Unbroken

Chapter 2

"To him?! Honestly mother you can't be serious!" I said jumping to my feet and seriously trying not to whine like a spoiled child. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I looked down at her sitting on the bench. She smiled up at me even though I knew she would be angry about my outburst. She had finally found a solution to her daughter that was said to be unmarriageable.

"He's a good match for you Roslyn." Mother said as she gathered her skirts in her hand so she could stand up and face me without them falling down onto the thick grass beneath our feet.

"He's old!" I complained thinking of the few hairs that I had seen poking out over the top of his shiny head. The thick gray eyebrows were an indicator that he was at least in his fifties.

"He's a duke." She said as though the fact that he had a title with money was a thing to rejoice about.

"He's fat!" I said thinking of how the poor chair that he had been sitting in barely managed to contain his massive form.

"He's wealthy." Once again she called attention to his money. She wanted me to be well off in my marriage. She would no doubt be getting some sort of return in this deal. I was like the best piece of property she had ever owned. I was nothing more than a potential business deal to her.

"You won't ever have any grandchildren!" I threatened knowing it was her dream to one day be surrounded by perfect little grandchildren.

She shook her head at me with a knowing smirk. "Don't worry about my chance of becoming a grandmother. Your brother's wife will bear plenty of children to ensure the future of the kingdom. Besides, you won't have a choice."

I was shocked at her words. They stung and added to the idea that I was property. That I was something to be bought and owned. I tried to imagine my mother surrounded by happy grandchildren but it was impossible. My mother wasn't the type of woman that attracted children. And if she did somehow get them to surround her they definitely wouldn't be very happy about it. And neither would she. She always wanted children to be perfect little angels. If one were to spill something she wouldn't know what to do.

"Mother" I begged. "Please don't force me to marry that man. I am your only daughter don't make me do this."

"As princess you have responsibilities." She said reaching forward to tuck a strand of fiery hair behind my ear. "You have a duty to your kingdom and I have a duty to you. This marriage will take place. Your engagement will be celebrated in a fortnight." Then she turned around and walked away from me. If I had been born male I would have choices but because I was female other people made my choices for me.

I felt my world breaking in two. Everything that I had known was going to be torn away from me and there was nothing that I could do about it. Mother rounded the corner and went up the stairs back inside the castle. I looked up at the sky and noticed thick dark storm clouds had replaced the bright sun that had been beating down on my back only a few moments ago. Everything seemed extremely bleak in that moment. My future was running away from me. All of my dreams had been shattered as I thought of myself tethered to that man for the rest of my life.

I sat back down on the cold stone bench and stared at the ground frozen and unmoving. There was a flash of lightning and a distant roll of thunder but I didn't care. Even when the large droplets fell down around me I didn't care. The weather matched my mood. It was dark and stormy. The wind started to blow and I shivered but I didn't feel the cold.

"Roslyn? Princess Roslyn?" A quiet voice called to me. I looked up to see my friend and maid. She looked relieved to see me. "There you are." She said softly. Her voice full of concern. She reached out and took my hand in hers. With the other hand she picked up my discarded hair pins from the stone bench next to me and tucked them in the pocket of her apron. She tucked my book under her arm and eased me to my feet. "Let's get you inside" she said guiding me to the entrance of the castle.

I allowed her to take me up the stairs to my room. Her comforting arm never left my shoulders as she supported me. She gently shut the door behind us and I whimpered.

"Oh Julianne." I whispered. "It's horrible. Did you hear what is to happen to me?" I asked.

She bowed her head and nodded. "Yes dear. I heard."

"Julianne you must help me. I can't marry that man I just can't."

"No dear you can't."

I smiled at her knowing she would understand. She helped me get out of my soaked dress and started to run a brush through my tangled hair. I looked at my reflection in the mirror as she brushed. I had always hated my hair. It was the subject of much jesting when I was younger. Orange. The color of carrots. I remember how my brothers had teased me. Everyone else in my family had golden hair and I was cursed. Cursed with red hair. People would stare at me as if I had a third eye. They would look at me then at my parents searching for the resemblance.

When I questioned my mother about my unusual red hair she told me that I had inherited it from my great aunt Mavis. As a child, this news didn't make me very happy. Mavis was my mother's aunt. She had feared her as a child because of all of the stories that had been told about her. My brothers had joked that she was a troll who lived in a hovel and snacked on small children. They said that she had ten inch fingernails and that snakes lived in her hair. The stories had frightened me. Then when I got older I asked mother about Mavis she said that Mavis ran away from home and never looked back. She found a man and they got married. She had a few children and was happy with her life. My mother couldn't understand her happiness because she had seen what Mavis threw away. A life of royalty was everything to my mother.

When I explained that I didn't think it was such a bad thing to want to get away from royalty my mother glared at me. After that she refused to talk to me about Mavis. She didn't want me to get any crazy ideas that would jeopardize her chances of me being tempted by a normal life. Mavis was somewhat of a family secret and nobody was allowed to talk about her after that. I always wondered what had happened to her. I wondered if she was happier there in her simple life without having to worry kingdoms and balls. Her life was tempting to me back then but now it looked like absolute heaven.