Tails of My Life

Tails of My Life Chapter 8

Chapter 8

‘Before I start, I would like to say again that we thank you all for coming to one of the most important days in our history.  This is the day that we will unite our two kingdoms forever.’  If the room had been quiet before, it was not entirely silent.  You could hear a pin drop, as the saying goes.  Merpeople from both kingdoms were hanging on my father’s every word.  My father smiled, motioning for Tyson and I to come up to the pedestal.  We walked up the steps slowly, stopping to stand in between our fathers. 

‘We are very excited to announce that there will be a marriage between Prince Tyson and our own dear Princess Marina.  They will be staying on the mainland before the wedding in order to grow closer, but the wedding will be in a few months.’  This was news to me; I had no idea that we would be staying on the mainland at all.  I’ve never stayed overnight on the mainland before, my father had always made me be home before darkness fell.  I knew everything about the humans though, so we would have no problem fitting in or anything.  The only thing that I was worried about was the sleeping arrangements.  That may be a problem.

A chorus of excited voices rose up at the announcement of our engagement.  I knew at this point that I was officially engaged, and there was no way to hide from it.  I knew that at this point I was officially engaged, and there was nothing I could do about it.  I would be nice, but only if Tyson cooperated and was nice as well.  If he didn’t play nice, then we might have an issue.  Who knows, we might just have an issue anyway.

I looked over at Tyson and saw the same confusion about the mainland that I had.  Looking away from him, I looked to see Pierce’s reaction.  His face was blank; completely devoid of emotion.  It was a true royal expression, one that I knew from experience hid all emotions.  I couldn’t see it, but I had a horrible feeling that he felt betrayed.  I wouldn’t blame him at all though.  I mean, his family set all of this up behind his back without telling him, just as they did to me.  Of course, he isn’t the one getting married, but still.

‘In celebration of this joyous event, the newly engaged couple will share another dance together.  May they share many more.’  The voices of the crowd rose once more in joyful agreement.  Inwardly I wanted to cry, but there was no way I would so I pasted on a smile as Tyson took my hand and led me back to the dance floor.  He gently pulled me into his arms once more to dance.  I watched as his stony façade dropped and his expression turned into a more compassionate one.  He leaned in close to my ear, so close that I could feel his warm breath, making me shiver.

‘Are you alright?  I can tell a fake smile when I see one you know.’  He said, leaning back to look at me once more as we swayed back and forth to the beat of the slow song currently playing.  I laughed lightly, but instead of being sweet and musical it sounded dark and forced.

‘Oh, I know you know all about fake smiles.  So far, I’ve only seen one or two real smiles on your face.  But thank you for your concern; I know that you understand exactly how I feel right now.  It just isn’t far you know?  I feel good that I’m doing such a great thing for the kingdom, but we both have to sacrifice so much for it.’  I said, keeping my emotions as in check as I could.

‘Princess, I can’t promise you that I’ll love you.  But what I can promise is this:  I will always be your friend.  I will stand by you when you need me, and I will never do anything to hurt you.  Heck, I’m even going to rule two kingdoms by your side.  We may never find love in each other, but I can promise that we will always have comfort and friendship.’  His words were whispered softly in my mind as he leaned closer to me again.  I leaned back from him and smiled softly.

‘Thank you, and please, call me Marina.  We’re going to be getting pretty close, so we might as well get on a first name basis.’  I said softly, twirling in a circle as the song called for it.  I expected the dress to get caught on my tail, but luckily for me it didn’t.  I came out of the twirl more gracefully than I ever had.  Tyson pulled me closer to him, leaning down to my ear once more.