Finding A Prince

Chapter 3

Kiera longingly looked outside her bedroom window. She was going to miss her kingdom. Its beautiful architecture, the rocky hills, the vast plains, the green pastures; she was going to miss all of it.

It seemed silly to think of it. She would be gone for only six months, maybe even lesser. After all, how hard could it be to find a man who will agree to be the prince of Atlantis?

Still, she had always lived her life in Atlantis. It never occurred to her that she might even need to travel out of the kingdom. Then again, a lot of things had never occurred to her before. Like her aunt poisoning her mother, the Council forcing her to marry before she could take the throne, her aunt threatening all the eligible suitors from marrying her. All of this had never occurred to her.

Kiera shook her head. She could not spend her time regretting over not foreseeing what had happened. She had to move on from the past and think of how she was going to convince someone to marry her.

It would be hard, that was for sure, but Kiera needed a plan that would guarantee her success. Maybe, there was something about her that she could use to her advantage. what could that be, though? She was not as beautiful as many of the other girls in the kingdom nor did she know any kind of art like painting or singing. All she was good at was dancing. Did men like princesses who were good dancers?

Kiera bursted out of the bubble of her thoughts when a knock sounded on the large wooden doors. It was a sharp knock which signalled that Aunt Philippa was behind the door.

"Enter," she called out, her face still looking out of the window. Aunt Philippa gracefully sauntered into the room, her strong perfume filling every corner of the room. Kiera tried as hard as she could to not sneeze as her aunt came closer to her.

"My dear niece," her aunt said as she gave Kiera a tight hug. Kiera grimaced. Why was her aunt hugging her so much lately?

"Aunt Philippa, what a surprise!" Kiera managed to choke out, her lungs severely in need for oxygen after the bone-crushing hug. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Aunt Philippa smiled, "Oh, sweet Kiera, I just wanted to see your progress in finding a husband. Any man that has caught your eye?" She asked.

Kiera's face fell, before she allowed a smile to cover it, "Aunt Philippa, I was just thinking, marriage is a very big thing. How could I possibly be ready for it in six months? There are so many things I want to do before getting married. I want to explore our kingdom. I want to explore the kingdoms outside Atlantis. I want to meet different types of people. I want to know things about them. There is just too many things that I want to do," Kiera said.

Aunt Philippa frowned. "What exactly are you talking about, Kiera?"

Kiera smiled, "I wanted to tell you this before, in the morning, actually, but I didn't have the courage." She said.

"What did you want to tell me?" Her aunt said, urging her to clear up her confusion.

"Aunt Philippa, this may come as a shock, but I want to.." She left the sentence hanging, trying to build up the tension in the atmosphere.

"You want to, what?" Her aunt asked, clearly confused.

Kiera smiled. "I have already decided, Aunt Philippa, and I hope you don't try to change my mind." She said, before saying the words that would shock her aunt.

"I want to go the outer world."

"Please, Kiera. Don't say such things. You know, I have a weak heart." Her aunt said, clearly not believing Kiera.

"Aunt Philippa, I am not joking. I have decided to venture to the outside world. Just like you did, six months ago," Kiera said, reminding her aunt of what happened when she came back.