My name is Beatrice. I am 16 years old and the Princess of Prior. My brother, Caleb, is the prince. My father and mother, Andrew and Natalie, are the king and queen. All of the kings and queens of each kingdom are making alliances to unite the country as one. Last month, my parents told me that I am promised to be married to Tobias, the Prince of Eaton. Right now we are on our way to meet the King and Queen of Eaton, and my fiancé. I really don't know what to expect. I've never even seen a picture of him. My mother would only describe him to me. He is 6'0" tall which isn't very ideal considering I am only 5'2". He is 2 years older than me and has dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. My mother said he is quite handsome but I think I'll be the judge of that. The whole carriage ride there, I am silent. Ever since I found out about this arranged marriage, I have been anxious to see who I am spending the rest of my life with. Now that I am just minutes away from him, I want to run. Run so far away from everything. I want to marry who I want out of love, not arrangment. But I know I can't do that. I must fullfill my duties to my kingdom and the country.
We have finally pulled up to their castle. There are gaurds everywhere and security cameras in every corner. Its quite intimidating but I understand how much protection they need considering that he's an only child. I avert my wandering eyes from the defense system and see a tall man with pepper hair, and an average sized woman with dark brown hair. Next to them is a tall, handsome, young man wearing a black polo and khaki pants that I assume is Tobias. While the valet is helping my mother and I out of the carriage, I couldn't help but notice that Tobias is staring at me. Well, I knew that because I was staring him too, but its not a look like he's interested in me, but like he's trying to figure me out, unravel all me secrets and see the real me. The way I act in front of everyone is not the real me. Its what they expect and believe. If I had a choice, I would never wear a dress every again, I would eat junk food every day, and go on extravagant adventures every day. But I don't have that choice, and I may never have it.
When we are out of the carriage and situated, the elders greet eachother with warm salutations. I just focus on Tobias, and him me. This couldn't be anymore awkward.
"Marcus! Evelyn! A pleasure to see you again! Thank you for letting us stay over until the wedding!" My father says. At least now I know the names of his parents. Marcus nudges Tobias a little too hard to be subtle before he approches me.
"Princess Beatrice, it is delightful to finally meet my future wife." He says as he takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. I don't know why but, his touch feels comforting and almost protective. Even though this is the first time I am meeting him, I feel as if I've known him forever. His lips have not left my knuckles yet and we have not broken eye contact yet. His eyes have so much emotion and feeling but his face remains stoic. He finally drops my hand and stands straight up.
"I could say the same, Prince Tobias. And please, call me Tris." I see him smile a very small smile. I might not have even noticed it if I wasn't staring at him so much. His smile is imediately relinquished when his father speaks to him.
"Tobias! Why don't you show Tris around the castle while the rest of us catch up?" I give him a frail smile for using my preffered name. They way he spoke to Tobias sounds more like a command instead of a friendly suggestion. This guy seems kinda off, but I'll ignore it because he is my fiancé's father.
The fathers head off to the golfing course, and the mothers off to the tea room. That just leaves me and Tobias standing just inside the gates of the kingdom. We stand there for a couple of awkward seconds, looking around at everything except eachother.
"So what would you like to do, Milady?" He sounds much more relaxed now, than when we were with our parents.
"I don't know, what do you usually do here?"
"Well, we could go horseback riding on the trail by the beach?"
"Oh what a romantic suggestion, but I've never ridden a horse." I say with a playful smirk. I feel as if I can be myslef around him, like I don't need to pretend to be a princess because honestly, I'm not. I'm not a princess, I'm just good at acting like one. I have a feeling that he's not a prince too.
"That's okay, we can ride double." He says witha sincere smile. With that, he grips my hand and entwines our fingers. He leads me to the back of the garden where there is a large stable. Every so often he would glance back at me and smile. He seemed happy that I was here, despite that fact that we are basically complete strangers. We reach the stable and walk in. There are about 15 horses in the stable. We walk in the median of the horses all the way to the back. We approach a pitch black horse with a stark white diamond on its forehead. Its mane is in perfect loose curls. This had to be the most beautiful horse I've ever seen.
"This is a beautiful horse." I said as I pet its snout.
"Thanks. Her name is Bea. I picked her out when I was 12 and took care of her ever since." He said without looking at me. He just stared at the horse and stroked its forelock. You could see in his eyes how much he cared about this horse. I chuckled at the name, Bea. Did he name his horse after me? We didn't even know eachother 6 years ago.
"Why'd you name her Bea?" I ask. I was also about to ask he named it after me but I decided against it.
"Her full name is Beauty, but I just call her Bea. And because I named her after you." He says sheepishly. He grabs a saddle and opens the little gate in front of Bea. I was a bit flattered that he liked my name enough to name it after a horse. Horses require majestic names and he chose mine. I watch as he latches the saddle to Bea's back. His deft fingers move quickly as he tightens the buckle. As soon as he's done, he guides me to the horse and lifts me up by the under arms. He gently place me on the back half of the saddle then he jumps on the front half.
"Here, just hold on to me. Horse back riding is bumpy." He says. He takes my hands and places them on his stomach. I lean forward a bit to make it easier. He is so warm and I can feel his abs under my finger tips. I become a bit stiff with this contact because I've never been this close to someone. We weren't very big on hugging back at home. The only time we would hug is on holidays, birthdays, and deaths. I feel he becomes stiff too. He probably never rode double with someone. I soon relax and he does too. He grabs the reins and we head out of the stable. He follows a thin trail that leads out to the beach. The ride is really bumpy. I hold on to him tighter to make sure I don't fall. I feel his stomach twitch indicating that he is laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" I ask.
"I find it funny how you think I'm gonna let you fall, because I'm not. I'm not gonna let you fall, or let anything bad happen to you. I want to keep you safe." I smile even though he can't see my face right now. His words warm my stomach. Even though we met for the first time half an hour ago, and exchanged no more than 100 words, he wants to protect me. Maybe I will fall in love with him, and he will fall in love with me. Despite not being the prettiest or tallest, or smartest princess. I snap out of my reverie and ask him, "Where are we going again?"
"I'll show you when we get there." He answers. I decide to stop talking and just wait till we get there. I relish in the warth being emitted from his body and doze off into a light sleep.