Fighting For Love

Chapter 2

The maids were clearing away the plates when a messenger burst into the dining hall. Tashi jumped and almost split her breakfast over her robes.

“Princess Tashiko, the other Princesses of the Blue Crescent Islands would like to speak with you immediately. They are waiting for you in the Hall of the Floating Lily,” he said quickly.

“Thank You. You may depart,” Tashi replied. The messenger bowed and left the room.

Tashi stood up and made her way to the Hall of the Floating Lily. While she was walking she was thinking about what the other Princesses would want to with her and why would they want her so quickly. When she arrived at the Hall of the Floating Lily, she bowed to her fellow Princesses and then sat on her Throne of Nature. She then waited patiently for someone to talk and tell them all why they were all here. The Mistress of Alliances entered the room and sat before the Four Princesses.

Oh, so we were discussing alliances. I wonder who we were making an alliance with now and why? What for? We’ve already made an alliance with Manis, Savalia, Tolten, The Isle of Janik and Pelicooda. The only two places left are Gerfal and Holt. We won’t make an alliance with Holt, that’s where Fergox Heartaxe lives. The people of Holt believe in a warmonger. Gerfal isn’t as bad, they believed in a God and not a Goddess though. Oh well at least they don’t believe in a warmonger.

“My dear Princesses,” Rosita, the Mistress of Alliances said, “I have grave news for you. Fergox Heartaxe is planning on attacking The Blue Crescent Islands and Gerfal. I have discussed this matter with some of my advisors and the King Logan on Gerfal. We have decided that the best thing to do is form an alliance with Gerfal, in case Fergox Heartaxe decides to attack any of us.” She paused for a minute and shuffled around with some papers.

I knew we were going to make an alliance with Gerfal someday. Tashi thought.

“This alliance won’t be as simple as the other alliances, though. King Logan has asked for a specific type of alliance, I tried to refuse but he said that this would be the only way.” Rosita took a deep breath. “The king would like a marriage alliance with one of the Four Princesses of the Blue Crescent Islands. He would like the chosen one to marry his son, Prince Ramsil.” She said it very quickly and she wasn’t sure that everyone had heard. Everyone was silent for a while. Tashi thought that she would faint.

I knew this meeting would be bad, news but I didn’t expect this. Wait a minute. We’re probably going to vote for the Princess that marries Prince Ramsil. They First and Second Princesses are already married, so we can’t vote for them. The Third Princess should be picked because she has not married and she is at a marriageable age. 25 is a marriageable age isn’t it? Tashi asked herself. Oh, I don’t know, but I’m only 18, they can’t make me marry at 18. The Third Princess has had more experience than me anyway. I’m sure they’ll vote for her. Or they could refuse the over altogether? Tashi took a slow, deep breath through her nose and focused on what was being said.

“...was saying, we should vote.” The Third Princess was saying.

So they had decided to go along with alliance. Great. Tashi thought bitterly. Fantastic. None of them like me because I’m not from a Royal Family. She tuned into the conversation again.

“...we shall vote,” The First Princess was saying. “Princesses, could you please pick up your voting sticks.”

Tashi thought the way the Princesses voted for these decisions was quite interesting. Each Princess had four weighing scales, each one a different colour to represent each Princess. Red for the First Princess; Blue for the Second. Yellow for the Third and Green for the Fourth. Each Princess also had a voting stick in their colour. In front of the Princesses on the floor was a black circle. They circle changes colour according to what each Princess votes for. The circle was cut into four pieces; each quarter belonged to one of the Princesses. The circle would change colour when the voting sticks were placed in the scales. Tashi dreaded what the colours would change to. She would surely faint if she was picked. Tashi did not want to marry for an alliance, she wanted to marry for love and she didn’t think that this Prince Ramsil would have anything in common with her.

“When the bell rings, you will vote for either the Third or the Fourth Princess, after you have voted you will close your eyes,” the Mistress of Alliance was speaking. Simultaneously all four Princesses picked up their voting sticks. When the bell rang, Tashi dropped the stick into the yellow scale and closed her eyes. She breathed in and waited. A few seconds later, the Mistress spoke.

“The vote is unanimous; you may open your eyes.” The Mistress said gravely.

Tashi opened her eyes and stared at the circle. She gasped at what she saw. Three parts of the circle was Green and one part was Yellow. She continued to stare at the circle, not believing what she saw. How could they do this to me? They must hate me, otherwise they wouldn’t have voted for me. I can’t complain though, it would be seen as rude and I would have to stay in the Silent Quarter for at least a month and reflect on what I had done wrong. Tashi sighed and looked at her fellow Princesses.

“Princess Tashiko, are you ready to make this life-changing journey?” the Second Princess asked.

Tashi felt everyone’s eyes turn to her as they waited for her verdict. She couldn’t refuse, so why had the Second Princess asked? She turned her blank face to the Second Princess and said in a very clear and sure voice “Yes.”

The Second Princess nodded. One after the other the Princesses rose and left the Hall of the Floating Lily. Tashi walked to her chamber so that she could be alone for a while. She needed to think about what she was being forced to do and how she was going to cope. She sat on her bed and ordered her maids to gather all the things she needed for her trip to Gerfal. Tashi had to leave tomorrow and she had to pack straight away.

When she was alone on her chamber she started to cry and she remembered her family. Tashi went to the right side of her bed and bent down. She lifted up one of the wooden floor boards and took out a small metal box. She sat back down on the bed and opened it. It was filled with pictures and objects of her family. She looked at all her photographs and wished she was with her family again. She took her mother’s locket and remembered what her mother had said to her about it.

‘Tashiko, if something were to happen to me for one reason or another and you were to marry someone, open this locket.’

Tashi had listened to her mother and had never opened the locket. She pushed the button on the side of the locket and it popped open. Inside was a folded piece of paper. Her hands were shaking while she was unfolding the paper, she was so nervous; she thought she was going to rip the letter before she even read it. When she finally got it open, she read it:

Dearest Tashiko,

So, you are going to be married. Congratulations my beautiful daughter. I don’t doubt that you have chosen a fine young man to be your husband. I hope you are happy with your marriage and I hope that you have a wonderful life with your husband.

I’ve never told anyone this, but I never actually chose to marry your father. I was forced to marry him. I didn’t like the idea of a forced marriage but I could not refuse because my mother and father wanted the best life for me. When I was alone, I cried and cried and cried. I didn’t want to marry just anyone; I wanted to marry for true love. I thought that your father was a stuck up rich man who chases after woman. I was wrong completely. When I went to see your father, he was different to what I had imagined. He was kind and gentle and all the women he was with were only his many sisters. He was the only male in the family; his father had died when he was young. He had six sisters and a very ill mother; he looked after them all even though he wasn’t the oldest. His mother and his sisters were very kind, I still didn’t like him though, but I didn’t know why.

So after we got married and went on our honeymoon, I got to know him better. He didn’t smoke, drink and didn’t look at other women. After a while I realised that I was beginning to like him and that I had fallen in love with him. I was happy because I had married someone I was truly in love with. It was like destiny had decided to put us together. If anything like this is happening to you, then I think you should give it a chance and see what happens. I did and I ended up with a wonderful husband and two beautiful children.

I hope you have a wonderful life and always know that your father and I will always be with you, in your heart. I love you.

Mum xxx

Tashi cried harder than she had ever cried before. After a while she decided that she would listen to what her mother had said to her. She wanted to give Prince Ramsil a chance. Tashi called all her maids and finished packing for her long trip to Gerfal.