“I’m not
marrying him,” she said, barely resisting the urge to stamp her
feet.
“Why not?”
asked her father, clearly perplexed. “Anora, he’s a good match.”
“I’m not
marrying him because I’m in love with his sister!” she said.
Her father
spluttered into his moustache, muttering words like “preposterous”
and “highly irregular” as his face turned red. Anora sighed;
she’d known her father would take it badly but she couldn’t hide
the truth from him any more. Maybe of she was lucky she’d get
disowned and then she and Elise could run away together…
“Princesses
don’t marry princesses,” were the first truly coherent words her
father managed after his coughing fit.
“Not
traditionally no, but–”
“But nothing,”
said her father. “You’re marrying Prince Zechariah and that’s
final.”
Anora saw red.
“No that is not final. This is my life we’re talking about
and I will not be forced into a match I do not want.”
Her father opened
his mouth to protest but Anora cut him off.
“Surely the
most important thing is that we make an alliance through marriage
that will help keep our kingdom, and our people safe?”
“Well, yes. I
suppose…”
“And that can
be achieved just as easily by me marrying Elise as Zechariah.”
Anora could see that her father’s brows were creased; he was
thinking about it, which meant she had a chance.
“What about
heirs?” he asked after a few moments of thinking. “Unless I’m
very much mistaken you and Elise can’t have children together.”
Anora rolled her
eyes. “I figured we’d worry about that later.” Her father
looked ready to explode again. “Look, I have siblings, Elise has
siblings. There’ll be heirs, father, even if they’re not my
children. The important thing is we leave the kingdom in the hands of
the person most suited for the throne, yes?”
Her father
grumbled his reluctant agreement. “What about Prince Zechariah?”
“He knows. He’s
known from the start and he would much rather I marry his sister than
him.”
He went quiet for
a long time after that. Anora held her breath, waiting.
“You’ve given
me much to think about,” he said, and Anora could tell she’d been
dismissed.
She left the room
and stalked through the palace to her chambers where Princess Elise
was waiting for her. She looked up at Anora with a smile.
“So, how’d it
go?” she said.
“He’s
‘thinking about it’,” Anora replied, flopping onto the bed. “We
might be in luck but I don’t know.”
Elise scooched
over and pressed a kiss to Anora’s temple. “We still have the
option of speaking to my father. If it’s clear he supports the idea
maybe yours will come around.”
She didn’t look
convinced. “Maybe. Can’t we just elope?”
Elise gave her an
indulgent smile. “No, our kingdoms need us.”
Anora grumbled
back.
“I want to
marry you, Anora, but I want to do it properly. Have some patience.”
Anora rolled
over. “I love you,” she said softly.
Elise smiled and
kissed her.
