Chapter 3: We Are One
"May, we need to find you a Prince to marry to continue the royal tradition." Norman said.
"But Dad, I'm only sixteen. Can't it wait?" May asked.
"We've told you this before. It is your duty as Princess to choose a suitor. And the suitor has to be a Prince." Norman said.
"But-"
"No buts May." Norman cut May off. "Whenever the Princes come to the castle, I expect you to at least consider them."
May didn't want to argue with her Dad anymore, so she just sighed. "Yes Dad."
May walked out of the throne room and went to her room.
"So, what happened?" Dahlia asked.
May sighed. "It was just about marrying a Prince...again."
"And you don't want to marry?" Dahlia questioned.
"It's not that I don't want to marry." May answered. "It's that I don't want to be forced to marry."
"He's not forcing you to marry a certain person, there are options."
"I know, but…" May's voice trailed off.
"But what?"
"They're all Princes."
Dahlia looked at her for a moment before saying, "So, what you're saying is that you're in love with someone from school?"
May blushed a little. "Maybe."
Dahlia smiled. "Who is he and what's he like?"
"He's...charming and he even saved me from falling on the ground a couple times." May said. "His name is Drew, but…"
Dahlia's smile faded. "But he's not a Prince." Dahlia finished.
May nodded. "And I barely met him, so I don't even know that much about him." May sighed. "It'll never work."
"You never know." Dahlia said.
"I don't know if I'm in love with him, but my Dad won't allow it if I am." May said.
"Yeah…" Dahlia agreed sadly.
"I'm going to go into town." May said as she started walking towards the door.
"Now?" Dahlia asked.
May stopped and turned around. "I want to show the people that the Princess is free again to wander outside the castle."
"Then may I join you?" A voice asked from behind her. Dahlia bowed slightly. May turned around.
"Dad." May said.
"I think that we should talk while in the carriage." Norman said.
"Umm okay." May said. May looked back at Dahlia, who still has her head lowered. "Dahlia, I'll be back, okay?"
"Of course Your Highness." Dahlia said.
May giggled on the inside and her and her dad walked out. She knows that Dahlia takes her job really seriously. It's a rule that, in front of King Norman or Queen Caroline, she has to call May "Your Highness" and she has to bow whenever she sees them.
The carriage leaves the castle walls and people immediately snap their heads towards the carriage.
"It's the Princess." Someone whispered.
"She's with the King." Another person whispered.
May saw people waving to her and she waved back. She always loved seeing the happy faces on her subjects. They always made her smile. The carriage slowly drove them around the city.
"So what did you need to talk to me about?" May asked.
"It's about this Prince thing." Norman said.
"What about it?" May questioned.
"Well, you know it's your duty to choose a Prince for your husband." Norman started.
May's smile faded, she nodded, and Norman continued. "Just know that I'm not making you marry because of tradition. Your mother and I both want you to be protected. That's all we've ever wanted."
"I understand." May said.
"Do you?" Norman questioned.
"Of course. It's just…" May's voice trailed off.
"Just?"
"Dad, if I marry, I want it to be for love." May said.
"Can't you see yourself loving one of the Princes?"
"Well…" May answered.
Norman sighed. "May, you are a Princess. Listen to this."
(This song is "We Are One" from The Lion King 2.)
Norman sang. "As you go through life you'll see, there is so much that we, don't understand." May and Norman watch up in a tree a baby Pidgey is taking flight for the first time.
"And the only thing we know, is things don't always go," Norman continued. "The way we planned." They see the baby Pidgey fail to fly and it falls. Luckily, the carriage was right underneath the nest and May caught the Pidgey.
May tapped the coachmen's shoulder and he stopped moving the carriage. "But you'll see everyday that we'll never turn away." Norman sang. The mother Pidgey flew down from the nest to May. May held up the baby Pidgey cupped in her hands and the mother Pidgey lifted her baby with her claws and flew up to the nest. "When it seems all your dreams come undone." Norman continued. The carriage continued moving again.
"We will stand by your side, filled with hope and filled with pride," Norman sang as they watched kids playing in the park. "We are more than we are, we are one."
They kept seeing their people waving at them. May waved back. They saw a little kid run out onto the street, trip and fall down. He ran right in front of the carriage and the carriage made an immediate stop. The little boy, probably a 4-year old, started crying. May exited the carriage.
"If there's so much I must be, can I still just be me," May sang as she helped the boy stand up. "The way I am?" She helped the boy walk back to the sidewalk where his mother was. May entered the carriage again and they continued moving.
May saw the gang on the side of a building and they saw her and waved. "Can I trust in my own heart, or am I just one part," May sang as she waved while looking directly at Drew. "Of some big plan?"
They soon passed by the gang. "Even those who are gone are with us as we go on." Norman sang. "Your journey has only begun." He continued as he took May's hand and palmed it between both of his hands.
"Tears of pain, tears of joy, one thing nothing can destroy," Norman sang. "Is our pride deep inside we are one." May frowned and took her hand out of his hands.
May continued waving at more people. "We are one, you and I, we are like the earth and sky." Norman sang. "One family under the sun."
May looked at Norman. "All the wisdom to lead, all the courage that you need," He sang as he took off the crown that he's wearing and held it with both hands in front of him. May looked at it and saw her reflection in the jewels. "You will find when you see we are one."
Norman put his crown back on. The carriage made it back to the castle and entered through the gates. "Listen May," Norman started. "As long as you live here, it's who you are."
Norman left the carriage first and May still sat inside of it, thinking. ("It's who I am. But...what if I don't want to be it?")
"How was the carriage ride?" Dahlia asked.
"It was fine I guess…" May answered.
"What happened?"
"My Dad was explaining that as Princess, it's my duty to marry a Prince, and to rule after them." May sighed. "Things I've heard before."
Dahlia nodded. May continued. "But this time I heard those things, I really started thinking."
"About?"
May walked out to her balcony. "Maybe I don't want to be a Princess if my Dad won't understand that I want to marry for love."
"Don't say that Your Highness." Dahlia said as she walked out to the balcony as well. "I mean, if you don't want to marry a Prince for tradition, at least do it for the people."
May looked at Dahlia and smiled. "Thanks Dahlia. I'll think more on that. I love nothing more than the people."
Dahlia returned the smile. "You're welcome Your Highness."
"I told you already, it's May."
"Princess, it's a rule that I am to call you by your formal title." Dahlia said.
"In front of my parents." May said. "When it's just you and me, I'd like you to call me by name, okay?"
Dahlia hesitated before answering, "I apologize Your Highness. I am to follow the rules the King set."
May looked back at the city from her balcony. "Very well then. Eventually we're going to be great friends and you'll call me May."
"That's highly unlikely Princess." Dahlia said. "A mere servant cannot be friends with the royals."
May looked back at Dahlia. "A servant can't, but you can."
Dahlia cocked her head. "I don't follow."
"You're not a servant. I don't see you in that way and I don't treat you that way." May said. "Your position is Lady-In-Waiting. There's a difference."
"I don't see that much of a difference."
"For one thing, servants are ordered. When have I ever ordered you to do anything?" May asked.
"Umm...well...you…" Dahlia tried to answer that question, but couldn't.
"See? Everything you do like helping me get dressed to meet another Prince are orders from my Dad, but not me." May said. "And besides, friends tell each other things that...they probably don't want to say."
"And?"
"I told you about the person that I might have fallen for from school."
Dahlia's eyes widened. "So you mean we're...friends?" She asked.
"Of course!" May answered. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
Dahlia smiled. "Okay then...May."
"So, the Princess looked at me. That's a sign, right?" Gary asked.
Drew rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure she looked at all of us as a whole group of people."
"Yeah, I'm glad she finally came out again." Ash said.
("Why do I get a strange suspicion that I've met her before?") Drew thought. ("Probably just my imagination, but...those eyes.")