Kalia is a modern day princess. Living with her parents and three sisters in their royal kingdom in London, she had convinced them to let her go to a normal school and live a normal teenage life. And apart from the occasional ball and family dinners...
PEOPLE WHO PREVIOUSLY READ THIS CHAPTER, I URGE YOU TO READ IT AGAIN, AS I HAVE CHANGED THE ENTIRE THING. SORRY, AND THANK YOU.
I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS VERSION BETTER.
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The days that followed after the royal family of New York had retreated the palace were busy ones for Kalia.
She spent her days getting fitted, choosing colours for dresses, things she really had no interest in and had consequentially let her mother and sisters take care of for her.
It was ironic. She had always wondered what her wedding day would be like. Often her, Ophelia and even Tessa would talk about it for hours and hours on end, sometimes until the sun rose, sharing dream dress styles and settings, and what their prince charming would look like. But this was different - she didn't even want to have a say in the details, since, in reality, she didn't have a choice in the prince or the arrangement.
When Kalia had spoken to Queen Celeste back in the garden almost a week before the present, her spirits had been somewhat lifted. But that didn't mean that she was suddenly all for this wedding to happen. Her wedding. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
Sitting in the garden now, she thought about how crazy the situation was, the very one she was currently in. Her plan didn't work. She was diving straight into marriage. Didn't normal people get engaged first? You know, the whole 'promised to each other' thing. Was she not even allowed that small bit of normalcy?
She took a deep breath in and embraced the scent of the flora. It wasn't as strong as it was in blossoming seasons, but their perfume lingered in the air still, and something about the smell of flowers gave Kalia that small piece of familiarity and comfort that she didn't know she needed.
Her family hadn't seemed all too concerned with how she was taking everything. She didn't take it personally, she concluded that it seemed everyone was busy after she'd overheard some of the maids gossiping and complaining about what was 'such a short time to prepare for a wedding'. She didn't take offence to that either, being in agreement with them anyway. If she had someone to complain to, she would.
"Kalia!" she heard a voice boom from within the palace. Ugh. Another responsibility to handle...
Her mind couldn't help but drift to the Prince of New York. What was he doing right now? Certainly not sniffing the flowers of his garden and hiding from his duties. She sighed again, her heart fluttering in confusion. If she allowed herself to push aside the disdain over leaving her family, she would, could... maybe, possibly... allow herself to wonder whether his mind drifted to her too. She shook her head in a vigorous manner to rid of the ridiculous thought. He had practically said it himself, with those crystal clear eyes... she shook her head again. He had practically implied that this arrangement was nothing more than something of convenience. Of course, she had known that, but her inner princess, who was nonexistent to Kalia and her conscious state, might have hoped that his lingering eyes promised something more. After all, at the end of the day, a princess had only her dreams.
***
Kalia had just gotten out of the shower one cool night when a knock sounded at her door. She had just sat down at the foot of her bed with a brush in hand, and was in the midst of untangling her dark semi-dry curls as she let out a noise that could barely pass as a 'come in', but the receiver got the memo.
"Kalia, darling. How are you?"
She shifted in her spot at the discovery of her visitor. "Fine thank you, mother."
"I've something for you, dear."
Kalia went about brushing her hair.
"It's from the Prince."
She stopped mid-strand for a moment but refrained from turning to her mother. What she didn't know was that her mother had seen her hesitance and her lip had curled up as a result.
Kalia felt the bed dip beside her, and felt that was her cue to turn toward her mother. Queen Lania's long dark curls that Kalia inherited were trapped away in a tight braid, which cascaded over her shoulder and down to her lap, where her fingers laced a small black box. Kalia's fascination and utter curiosity grew, but didn't dare say anything to confirm it aloud. Luckily for her, her mother saw right through her little act and placed the box in her hands. "Open it." Kalia looked up at her mother and was greeted with an encouraging smile. "Go on."
Kalia looked back down at the dark little box, opening the box slowly, still hesitant, as if whatever was beneath might bite at her fingers. The box wheezed as though it hadn't been opened in quite some time, but what was inside stole her breath. It was a stone, and it glittered and shone so bright that she had to fight the urge to look away. She couldn't.
How could something so lovely come from someone who had left with such spite?
"It's quite stunning, isn't it?"
Kalia nodded without looking away from the box. She lifted the small stone from the plush and gently carried it into her fingers, discovering that the stone, of which she was unfamiliar with, was attached to a silver string. It was a necklace. Kalia was reminded of the one that she had seen him wearing around his neck that afternoon in the library, and her since-slumbering curiosity was sparked to consciousness once again.
A small white paper was caught beneath the silk cushion, and Kalia only noticed it when it caught light. She nudged it with her index finger, pulling it out to find it rolled like a scroll.
'Curious,' she whispered to herself, and turned to where her mother had previously sat beside her to find the space vacated, and her bedroom door closed once again. Too eager to give her sudden disappearance any thought, she began unfolding the small paper to find small scribbles written on the miniature, frail canvas.
Kalia, Your engagement present. Elec.
She wasn't sure how to react. Hadn't she just been thinking about the prospect of engagements? Well, now she knew the answer to that. She could feel the blunt nature to his brief words, and concluded that he had still taken offence to her snarky exchange with him weeks before, despite the lovely gift, but decided that the lovely part was probably his mother's doing. Kalia wondered whether it would always be like this - him holding constant grudges when they got into a small scrap like their last. She decided to deal with it when it faced her promptly, and she had no doubt that it evidently would.
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