Day 4: Arranged Marriage

The masses cheered and celebrated loudly as they marched through the streets. The day drew nearer when the princess would marry her betrothed and continue the royal bloodline for another generation.

There were children who played games in the crowds, vendors who sold sweet treats and all sorts of food, and dancers with ribbons fluttering about. Truly, the celebration was a light-hearted one.

Yet, from her perch high atop the castle, it seemed the only person unhappy with the upcoming marriage was herself, Princess Weiss: daughter of King Jacques and Queen Willow and heiress to the throne of the Kingdom of Atlas.

She watched her people laughing and rejoicing below, but she had no idea why. Why were these people so happy to see her handed off in an arranged marriage to a prince that would only care about the crown and its power? Surely, they must realize a great change is coming to the kingdom, and there was a marginal chance it could be a deplorable one.

And what about herself? Did the princess have a say in whom she would marry? No.

The king had heard from Princess Weiss time and time again how she longed to have any sort of choice in who she married, but he would always say she must do what is best for the kingdom.

She failed to see how marrying a foreign prince helped the situation at all. All she could do was sit in her chambers turned prison under the close watch of the king until she was swept away by some stranger she never cared for.

Princess Weiss had spent every day of her life living in the palace learning how to be a proper princess. As the seasons changed, she found herself loathing this life more and more. She was a princess, yet she barely had any freedom to have what she always wanted. Whom she always wanted.

She considered herself to be a fair princess. She would walk the streets of the kingdom often, and even made good friends with some of the peasants, much to the king's chagrin.

"A princess belongs in the castle among the elite, not rolling around in the muck with the common folk!" he would always say.

Still, Princess Weiss visited the peasants and eventually found a particular liking in a girl with messy, golden hair and lilac eyes.

Ever since they were young, Princess Weiss and that peasant girl longed to be in each other's shoes. Surprisingly, it was what brought them together so closely. For years, they would meet and rant on about the hardships of their lives and reminisce about how the other made life bearable.

As the seasons came and went, Princess Weiss began to notice how her heart swelled every time she looked into those lilac eyes. How calm she felt when wrapped in the strong arms that worked the fields and fed the kingdom. How desperate she felt when their lips touched, and how the fiery passion she had for her burst in her chest.

The princess had fallen in love with a peasant, and she knew the king would never approve.

She realized that, even if the king had allowed her to pick a suitor, she never would have been able to. All because her heart already belonged to someone she could never truly be with. All because of the crown and the cursed blood that flowed through her veins.

Princess Weiss looked down on the joy that flooded the kingdom. And like the rushing water of the mighty river, her tears broke the dam that had been carefully constructed to hide her emotions.

Her hands curled into fists atop the railing and her pristine, creamy face was stained with tears that traced the scar over her eye. She could not bear to watch the crowds any longer. It hurt too much.

She wept as she turned on her heel and entered the main room of her chambers; locked away from anyone else in the castle. Wiping at her eyes in frustration, she found herself lying with her face buried in her arms on her bed in an attempt to quieten her sobs.

Princess Weiss was doomed to live the rest of her life in sadness and sorrow. She would always dream of the life she wanted so desperately to have, only to crush herself when the tragic reality settled in.

A tap on her window made her jump. She snapped her attention to the sound and gasped as she rushed to open it.

"Yang!?" Princess Weiss nearly shouted as her one true love climbed into her chambers, "What are you doing here? If anyone sees you, you'll be executed!"

"I had to see you," Yang breathed, desperately, as she embraced Weiss.

Princess Weiss nearly started crying again as she graciously welcomed the hug and allowed herself to find comfort in it.

Yang pulled away too soon and tilted Princes Weiss' chin up with her thumb and forefinger, "Look at you… I can feel the pain in your eyes."

The princess frowned and held onto Yang's hand as it shifted to cup her cheek, "My pain is because of you. I long to be with you, but it can never be."

"Oh, Weiss…" Yang groaned as she briefly rested her forehead against the princess', "You can't marry that prince. You just can't! I won't be able to live without you! Just the thought of you being with someone else makes my heart ache with pain!"

"You don't understand," whined the princess as she shook her head, "I don't have a say in the matter. My father has decreed that I marry the prince. In the Kingdom of Atlas, his word is the law."

Yang frowned and looked down at her feet. She held on, tightly, to Weiss' hands and pulled herself closer, "Then let's go somewhere else! Run away with me to a place he'll never find us! You can be mine, and I can be yours until death makes it otherwise!"

The princess looked up into Yang's eyes with disbelief. How brash and bold of this peasant to suggest she leave behind her duty as the princess of the kingdom. How tempting, too…

"I… I don't know… What about the dangers that lurk outside the kingdom's walls? How can we be safe on our own? Where would we go?"

"Anywhere you would like, my love," cooed Yang as she stroked Princess Weiss' cheek with her knuckle, "In the meantime, I have family on the island of Patch, just off the western coast of the Kingdom of Vale. We can find refuge there! I already have a friend who is willing to sail us there. All I need is for you to come with me."

Princess Weiss looked out the balcony of her chambers. The sounds of the crowds rejoicing raged on and loomed over her like a dark cloud.

Could she really leave everything she had ever know behind? Especially now?

At the news of her absence, the kingdom would surely be outraged, and the search for her would begin almost immediately. But at last, she was presented with a chance to have the happiness she always dreamed of. The princess would taste the freedom she longed for her whole life: the freedom to choose.

Now, for once in her life, she felt like her life was in her own hands.

Princess Weiss smiled and pulled Yang down by her tattered shirt; pressing a long, loving kiss onto her lips. She couldn't help but laugh as they parted.

"Let's do this! Let's run away together and be in love for the rest of our lives!" cried Princess Weiss.

And so, when darkness fell that night, the princess of the Kingdom of Atlas, clad in a dark cloak and a sack of her dearest belongings, met with her beloved at the docks. The voyage was long, but it was worth it when she was greeted by her new family with open arms.

Princess Weiss, doomed to wedlock with a prince she never cared for, changed her fate, and she found true happiness at last; all because of a peasant she met named Yang.

The End~