The Choosing

Chapter 2

I dismiss my maids for the second time this week. They can’t be in here when Alec comes. I pace back and forth waiting for the quite knock that eventually comes. I open the door and he sneaks in, I turn my light off just incase any other guards decide to look up from the gardens. As soon as I turn around to face him he embraces me. I awkwardly escape his hold and stare anywhere but his face.

“Lea, please tell me you brought me here to tell me how you’re going to stop the choosing.” He pleads, with such desperation in his voice that I can’t bring myself to look at him. I don’t say anything, trying to decide what to say, but before I can decide on the right words, Alec grabs my face and forces me to look at him. The tears start to sting the back of my eyes and threaten to fall to my cheeks. “Ophelia, I love you, you have to at least try.” His tears start rolling down his face freely, he doesn’t even attempt to hide them and it shatters my heart. It takes everything in me not to tell him that I will stop the choosing. But I can’t give him that kind of false hope.

I grab his hands with mine and as soon as my skin connects with his I can see the hope in his eyes, as I pull his hands off my face the hope turns to panic. “Alec…” I grab his hands and pull him to the sofa and sit him down before I continue. “I am the princess of Rosemarsh, I can’t just not do the choosing, I have certain responsibilities and the choosing is my main one. The one that keeps peace between our kingdoms, I can’t be the reason a war breaks out.”

“Let’s run away, no one will know. They won’t ever find us, I promise. We can be together.” He says in a rushed tone and for a second I consider the idea. But this isn’t just about a war breaking out, I need to do what every princess before me has done.

“No Alec, I have to do this, it’s my-“

“Duty, I know.” He interrupts me, when I don’t say anything he continues. “Is it that you have to do it or that you want to?” he says, his tone getting angrier with every word.

“I HAVE to, I don’t have a choice.” I say, defeated.

“There’s always a choice!!!” He raises his voice and stands up, running his fingers through his messy hair. Why isn’t he understanding this?

“Not for me there isn’t! I’m not just a guard Alec! I am a very important person. I’m someone the whole world knows of! I don’t get to just live my life like anyone else!” I’m standing too now.

“Oh, I see, I’m just not important. You want to be with someone as important as you are!” he sneers at me. I feel the anger rising in me.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! That’s not what I said at all. If I disappeared, I wouldn’t stay hidden for long! The whole world would be looking for me! It not about who I WANT to be with, it’s who I HAVE to be with!” I’m pacing back and forth now out of frustration that he doesn’t seem to be grasping the concept.

“Whatever you say, princess.” He practically spits at me. I stand there for a moment, not sure what to do. I straighten my back and hold my head taller. If he wants to use my title as a bad thing then so be it.

“That is right, I am a princess. You’re princess and you will not speak to me that way.”

“Well princess, then I’ll just see my way out then.” He bows in a sarcastic way and leaves my room, leaving me there in the dark and alone. I no longer have the energy to get myself ready for bed so I call for my maids to come. By the time they get here I am crying. They don’t question why, but I can see the curiosity in their eyes. I ignore it and let them get me ready for bed. I lay in bed but I don’t get much sleep.


As the sun rises so do I. I decide to finish my portrait of Alec and I that I had planned on giving him before I left. I’m not sure if I am still going to. With some time and some work I finish it. I take a few steps back to really look at it. I get so lost in the details that I don’t realize that someone else is in the room with me until they speak up.

“It’s beautiful Ophelia, I wish I had your talent.” A smile creeps onto my face and I turn around to see Olivia admiring my work.

“Thanks Liv,” I focus on my work for a few more seconds before I cover it up, just in case someone else walks in.

“You and Alec have to end things, you know.” Olivia says, seriously.

“I know, that’s my good-bye present to him. That’s all” I walk into my closet to get ready for the day.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea though? Won’t that just makes things worse?”

“I just don’t want him to forget about us.” I get ready to argue my point until Olivia says something I wasn’t expecting.

“Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to tell you why I am here, the ballroom is FULL with gifts from suitors!” I poke my head out of my closet door, halfway done getting dressed.

“What do you mean? My birthday isn’t even till tomorrow.”

“There aren’t like set rules Ophelia! These men just couldn’t wait.” She smiles, “they obviously want the most loved princess in the world to be apart of their kingdom!”

“I am not the most loved princess,” I say going back into my closet to finish putting on my under garments, and I hear Olivia greet my maids. I walk out to greet them myself, holding the corset and dress I have decided to wear. Olivia continues to talk while my maids lace me up.

“You are, you have done so much for your country, you’ve single handedly created poverty protection programs and personally saw them through. You had that series of orphanages built, and you employed the older ones here at the castle. You fought father for better wages for the employees in the castle. The people adore you, you create change.” I realize she isn’t incorrect.

“I didn’t do those things for the love of the people, I did them because of my love for my kingdom and the citizens living here.” I say, “I don’t see how anyone else in other countries would care about that. I’m just here to look pretty and marry a man of high standing.”

“Well they do care and they showed it, wait until you see it!” she jumps off the bed. “I’m going back down to help mother organize things, meet us down there as soon as your done.