighting anymore", the Prince continued, "I would never let a woman as beautiful as you get send out on the battlefield". The glance I wanted to throw in his direction after that Comment, would have probably been deadly, but instead I just cleared my throat with a cough, to signal him that I felt slightly uncomfortable. Luckily, he got the hint and started eating without another word, other wishing me a good meal, which I appreciated a lot. 

After breakfast, he suggested a stroll around the greenhouse, which I could not refuse, since my entire schedule has been cleared for this. I guess it could have been worse, because I actually really enjoyed spending time in here, so I just went with the idea and showed him around a little bit. On our way through the bushes, we passed a gardener, that was trying to cut them down a little bit, when I suddenly heard a painful hiss. Both of us turned around and saw that the old man accidentally cut himself in the arm, while he tried perfecting the form of the bushes with a small knife. I wanted to go and help him, but Prince Voldron held onto my arm tightly, "you do not have to worry about him, he will find help by himself", he said with a calm voice. A confused look was all he got from me, before I tried pulling my arm away from him, but his grip just tightened more. "He is only a servant, let him be", he said and even tried to pull me away, "he can take care of himself, and if he cannot, you simply have to get a new one, he seems too old for the job anyway". With a sigh, I stopped pulling and took in a deep breath, before most likely saying the first few words, I had said in weeks: "I do not know how these things work in Persikan Prince Voldron, but in this Kingdom people support each other, and we do not rank the value of one person over another because of their status. So if you would excuse me, one of my people needs help and since I am already here, I am more then willing to provide it." The Prince was frozen in shock by my little speech, which was the reason I could pull my arm out of his grip and turn back around. When I kneeled on the ground to look at the old mans injuries, I could see him leave from the corner of my eye, but I only sighed gratefully, there was no way I would marry someone like him. "He needs some kind of band-aid", a voice behind me recommended, "the cut seems to be very deep, so we need to stop the bleeding before we check the rest". I simply nodded in agreement to the familiar voice, and tore of some fabric from my dress before wrapping it around the gardeners arm tightly. "I can bring him to the doctors office", the voice said and a young boy passed me to pick up the old man, it was the new servant again. "You should probably go after the Prince, I do not believe he took your comment very well", the servant boy argued, while helping the old man stand up. I hesitated and looked back at the path, where I could only see the back of Prince Voldron, who stormed away from me with visible anger in his every step. "Go", my servant said again, "it was very kind of you to help, but I can take over from here, you do not have worry about this man anymore". He gave me a look of reassurance, so I stood up with a sigh and gave him a grateful nod, before I turned around and tried to catch up to Prince Voldron. 

His legs were long and steps fast, but my legs were well trained so I had little trouble following him. My throat felt like it was blocked again at that moment, so I could not scream his name and had to grab onto his arm instead, in order for him to finally stop. "What could you possibly still want from me", he asked angrily and shook my hands away, "it was clear to me that you would rather take care of filthy commoners than your future husband". The only thing I could do was to shake my head hastily and stare at him with an adamant look that was supposed to be convincing. "If I were to be your future husband", Prince Voldron simply continued, "I would need your full attention on my every word and I have a feeling you cannot give me that". Finally, he truly watched me as I shook my head again with all the conviction I could muster at that time, since I could still not bring myself to speak. Essentially, he wanted me to submit to all of his decisions without even a hint of resistance, not even when it came to the people that were still under my protection. He seemed to be one of these Princes that saw all of their subjects as mere slaves and I hated those, but I did not have a choice anymore. I had to marry him, to make this country a better place and to make my father proud.