Where's Casper?

Dinner

I stare at my ring, my eyes nervously twitching, praying Dante and Caspar will arrive. Nothing.

Two days later, I received a letter from Dante:

My love,

Don't be upset, but we can't arrive next week.

We were halfway there, but, unfortunately, someone stole our flying carriages, and we had to write to the actors who stayed behind and ask them to bring us the rest.

I'm very sorry this happened, and I pray you will be OK.

Yours,

Dante

He's incompetent. I know it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the brain of an eleven year old.

Gavriel already "proposed." It was a cheap charade we made in front of the empress, pretending he's actually my boyfriend. I understand. He needs to have a queen, but not like this. I'm sure Elantine figured it out already.

The ring he gave me isn't as bad as I expected. Actually, I didn't expect any kind of ring. It has a purple stone, and it's made out of silver. The purple stone is attached to the metal by two small silver flowers. It's the kind of ring I dreamed of getting when I was a kid, one of the ones the expensive jewelry store that was near our house sold.

Tonight, I'm invited to have dinner with the rest of the royal family. Tonight, I have to put the best dress on. Tonight, I mustn't mess up.

A maid brings the dresses. I know her; she's the ginger girl from the shop I visited with Caspar. I smile at her, and she doesn't seem to remember me. I don't blame her. She has hundreds of customers every week.

"Do you have new short dress models?"

She gasps and then hugs me. Somehow, I still remember every single piece of clothing she showed me that day, and now, she shows me all of them.

I struggle to pick between a light blue dress and a pastel purple one. The blue dress has a low V-neck, and it reaches my knees, having a puffy bottom, while the purple is a half-tight-half-loose dress with stones on the top half. I ended up picking the blue. Simple is always safe.

Now, I step further towards my death; my throat feels sore, and my heart is pounding inside of it, but I foolishly smile. I foolishly smile as I greet and sit next to the empress.

She tells me something, but I don't understand. My ears are ringing, and I feel Gavriel stroking my leg under my dress. I look at him, and he's smirking. I choose not to say anything until I fully return to my senses.

"So, how long have you been together for?" She asks, basically vacuuming every lie Gavriel tells her.

"About... two months." He says, nodding. "I know, it's a bit too early for marriage, but I love her so much that I can't leave her in Foxwood!"

"Did she lose weight after you got her, or do you have such bad taste?"

I hate his lying, but I can't focus on anything besides his hand. He finally takes it off me, grabbing a fork from the table and starting to put some apple pie on his plate.

I didn't hear Elantine say we could eat; in fact, I pretty much didn't hear anything. The other ones follow, and I put fruit salad on my plate.

Elantine frowns, looking at me. She's not pleased, so she puts some kind of cake next to the chopped up fruits, a vanilla doughnut, and mango pudding. I don't get why, but I suck it up, thinking she wants me to try them.

"You know, you should eat more. Men like girls with curves."

Gavriel's cousins start laughing. I feel myself wanting to sink into the short-trimmed blue carpet, and I fear I'm turning red. Gavriel joins them, too. I stand up.

"You know what? Fuck you all. I may be skinny, bad-raised, and a brat, but you surpass me by far. So what if I'm skinny? I'm sure I had more boyfriends in the last month than your plumpy sister will get in her whole entire life. And I'm not Gavriel's girlfriend, and I'm not from Foxwood. I'm from Valenda, and I was forced into marriage with your spoiled nephew. So fuck you all. I'm going to sleep."

I don't know how I could say it, but I had the courage to do it. I stand up and start running. The halls open in front of me, greeting me with their light colors. If I remember correctly, my room is on the other side of the castle's wing. My heels are threatening to break. Tonight, I chose to change my footwear. Bad idea.

Behind me, Gavriel is running, probably trying to catch me. That's why I need to run faster.

"Casper, stop!"

No, thank you. I almost kicked the door down when I entered, but I'm OK, and he's banging on my door. I collapse on my bed, feeling tired, although I didn't do much all day. Is it possible to say you're psychically tired?

"Please, love. Open up."

I stare at the ceiling for a moment, thinking about it. I don't know if I should do it, but what could happen?

"I'm sorry. I love you."

He hugs me, but I don't feel better. I think they're a family of snakes. I think they're haine. I think they're rotten souls...

"I don't forgive you, and I don't love you. I never will. Remember this."

"Listen, love. I don't think you look bad. I actually think you're beautiful. Remember that."

I hate him. I hate the way he resembles the person I loved, I hate the way he speaks, I hate the way he behaves, and I hate the way he makes me hope I can love him, just because he looks like him.

"You know what, love? I'll do anything for you! I will change my name if you want me to do that. Yes! I can change my name to Aric, and you can pretend I'm still him, and..."

"No. Aric's dead, and I'd like him to stay that way."