Authors note:
I got a question about the idea for the story. Someone asked if it was based on reign. When I first thought of the story it was originally going to be a mix of The Vampire Diaries and Reign but then I wanted to write from TMI so I guess it is a little bit from those three.
CHAPTER TWO - The Welcome
Jace's POV
I watch as my father's butler yells at the staff hispanically trying to tell them to hurry, the princess will arrive very soon. I walk slowly and calmly towards the main entrance of the palace. My father is already waiting at the top of the stairs and my brothers beside him.
"Jace!" Max shouts the minute he spots me. I have been on a hunting trip with Alec and Magnus so I have not seen Max in days. Max jumps in my arms and I hug him tight. Sebastian turns his head towards us, watching us for a split second until we hear shoutings.
"They're here! They´re here your majesties!" A young boy shouts as he runs up the stairs towards my father.
My father, the king, gives him a cold look and the boy shuts up. I take Max's hand and we start walking down the stairs. As we're walking I spot a big red carriage riding in to our port with two guards on each side of it, it must be the princess's carriage, then another small carriage follows.
"Are you not excited?" Max asks me questiongly looking up to me as we walk.
"Why do you ask?" I ask him back.
"You just have your serious look on you" Max explains and suddenly puts on a strange face, clearly mimicking mine. I laugh and mess in his hair but I don't answer him, perhaps because I do not know the answer myself. When my father told me and Seb about her and why she will be staying with us I did not know what to expect, a lot of questions have been going through my head since then; "Is she pretty?" "How long is she staying here?" "Is she nice?" and so on. My father gestures us to stand beside him as the carriage stops in front of us. I notice him putting that fake of a smile on him as the guard opens the carriage's door. A woman steps out, wearing a red dress with a black belt around the waist. Her hair is dark and has been braided.
"Seb, is that the princess?" I whisper to Sebastian. His head tilts towards me. "No I do not think so, if so then you can have her" Sebastian answers and lets out a small laugh. Father turns his head towards us and hushes us. He has been enforcing our good behaviour since the day he told us she was coming. Another girl walks out and takes place beside the brown-haired girl, clearly she is not the princess either. Her hair is the complete opposite of the brown-haired girl, her hair is blonde and she has it in a big bun on top of her head. After a few second another girl walks out of the carriage, she looks around as she steps down on the concrete. Her red fluffy hair falls wildly down her back. She is wearing a bright blue dress that falls down to the ground. She has a dark blue cape that connects to the dress in the neckline. Her face is white and her eyes blue. She is a young and skinny thing. As I stand in awe over the beautiful girl standing in front of me my father steps towards her and kisses her hand.
"I call dibs" I hear from beside me and I look at Sebastian. He blinks me and walks towards the princess. I follow my brother. The girl smiles and giggles as Sebastian kisses her hand. When it is my turn I walk up to her and I notice how small she is, she is very petite.
"Hey, I am Jonathan" I say as I take her hand. "Hello, I am Clarissa" she says. Her voice is sweet and delicate. Her hand is soft and warm to the touch and kiss it. "Nice to meet your acquaintance" I say and smile to her.
Clary's POV
I take a step down from the carriage, a step towards my new life. A middle-aged old man greets me and kisses my hand as a courtesy. It must be the king.
"Welcome princess, I am king Valentine and I welcome you to our home. I hope you will enjoy your stay here in Idris" he says and smiles. I take a small bow and smile back. Then a young man steps towards me. He is tall, has a black hair and is wearing their national colours, purple and silver. It must be the crown prince.
"Greetings your highness" the prince says as he takes my hand and kisses it. I let out a giggle and smile to him. "I am Sebastian, the crown prince. I hope we will get to know each other" He says and smiles some more. I guess I am on team Sebastian now I think to myself. When Sebastian takes a step back another boy steps towards me. He is a complete opposite to Sebastian. His hair is curly and blonde and his skin is brown. The only similarity is their height.
"Hey, I am Jonathan" he says and takes my hand. "Hello, I am Clarissa" I say as sweetly as I can. He kisses my hand gently. "Nice to meet your acquaintance" he says and smiles. His eyes are the brightest green I have ever seen, so big and beautiful. I take it back, I cannot decide which team I am on. The king shows me inside and gives my a short tour. He shows me the throne room and the dining room and then he shows me to my room. Mary and Kenna follow me closely and I hear them sigh from time to time out of awe. When we reach my room I notice that the servants have already brought my things up to my room.
"This will be your dwelling princess, your ladies-in-waiting's dwellings are just down the hall" the king explains as he opens the door to my room. It is very, very big. Much more bigger then my room in Shadowland. The king tells me that he has an errand to run and bids me well. The first thing I do when I walk into the room is to pull the curtains away from the window. When the light enters the room I notice the beautiful red-ish colour on the walls. The room itself has a bed up to the wall, nightstand, beautiful wooden desk, a big standing mirror and a walk-in closet that has been filled with beautiful dresses and clothing. Next to the bed is a door to the bathroom.
"You like it?" I hear from behind me. As I turn around I notice that Jonathan is standing in the doorway, leaning against the door with his hands crossed. I thought I was alone.
"Yes, it is very big" I answer and look around once again. We stand in silence for a little while. "Very much unlike my room in Shadowland" I say. He lets out a little laugh and loosens his hands.
"Dinner will be served in an hour. You remember the way to the dining room?" he asks me. The dining room, where was that again. My silence answered his question perfectly.
"I understand, the palace is quite big. I would not know the way the first day myself" he says with a smile. "I will come shortly before dinner-time and walk you to dinner. Would you like that?" he asks. I walk up to him. "I would like that very much" I answer and bow. "My lady" he says, blinks me and takes a bow and then he's gone. I walk towards the bed and throw myself onto it. As I sink into the soft mattress I think about Sebastian and Jonathan and how they had been so nice to me. I feel my cheeks burn up. "Stop thinking about them Clarissa! You are supposed to meet a rich young suitor not the richest princes in town" I tell myself. They will probably be wed off to more beautifuller and richer princesses of the world. A few minutes later Mary and Kenna enter my chambers and pull me out from the bed and out of my thoughts.
"Wow, your room is probably twice as big as ours" Kenna says and looks around.
"It's bigger than my room in Shadowland" I tell them and laugh at the idea.
"What are you going to wear to the dinner?" Mary asks as she walks into my walk-in-closet.
"I do not know what I am supposed to wear" I tell them honestly.
Kenna joins Mary and together they search through my dresses while I comb my messy hair. After a few moments Kenna walks out of the closet holding a light yellow dress. It reminds me of Shadowland, since our national colour is yellow, pretty ironic right? Since it is always dark in Shadowland our founders wanted the national colour to be bright and therefore the yellow colour. Mary and Kenna help my but it on. It's a new dress that my mother had gotten me before I left so I have not gotten a chance to wear it. Kenna and Mary look at me and smile.
"You look perfect!" Mary says happy. She then takes my brush and puts half of my hair up in a bun so half of it falls down my back. Suddenly I hear a knock on the door. Mary and Kenna look at each other surprisingly. I tell them about Jonathan walking me to dinner.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner! We have to leave, now" Mary says and takes Kenna´s arm.
They open the door and bow when Jonathan enters the room. When they're behind him I can see Mary mouthing "Good luck" and then their gone. I bow before Jace and he does the same. His eyes run down my body and back up. I notice his eyes sparkle as I walk up to him.
"You look ravishing" he says and offers me his arm. I feel my cheeks flush so I take a deep breath. Jonathan offers me his hand and I take it and nod my head as to thank him. "You look dapper yourself" I say politely. We walk silently towards the dining room. To my surprise, it does not feel strange being with him but not talking. I enjoy the silence.
"Does it not frighten you being here alone? Far away from your family?" Jonathan asks suddenly.
"Why do you ask?" I ask him back. He does not answer immediately, he seems to be thinking a lot.
"You just do not seem afraid or scared or even homesick" he explains. I think it over for a second before I answer.
"Well, I am not completely alone here. I have my ladies-in-waiting Kenna and Mary to accompany me" I tell him but I can tell that it did not satisfy his question. When we arrive at the dining room, guards open the doors for us and we walk inside. There is a large table in the center of it. We must be the last persons to arrive since there are only two seats available. The king, Valentine sits at the end of the table, on his right side Sebastian is sitting and on his left side there is a seat available for Jonathan. My seat is next to Sebastian. At the other side of the table my ladies-in-waiting are sitting opposite the king's personal advisors and other important people. Sebastian stands up as I walk towards my seat. He pulls my seat from the table and pushes it under me as I sit down. "Thank you" I say to Sebastian as he takes his seat. "You are welcome my princess" he says and kisses my hand. "I must say, you look extravagant" he tells me and smiles. I can feel Jonathan's eyes on us, watching us. I thank Sebastian and he nods his head. After a three-course meal, when I think I can not eat any more the servants bring in the dessert. I sigh as they put the chocolate slice before me. "Prepare, it is like this every day" Jonathan says as he takes a bite. I let out a little laugh but it is quickly smothered when Valentine rises up from his seat.
"I wanted to use the opportunity and thank Clarissa and her parents for letting her stay with us. As you all know, Shadowland is a small but proud country and have they been our neighborhood friends since the beginning of time. Clarissa turned 16 last year and is therefore ready to be wed and that is where we come in. She is to marry either two of the princes and live here in the palace as a queen or as Jonathan's wife forever - To future friendships" he finishes and lifts up his glass.
I sit completely still as the others stand up and raise their glass. Forever. The word echoes in my head. I guess I did not expect to be staying here forever. And to marry either of the princes. I thought I would get to meet others and find my own suitor? This was never the deal. I was supposed to have a say in this, right?. I sense Sebastian stiffen beside me. Is he excited about this?
"Princess Clarissa, is everything alright?" the king asks as he takes his seat. I sense everybody's eyes on me waiting for my response.
"Yes of course, my king. I just did not know that I was to be married to either one of your sons. I thought I would go home" The last words drift away. Everybody looks at me questioningly, especially the king.
"This is the arrangement that me and your parents made years ago. You have been raised to the possibility to become a queen. They did not tell you?" the king asks a little aggressively.
My parents made a deal about my future many years ago? They told me that I could choose a suitor of my own, as long as he was rich and of a good family. And since my older brother, William is to be king one day it never occurred to me that I would be queen myself one day. I can feel my head getting heavier and heavier by each breath I take.
"Princess…" Prince Jonathan's voice echoes in my head. He sounds worried. I take a deep breath and try to look as good as I can.
"Ofcourse they told me, I had simply forgotten about it" I tell them. The king, Sebastian and other men at the table surprisingly start laughing.
"Women and their memories" Sebastian says in between laughs.
My head is burning. The laughs echo in my head and I can not calm it. Before I know it I have stood up from my chair.
"My lady, did we offend you?" Sebastian asks, still recovering from the laugh.
"No ofcourse not, I am just tired. It has been a long journey. If you will excuse me I am going to retire for the evening" I explain. I can see my ladies getting ready to leave with me. "Kenna, Mary, I will be going alone thank you" I tell them as politely as I can. I take a bow and leave the room, walking towards what I believe is the exit.
So that's it!
I have been writing all day! So I really do hope you like this chapter. Please review it if you can, I really enjoyed reading your reviews for the last chapter.
I am almost finished with chapter three so I will perhaps post it tomorrow or on Thursday.
Until then...xx
