PRICE OF ROYALTY

6. Show-off

CHAPTER 6

“Do you Elizabeth, first of your name and princess of Gatiah, take King Leon of Varci to be yours on your own volition? To support, cherish and love in times of war and times of peace? To obey him at all time?” I glanced underneath the veil towards Theo.

“I do,” I answered, knowing I had just sealed my own fate.

“And do you, Theo of Varci, take Elizabeth in the name of King Leon as his companion? To love and be bonded at all times for good of both our kingdoms, in times of war and times of peace?”

“I do,”

The High Priest took the sacred knife, making a cut on each of our right palms. Using a sacred white piece of fabric, he joined our palms together by tying a knot around them to symbolize the sealing of our union.

“With the power bestowed upon me by the gods of our ancestors, I announce that Elizabeth is officially wed to the King of Varci, Leon the third,”

We turned around, raising out tied hands as was the custom. Only a few members of the council and the royal family were present. This being due to the fact it was a marriage by proxy. From the corner of my eye, I caught my father’s eye. He was still beyond furious despite his efforts to hide it. After the knot was untied, I breathed in relief.

“Now as the common custom demands, Princess Elizabeth and the convoy of Varci must return to Varci immediately,” Prince Theo addressed the small crowd of witnesses.

“Of course. May your journey be of blessings,” The king of Gatiah smiled.

After a few more congratulatory wishes, I glanced one last time at the palace I grew up, fighting scorn and ridicule from anyone who got any close to me.

“Princess,” Prince Theo spoke impatiently.

I turned around as he motioned the gold coated carriage, driven by four white horses. Just before we rode off, I spotted Monica and Laura from the huge crowd of onlookers gathered at the palace gates. They were the only people who truly treated me well, apart from Mayra. The moment the horses lurched forward carrying the carriage with them, I also focused on the opening gates. Flanked by Prince Theo’s men on horse backs from either side, I relaxed with my back on the seat.

With my gaze stuck to watching the small houses of the commoners pass by, I could still feel Prince Theo’s gaze on me but I dared not look at him.

“The king was angry about your decision,”

“I’m married now. He can do nothing about it,” I replied without looking.

“Of course,”

The rest of the journey was filled with dire silence. I must have fallen into slumber a few moments after. When I woke up, the carriage had stopped and Theo was standing outside conversing with one of his men. The colorful orange of the evening sun fading into the horizon met my eyes as soon as I stepped out of the carriage.

“Princess,” Theo turned around.

“Why did we stop?” I scanned the surroundings, taking in the bare lands as far as my sights could take me.

“The horses need to feed and rest, so as do we,” He replied, the touch of impatience in his tone had to miss.

“But we are in the middle of nowhere,” I pointed out.

“Your tent will be set in the middle, while my men will have theirs surrounding yours,” He stated instead as he walked off. Sometimes it was really hard to keep my temper in check when he was being impossible.

I stood by the carriage watching Theo bark several orders to the men. Half the men began pitching the tents while the other half ran around, finding pieces of wood to light up a fire.

“This should keep you warm while my men try to find enough wood to last us the night,” I grabbed the red shawl from Theo’s hands.

“Thank you,”

I pulled it around myself, reveling in the warmth that suddenly overflowed my body. Theo walked back to his men and called one of them. He nodded and left coming back with two sparring swords. He handed one to Theo and then they took their positions. That should have bored me to death, but there was something about the way Theo’s calculating gaze on his opponent and how he swung his sword with great skill that peaked my interest. In three blows, he had his opponent on the ground, the wooden sword on his neck.

“You still need to work on the swiftness of your legs Joram,” Theo said as he walked back towards me.

“So how was that?” He asked with an arrogant smirk on his face.

“You mean you showing off? Not bad at all,” I heard his mean chuckle and I realized they had been listen.

“What can I say? My skills have not been rivalled yet,”

“That is not what people say. I’ve heard the King Leon is unrivalled,” I countered.

“Maybe because I’m him,”