"A betrothal?" Princess Gwen repeated the horrible word. Her father had just given her the news that the very phenomenon that so many girls of her rank and age feared was going to happen to her.
"I thought you knew…" King William said, sure she had heard about it already.
"I had heard rumors, but… A betrothal, Father?! Really?"
"There's no need to be upset, Gwen. It's for your own good."
"Upset?!" Gwen could feel her face flush in anger. "Upset doesn't begin to describe how I feel!"
"The marriage won't be for a few years. You'll have time to prepare."
"Prepare for what?"
"Well," William began, thinking the answer would be obvious, "for marriage, Gwen."
"The first step in preparation of marriage is to find someone you want to marry," she replied smartly.
William felt foolish for thinking Gwen would not turn his answer back on him. "Enough. I will not argue this with you, Gwen. This will benefit you, I promise. It's a difficult thing to do, but it is necessary. You'll understand someday."
"No… I don't think I will."
Gwen took a few steps back before completely turning around. She exited her father's study with her head held high, although she could not have felt lower.
At sixteen years old, Gwen was probably every bit as intelligent as any king, making her a rare gem in the eyes of many royals, both of her county and from other kingdoms.
So it was no surprise that she'd gotten offers for marriage. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for the prospective husbands to ask her directly.
But for her father to suddenly decide who she needed to marry… well, that was strange. Usually, he trusted her instinct and intelligence. Why was today any different?
She thought about this on the way to her room.
Had she been given the chance to argue her point to her father before he promised her to some man she didn't know, maybe she could have convinced him to reconsider. She was a persuasive, independent individual, after all. Surely that counted for something?
"But apparently, it doesn't," she whispered to herself in anger.
At last, she reached the sanctity of her room. It felt like a paradise in the middle of a vast, barren desert as she closed the door, finally free to allow the stoic mask she wore as a face drop.
She did not cry. Her anger was simply too great to allow that.
The more she thought about it, the more she didn't like her situation as a whole, not just the betrothal in itself.
She was a princess, and although that meant she had the power of royalty, it also meant that, for the rest of her life, her father or her husband would make her decisions for her. Even if they had the best of intentions, she knew she would not like that.
No, that kind of life simply would not do.
"And there lies the conundrum," she said, drumming her fingers on the wood of her bureau in thought.
She had no idea what to do. On one hand, her life, her responsibilities were inescapable. On the other, there had to be a way out.
Frustrated, she paced around her room, glancing out her window at the full moon that shone into her room. There was a bit of mystery and romance to it, she thought.
Gwen loved the night. The sounds of a sleeping world filled her with a sense of quiet joy. Even at the worst of times, it helped her think.
Eureka.
She smiled suddenly. "A lack of roads did not stop new cities from being built. I'll simply have to make my own path, my own way out."
She pulled a small piece of paper from her drawer. From another, she drew a quill and a bottle of ink.
She left two words for the ones who would discover her absence:
"Forgive me."
Silently as the night she so greatly admired, she slipped out of the window, something she had been doing for years since she was a child, and stole away from her life as a princess, leaving everything behind.
"It is a difficult thing to do," she said, repeating her father's words as if she was speaking to him, "but it is necessary. You'll understand someday."
Twenty-two Years Later…
It was a clear, hot summer afternoon when Odette was staring thoughtfully out the window, silent even as the rest of the world bustled by. She hadn't been talking very much that day and it was very apparent Derek that something was on her mind.
"Is something bothering you, Odette?" he caringly asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her closer to him.
She was slow to reply, trying to sum up everything that was on her mind into one sentence.
"I was thinking that… since things have settled down, I should go to my father's castle and sort things out."
Odette wasn't asking permission so much as she was informing Derek of how she wanted to spend what little free time they had. It wouldn't be long before some new catastrophe pulled them away from their interests, Odette was sure. So, she wanted to at least look into her father's old things, just to see if anything would be of interest or use.
Of course, she didn't have any particular possible uses in mind, but lately, she'd been missing him, something she hadn't had time to do since the night he was killed. And even after Rothbart was killed, one thing after another seemed to happen, like falling dominoes. Odette had never imagined she'd be so busy in all her life.
Knowing all this, Derek nodded in agreement. "When would you like to go?"
"Soon," Odette replied. "I'd like to go before…"
She wasn't exactly sure how to finish that sentence.
"The next big crisis?" Derek offered, smiling a little. Although he wasn't being serious, there was certainly truth in jest.
She smiled. "If that's how you want to put it, then yes, before the next big crisis."
Derek nodded. "Alright. We can have a ship ready for next week, if you like."
"I'd like that very much."
"Then that's what I'll do. I'm glad we can finally have time to ourselves now," he said thoughtfully. "I don't care what we do, as long as we do it together."
He kissed her on the cheek and left the room without another word.
Odette lovingly watched him go;, glad to have someone that was so sensitive to her feelings.
She turned to the window and smiled as a robin chirped on a tree branch outside.
I apologize for the brevity of the first chapter, but it is very late, and I think cramming anything else into the first chapter would only serve to confuse me – a very easy task at this hour. So, enjoy and review. Thank you.
The Phantom
