Prince and Prejudice

Two

The kiss felt like the calm before the storm and the way Prince Arkin held me told me just how much he wanted to hurt me. He was pissed and I had no doubt that he would make me pay for showing up in the place of my sister. He wanted to marry my sister not me. I was the one he abhorred with all his heart. He despised my existence and was better off staying far away from me. But he didn’t understand that I didn’t do this on purpose. Mother forced me to marry him because she wanted an alliance between our families. 

As soon as we broke apart, Arkin pulled my veil back down to cover my face. I bit my lip as my heart clenched in pain. He was embarrassed of me. He didn’t want anyone to see my face and make fun of him later on. Perhaps he wanted to save the people from witnessing my horrendous face.  

The guests clapped and cheered as our union came into existence, while I prayed to the Gods above to help me because I knew my life had taken an incredibly horrible turn, one that would cost me dearly because I had done what Arkin told me not to do. Not only had I shown myself to him, but I had formed a bond between us; something he never wanted. Perhaps if the incident hadn’t happened, he would’ve asked for my hand in marriage rather than Orla’s but now he would have to live with an ugly wife for the rest of his life.  

Unless he breaks off the marriage. 

He could do that, yes, but I had a feeling he would not let me off that easy, unless he wanted to ruin my family’s reputation in which case he would slap the divorce papers in my face right here, right now. No, Arkin had something else planned and it was going to be much worse than a mere divorce. 

A chorus of ‘congratulations’ was heard but I was too busy staring at my new husband to pay attention to the crowd who appeared to be genuinely happy for us for some reason; which was enough to tell me that no one had seen my face, otherwise the laughter and claps wouldn’t be so enthusiastic. Arkin had successfully hidden me from the crowd and saved his own reputation as well. 

“Let’s go,” I heard him say before he took a hold of my hand and together we made our way out of the castle. He seemed to be in a hurry to get us out of here because I hadn’t even thrown the bouquet nor did we get to dance with each other. 

He doesn’t want to show you off to the world, you dumb woman. Do you not understand that? 

I did understand. I understood all too well. But as I climbed into the carriage waiting for us, I looked back at my home one last time, then to my parents who looked all too happy to finally be rid of me. They had gotten what they wanted, they did not care what happened to me now. And if I did anything to jeopardize this alliance, then there’d be hell to pay from both sides, that much I was sure of. 

Arkin got in beside me and I turned around to see the King and Queen of Oyehan getting in a separate carriage and the look on their faces was not a happy one. And why would it be, they had seen my face when Arkin lifted the veil to kiss me. They knew I was not their chosen bride. I was the ugly one. The deformed one. The scarred one. 

I was not the perfect one. 

However, the fact that they allowed their only son to seal the marriage made me wonder why they hadn’t intervened. This was no ordinary wedding. The reputation of the most powerful Kingdom was at stake here. It would not be good to have a princess whose face elicited gasps of horror from people. I would ruin this Kingdom. No one would want to form an alliance after taking a look at my face. And if things took a turn for the worse, the people of the Kingdom may not even allow Prince Arkin to ascend the throne. 

So now it’s up to you to make sure that doesn’t happen. 

But how would I do that? Arkin hated me and would make sure that he did not have to spend any time in my presence. Perhaps I could spend the rest of my life hiding in my room and I was sure Arkin would have no problem telling the people how the new princess had no time to come and speak to them. Yes, that’s what I would do. 

You’ll die of suffocation. 

I was going to die either way. If staying in my room for the rest of my life didn’t kill me, then Arkin surely would for what I just did. 

Glancing at him from the corner of my eyes I could see that he was not happy. His eyes have turned a stormy blue which only happened when he was furious and his hand was clenched into a fist, making it look like he was going to punch someone any second. But he did not spare me a glance, just stared straight ahead as the carriage begun moving and we finally departed from my home. 

The journey was a long and torturous one. We did not stop to rest and stretch our legs, nor did we stop to eat anything. Due to stress caused because of my sister I hadn’t eaten breakfast and Arkin had dragged me out before we could have lunch. I was starving and the heavy dress was weighing me down and I was pretty sure my legs wouldn’t be able to hold me upright because I had no energy. 

I wanted to tell my husband that I was hungry, but how could I when I knew how he felt about me. He wanted nothing to do with me. And the glare he was shooting at Gods know what prevented me from uttering a sound. I would just wait until we arrived at the palace, maybe someone would take pity on me and give me something to eat.

It took another hour before we arrived at the entrance of the palace. I thought we would finally get out of the carriage and I would be able to stretch my legs. But one command from the man beside me and we were moving once again. 

“Take us straight to the Grand Palace,” Arkin commanded. Great, he did not even want the people of the Kingdom to see his new bride. 

Reaching the Grand Palace took another twenty minutes and by then I was literally biting my lip to prevent myself from groaning in pain due to the stiffness in my legs. How could women manage to sit in carriages for so long in such heavy dresses I would never know. I just wished somebody would come and help me out of here so I could get a chance to breathe. 

With Arkin as your husband I don’t think you have that many breaths left. 

My inner voice was right. I could die within the next hour and I was complaining about my legs stiffening. 

When the doors of the carriage opened Arkin was the first to get out, which was to be expected because I knew he couldn’t wait to get away from me. My door opened a couple of seconds later and I was helped out of the carriage by a maidservant. It was a blessing that she hadn’t seen my face yet otherwise she would not be so accommodating. 

What was I going to do when Arkin would kick me out of here? The thought was not a pleasant one, but that did not mean I shouldn’t be thinking about such things as it was going to be reality within the near future. 

I ran my hands over my veil, making sure that it was covering as much of my face as it possibly could. No need to frighten everybody. I’d take it off once I get to my room where no one would have to witness the sight of my damaged face. 

With slow, hesitant steps I made my way to where Arkin was standing waiting for me at the entrance of the palace. As soon as I was within reach he took my hand in his harsh grip and dragged me up the steps and into the grand foyer where we waited until his parents joined us. Not a single soul was present to witness the fiasco that was about to take place and I was glad for it because as soon as the King and Queen joined us, Arkin ripped off my veil and threw it to the side, and I got to witness the rage flashing in his eyes. 

“Explain yourself before I have the guards t*****e you in the worst way possible,” Arkin seethed as he glared at me. I could practically feel the disgust rolling off him as he looked at me. He wanted to be as far away from me as he could be but right now there was no escape for him. I almost allowed the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes to flow. How could he hate me so much over something that was not my fault? Was he only my friend because of how I looked? Did he not like me as a person? Could he not love me for me? 

“Why are you silent? If you are having trouble speaking, then we do have ways of persuading you otherwise,” the Queen said, her blue eyes the equivalent of ice shards as she hissed the words at me. 

“How could you go through with the ceremony, Arkin? You should’ve exposed her in front of everyone. I cannot believe you allowed this union to take place when we could’ve exposed Dossoba for deceiving us and ruined their reputation for generations to come,” King Delray asked his son. 

I lowered my gaze as I thought about how to tell them that their chosen princess decided not to marry their son and ran out on us. Hearing them talk about ruining my Kingdom made me realize just how big of a crime my parents have committed by forcing me to marry Arkin instead of just telling the truth. At this point I really was at the mercy of Prince Arkin and his family. And I knew they were going to take complete advantage of this. 

Apparently having had enough of my silence, Prince Arkin stepped forward and grabbed a hold of my upper arm, forcing me to look up at him. 

“I asked you do something. Don’t force me to show our power before you even get to know our names. Where is Orla? Why did Dossoba deceive us? Did your family planned this all along? Did you think you could fool us like this and get away with it?” King Delray questioned, his voice rising with every question until I was worried that he would step forward and kill me with his sword. 

Whether it was the lack of nutrition or the absolute fear pumping through my veins but I could feel my legs trembling to the point where I felt I would fall if Arkin hadn’t been holding onto my arm with a deathly grip. 

Say something before they kill you! 

I wanted to. I wanted to tell them the truth, but I couldn’t seem to get the words to leave my lips. It seemed fear had frozen the words just like it had my brain and now the King of Oyehan would kill me all before I could tell him the truth and hopefully saved my Kingdom’s reputation before he ruined it forever. 

“Arkin, do you see the blatant disrespect this wench is showing us?! Tell us before I sever your head from your body,” King Delray threatened, taking a step forward with his hand at the hilt of his sword, getting ready to follow through with his words. 

“Father, you don’t need to do that.” Arkin turned to look at his father before shifting that cold gaze to me. “I will handle it. I shall have the truth for you before the end of this day. You have my word,” he stated and with a hurried, “Let’s go.” to me he dragged me away from his parents and up a never-ending flight of stairs which had us emerging on the next floor and into what I presumed were his bed chambers and all but threw me on the bed. 

“Start talking before I end you with my sword,” he commanded, the rage ever-present in his eyes. 

He never used to be angry with me. Never. 

“I—I ca—can ex—explai—explain.” I swallowed the heavy lump of dread in my throat and sat up on the bed. Pushing a few errant strands of hair—that had managed to escape—I looked at the man who now hated me more than anyone in this world and would probably kill me in the next couple of days if not in the next couple of hours. 

“Good. So explain then. Why are you here? Where is Orla? Why did your parents not tell us the truth? This wedding was not supposed to happen like this. The only reason I decided to go through with it was because my Kingdom’s reputation was at stake. I could not stand the thought of me and my family being publicly humiliated in front of so many people. So tell me the truth. What. The. Hell. Happened?” He demanded, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his gaze boring into me. 

I looked away because the hatred in those cerulean eyes was too much for me to bear as at one point those same eyes looked at me with kindness and love. 

“Princess Orla… she…,” I swallowed hard and braced myself for his reaction. “She ran away. I don’t where to or even when. It was only when we woke up today and Mother went to check on her did we realize that she was not in her room or anywhere else in the palace. The guards searched high and low but she was nowhere to be found. 

“I told Mother that we should tell you the truth but she was not having it. To them this alliance meant more than informing you of the truth. So she told me to take Orla’s place and marry you, so that this alliance can be secured and they can live their lives in comfort for generations to come.” 

Having nothing else to say to him, I forced my eyes to look at him. Prince Arkin stood in front of me looking like he wanted to murder me. I didn’t understand why he was furious with me even after I just told him the truth. What more did he want from me?

He is furious because he had to marry you for the sake of his Kingdom. 

But as I continued to look at him, a slow, insidious smirk crept upon his lips which caused my heart to sink with dread. 

“Dossoba just committed the worst mistake in the entirety of its existence,” he said. I could see the evil intentions taking form in his mind and I knew that he was right. 

My parents have indeed committed the worst mistake. 

And I was going to be the one to pay for it.