Never Letting Go || CS

Chapter One: A Princess' Life

It was early morning on the eve of Princess Emma's 18th birthday. The early morning glow was just peeking over the horizon as Emma was waking up. Her eyelids opened slowly as she sat up in her bed and yawned softly. She pulled a small rope, that was next to her bed, in order for a bell to go off in the servants' chambers to alert them that she needed service. After a few minutes, she heard a soft knocking on her bedroom door and the gold doorknob started to twist, opening the door with a soft squeaking sound.

"You called, your majesty" a soft, polite voice stated. It was Mary. Mary was quite a new servant at the castle, she only began working there a few months before, but since then,she had made quite good friends with the princess because she was her personal servant. "Can you bring me an outfit for me to wear today, please?" Replied Emma, sleep still evident in her voice.
"Yes milady" Mary said with a small curtsy before walking towards the large mahogany wardrobe situated on the left side of the room and opening it up with a large creaking sound that seemed to fill the room. Mary shuffled around for a few minutes until she stood backup again and walked towards the now fully awake princess who wad just starting to pull back the duvet of her fluffy queen-sized bed.

Mary helped Emma get changed into a purple dress that reached her ankles and made small talk with her in the meantime. As Mary was brushing her hair in front of the mirror, she brought up a subject that had been the main talk of the week: who would Emma choose to marry. She gave an exasperated sigh "honestly, I have no idea. My parents want me to find a husband by the time I'm 20 but that seems near on impossible considering that every man I've been introduced with has been a boring, stuck up prince!" She explained to her.
Mary laughed softly before replying; "well, princes might be stuck up and boring, but the villagers seem nice enough."
"My mother wants me to marry a nobleman, and although I would be quite happy to marry a villager if I love him, my parents wouldn't accept it." Mary finished pinning Emma's hair into a bun and bid her goodbyes to her as she left to help the other servants with making breakfast.

Emma stared at her reflection and sighed. Its not that she didn't have many options for a husband, it was just that she was too picky when it came to them. She wanted someone who would make her laugh, someone who wasn't afraid of stepping out of line with her. Every man she'd met had always gone too far with how they treated her, she was a princess after all, but sometimes she wished that they would just treat her like she was a normal person, not some goddess that deserved to be worshipped.

She soon shook the thought from her mind, not wanting it to ruin her day and went down to breakfast with her parents as usual.

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After breakfast, Emma had to make some last minute decisions as her 18th birthday party was being set up by the servants. After that was done, her tutor arrived, signalling for her to start the day's lessons. It was the same every day, except Sunday, Emma would have to sit through hours of her stuck up, old tutor explaining the reasons for each of the ogre wars in a long and tiresome way, making her lose interest very quickly. Besides, every ogre war started the same way; some power hungry war lord would want to extend their land and in the process, disturb the ogres and this would cause the ogres to defend themselves. Emma would much rather be riding her horse through the orchard, or even spending her time in the library reading her favourite books. Instead, she was stuck in a small, plain room all day whilst the sun was shining brightly outside. It was practically torture!

Finally, after 6 hours of lessons, including an hour for lunch, Emma was finally free to do whatever she wanted until dinner, which was served at precisely 6:30 pm. She went for a walk in the vast gardens of the palace in which she lived, observing all the vibrant colours of the various plant species situated within the grounds. Emma's particular favourite was the orchid patch that was situated near the center of the gardens. They were a wonderful magenta colour with fine darker pink veins running up the petals. She especially loved the soft fragrance that radiated from the beautiful flower.

As she walked on, Emma thought about what it would be like to one day be Queen. She knew, hoped even, that it would be years until she had to assume the role of leader in one of the most highly prestigious kingdoms there ever was, but she couldn't help but be fearful that she would let everyone down once she had taken over, feeling that she would make all the wrong decisions and end up leading the kingdom into a downward spiral of misfortune. As she approached the palace's main entrance, she had a look of worry on her face due to her train of thought. "Are you quite alright, milady?" A guard asked her, seeing her expression. Immediately, she snapped back to reality and her expression softened to a warm smile as she replied; "of course, why wouldn't I be." The guard gave a polite nod as the princess continued towards the dining room.

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"Are you excited for tomorrow, sweety?" Snow asked with a small smile as she sliced a potato in half with her knife. "I can't wait!" Emma replied with a grin spreading wider across her face as she thought about what her birthday would be like. Snow knew how much her daughter loved to dance, no matter the occasion. 

All the way through dinner, Emma and her mother were discussing the ball whilst her father only half listened, not knowing how to participate in the conversation as this was a woman's subject that he hadn't a clue about what they were talking about.

After dinner, the family proceeded to the large, ornate lounge. "So, have you had any interest in the suitors you have been introduced with lately, dear?" Charming asked his daughter with a small smile. She rolled her eyes and sighed "This seems to be the talk of the day." She said sarcastically. 

"Don't be so rude to your father, Emma!" Snow scolded. Charming shook his head at Emma's rudeness. "Sorry, father. I haven't had interest in any suitor, father. although I'm sure I'll find someone someday." Emma replied politely.

"I know Emma, but you have to find a husband some day. The reason I keep introducing you to worthy suitors is because I want what's best for you." Charming explained with a sigh. "I know father, and I appreciate that, but what if my true love isn't a nobleman and he's waiting for me somewhere out there in a small village or even in an entirely different kingdom, but we can't find each other because of some stupid rule about having to marry a man with a high status!" Emma looked stressed because she knew that all nobles were the same. stuck up,  pompous, and only cared about status. They only wanted to marry Emma for show, to use her as a wallflower to make themselves look good and Emma didn't want that. She was hoping for someone who loved her for who she was and valued her as a person. She knew she was aiming a little high, but she knew her true love was out there somewhere, everyone had one somewhere. 

"I know you don't like the laws but we must stick by them because we have to set an example for the rest of the kingdom. We wouldn't want them thinking it was alright to break laws." Charming stated, trying to make his daughter understand his reasoning.                                                                   "Then change the law! You rule the land, surely you can change the law if its necessary. If I do have a true love out there waiting for me, won't you please change the law? for me?" Emma gave her best pleading eyes, knowing her father would break sooner or later. Just as she predicted, her father reluctantly gave into his beloved daughter. "Fine. If, and only if, you find a common man you wish to marry, I shall try and change the law for you. But only because I want you to be happy."                               "Thank you daddy!" Emma said with a big smile and went to hug her father.                                                        "Its getting late, you've got a big day tomorrow, sweety" Snow said to her daughter with a smile. With that, Emma bid goodnight to her parents and proceeded to her bed.

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a/n sorry for the slow start but I have to build background to this. Bear with me it will get more interesting. Also, the tagged picture is of Emma's favourite flower.