Chapter 2

The next day, before any maid could get to Amelia’s room to help her run her bath, she had done all that there is to be done. 

However, by the time she exited the bathroom, her dress had been laid out on the bed.

“Your highness, if I may.” 

She looked up to see who the unfamiliar voice belongs to and she saw a maid she could not recognize, standing at the centre of her room with her head bowed. Amelia moved closer to the maid and eyed her.

“Where’s Helen?” 

Helen was the maidservant that had been assigned to take care of Amelia’s basic needs like getting her dressed and setting up her meal table, among others. 

"Her Majesty, the Queen summoned her.” The princess nodded. 

After helping her get dressed in a white royal robe trimmed with gold, a dress that had been picked earlier from her unique royal attires, the maid also pulled her hair back in a braid and then fixed her hair ornament.

“Thank you.” Amelia said as she stood up from the seat she sat on. Leaving the dressing table behind, she headed for her bed. 

“Here, your highness!” The maidservant bowed slightly, handing her a cup of tea.

“Your meal is ready. Should I get it for you?”

The princess shook her head negatively. The maid nodded lightly and decided to wait on her lady. She needed to take the tea cup away and she’d also be on wait till Amelia’s personal maidservant comes back.

“Is His Majesty busy?” Amelia suddenly asked after taking a sip from the cup. 

“I’m not sure, your highness.”

The young princess wanted to say something else but then shut her mouth on a second thought. Maidservants were not meant to be all chatty with their masters. That explains the type of short but polite replies they, most times give to any questions they are asked. 

Few seconds later, Amelia handed over the tea cup to the maidservant who exited her chambers to get it to the kitchen. 

While the maid was away, Amelia sauntered over to a reading desk that was across her room. She pulled back the chair, sat down and grabbed a book off the table. 

That was the third book she’d be reading that week. She loved reading stories and also the feelings these books give. They always make her get lost in a whole new world, one free from royal issues.

Amelia heard someone come into her room. 

“You may leave to attend to other duties. I’m fine by myself.” She dismissed the maidservant without taking her eyes off her book.

“I already dismissed her.” 

Amelia sprang up from her seat, realizing it wasn’t the maidservant but her mother that came into her room.

“Mother,” She curtsied. “What brings you here?”

Queen Alyssa moved away from the door and strolled into the room fully. 

“I’m here to talk to you, Princess Amelia.”

Letting out a sigh, Amelia dropped her book and proceeded to join her mother. She already knew what her mother would say to her.

“I’m all ears, mother.”

 The two ladies sat down and Queen Alyssa, the older one, reached out for Amelia’s hands. 

“First, I’d like to apologize for the way I reacted yesterday. I’m really sorry, dear.”

Amelia gave a slight nod. 

“I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I ought to be the understanding one since I’ve been in your shoes before. I know how it feels to be involved in an arranged marriage yet I couldn’t give you the shoulder to lean on instead I attacked you for misunderstanding our intentions.”

“It is fine, mother. It really is.”

“Also, I’d really want you to be prepared for tomorrow.” Queen Alyssa paused and stared into her daughter’s eyes. Amelia, on the other hand did not display any emotions after hearing her mother mention the wedding which would hold the next day. 

“I know this is something you need time to get ready for but things played out this way and there is nothing we can do about it.” The queen let out a shaky breath. “It feels so hard to let go of you.”

Amelia forced a smile, watching her mother at the verge of breaking down. 

“I’m sorry, my child.” Queen Alyssa tried to blink back the tears that clouded her eyes but to no avail. The young princess, moved by her mother’s emotion state, raised her hand and wiped the queen’s tears with her thumb. She had never seen her mother cry and she understood her mother felt emotional about her only child leaving her soon. 

Queen Alyssa forced a smile. 

“This is no time for this.” She said as she held her daughter’s hands in hers. “I would really want us to talk about your marriage.”

“What about it?” Amelia frowned.

She already accepted her fate. She knew there was nothing she could do to change the situation and Amelia wasn’t even ready to throw any tantrum so she wasn’t sure what her mother wanted to discuss.

“I just wanted to confirm you’ve truly accepted this. I hope you won’t try to do anything funny tomorrow.”

Amelia laughed and shrugged.

“What would I possibly do other than get married?”

“Maybe because I tried to escape before I eventually married your father.” The queen smiled. “I have a feeling that might happen. You seem to take after me a lot.”

Amelia’s eyes widen as she gaped at her mother.

“You did? I thought you love him.” 

“Well, like I said, our marriage was arranged and I didn’t get to meet him before the day. I had a mixed feeling about getting married to someone I’ve never met.”

“Oh, mother!” Amelia wailed. Her mother was finally relating to her thoughts. 

Queen Alyssa patted her daughter on the head and pulled her in for a hug.

“I understand how you feel, my child. Thankfully, you won’t be getting married to someone you haven’t seen before.”

A frown creased on Amelia’s forehead as she wiggled herself out of her mother’s embrace.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Prince Andrew was at your birthday party. You might have seen him for a brief moment.”

“Even with that, I can’t possibly recognize him.”

“We might have crossed paths at the party, with several princes coming my way. I just pray he wasn’t one of those I ignored.” Amelia thought. “It’d be such a headache to try to apologize.”   

“To help you two familiarize, he had stayed behind with his parents after your party.”

Queen Alyssa said and couldn’t help but smile as she watched her daughter’s eyes widen in surprise and shock.

 “What?” Amelia exclaimed. “He is in this palace? How in the world did I miss that?” 

 “You missed that because you have been busy sulking about the marriage. We’ve had breakfast and dinner together since the past two days but you were absent and couldn’t notice because you failed to leave your room.” The queen explained and Amelia couldn’t help but palm her face.

Her mind wandered off to what the royal family of Dustrich would think about her. This was the family she’d marry into, yet she couldn’t even give them any iota of respect while they are still in her kingdom. What would the prince think of her act? 

“I suddenly have a lot of things to apologize about.” She murmured.

“Do not worry about that!” Amelia glanced at her mother. “We already gave a reason for your absence.”

Few minutes later, her mother left her room and Amelia was all alone to ponder on a lot of things.

The issue of her marriage was becoming more real as hours pass by and she just got the strength to accept that. Now that she got to know that her groom was somewhere around the palace and the wedding would take place the next day, she became more anxious. 

“What kind of person is he? How does he look like?” 

The questions lingered in her mind as she looked forward to seeing Prince Andrew Harrison Brown soon.

~

Amelia had managed to take her mind off her anxiousness with the help of her book. She was so engrossed in it that she was barely aware of the situation around her and how long she had been glued to the book. 

Her stomach grumbled in objection to the unfair treatment, bringing it to her notice that she didn’t have breakfast. She looked out of her window to realize it was noon.

She had thought she’d go to the kitchen to get something that interests her and eat but with her mother’s visit and her dedication to the book; she forgot her plans to eat.

Hearing her stomach rumbled the second time; Amelia dropped the book and stood up from her bed. She stretched and tried to fix her dress, ready to head out to get herself something to eat. 

Helen wasn’t back yet and the other maid was nowhere close to her room when she checked earlier. All she could see was a deserted pathway. Well, except for the few guards she saw at the far end of the hallway, there was no maid around. Hence, her only option was to do this herself. 

She wondered where her maids were and she didn’t remember to ask her mother why she summoned Helen, hoping Helen would report to her when she comes back.

Closing the door behind her, the guards turned to her and bowed. She proceeded towards the kitchen but stopped in her tracks when she noticed a guard followed her.

“You should head back. I’m just heading to the kitchen.”

“But your highness…”

“I’ll be fine on my own. I just need to get something.” Amelia smiled, hoping the guard would leave her alone. 

She hated being followed around by guards. She was still in the palace after all and not outside. No harm could possibly come near her with how tight the security was in the palace. 

But none of these guards would hear any of it. They all wanted to protect her like their lives depended on it and she couldn’t blame them. Their lives actually depend on it. All the guards assigned to her were meant for her protection. Nothing less!

“You can stay back.” 

The guard hesitated for a moment before he nodded. He knew nothing could possibly go wrong with the princess in the palace even if she stayed the whole day without her guards. He stepped back, bowed slightly and turned to his station. 

Amelia heaved a sigh of relief and continued her walk to the kitchen. On her way to her intended destination, she could see maidservants and guards hustling around the palace. She knew it’d be for nothing else but her wedding. 

Ignoring the movements, she got to the kitchen and there was no difference from the hustling and bustling she witnessed on her way. The workers in the kitchen were also getting ready for the big day. 

“Your highness,” a maid saw her and curtsied, calling the attention of others to Amelia. They all paused and acknowledged her presence. The head of the kitchen staff came up to her while the others returned to their work. 

“Your highness, what brings you here?”

“I apologize for disturbing your work.” Amelia said. “But I’d like to get something to eat. I missed breakfast.”

“Would you like some pottage, your highness?”       

“Yes, please.”

The woman excused herself and came back few minutes later with a bowl of pottage.

“Here you go!”

“Thank you.” Amelia grinned at the woman and as if on cue, her stomach joined her in appreciation by rumbling. The head maidservant couldn’t help but smile at how adorable the young princess looked that moment.

The woman curtsied and left to continue her work while Amelia found a comfortable corner to consume her meal. She didn’t want to head back to her chamber and come back again to return the bowl.

Taking in the first scoop of her pottage, Amelia couldn’t help but hummed in pleasure of the satisfaction the taste of the meal gave. 

Without much delay, she gobbled the meal. After several failed attempts to clean the bowl up herself and also lend a helping hand to the maids, Amelia exited the kitchen.

With hunger out of her way, she felt more energized and was ready to head back to her room. 

“I should head back. I need to finish my book as soon as I can.” She muttered under her breath as she walked away from the kitchen. 

“Your highness,” Some maids curtsied. She smiled in return but as she walked past them, she suddenly remembered something which made her stop and turn to the maids.

“Have you seen the King today?” 

The maids glanced at one another, hoping someone would nod affirmatively but they all looked unsure so they shook their heads. 

“Okay.” Amelia smiled and walked on, changing her directions. 

Initially, she wanted to confirm if anyone has seen her father and if they probably knew where he was. She didn’t want to barge in on a busy king and she also had no idea where he was. 

“If Helen was here, I’d have sent her to check. I really hope father is not busy with any meeting.”

“My wedding is tomorrow. I doubt if he’d be free.” She thought and sighed. 

“I should just visit mother instead and tell her what I want.”

“Oh my, he is so handsome.” Amelia paused and turned. “Even his body is well built.”

The young princess squint as she watched two maids gushed dreamily over someone. She wondered who they were talking about so she moved closer to them without them noticing. 

“After he had walked past us, his scent still lingered in the air and I love it. Don’t you?” One of the maids squealed, careful not to raise her voice so high that it’d call the attention of the object of admiration. 

“I do but do you know we ought not to speak about the prince in this manner?” 

“The prince?” Amelia frowned. 

“Did I finally run into my soon-to-be husband?” She scoffed.

“We could be punished if we get caught.” The second maid cringed. 

“Well, I’d advise you run along before you get caught.”

The maids turned and gasped, seeing Amelia walked up to them.

“Your highness!” The two girls bowed. 

“I bet you have no work to do.” Amelia commented, eyeing the baskets they held each. They were full of flowers so the princess could already guess they were sent to the flower garden to get some flowers but they ended up making the prince their object of attention.

“Forgive us, your highness.” They pleaded, scurrying away from her presence.

Their voices grabbed the attention of the prince and he ended up turning back. Amelia let out a sigh.

“Now that he has seen me, do I need to go say hi?”

The princess watched the young prince squint his eyes, trying to make her face yet the sun was a hindrance.

“It’d be rude to leave like this. Let’s just get this over with.” Amelia sighed. “Starting tomorrow, he’d be my husband anyway. There’s nothing to fear.”

Amelia tugged at her dress slightly to avoid stepping on it as she stepped into the garden. As she moved closer to the prince, she felt every hair on her skin stand. 

“I’m not nervous.” She reassured herself.

“Prince Andrew Harrison Brown!” Amelia curtsied.

“Andrew would have been fine.” The prince clicked his tongue which made Amelia raised her head to look at the prince’s face.

“Did I just hear wrong?” she thought but shrugged it off. 

However, on a second thought, Amelia gasped slightly. 

“Oh my! Is he one of the princes I ignored? Is that why he sounds annoyed?”

“Prince Andrew,” The young princess proceeded to speak, in an attempt to apologize to him. “I…” 

“What do you want?” The supposed prince Andrew cut her off with his curt reply.

“What?” Amelia blinked in surprise.

“What is wrong with him?” she thought.

Lost for words, Amelia watched as the prince moved away from her. 

“I believe I can take your silence as an answer. You have nothing to speak to me about so I’d like you to excuse me.” He said, his face void of any expression. “I have a wedding to get ready for.”

He bowed slightly and began to walk towards the exit of the flower garden. Amelia caught a whiff of his scent as he walked past her and it brought her out of the dumfounded state and snapped her back to her senses. 

“Prince Andrew!” she called, her voice slightly raised. The prince halted his steps but didn’t turn to look at her.

Amelia took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and think of what to say.

“He’s only annoyed because he was one of those I ignored at the party. That has to be the reason.” She thought. “I only need to apologize about that, right?”

“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you with any of my actions.” She stated. “I apologize for my mistakes, your highness.”

“Your actions?” Prince Andrew scoffed and turned to look at the young princess. “I thought you had a good reason for not showing up at the dining hall. Clearly, no offense taken!”

“So?” She breathed.

“Your only mistake would be getting married to me and expecting me to love you.” Amelia’s breath hitched. 

“I hope you get that! Excuse me!” Prince Andrew said and left the princess, standing right in the middle of the garden, stunned. 

“This is the rude and arrogant brat I’d spend the rest of my life with? I’m doomed!”