Burnt

Outing

I rolled my eyes as my sister continued to talk about her betrothed. He was some prince from Kyri who needed a wedding as a contract to save his parents country from going to war. 

My family had been working for the King of Marli for the past few decades. My father is the hand of the King while my mother serves the Queen. While the Royal family has had heirs to the throne, it was written into law that the family serving them could not marry any of the Royal family. Instead, the family was given almost the same class as the family and were always declared as highborn. 

King Charles of Marli had two sons, Ezra and Noah, who were already betrothed to different women in the world in order to keep their family in power. Ezra was already married to a lady from some country on an island and he is next in line for the throne. Noah knew who he was going to marry but her parents have not confirmed it yet. Noah was going to be head of the King's Guard. 

Charlotte had beautiful golden curls that contrasted my straight brunette hair. Her hair bounced as she laughed as my parents described the wedding process. "I'm going to be the most gorgeous bride in the world on my wedding day," she giggled. "What is his name?"

"Edward Fairfax," father mattered.

I laughed at his name, "You are marrying a boy named Edward."

Mother glared at me, "Amelia, you need to respect the prince of Kyri. You might be marrying someone from the Fairfax family. You do need to marry a lord or prince at some point. We were late to marry your sister but we don't want to do the same with you."

Charlotte was twenty-three and should have been married a long time ago but King Charles wanted to be the one that approved of our marriages. Our older brother was married but King Charles did not approve and the woman was killed in a hunting accident. We are almost certain that the King had nothing to do with it. After the incident, my family wanted to ensure that no significant other would be killed so they followed the King's rules.

With myself being nineteen, I had passed the point of being first on the list for marriage. My family had received plenty of offers from around the kingdom and different countries but the King turned them all down.

"Yeah but the King doesn't want to marry me off to some noble," I explained. "He wants to keep me here so that his sons always have someone to help them stay in check."

I grew up following Ezra and Noah around  Marli and the castle grounds. When I realized that I could never marry them, I started to become one of them and the King realized that he had to keep me around. He wanted for a long time to marry Charlotte to the prince to see if she had a connection to any of the princes, but nothing was created. The King allowed me to spar with them as well.

"Amelia," Father sighed, "You will have to marry someone and then you might have to leave Marli in order to be with them."

Growing up, I always knew what my life story would be. It would be to marry a highborn, have babies, make sure they marry another highborn, then die. Everything that happens in between is just nothing significant. 

Father finished signing the paperwork and dismissed us so that he could go speak with the King. Charlotte and I left the hand of the king's room and went into the hallway. Our feet echoed down on the floor as we walked down to our quarters.

"Why are you so adamant about marriage?" Charlotte asked me when we reached her room. "It is like Mom said, the option of marriage gives the opportunity to fall in love. Doesn't it sound lovely?"

I shook my head. "It should be love before marriage, not the other way around. I'm glad that Mom fell in love with Dad but it doesn't mean that happens for everyone."