The Right Choice

The Princes Dupont and Grayson had never seen the mountains before. They were transfixed by the majesty of the landscape as their carriage entered the Duchy of Lydisia within the country of Alderei. The boys had been staring out of the carriage windows ever since crossing the border out of Eswen. “Sit back and close your mouths!” their father snapped. “You are princes of Eswen, not fish from the Southern Sea!” The boys sat back and put their heads down. “My dear, they are only admiring the scenery,” the Queen attempted to soothe her husband’s nerves. “We don’t have such mountains in Eswen.”“That doesn’t give them the right to forget their status.” The king snapped back, raising his hand and his voice. The Queen bowed her head while the boys looked on in fear. The king addressed his family coldly, settling back into his seat. He was the only one on that side of the carriage. The queen was stuffed in between the two boys on the other cushioned bench. “We must represent royalty at all

**6 years later** Abigail I fixed my dress as I waited for the arrival of Prince Grayson of Eswen. Queen Sarah had been preparing for this day for weeks and was currently running around the richly decorated hall nitpicking everything the servants did. I reached out and squeezed the hand of Princess Catherine, her daughter, “You look lovely, he’s going to be enchanted by you.” Catherine grimaced, “I don’t care if he is. I’d rather throw myself out of the window than have him be ‘enchanted’ by me.” “Don’t say that, Cat!” Ivy hissed. My younger sister looked incredibly uncomfortable. “It will be better if he likes you. Right Abby?” I nodded.Catherine fidgeted with her dress. “This dress is too tight. It’s too tight isn’t it?” She looked at me. “How do you do this all the time?”I looked at Catherine in her dark green silk. One of Catherine’s many complaints was that she had been made to wear a dress, which only added to her misery. Her mother had curled Catherine’s short dark hair, a

Abigail King Hayden’s comments about my father only believing women to be equal because he had no sons bothered me. I knew it wasn’t true – my father had always loved us deeply and treated us well – but the fact King Hayden believed that unsettled me. “I wonder what the queen was thinking when she agreed to the betrothal,” Ivy muttered, as if reading my mind. “Alliances and security, most likely,” I replied, just loud enough for my sister to hear. “Let’s hope the prince is more charming than his father.” Ivy poked me in the ribs. “You and the prince seemed to be very taken with each other.” I blushed but poked Ivy back, causing her to giggle. “He is handsome, I can’t deny that.” “You can have him then,” Cat said, walking up to us. “Did you hear what his father said to me about his son not standing for a ‘willful’ wife? He’s in for quite a shock if that’s true.” “I don’t get the feeling the prince shares his father’s beliefs,” Ivy observed. “I was watching him when his father w

Abigail “He’s been looking at you all evening,” Ivy said to me as dinner was coming to an end. “Are you going to dance with him?” “He asked me to, earlier,” I responded. “I guess it depends on his father.” “Ugh, I can’t wait until that man leaves,” Ivy responded with disgust. “Now, Ivy,” Father reprimanded. “Show some respect to King Hayden.” “I don’t understand how you are friends with him, Father,” Ivy replied. “You should have heard the things he said to us earlier.” “Once you fight alongside someone and protect each other with your lives, you’ll understand being able to overlook their shortcomings,” Father replied. He turned to me, a serious look on his face. “I would be careful, though, Abigail. The king is not someone I would wish to make angry.” “Yes, Father,” I replied dutifully. “I only plan on dancing once with the prince, and only because I already promised him I would.” My father nodded, satisfied. “And Ivy, please try to encourage Catherine to spend time getting to

Abigail I stared at him in disbelief, but before I could respond, he continued. “At least I know you. We get along, and you aren’t painfully in love with someone else.” He paused. “You aren’t, are you?”“No, Grayson. I am not in love with anyone else.” But I might be in love with you... I thought.He looked relieved. I could feel myself falling for him more every minute. I realized I had to get away from him before I did something incredibly stupid, like kissing him. I feigned a yawn.“I should go to bed. The princess will need all the help she can get tomorrow.” Just getting her down the aisle will be a struggle, I thought. “Oh,” he sounded disappointed. “Okay. I probably should, as well.” He stood up and offered me his arm. “May I escort you to your room?”“Do you know your way around the castle yet?” I asked with concern. “Um… no.” He blushed.“Then why don’t I escort you to your rooms?”He chucked, embarrassed. “That sounds like a much better idea.” I took his arm and led him