"Look, father, we need to talk. I'm in love with that man out there, and just because he is a peasant should not make any difference. In fact, it would be better for you and for this entire family if I was to marry him, as he and I both wish I could. Imagine this: I go off to marry another King's son, like you want me to, and form a bond between our nations. But then, decades after, his brother's descendants start a war with my children's children over a petty land dispute. The strength of our bond wasn't very strong then, was it? Alternatively, picture my preferred scenario: I marry one of our own citizens, a peasant, and through the strength of our love as well as our bond in marriage, we solidify a close relationship with our citizenry. We teach our children to treat the common people equally as they would treat a noble, and they teach their children the same, and so on for centuries. We maintain a peaceful, happy and cooperative relationship with our people, and in turn, they are all the more patriotic of their homeland. Imagine, 500 years in the future or more, we would still be remembered - you would still be remembered - for being the first to extend a hand to the lower classes to pick them up, help them shake off the dust, and join in our prosperity! In our love for this country! Think of it, father! Just..."
The princess paused and turned in trepidation toward the mirror in front of which she was practicing her speech.
"I think that would go rather well, even if you didn't finish that last sentence." The love of her life, a peasant she'd snuck in through the basement with the help of the house servants, stood beside her, offering strength and encouragement. She attributed the steadiness of her voice to his presence, his help.
It would not be so easy to say the same again to her father, when her love would not be allowed to enter the room, let alone be banished from the castle for entering without the King's invitation.
"I can't do it," she told him sorrowfully. "You don't know him. His belief is so strong against the subject, nothing I could say would change his mind."
"Say it anyway, then. If you know what the outcome will be, it will not come as a shock, only as an anticipated disappointment from which we can plan our next actions. And if, by some miracle, he should accept what you say, the only possible surprise will be a pleasant one. If he should set tasks I must complete before I am allowed your hand in marriage, then I shall do them, for you are worth every toil and torment he could throw at me. And if he should banish me from the kingdom for the transgression of loving you, I will meet you halfway, come as close as I can to the city walls every night you want me there so we can meet and-"
She put a finger to his lips and gave a worried but determined smile. "If father should banish you from the kingdom, he must banish me too, or else I will go into self-inflicted exile. I want to be with you as much as you want to be with me, and I am willing to go through whatever toil and torment it takes to be your wife." Holding his hand, she brushed herself off, straightened her skirts with her free hand and stood tall, fabricating confidence as well as she could with her expression and posture. "I will do it. I will talk to him. No matter what happens, I will make sure our love for one another is not in vain."
***
Author's Note:
Another short one, I know. Once again, I couldn't think of how to end it. This is sort of a new one. I wrote it a while back and saved it as a draft on my old short story collection but never got around to posting it, but I think it's ready enough now. I can always go back and add more later.
Let me know what you guys think and, as always, thanks for reading! <3
YOU ARE READING
You Are Not Alone
Short StoryThis is a collection of short stories I've written since I started around 2018, when I was in high school. They were originally published on another, more varied collection of writings, but I wanted a more organized and professional-looking collecti...
