Chapter 3

We walked up to the carriage that was waiting for us, and as we stepped in I saw my parents nearby waving goodbye to me. My heart felt like it was being squeezed inside of my chest, an anxious and sad feeling. I'd miss them so much, I wished it was tradition to live in the brides kingdom. But of course, princesses were just possessions. I often wished I was born a commoner just so I had more freedom, but I recognized the privilege I had and how silly it was to wish that. I always had to remind myself to not complain about my situation, there were worse callings in life.

As soon as the carriage shut I faced him again, this was my new husband. Husband. Husband. Husband. I kept thinking the word, hoping my head would process it. He looked over at me and smiled, that heart melting smile again. It made me feel like I'd never felt before, and I'd met a hundred handsome men in my time.

"So, Princess Madri, tell me about your kingdom. Most of what I know is what my father told me, but I'm curious to hear it from your perspective."

"Well," I started, choosing my words carefully, "I don't know much about policy or other royal matters, but Northbreak is a beautiful town known for its horse trade."

Eroan's smile faded slightly, replaced by a look of concern. "Madri, I have no ill intention. I'm not trying to see if you know any secrets. I hope you can take my word that I'm a more honest man than that. And in the spirit of full honestly, I've seen you before. I knew who I would be marrying."

I crumpled my brow in confusion, wouldn't I have known if I'd seen him before? All royalty was announced to us and stayed with us.

"How?" I simply asked.

"I came in as a commoner," he shrugged. I felt somewhat upset. It was both dangerous and extremely rude to lie to the guards of Northbreak. But if he was being honest with me about it, could he be all that bad?

"Listen, I swear it wasn't anything against Northbreak, and it certainly had nothing to do with seeing whether or not you'd be good enough," he said, reading my mind. " I just wanted to see you. To see the kingdom. To have an idea of what I was about to get into. I'm not used to places like Northbreak, where I come from is very different."

"How so?" I asked.

He smiled to himself, but this time a somewhat worried one, "You'll see soon."

"Driol has always sounded beautiful, I've heard the stories," I said.

"Ah, I'm sure you've heard a lot of stories about us. Like the ones where magic is involved?"

"No," I lied while blushing, of course I'd meant those ones.

He let out a melodically laugh that made me smile again, "I can assure you that while my kingdom is an incredible place, you have nothing to worry about. There won't be any surprises."

"Well I happen to like surprises," I said back. It was true, I'd always wanted to live out an adventure instead of just reading about them. He furrowed his brow slightly while still smiling, studying me.

"You're a lot different than I expected," he finally said.

"What did you expect?"

"Someone much less interesting. I think there are layers to you. Some princesses I've met care about nothing but dresses and pearls, but you seem different." I nodded, I certainly wouldn't describe myself as being one of those girls.

"Well, you're different than I expected too," I said. "I was worried I'd be married off into a horrible kingdom to an awful man, but so far things have been... good."

Eroan smiled, "Well I'm glad. I do hope you know my only intentions are to make sure you live a safe and decent life. But hopefully you're also satisfied and happy."

My heart started beating a little faster, he really was very sweet. A little too sweet? He had kept asking me questions about the kingdom. Was there any agenda he was trying to push? I pushed my thoughts aside and tried to focus on the moment, I always got caught up in what-if's.

Another thought entered my head though, what if it's all real? What if the man before me was everything I'd ever dreamed of? But I hardly knew him, was it silly of me to already be falling for this prince?

"Madri," he said, "I like that name. Where does it come from?"

"It stems from Madrigal. My mother loves music, as do I."

"Music is more powerful than any of us give it credit for being," he replied. I tilted my head at his response, that was an interesting way to put it. Although, I supposed he was right. There was something almost magical about a perfect song. "I'll make sure we have a musicians at the palace who can perform for you."

I bowed my head, "I'd appreciate that. Thank you very much."

We sat in silence watching the hills and trees go by until we reached Driol, at which point my eyes widened in wonder. The cobblestone paths and brick buildings were similar to those of Northbreak, but they were all littered with small flowers and grass growing between the cracks. There was nature everywhere.

As we rolled up to the castle my jaw almost dropped, the gardens were so beautiful, it was like I'd stepped into one of my books about fairy kingdoms. White roses lines the path we took, and beautiful cherry blossom trees made up a small forest nearby. I couldn't believe my eyes, everything was so beautiful.

I finally looked back at Eroan to see him smiling at me. I blushed and turned away again.

"I'm glad you like what you see," he finally said.

"It's... beautiful. I didn't know places like this existed in real life. I've never seen so many flowers or beautiful trees. Is it even cherry blossom season? They're fully in bloom."

He paused, then answered, "These we had imported from quite far away, they stay in bloom most of the year." I nodded, an interesting answer, but who was I to doubt.

Maybe I should've doubted a bit more, maybe I would've figured things out sooner.