The Princess and The Assassin #Wattys2016

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, back in the palace, Princess Isabella rehearsed for a few hours of her coronation and wedding ceremony, even though, they started practicing the ceremony for almost 2 months now, they still make her do it, to make sure she does it right on the coronation day, especially it's only 3 days away.

Princess Isabella is exhausted and decided to go back to her room, and since she has no siblings, she decided to call her cousin Nikki. They live in the same palace, but they spent less time with each other because of the wedding and coronation.

"Hey future queen of England. How's it going?" asked Nikki.
"Please stop calling me that. I don't wanna be queen. What if I mess things up? What do you think the people would say, especially my parents. I don't wanna disappoint them. I can't."
"Nah, you'll do good. Just relax, girl. And you are so lucky, you'll marry Prince Braden. I mean like, wake up! He is so hot!" said Nikki.
"Oh shut up! You seriously think he's hot?" Isabella asked.
"Who doesn't? Let's talk about you! Stop stressing about the coronation. I miss the old Isabella."
"Remind me who she is again?" Isabella said.
"Oh come on." Isabella shot her a look. The kind of look she always gives to persuade someone.
"Ok fine. Well, the Isabella that I know is really funny, enthusiastic, and adventurous. And I want that Isabella back."
"I'll try to get her back. I kind of miss her too. The carefree kind of Isabella. So I'll tell you something."
"What?" asked Nikki.
"Imagine your life if you're an ordinary girl. Not a princess or an actress. Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Huh? Yes! No more public speeches, grand balls, soldiers following us around!" Nikki finally said after a few seconds.
"Exactly!"
The trumpets then started playing.
"What's that?" they both asked.
"Oh crap!!! I forgot. The Royal Family of The United States are arriving today." Nikki suddenly remembered.
"Oh no! This cannot be happening. My parents are gonna kill me if I'm not there in five seconds." Isabella said grabbing her shoes then running down the hallway.

Isabella and Nikki came running past the hallways to the main door where the Royal Family of the United States will be welcomed by the Royal Family of England.

"Young Lady, where have you been!" Isabella's mom hissed at her, when her daughter slid next to her right before the trumpets started playing again, the family has officially arrived.
"I'm sorry, mom. Nikki and I were just talking when we heard the trumpets. Sorry, I forgot."
"We'll talk about this later. Now just get yourself together. You have less than two minutes."

In exactly two minutes, the King, Queen, and the Prince stepped out of the Royal Hover Car.

"Welcome to England. It's an honor to have you here." said King Louis of England and politely bowed. Queen Athena and Princess Isabella joined him.

King Sebastian, Queen Samantha, and Prince Braden of the United States of America bowed back.

"It's a great honor for my son to marry your daughter." King Sebastian stated.
"We just picked the best man for my daughter. And your son, Prince Braden is the best of them." Queen Athena said.
"Shall we go in then?" King Louis asked.
"Yes, we shall." King Sebastian said.
They all went in inside the palace after a ceremony talking about the marriage,and how America and England will team up and act as one country after the wedding, but Princess Isabella didn't really listen to any of what her dad was saying. In her defense, she is still a teenage girl.

"You guys feel free to explore the palace, maybe Isabella could take Braden on a tour." Queen Athena said, then looked to Isabella.
Whenever her mom gives her "that look", she has to say yes, even if she don't want to. And she said that this is one of the many reasons why she doesn't like being a princess, because your parents control your life and future.
"Um. Yeah sure. Let's go?" Isabella finally said, and give Braden a half smile.

"So, where do you want to go, Prince Braden?" Princess Isabella asked.
"Come on, you can just call me Braden. We're gonna be married in a few days anyway. Guess we have to be familiar with one another."
"Um. Okay. That makes sense. Where do you wanna go?"
"Wherever you want to go, Princess." Braden said and winked.
Isabella could clearly tell that he is flirting with her. She don't know if she's supposed to be grossed out by it, or flattered. But Isabella admits that Braden is good looking, tall, but she is not sure if he is nice. She hesitated flirting back thinking it's too early for that, and also, she's not that interested at Braden anyways, so there is no point of flirting.
"I'm just curious, how old are you?" Isabella asked.
"I'm 17. You?" Braden asked.
"I'm 16."
"Awesome. I would like to know one thing about my future wife." He asked.
"Oh okay. What do you wanna know?"
"Anything." he said and gave her a half smile.
"I'm not ready to be Queen."
"Oh, do you not like me? Was it something I said? I'm sorry."
"Oh no no. It's not your fault. It's just that, never mind."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize. It's okay, really. So wanna go on to the tour?" Isabella said after a brief pause.
"Yes please."

"So, how was America?" asked Isabella. On the tone of her voice, he could clearly tell that she was nervous and didn't know that to say.
"Um. It's fine, I guess. A lot of crime happening, but we're working on it." Said Braden. He sounds nervous too, Isabella thought. He must've liked her, he acts and talks so different around her.
"It's really weird to think that we're gonna be living in the same house in the next few days." Isabella said.
"Yeah I know. I read that during the year 2000s, they don't have to have arranged marriages and they could marry whoever they want when they're old enough to do so. I wished I lived back then so everyone could have more freedom." Braden added.
"How did you know about that?"
"Books. Old books."
"Books! They still make those? I thought they stopped making those when the most famous brand Apple made Apple Paper. I also heard that there used to be Apple Watches, iPhones, yeah we still have iPhones, but I'm talking about the older generations like the iPhone 6.  But they stopped making those for some reason." Isabella said.
"In America, we have a few libraries left where the most famous books can be found, including The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey, Twilight, Divergent, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Mortal Instruments, and more."
"Wow! That sounds so amazing! I wish people who make books still make them today."
"Yeah, people back then are so lucky."
"Tell me about it! They had everything, books, technology as well, and most importantly, freedom."
A soldier then came barging in before Braden could even say a word.
"The King ordered Princess Isabella and Prince Braden to go to their rooms, get enough rest, and get ready for the next day."
They both obeyed.

After they finished the little tour, they headed off to their rooms, Isabella learned a few things about Braden, it's not much, but it's better than nothing.

Braden loves reading ancient books, like Divergent, also, his favorite color is black. Almost everything he owns is black. She also learned that Braden is sneaky, athletic, and witty. She's impressed, but not enough for her to like him. Her feelings might change, they might not, she'll just have to wait, and see what happens.