The Last Witch Princess

“Really, Bellie, I don’t think it’s going to matter if it’s perfect,” I said with a tsk, watching my older sister pacing back and forth behind me in the mirror I was seated in front of. I sighed in annoyance, looking down at my hands and the delicate lace pattern of the dress I was wearing. My head was yanked back up all at once, and the servant behind me gasped in surprise. “My apologies, princess Aislyn. I didn’t know you’d suddenly move your head.” She said with a stutter. My older sister waved her hand, answering for me, as always. “Never mind, just keep going.” She said. I watched as she pointed to a few spots and told her to fix the braids on them. “It does matter if it’s perfect, you’re going to be leaving today to meet your future husband.” She said, rolling her eyes at me. I grunted at her in the mirror, watching as the servant lifted her lip slightly in a stifled amusement. “And try not to grunt, you sound like a little piggy whenever you do that.” She snapped at me. “Would it matter? I’m marrying king Larry, who’s rumored to be the most vicious horrible man alive. He probably eats little piggies, it will most likely make him like me more.” I said, rolling my eyes. Belinda glared at me, her light green eyes meeting my light blue ones in the mirror. Finally, she broke away, sighing. “Yes, it matters. Those are all just rumors, Aislyn. Don’t act like a child, he could be very kind and caring.” She said, rapping the back of the servant’s hand with the multicolored folded fan she always carried with her and pointing at a braid she missed. Belinda loved the delicate lace hand fans, she always had a different one with her and whenever it was anyone female’s birthday the gift she always gave was a fan. I had more fans stashed in the bottom of my trunk than I did shoes at this point. “Then you marry him if you are up to the adventure. He’s closer to your age than mine anyway, it’s disgusting. And rumors? I’m going to be his fifth wife, all of the others died of some horrible unexplained injury, and I'll be the same age as his son. It’s disgusting, all of it.” I said with a sigh. I watched my long dark brown hair threaded through the servant’s fingers, watching it fall piece by piece as it became part of a tangled braid, much like the tangled web of my life. Or the closed-in cage I was walking into. “I can’t marry him, father already has me engaged to someone else. And there’s nothing wrong with him being twenty or so years older than you, that’s actually a small amount considering. We’re royals, Aislyn, we don’t get to choose who we marry. You should be glad we get to be pampered, showered in items and taken care of in ways others wish they could have. The only drawback is we marry who is chosen for us; I don’t see anything wrong with that at all. Us females are just made for giving birth to heirs anyway, we shouldn’t complain about anything. Besides, did you hear about the dragon king? He just married a girl that is seventeen, and he’s over forty years old. Her parents allowed it, and they were given a pretty penny for it as well.” She said curtly. Yes, the dragon king. He was rumored to have had two sons, four years apart. The oldest was five years older than me, and the youngest would have been one year older than me. Some say the king was cruel and he abused his youngest son, but officially there was an accident and the younger son fell out of the sky trying to fly for the first time, resulting in his death. It was a big event, back when I was nine. It was horrifying, the casket was closed because he was so disfigured they didn’t want the public to see the prince like that. We had all gone to the royal funeral to pay our respects, not as allies but as kingdoms close by each other, and it was then that I discovered my powers for the first time. “Besides, Aislyn, you know the main reason he wants you above all others. It’s because you’re the last witch.” She said with a frown. I sighed, meeting her hard jealous stare through the mirror before she turned again. “Still, it’s a few days of travel in the wagon, so my hair will eventually get messed up while I sleep,” I said, trying to change the subject. “Then you will take a Takamakura, from the time when there was Geisha. They were able to sleep on the cradle for their neck to make sure their hair and makeup were perfect, so you shall do the same as well.” She said sternly. I groaned, kicking my feet in annoyance. There was no use, of course. Belinda was practically my mother, I couldn’t go against her. My mother died when I was born. At first, they said it was just because her heart went out, but once I lost control at the funeral and my powers came out, they started to say I was too powerful for her and the strain of giving birth to the last witch was too much for her. Belinda was ten years older than me, she and our older brother Leon were twins. Their mother died in the attack the vampires made on our kingdom, the war that the werewolves helped aid us in. If it wasn’t for their help our kingdom would have been lost, so we owed King Larry. When my powers went off at the funeral for everyone to see, there was no way to hide me. King Larry knew instantly that he wanted to have me and my powers, and claimed me as his price for saving our kingdom so long ago. There was nothing any of us could do, we had no choice but to agree to his demands. Our kingdom was tiny, if we said no the werewolves would take us over as well. “There, that looks perfect. I hope that King Larry has better servants where he lives with more nimble fingers, otherwise, your hair will never be done right. It takes so much time and effort to get our servants to listen.” She said with a huff. I watched as the young girl standing behind me whimpered slightly, bowing her head against my sister’s rampage. I stood up to try and step in-between, but just became the cause of more of her vicious tongue. “You! What have you done to your dress! The whole time you’ve been sitting there, have you been twirling the fabric? It’s bad enough you’re not as skinny as you should be, but now it needs to be ironed, we don’t have time for this!” She screamed at me. I sighed, looking down at the spot against my stomach that I had absently curled with my fingers, then back at my sister. It was funny she was calling me not skinny enough when she was about four times heavier than me. It was why Leon and I started calling her Bellie when we were kids, as a nickname to her bulging stomach that she’s always had. The more she waved her finger at me the more her dress tightened, and I was worried the delicate seams would pop again. She always made the maids sew her the tightest dresses possible and corsets, but it only did so much on her waistline. “I’m sorry, Bellie, I’ll fix it right away,” I said to her. Quickly I ran my fingers over the spot, muttering a few quick words. A little purple glow came to my fingertips, soothing down the material and making it perfect again. I looked up at her and watched as her eyebrows pressed into a hard line, her thick curly black hair falling around her face as she stared at me angrily. I sighed again, knowing she was angry at me for using magic in front of her. She hated my magic: she hated that I was better than her, more popular than her, more sought after. But I couldn’t help it, I never asked for this power. Honestly, this would probably be the best part of being married off to some monster, being allowed to use my magic without worrying about upsetting those around me, since this was what he wanted me for anyway. I looked at myself in the mirror as the servant got to work setting up the makeup. I sat back down and listened absently to the droning voice of my sister as she criticized the work the servant was doing on my face. It was beautiful, I was beautiful, and I couldn’t help the quiver in my lips as I stared at myself in the mirror. With my creamy complexions like a porcelain doll, my beautiful dark brown hair, and my light blue eyes, I was beautiful. Maybe my magic wasn’t the only thing he sought after, and the fear that a man who was rumored to be the most vicious around and also twenty or so years older than me had me quivering. Belinda made me stand up so she could appraise me once I was finished. “Beautiful,” The servant stammered. I smiled at her, making her cheeks flame red as she stammered out an apology for speaking out. Belinda snapped her fingers at her to leave and ordered another servant in to finish my packing. She made sure to tell her four times to pack the Takamakura, even though I kept begging her I didn't need it. Though I knew I had no choice but to use it, because the moment I step out of the wagon in front of the Werewolf king and his son I’ll have people staring at me, talking about me, and if rumors appear that I looked tired or messy and unruly then somehow Belinda would come and punish me. Finally, Belinda said I was ready and I followed her out of the room, trying to drag my feet as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I love my father dearly and I would do anything for him, but the marriage to a beast was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I didn’t understand when I was nine, but through the years growing up and having my impending marriage hanging over my head had made me get in quite a few arguments with him. But over the last two years, I found out what I never knew before. My father is weak, dying of cancer, and if I revolt and go against the marriage then he will be killed, either from king Larry or from the strain of my deceit on his heart. I had no choice but to do this, to protect my kingdom and my father. “Come, Aislyn, come here. Give me a hug goodbye.” My father said once we made it out to the courtyard. I happily hugged my frail father gently, sighing with sadness that this will probably be the last time I see him. I looked over his shoulder and watched as the servants put my suitcases into the second wagon. A shudder ran through me as I watched the men guarding the wagons glare at us, obviously unhappy. King Larry demanded his men and his wagons accompany me to his kingdom, so he would know without a doubt I’d get there safely and my father wouldn’t “Accidentally” lose me and claim I was killed by Assassins. My father held me at arm's length and looked me in the eyes, frowning at me. “I will always love you, little Aislyn, I wish you could have been given a better future. I’m so sorry I put the strain of the kingdom on your shoulders,” he whispered to me. I smiled warmly at him, blinking away the growing tear in my eye. “It’s fine, father. Maybe King Larry isn’t so bad, maybe I’ll be happy. I have a duty to my kingdom, and I’m so happy I get to honor it the best way I can.” I said to him with a smile. Tears fell down his frail cheeks as he kissed both my cheeks. “I’m so proud of you, Aislyn.” He said to me softly. Before I could respond to him I was swept up into a hug from behind, great thick arms wrapping around my stomach as I squealed in surprise. I could hear Bellie’s annoyed exclaims of me getting dirty or wrinkled and Leon’s hearty rich laughter in my ear. Leon put me down and I smiled up at him, watching the way his thick curly black hair fell in his light green eyes. “I’m so proud of you, little sister. I wish you all the happiness.” He said thickly to me, smiling his great big smile. I smiled back at him, it was contagious when he smiled, everyone wanted to. I could feel my father smiling behind me as well, and even Belinda was sporting a tiny smirk on her face. I nodded goodbye to Leon’s wife, princess Ember. I loved Ember dearly, but she was heavily pregnant with twins and due any day, I wouldn’t risk hurting her by hugging her. I had hoped I’d be here to meet my little nephews for the first time, but King Larry made it certain that he wanted me to be in his kingdom before I turned eighteen, so our wedding would end with my first shift for all the kingdom to see. It meant I’d be stuck in the kingdom with him for six months before I was wed to him, six long months with the beast breathing over my neck. Finally, I was finished with my goodbyes and I was introduced to a handmaiden named Ana, a very lovely werewolf woman ten years older than me that Belinda was drilling to make me use the Takamakura pillow at night and to make sure I wasn’t wrinkled in any way. I turned around to look at my kingdom once more, staring at the beautiful white pillars and the flags of our shifter heritage flying in the wind. I could hear the excited chatter of the people behind the gates, waiting anxiously to say goodbye to the beloved youngest princess, thousands of people who love me so much even though they don’t even know who I am, just a figure who waved and smiled at them. I felt a hand on my arm and I turned to Ana, smiling at her cautious smile. She was around Belinda and Leon’s age, about ten years older than me. She was gorgeous, her caramel color skin shining against a faded yellow blouse, a white skirt flowing frilly against her ankles. She had on a pair of ballet flats like I did, even though Belinda wanted me to wear heels. She pushed her long black behind her ear and opened the door for me, holding out her hand to help me step inside. I straightened my back and nodded at her, refusing to look behind me again. This was the path my future set out for me, I had no choice but to follow it with an open mind. I slid inside the wagon and Ana sat on the bench across from me. A werewolf warrior shut the door for us and I breathed out in relief that it would just be Ana and me in here. Once everything was ready the three-wagon formation left steadily through the gate, the crowd’s cheers deafening. I made sure to wave at the citizens as I was trained from birth to do. Once the crowd was behind us I relaxed back as much as I could without touching my hair and closed my eyes, trying to keep the fear I was feeling pushed down.