Moonflower

Chapter 2: Icy Exteriors

"Your majesty, the Prince of Icelandia has sent you another letter." I let out a prolonged sigh. I couldn't help but slightly cringe while looking towards Alfred. Man, this kid is non stop huh. I thought to myself. Maybe the letters weren't coming in non stop, but it sure felt like it. For the past 15 days leading up to the date of my coronation date, the so-called Prince of Icelandia had sent me a letter every. Single. Day. What made it worse, was that it would arrive at my palace at exactly six AM sharp. It felt incredibly suffocating. Some of the Princesses my family knew would be giggling and kicking their feet at the thought of a Prince being obsessed over them. But me? Hell to the no. The last thing that I needed was more stress added to my daily life. Trying to figure out all the becoming a Queen shit caused me to be doubled over in pain and throwing up every single night. Thank God that I had Alfred to help me.

"Again? He has more dedication than I have getting up in the morning," I responded.

I heard Alfred snort and looked over to where he was standing. He was by the small, burgundy colored corner table of my dimly lit study. This used to be my father's when he was King. I felt more at home in this room than anywhere else. It was strange if I was being honest. My father and I never got along well, but yet his study made me feel at ease.

"The Prince of Icelandia will never give up until you finally write back to him you know."

I groaned and put my face in my hands.

"I assume so...Ugh. Why are men such pigs?" He shrugged and opened the letter. I noticed just how expensive this piece of paper truly seemed. It was encrusted with gold flakes and green lining that was sealed with a red, wax heart. I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa and hugged my knees to my chest. It was weird that someone was putting this much effort into getting my attention. It was like he wanted me...but he was going about it weirdly. I almost looked away until I saw something else that had caught my attention. In Alfred's hand was a very small blue velvet box. It took a couple of seconds for it to register in my brain. And once it did, my eyes widened in horror. In front of me was a box that could only hold one thing. An engagement ring. Or even worse, a wedding band.

"What in God's name is that!" I practically shrieked at Alfred. He tilted his head to the side and inspected the box further. On top of it being blue velvet, it had a gold bow made of lace that was tied at the top, and it had "Mani" etched into each side.

"Well your majesty, we will only know what it contains if we open it," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Alfred had been trying to make me feel better about this whole marriage thing. It was not working. I had a lot of men, and surprisingly women, come and offer me their hand in marriage. I all turned them down. I wasn't ready to be married yet.

"There is no way I'm opening that box. I'd rather bury it with my parents," I shook my head furiously while I was talking to him. I was NOT going to be opening that...that thing in his hands.

"Just leave it with the others. I'm uninterested," I said bluntly. If there was anything I hated more than my now deceased family, it was men who wouldn't and couldn't take the hint. Aside from dealing with my marriage problem, I also had two Kings who were obsessed over me. They were at least six months away from me (thank God), and only wanted to marry me because I was "young and fertile." The way they spoke about me in their letters was appalling, and unfortunately, it seemed that the Prince of Icelandia was another one of those stupid Kings. I knew close to nothing about the Prince. Hell, I didn't really know that he existed until I heard through the grapevine that the Prince of Icelandia was a coldhearted monster who was bitter about being next in line to the throne. In some ways, we were twinning with each other over our shared hatred from being in power. Other times, I wanted to bash my head against the wall. His letter sending was just all too much for me to handle right now. He would have them discreetly sent to my palace; by using my own people to do it. All of them were personally addressed to me, which was extremely frightening. The townsfolk had no idea I even existed until my mothers death. So how the Hell could the Prince of Icelandia know who I was. I wish that I could say I didn't care about the letters, or that I wasn't curious about the contents.

"Are you sure? This is the fifteenth letter that he has sent over. That's one letter per day. And he's also sent over this, what I can only assume, an engagement ring," he looked just as flabbergasted as I did when he told me that last sentence. I pursed my lips before speaking.

"I'll read it. Thank you Alfred, you are dismissed."

He left the letter and box on the table next to me, and walked out. I eyeballed the letter before reaching over and picking it up. I was still genuinely confused as to why he kept writing and going through all of this trouble just for me to ignore his letters. I ripped it open and took out the folded up paper inside. Oh God, it's long. I unfolded it and my eyes widened as I started to read it.

My dearest Mani,

I hope that this letter finds you in exceptional health, and that you are willing to hear what I have to say. From the moment I met you, I fell in love with you. I understand that you may not remember me, but I remember you. You look as beautiful as ever, and I hope that you will accept this ring. My darling mother wore this ring up until her untimely death. I knew that this ring would suit you, and would only look amazing on your finger.

Please write back soon my love, I will be waiting,

Raven

I stared at the letter. What the actual fuck.

"ALFRED!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I ran out the door panicking. I was nowhere near ready to be married, I didn't even know who this man was yet he knew me? He met me?

"Alfred! Where are you!" I called out to him desperately. My throat was closing up as I was gasping for air. My hand flew to my throat as I fell to the ground with a thud. My heart was beating out of my chest to the point where I thought it would run away. Was he stalking me? Had he snuck into my room at night every time I was asleep and watched me? Was he here right now? The world was spinning around me while my mind was racing. My vision started to get hazy and a ringing sensation bleed into my ears. Before I knew it, everything went black and I was consumed into the darkness.