AnotidaMandemwa

[WSA 2024 Entry]
Everyone is playing a regal game. Everyone except Lucia (who probably should).

After her father faced accusations of trying to seize the throne from his father and king, he was exiled along with his family. They were no longer royalty, but his wife would not have it. She was friends with the queen of Vershia and used that to her advantage. Her two older daughters were the right age to marry the two princes, and she would make that happen come what may.

That became a problem when the oldest daughter was ignored by the crown prince, who formed a friendship with the youngest of the girls. There was still hope; Lucia could become the future queen. But Lucia was not groomed for this role. She did not want to live for the type of marriage she could snag. She did not want to take the man who had been planned for her sister.

But that’s the thing with plans, isn’t it? She never planned to fall in love with the man, and there she was: an unwilling participant in the regal games. Would she capture the crown? How would everything affect her relationship with her sister? Was there ever pleasing her mother?

Regal Games

With dinner done, Alexander took his wife and her sister to her room while Michael stayed behind to talk with his parents. Alex made himself scarce while Caroline sat her sister down on the couch and took the first real look at her engagement ring.

"A ruby?" she asked as she saw the centrepiece stone. "He gave you a pigeon's blood ruby?"

"You don't approve?" Lucia asked, even though she didn't care either way. She loved the ring, and no one was going to convince her otherwise.

"I thought he was a blue diamond and platinum band kind of guy," Caroline said and then looked at her little sister as she realised her chance had come.

Lucia couldn't run away now. She had been running away from the questions and couldn't do so now.

"So, how did he propose?" she asked.

Lucia looked around, wondering how to answer and where to begin. "We were at White Rock Island," Lucia began.

"White Rock Island for a red rock?" Caroline wondered.

His Future Wife