Ariel's Predicament

Ariel came in just in time to save her mother from saying anything further. Her mother might end up yelling at Prince Richard or even chasing him away from the palace.

Prince Richard saw Ariel coming and his face brightened up. He approached Ariel, took her hand, and kissed her knuckles like a gentleman. Her mother who witness the scene blamed her husband for being such a foolish King, he didn't even negotiate with the Prophetess. If the whole thing was negotiable, he wouldn't have arranged the marriage for his beloved daughter because her happiness was his pride.

"Prince Richard, I'm glad to see you. You could have informed me about your arrival." Ariel said with a gentle tone.

"Oh, My Lady. I'm sorry about my unannounced visit." He leaned closer to her. Queen Rebecca was uncomfortable with the scene and decided to intervene, now that Prince Richard would eventually leave the palace with heartache.

"Ariel dear, come sit with me." Queen Rebecca smiled at her daughter motioning her to sit beside her. While Prince Richard sat opposite them.

"Prince Richard, what brought you here then?" The Queen spoke with a cold tone. Ariel wondered why her mother was treating Prince Richard like a stranger.

Ignoring the Queen, he held Ariel's palm gazing into her dark crystal eyes. "Ariel, I'll be relocating to my palace in three days and I want you to come with me." He spoke firmly, he continued after seeing the worried look on Ariel's face. "Don't worry about my father, I'll settle things with him. I want you to be my Queen, Ariel."

Queen Rebecca gave Ariel a warning look, leaving her daughter to handle the situation at hand.

Ariel knew she can't go with Prince Richard to his so-called new palace. This wasn't going on well with her. She needs to get married to the unknown being her father has arranged for her. Prince Richard was her childhood sweetheart and they both dreamt of getting married once they come of age but now the reverse was the case as none of their dreams came to pass. This was her fate and she needed to accept it.

Ariel was drowning in her thoughts when suddenly she heard voices calling her name, forgetting the fact that she was in the company of her mother and Prince Richard.

"Ariel... are you okay?" The Queen and Prince Richard both said in unison.

Erasing the thoughts from her head, she came back to reality. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good." She forced a smile.

"You heard what Prince Richard said. What's your response to his proposal?" Queen Rebecca was now impatient as she was the one to speak first.

Ariel cleared her throat before she could respond to her mother's question." Hmmm... Hmmm..." She then turned to face Prince Richard. "Prince Richard, about your proposal. I...I..." Ariel shuttered.

"Lady Ariel, don't, please don't turn down my proposal. You know this was what we both wanted for ourselves back then." Prince Richard pleaded, rendering Ariel to become speechless. This was what they wanted back then. But she was glad he made use of the past tense.

Queen Rebecca found all of it interesting as she waited patiently this time to see where the whole thing will end. She just sat back to watch.

"I know we both wanted this but it's in the past now. I'm getting married to someone else in three days." Ariel bowed her head so she won't meet his gaze.

Prince Richard couldn't believe his ears. His heart was broken into a million pieces. He went through a lot to make his relationship with Ariel a success. To the extent, he disobeyed his father. He felt like crying his eyes out but it was all to no avail.

"Ariel, you're getting married in three days? To who? A knight? A Prince? A King? Just tell me who?" He asked with a wary voice.

Queen Rebecca couldn't believe she eats as well. She wasn't surprised though because she knew King Lexis must have told Ariel so she sighed in relief. Unknown to her that the girl hasn't fully accepted the marriage proposal to the King of Vallat.

"Quit it with the question, Prince Richard. I can't be your Queen. I belong to someone else." Ariel almost broke into tears. Who did she belong to actually? A man she didn't know, a man she hasn't seen before. Her life was a mess.

Prince Richard couldn't bear the rejection anymore so he stood up to leave. He halted when he heard Ariel's voice from behind.

"I'm sorry!"

He knew she was crying from how she sounded. He didn't waste much time leaving.

Ariel was ashamed of herself. Her mother just recovered from the shock. She didn't expect Ariel to be that brave. To this extent, she turned down the proposal of her childhood crush. Queen Rebecca didn't know what to feel. Was she supposed to be happy or sad?

She held Ariel's palm. The girl's cheek was already stained with tears. Queen Rebecca's heart skipped a bit when she saw the tears that rolled down her daughter's cheek but she couldn't do anything to help her out of it.

"Ariel child, I assure you things will turn out well. I didn't marry your father because I love him. Our marriage was a political one, it was an agreement between both Kingdoms and as time went on we fell in love with each other and that was what contributed to your existence. I wished you wouldn't go through that but I guess it's your fate." Queen Rebecca exhaled as her frown deepened. Her words were not enough to make Ariel stop crying but the poor girl wailed. She held onto her mother and sobbed on her shoulder.

Queen Rebecca patted her hair and reassured her that everything will turn out well with time.

Prince Richard on the other hand was going through a lot of pain as his childhood sweetheart rejected him for another man. What has the man done to Ariel to make her reject him? They have known each other for years and how did things manage to end up the way they did? He was uneasy as starved himself throughout the rest of the day.