Betrothed to Trouble

Chapter 10 - Threats and Betrayals

King Frederick:

            I watched with barely concealed disgust as the slimy rat pranced around my Court Room with evident delight, clasping his hands excitedly as he prattled on about the terms of our treaty. Naturally, the terms were all in Freyrgard’s favor.

            “We expect a generous portion of Ansodria’s harvest in return for the metal and other construction supplies we are charitably donating for the reconstruction of your war-torn villages and the repair of the border-lines,” he announced smugly.

            It took all of my willpower to not lunge out of my seat and throttle the overweight pig with my bare hands. What rubbish! He actually had the nerve to say ‘war-torn villages’! Did it elude that miniscule brain of his that it was his bloody country who invaded mine? And now they expect us to repair the border walls? And I bet by ‘generous portion’ he meant all of it. I clenched my fists around the quill I’ve been holding, causing it to snap cleanly into half, the sound magnified by the cold stillness of the room.

            “Did I say something to offend you?” he asked innocently, raising his eyebrows at the broken quill in my hands.

            I glared at him in return, not trusting myself to be able to answer his infuriating question civilly.

            “I believe it will be best that you agree to my terms here, my friend,” he sneered maliciously; leaning over the table at me in what he thought was an intimidating pose. In a less serious situation I would have laughed considering this old git only came up to my elbow.

            “King Alekzander has successfully taken over Maurania, meaning that we have twice the number of soldiers your country has,” he whispered fiercely. “Taking over your beloved kingdom will be as easy as, snap!” he snapped his fat sausage fingers in my face, smirking evilly at my expression of dismay and horror.

            “So, I believe we have an agreement?” he asked haughtily, satisfied at my defeat.

            I hung my head in shame and surrender. I can’t even protect my own daughter and now, my entire kingdom was about to suffer under the terms of this treaty. I’m a failure.

            “Oh, and you better teach that little brat of yours some respect and manners. I will not have such an uncouth girl be a Freyrgardian crown prince’s wife,” he added with an ugly sneer.

Princess Giselle:

            I paced around my room in agitation, pausing after a few minutes to take off my heels and hurl them at the door. It hit the wooden door with a resounding crash and I groaned in frustration as I slid to the carpeted floor in a crumpled heap.

            “Giselle, darling, don’t be like this,” called Nana sadly from the other side of the locked door.

            “Leave me alone!” I screamed in anguish, immediately regretting screaming at Nana. She was just worried about me. I tugged at my coiffure in distress and watched miserably as a string of pearls broke and scattered across the floor. Sobs threatened to take over but I took a deep breath to calm myself and think clearly.

            I had known all along that this will happen. One day, I will be married off to some prince as my duty to my country. So why do I feel like this? Why do I feel so repulsed and hurt now that it had come to this? Father betrayed me, that’s why, I tried to reason with myself. If he had not kept this a secret, if he had included me in the discussions leading up to the agreement, maybe I wouldn’t have reacted this way. Right? I shook my head sadly. Who am I trying to fool? I would have still reacted this way even if I have known. I would still have blamed father for not doing whatever he could to stop it. Marrying a total stranger would not have been so bad if I wasn’t already in love with someone. It will be horrible, yes, but maybe we could try to love each other afterwards.  But there’s Louis… How can you marry someone when you love another? My heart gave a painful squeeze at the thought of breaking this piece of news to him. Would he give up on me if I told him? My mind reeled with the numerous possibilities and I began hyperventilating at the thought of him leaving me. No! He wouldn’t right? He told me last night he wouldn’t. But I would be a married woman and he – he …