Somebody To Love

I Won't Do It

Trigger Warning: Mentions Of Domestic Violence

It's been four days since Harmony received the letter from her father and she is now standing in the courtyard watching his carriage approaching. She hates knowing that he is there, and the only silver lining of his visit being that Elise might be coming as well, the thought making her smile.

Still, fear is very much present inside of her. In the letter, her father told her that he was coming to court to finalize a marriage agreement with Lord Carrington. Harmony knows the man's reputation well and because of that she dreads what will await her if her father has his way.

Lord Carrington has been married before, twice to be exact, and they both died in rather suspicious circumstances. The first wife died when she, for whatever reason, fell down the large stairs in their home, being found by Lord Carrington himself. People were quick in claiming it had been a tragic accident, but there had been something about it that never sat well with Harmony.

The second wife just disappeared. Her clothes and belongings were later found by the river that runs across his lands. The rebels were blamed for it at the time, but a lot of people didn't believe that they would do that without boasting about it.

It is no secret that the man has a violent streak and both his late wives, on more than one occasion, were seen with bruises on their arms and even a black eye or two. Harmony fears that if she marries him, she will have the same fate. She can't marry him, if for nothing else, because she can't see herself living like that.

Her father's carriage stops in front of her, pulling her from her thoughts. Putting her best fake smile on, for the sake of appearances, Harmony greets her father and asks if he had a safe trip. He tells her he did, as the carriage drives away, not sparing a second look at it and moving past her.

Noticing the absence of Elise, she asks about her sister, as she follows her father inside. Her father's cold answer makes her wish he hadn't come at all. He says that he had left Elise behind with the servants and it takes everything in Harmony not to tell him that she would go back and get Elise herself.

Still, she plays her part and nods, before leading him to his chambers, courtesy of the King. As they walk through the Castle, her father greets people, with an even bigger air of self-importance that usual, and playing the role of the devoted father. Harmony can't deny it, she hates her father in that moment.

As soon as they enter his chambers, the mask falls and he goes back to his usual self, talking about some Lord that had dared greet him when said Lord knows he hates the man. "There he is.", Harmony thinks with disdain. She watches him walk around the room, criticizing it to not be to his standards, but that it will do for the time being.

-"We won't be here for long." - He tells her as he reaches the small liquor table and serving himself.

-"Father?"

-"As soon as the marriage agreement is sealed, you will marry Lord Carrington as quickly as possible. He isn't getting any younger and he needs a male heir. We will be announcing it tomorrow morning."

-"Father, I won't marry him."

-"You want to try that again, young lady?" - He asks as he slams the glass back on the table and walks over to her, a hint of anger already in his eyes.

-"You know his reputation and what happened to his last two wives. Is that really the life you want for me?"

-"You will marry whoever I tell you to marry. You had a full year to find a husband and I still had to do that for you. I should've known it would happen this way. You are as useless as your mother was."

-"Don't talk about her like that. And I have been looking, but you know you gave me very specific instructions. I just followed them."

-"It doesn't matter now. You will marry Lord Carrington and that is final."

-"No."

-"Excuse me?"

-"I said no. I won't marry him."

-"You will marry Lord Carrington or so help me God, I will make Elise regret you were ever her sister, do you understand me?"

-"You wouldn't dare."

-"Don't test me, young girl."

-"I won't do it. I would rather die than marry that man."

It came out of nowhere, the sound of her father's hand colliding with her cheek filling the room. It takes a couple of seconds for Harmony's brain to catch up to what just happened, but when it does, Harmony knows that she can't stay there.

Turning away from her father, she runs out of the room as fast as she can and down the corridor. She doesn't know where she is going, all she knows is that she needs to get as far away from her father as possible. She reaches the end of the corridor and sees the door that leads to the old tower, and decides to go through it, knowing that she will be alone up there.

What Harmony doesn't know is that someone had overheard her argument with her father.

Justice heard that Harmony's father had arrived and is hoping she will be able to meet Harmony's sister, Elise. After hearing Harmony speaking about Elise so much over the last year, she is curious to meet her. She isn't sure if Elise is there but her curiosity took the best of her.

Justice is about to knock when she hears raised voices coming from inside the room. She immediately recognizes one as belonging to Harmony and she can only assume that the other belongs to her father. She starts listening in, something that her grandmother has told her time and time again that it's something that isn't proper of a young Princess, but Justice has a bad feeling about what is happening behind that door.

She hears the slap followed by rushed footsteps approaching the door, moving aside so no one knows she is there right before the door is flung open. Watching Harmony running away from the room, hand to her cheek, and headed to the old tower, Justice knows something is terribly wrong. She needs to do something.

Justice looks for her father, knowing that if anyone can help Harmony it's him. She has watched how her father and Harmony became close over the last year, and she has been secretly hoping that that friendship would lead to something more. But right now, there are more important things to think about and she needs to focus.

She finds her father leaving his chambers, just a floor up from where she has seen Harmony last. Stopping him, she quickly relays to him what happened and begs him to go and check on Harmony.

It's easier than Justice had thought it would be. She hears him say he will find Harmony and watches as he takes off running in the direction of the old tower, and she hopes and prays that it isn't too late. She lets out a breath and makes her way to her grandmother's chambers, not wanting to be alone. All she can do now is wait and hope that everything will be okay.