It was a beautiful summer day in the kingdom of Clarines. The sun warmed my face and the gentle wind played with my long, wavy black hair. My hazel eyes feel on the two graves in front of me. They belonged to my mother and younger sister. Even though the tragedy was thirteen years ago, I still recall it clearly in my mind. I still have nightmares and panic attacks too. Ever since the incident, I vowed to never be helpless again, so I picked up a sword and haven't put it down since.

"Mom… Yui… I wanted to let you know, that Dad is remarrying today. She's a nice lady. Lady Akira is her name. She has a son. Takeo. He's much younger than you would be today, Yui, but he's still nice. It's going to be weird, having four people, in the family again. I got so used to it, just being Dad and I. Don't worry, Mom, I know he hasn't forgotten you. He's just continuing his life, the best he can. We miss you, every day."

"It's time to go, Lady Rin."

It was Hiroto. He used to be the attendant for the King of Clarines, but his health had started to go downhill, so he was dismissed. My father had employed him, as a stablehand when I was just a girl. He was also the one, who taught me how to use a sword.

"Alright, let's go."

I followed him to the area of our property that had been set up for the wedding. It was beautifully decorated, with white lilies at the end of each row of seating. At the front, was an archway that was decorated with vines and white blossoms. A piece of white fabric was laid down as the center aisle.

I took my seat at the front and laid my hands on my lavender dress. I hated wearing dresses. I would much rather be in pants and shirt any day, which is why I always wore them underneath. It probably had to do with, how much I trained. I always trained in pants, and since I trained every spare moment, I felt the most comfortable wearing them.

"Rin!" Takeo called as he approached.

"Hey, Takeo."

He sat down beside me and looked eagerly at me.

"You want me to tell you another story don't you?"

"Yeah! You tell the best pirate stories!"

I told the best pirate stories because they were true. Two years after my mom and sister had been killed, my father found out about my training and was furious. It caused a big fight, that led to me running away and joining a pirate ship for two years. Needless to say, my father was more than willing to let me train, if I agreed never to do that again. The adventure had given me lots of valuable experience, though. I'm not proud to say that I've killed, more than once, but such was the life of a pirate. Aside from my father and soon to be mother, no one knew about me being with pirates.

"I'll tell you a story later."

"But…"

"No buts. The ceremony is about to start. I promise I'll make it a good one."

"Okay, I guess I could wait."

He slumped in his chair and pouted. For a teenager, he sure acted like a kid.

A few moments later the musicians started the music and the ceremony got underway. It was a beautiful ceremony. Everything went exactly how it was supposed to. At the reception, I ended up being the target of many young nobles, who were interested in courting me. I did my best to politely turn them down. They were interested in the me, that was dressed up like a doll for display, not the real me. I know it might be wishful thinking, but I had hoped that I would find a man, who would be willing to spar with me.

"Lady Rin, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this just arrived for you." a messenger said as he handed me an envelope.

I flipped it over, to open it and I saw the royal seal! What could royalty be contacting me for? I opened it and read in my head.

'Greetings Lady Rin,

I have just received your request for a marriage interview and I would like you to come to the castle in Wistal, one week from when you receive this letter. I look forward to meeting you. I'll see you in a week.

Sincerely,

The First Prince Of Clarines, Izana.'

My jaw just about hit the floor. I never sent a request for a marriage interview with Prince Izana. My anger began to rise when I realized it must have been my Dad, who sent the request. Even though I had never met the Prince, I could guess he was like every other noble. He just wanted a wife, to sit there like a doll and look pretty.

As soon as the reception was over, I went straight to my Dad, who had been doing some paperwork in his office.

"I can't believe you!" I shouted at him.

"Why? What did I do?"

"This!" I handed him the letter.

"When did you get this?"

"Just today, during the reception! Why didn't you ask me before doing something like that?!"

"Because you would have said no."

"So then, why do it, if you know I'm not going to like it?!"

"Because, my dear, you are twenty-three now. It's time for you to marry, and stop acting like a child, who doesn't get her way. Since you've continued to turn offers down, I had no choice."

My Dad ran his hand through his peppered colored hair and let out a sigh. I hated seeing my Dad so frustrated, so I caved.

"Fine, I'll go to the dumb interview."

"Good. Now you should go pack your things. It doesn't say how long you'll be staying, so I suggest you pack well."

"Yes, Dad."

I arrived at the castle in Wistal and was led to the garden and instructed to wait there. I thought it was odd, that the Prince hadn't been there to greet me when I arrived, but I was told he had to take care of a few things, before our interview.

As soon as the messenger left, I pulled off my dress and stuffed it into a bush. I, of course, was wearing my brown pants and blue button up men's shirt underneath. Hiroto was with me, so I grabbed the hat that he was wearing and stuffed my black hair up into it. Then he handed me the practice sword I had asked him to bring. If Prince Izana wanted me as a wife, he needed to know what he was getting.

I swung the sword around while I waited. I was curious to see if he knew anything about sword fighting, so I purposefully made mistakes.

"Your guard is too low."

I turned around and saw a well-dressed man, with medium blonde hair and sapphire eyes.

"Pardon?" I started my act.

"Let me show you." he grabbed another practice sword and demonstrated what he meant, then signaled for me to try it.

"I see, that's much better," I said as I corrected myself. "You obviously know what you're talking about when it comes to combat, care to spar?" I had no idea who he was, but I figured it couldn't be the Prince. The Prince would have introduced himself.

"Sure, I have some time."

We sparred for about a half an hour. He was fast. I almost had a hard time keeping up. He was good enough to have me on the defensive the whole time. In the end, that was his advantage and he won the match.

"You're much better then I thought you would be."

"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself." I turned and grabbed one of the glasses of water that one of the servants had brought while we had been sparring.

"I just have one question: Did you have your guard low, so you could spar?"

"You caught me."

"Well, then shall we continue with the interview..." He used the tip of his sword to knock the hat off my head, causing my hair to fall. "...Lady Rin."

No! It couldn't have been!

"Are you Prince Izana?"

"Pleased to meet you."

"You knew it was me the whole time?!"

"Yes, I did."

"But how?"

He walked over to the bush and pulled out my dress.

"This is your dress isn't it?"

I put my hand over my face. "You saw me set up the whole thing didn't you?"

He let out a hearty laugh. "It was so amusing, I almost gave myself away."

I let myself laugh a little too. "I guess it must have looked pretty funny."

"I'm curious as to why you did it, though."

"I wanted you to see the real me. I refuse to be some doll you can just put on display." I told him as I became serious again. I was also surprisingly bold. I guess since I sparred with him, he was easier to talk to.

"Those are bold words." He walked up to me and stopped only when we were toe to toe. I didn't retreat and I looked him square in the eyes. "You have bold eyes too."

"Thank you, Prince Izana."

The rest of the interview flowed like a normal conversation. I was surprised at how different he was. He wasn't like any other noble I had met. I could tell, he still liked things proper, but there was something about him, that was a nice change of pace, even if I couldn't put my finger on it. We continued to talk for half an hour, then it was time for me to return home.