The Prince's Wedding

Flowers. 8.

I stare at the platter of food on the table, varieties sliced, diced and cooked to perfection…but I don’t have the appetite to take a bite.

I keep turning to the door, waiting for it to open, expecting Melissa to walk in with that blank look on her face…

But it’s been two weeks now since we had the argument and she said she wasn’t going to take a bite of food…and boy, has she kept to it.

When she said it, I thought it was a bluff.

After the first two days, I thought she’d give up.

After the first week passed… I began to feel a bit of panic.

And now…. I can’t even eat comfortably.

“You don’t like the food?” Caspian asks as he walks in and I look up at him from where I’m sitting.

“Where is she?”

It’s a simple question and he knows who I’m talking about.

“Either with the physician or in her chambers, Your Majesty.” He says.

“Would you like me to take some food to her again?” Caspian asks after my silence and I just shake my head.

There’ll be no more of that. For the last three days I’d asked him to take food to her but Melissa had refused to open the door to him and the food had all gone to waste.

“You know her.” I say to Caspian just as he turns to leave and he turns back to me.

“Barely, Your Majesty.”

“But you speak to her, definitely more than I have. Do you think she’s serious about this? That this is more than a bluff?” I ask and I register a slight look of shock in his eyes….like he’s surprised I’m asking for his opinion on the matter.

“I…. I think so, Your Majesty. She’s pretty determined and this whole issue, it’s been a whole lot for her.”

“But starving herself? What does she expect me to do, feed her?”

“Or maybe, apologize.” It’s Felipe talking now and Caspian and I turn to the door as he walks in.

“Your Majesty.” He adds.

“Hilarious.” I say to him dismissively but he walks forward and stands next to Caspian, both directly in my front now.

“I don’t believe I was trying to be funny, Your Majesty.”

“I may be concerned about her hunger strike, even though it’s just a display of stubbornness. But I had absolutely nothing to do with this, so I’m not apologizing.”

“No?”

“No.”

The room is quiet and I stare at Felipe, waiting for him to give his usual speech about empathy and compassion, but he simply nods.

“Very well. Have it your way, Your Majesty.” He says and I’m slightly taken aback.

Have it my way?

He turns and heads for the door and somehow, I can’t let it go.

“And what would your way be?”

“Apologizing and making things right.” He says simply as he gets to the door.

“….” Words fail me the moment I open my mouth to refuse and I let out a breath instead.

He’s right.

There’s no point arguing, I offended her.

As much as I hate the idea of her being around or living with me, I didn’t want her dead.

Plus she accused me of not caring for her sister and I gladly accepted it…to her face.

“I’m only going to do this once.” I say as I arrange a platter for her and Caspian looks at me, amazed.

“And if she refuses, then she can go ahead and starve.”

I hand the platter to Caspian and signal for him to follow me as we head for the door.

“Invite her to the ball as well.” Felipe says when I get to the door and I turn to him.

“I’m not going—”

“She’s going to be your wife.” He says firmly and Caspian nods in agreement.

“I’m not making any promises.” And with that, I leave the dining hall and head for Melissa’s chambers.

****

When the guards open the door to her chambers, a view of Melissa seating by the window and reading greets us.

Reading?

She doesn’t bother to look up as we walk in but she stiffly puts down her book, then gets up and curtsies in the most remote way I’ve ever seen.

“Your Majesty.” The words might as well have been coming from an enemy I want to kill.

Caspian drops the food and bows—

“I’m not eating.” She says simply as she sits down back and continues reading.

Caspian turns to me with a helpless look and I dismiss him with a wave of the hand.

“You’ve not been eating.” I say once he’s gone and the doors have shut. But Melissa simply flips a page of her book without saying a word.

I take a deep breath.

“Is there a reason why?”

“There’s nothing to be said that I haven’t said already.” She says and I walk up to her and snap the book shut.

“You look at me when you talk to me.”

It’s an order and she doesn’t miss it. Hesitantly, she turns to me and I don’t miss how pale she looks.

And a bit tired….

Felipe had told me a while ago that she said she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Besides the tired lines at the corners of her eyes and her pale skin, her blue eyes still sparked fiercely.

“There’s nothing to be said that I haven’t said already.” She repeats.

“So that’s it? You’re going to keep starving yourself and give your sister something to worry about when she wakes up?”

“No, you don’t get to talk about her.” She states, standing up now and glaring at me.

“You don’t get to talk about her getting better or what this will do to her. You don’t.”

And with that, she moves to walk away from me but I hold her by the arm and pull her back.

“Why?! Huh? So you can maintain the illusion that I don’t care?”

“You don’t care. This whole thing is nothing but an inconvenience to you! A huge obligation that you can’t wait to get rid off!”

“For God’s sakes, I don’t want her dead!”

“Then act like it!”

MELISSA

“Then act like it!” I yell at the Prince and I watch shock register in his eyes.

“You think you can convince me otherwise? You want this whole charade to be over so you can go back to punishing me without feeling guilty about it!”

“What is this? Huh?” He asks, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, “when did you have the audacity to talk to me like this?”

“Ever since I realized I have nothing to lose! Okay? All I have is Halley and even if I lose her, you still wouldn’t care! I’d be stuck here marrying someone I don’t want to marry, with a staff that wants me dead!”

He looks away at that last part and stares at the ground for a while and I have no idea what is going on in that royal head of his, but I maintain my stance. I don’t care about being intimidated.

Not anymore.

“I…” he begins and looks up, “don’t want anyone dead. Not you or your sister. I apologize if I’ve made you feel otherwise…”

My wits vanish and I lose every crumb of courage I had within me. My body feels at ease and my hands unclench as I stare at the Prince in utter bewilderment.

“So please eat something. For her sake and yours.” He says and turns almost immediately, heading for the door.

“You will also accompany me to a ball in a few weeks.” He adds as he pauses by the door and I regain myself just in time.

A ball?

“No.” I hear myself say and as much as my legs have turned to jelly, I remain standing as The Prince turns to me.

“What?”

I can only hear my beating heart at this point, but I take a deep breath as he walks up to me.

“What did you just say?”

I swallow.

“No. I won’t accompany you. Not with the way you asked me.”

“You…have no idea…how close I am…to reaching my limit.” He warns, pausing in between for emphasis.

“I know the history of this kingdom in and out. The ceremonies, the celebrations, the tournaments and the traditions.” I say with a shaky breath as he observes me.

“So?”

“So I know that is not how a lady is asked to a ball.” I say and I watch realization dawn on him.

It’s a stretch, I know…

But I’m going to be his wife some day, meaning I’ll be queen. If I don’t ask for my own rights and respect now…he might never do it.

“You don’t really think I’m going to bring you flowers because I want you to accompany me to a ball that I don’t want to attend….do you?” He asks and I don’t say a word.

“You’re coming. That’s final.” He says, sternly this time and I know it’s an order.

“I’m not coming until I’m asked appropriately.” I insist and he just scoffs.

“Fine. Stay.” He says and marches towards the door,

“It’s rescuing me from a whole lot more than you know.” And with that, he walks out, slamming the door behind him.

*****

“I just don’t get him. He’s so infuriating! I mean I didn’t plan to be betrothed to him of all people but at least I don’t go about being rude to him. I’ve been nice to him since the moment I got here…why can’t he just reciprocate that?”

“His Majesty is a different breed, My Lady.” Cecily says as she brushes out my hair, giving it time to dry before she braids it for bed.

She’s the only one I’d let into my room since that day of the poison. Asides the fact that she was with me on the castle grounds when the whole thing happened….I had no one else to talk to.

And it’s beginning to feel like if I don’t talk to someone anytime soon, I may just lose my mind.

“A different breed indeed.” I mutter and she chuckles.

“Emotions have never come easily to him, that’s all. The only time he ever showed a bit of it was when his mother, Her Royal Majesty the Queen, was alive.” Cecily says and I look up at her through the mirror at those words, but she keeps brushing my hair.

I had known about the Queen’s death when it happened, but I had only heard stories of the Prince’s behavior after.

“Is it true he burned the castle’s gardens?” I ask and Cecily nods as her gaze meets mine through the mirror.

“He burned the flowers…. It was his mother’s favorite part of the castle. Then he beat up the physician, lashed out on everyone, even hit his father, King Russel. He blamed everyone for her death.”

“What killed her…?”

“She was sick, a liver infection.” Cecily says softly and her expression saddens briefly. I felt it too.

The Queen was more than a ruler, she was exceptional. An icon. She blended amongst the villagers easily and had a listening ear to everyone that needed her help. I really hope she’s resting in peace….

For a few seconds, none of us say another word and I keep thinking of the Prince’s reaction when I’d told him to ask me to the ball appropriately.

Was he being usually stubborn or did the idea of flowers upset him even more?

“I don’t want to go to the ball…” I admit quietly and Cecily frowns slightly at me.

“Why not, My lady?”

“Easy, there’s nothing there for me but humiliation and shame. The Prince would never take me anywhere, so he must only be doing this because people have requested to see me. Everyone wants to know the commoner that became royalty in a day.” I say as Cecily oils my hair and she smiles a bit.

“And you’re embarrassed?” She asks and I shrug.

“Not at all, but I know I’m going to get a lot of side talks and humiliating looks. The Prince doesn’t fail to hide his own disgust.”

“Yet you put him in his place when he kept at it.”

“And he almost had me sent to the cliff.”

“The important thing is that you stood your ground, My Lady.” She says as she concludes braiding my hair,

“If you can face the Prince, any other person shouldn’t get to you. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

I smile at those words and it feels like forever that I’ve actually had a reason to smile in this castle.

There is a knock on the door at that moment and Cecily heads for it as I get up from the chair.

It’s Caspian.

“Dinner is ready, Your Highness.” He says and I nod.

“I’ll be there shortly.”

As much as I dread seeing the Prince again, I get ready and head for the dining hall anyway. He may be scary but he did apologize.

To me.

If it hadn’t been for that singular act that proved he was human, I’d still be on my hunger strike. But after he left my chambers earlier today, I thought of his words and his apology and I was convinced enough to eat.

He didn’t care…but he wasn’t a monster.

I stop short of my tracks the minute I walk into the dining hall.

There is a bouquet of peony flowers in a ceramic vase on the table and I walk towards it, pick it up and sniff it.

Mmm….

If this is a new addition to the dining hall decoration then—-

The Prince is standing at the doorway immediately I open my eyes and I lower the vase as I look at him.

The usual frown is on his face.

“Will you accompany me to the ball now?” He asks impatiently and it dawns on me that the flowers are for me.

He’s technically supposed to give me with his own hands but this is truly beyond expectations.

I had only insisted on the traditional way because I didn’t want to go to the ball at all.

But not anymore….

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I say with a curtsy and he doesn’t say another word, his expression still blanketed with impatience and anger.

We eat dinner in silence and I return back to my chambers with my bouquet of flowers.