2 chapter two The announcement

I stood up abruptly holding up my sword. "Why did you stop?" I asked sharply. He stared at me. "You're a girl. I can't fight a girl." His face looked like a mixture of confusion and awestruck. "Seriously?!" I yelled angrily.

I cursed under my breath. "So you won't fight?" He shook his head. "Too bad because I will." I kicked him between the legs, and hit him on the head with the hilt of my sword knocking him unconscious.

I should kill him. He knows I'm a girl and if word got out it would be bad. It's illegal for a girl to fight in the army not to mention the princess of Nobria.

I should silence him before he can tell anybody, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it. I can't bring myself to shove my sword through his chest. So I left him where he was.

It was sunset when we got back. Half of our soldiers were dead. They had been killed in the line of duty so we would honor them by sending their families extra money. We would have brought the bodies back on our way back, but we had decided it would be best to take a different route in case there were more of them waiting to finish the rest of us off. I cared about the loss of our soldiers more than other people did. Most of them had been drafted, but every now and then you would find a few who volunteered to fight for their kingdom.

I had proposed the idea two years ago about stopping the drafts and letting the people do it voluntarily. That hadn't gone well.

I walked down the halls toward my room. My skin now scrubbed clean of sweat and blood smelt like flowers. I had put jeans and a tunic on again. The sight of prince Noah walking towards me pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Princess Freya." He did a quick bow. "Prince Noah." I curtsied.

Noah smirked at what I was wearing and took a step towards me. "I know what you're doing." I stood there confused. "I'm not sure I know what you mean." He took another step and I forced myself to resist the urge to step back. "Ohh I think you know exactly what I mean and it's not going to work." he took yet another step towards me and this time I did step back. I meant to get further away but my back hit the wall. "Really now?" I asked sarcastically. He walked forward and we were now toe to toe with each other.

"I plan to make you my wife, but it seems the king and queen are still deciding, otherwise I would have already announced it." "Too bad I don't plan on getting married." He chuckled then put his hands on the wall on both sides of my face. "That's one of the things I love about this. You. Don't. Have. A. Choice." One of his hands detached from the wall and grabbed my chin. I moved so fast it hardly registered on his face. I grabbed the hand that was on my face and twisted his arm around to his back painfully. "Don't you dare touch me again! If you think this is going to be easy then think again. I'm not just some pretty toy for you to play with." I released him and walked to my room without looking back.

Mei was waiting for me when I opened the door. "How did it go?" She asked curiously as she folded clothes and neatly laid them out on the dresser. "I messed up, Mei." She turned towards me looking worried. "What do you mean?" "We got ambushed, and I was fighting this guy. He fought better than almost anyone I've seen. He knocked me off my feet and well.. my helmet came off and… my bun fell out." Mei's face dropped. "And do you want to know what the worst part is? That after I knocked him out I-I didn't kill him. I just left him." "Are you sure he knew you were a girl?" I laughed but not like it was funny. "Of course he knew. He stopped fighting me after he figured it out." Mei had stopped what she was doing to give me her full undivided attention. "Well I don't think he's going to tell anyone, and if he does who will believe him? It's not like you gave him your real or fake name. So you'll probably never see or hear from him again." I sank down on my bed. "You're right I'm probably just overreacting."

Something dawned on Mei's face before she spoke. "Okay please don't be mad, but your mother and father arranged for you to spend the whole day tomorrow with prince Noah." I tried to contain my anger. "Anything else?" I asked in a voice that sounded like nothing was wrong. "Yes. Your mother said if you don't wear the clothes she picks out for you then she'll lock you in your room until you decide to wear them." She squeaked out. I let out a sigh. "Alright." I gave in. "You can leave now I'm gonna get some sleep." She curtsied. "Goodnight princess Freya." "Good night Mei."

When she shut the door behind her sleep came faster than I thought.

I dreaded getting out of bed as I lay on my mattress. I knew I would have to get up sooner or later, but I was hoping for the latter. Sadly the world was not on my side today as Mei quietly walked in and closed the door. I groaned loudly making sure she heard it from where she was standing. "You have to get some time today and it might as well be now." She insisted as she walked over to open the curtains. Sunlight poured into my room and I squinted my eyes against it. Mei went to the closet and came out with fancy black riding pants along with boots and a matching jacket with a shirt. I groaned again. My body finally finally decided to get up and I dragged myself out of bed.

At least we were riding, so if I wanted to I could just speed up the horse and act like it went bonkers.

I laughed to myself at the thought.

Though I knew that he would probably see through the lie.

I begrudgingly got dressed and tied my hair up in a ponytail. Nothing to elaborate. My hair swaying past my bottom ribs. When I opened the door to head for the stables I was startled when I came face to face with Prince Noah, but reframed from jumping or emitting a noise. His body was barely inches away from mine. His head was leaning slightly toward my face. I abruptly stepped back into the safety of my room. "I was planning on meeting you at the stables." My statement lacked all emotion except for a slight annoyance leaking into my voice. He just smirked at me. "Well I thought I'd surprise you." I held back my scoff. "You'll soon learn I hate surprises, and I don't think it's particularly appropriate for you to show up outside my bedroom door." He just stepped back and looked me up and down slowly, his gaze lingering. "I'll just have to change that." He replied ignoring my last comment. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the stables where two gorgeous black horses were waiting. We settled ourselves on the intricately designed saddles. "So tell me about yourself. What are your interests?" Noah asked as we set into a slow walk on one of the many riding trails with two guard's trailing behind us. "I like studying the old world." I said truthfully. "Ahh yes, the time where humans weren't aware of the things that go bump in the night. Idiots if I say so myself."

"Quite the opposite actually." I disagreed. "The ways of their education were profound and ingenious. They even managed to come up with a device that captured an exact moment in time to keep so they could look upon it whenever they wanted to. They were just not prepared for the war that came." the blood war

I had been told multiple times in my life that I was a very stubborn person, and if I ever set my beliefs then nothing could change them. Noah made a hand signal to the guards behind us. And I realized they were falling further behind. I was not afraid. If I wanted to I could kill him without him even realizing that I had moved. "So I see you're very passionate. Are you that passionate about your fighting?"

My heart rate increased by a smidge, but I wasn't going to let it show.

I knew he was just trying to get under my skin. The only time he had seen me in action was in the hallway. "Self-defense." I replied.

"Really now? Who taught you self-defense?" He questioned. "My grandfather. He believed that women should be able to defend themselves if necessary." I said admitting some truth. My grandfather had taught me how to fight. He was the greatest warrior that ever fought. He had died of an unknown sickness two years ago. "Well I strongly disagree." He said with a scowl. "Who cares if you disagree." I spat not really saying it as a question but as a statement with a hidden meaning behind it that I knew he would understand. I did not care. Anger flashed across his face before it quickly turned into a smile. "Well considering you'll be my wife a lot of people would care. I would make sure our children most definitely would disagree." I scoffed. My insides turning as the thought of me becoming his wife, bearing his children plagued my mind. "Dream all you want but I will never become your wife, much less give you children." I viciously spat. I stopped my horse and Noah stopped beside me. He jumped down off his horse and made his way towards me before pulling me down to stand in front of him. The guards were no longer in sight. "Wha-" My protest cut off as he pushed me to the ground on the soft grass. I would have stood up and beaten the crap out of him but I didn't want to blow my cover. I knew he could tell the difference between self-defense and a trained fighter. His body was quickly on top of mine. His hands pinning my wrists down painfully. "You will soon learn just how wrong you are." He said quoting my words from earlier. "You will be mine whether you like it or not." He pushed his lips onto mine, hard and demanding. Then he shoved his tongue into my mouth feeling every inch of it. I struggled underneath him. Somehow through my panic I couldn't remember how to fight back. He started trailing kisses down my neck. I went to scream but then one of his hands covered my mouth. Both of my wrists in his other hand. He stuck his tongue out and started licking my neck in every spot he kissed. My screams muffled by his hand which he soon replaced with his mouth. His free hand trailed down my body where he grabbed my butt. I bit his lip but he didn't cry out or curse. He just pulled his mouth from mine and flicked my nose with his tongue. He smiled and grabbed my chin roughly. "Just a little something to look forward to." He quickly got to his feet. I heard footsteps approaching us, probably the guards. Noah grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I tried to back away, his hand was on my back. He leaned toward my ear. "If you tell anyone about that then you might need a new maid servant. I heard how much you like yours." He released me and I stumbled back. Anger was written all over my face. I didn't wait for Noah. I got back on the horse and cantered back to the castle. I felt hot tears run down my cheeks. I was crying? I was princess Freya of Nobria, I didn't cry. Except I was. Noah had stolen my first kiss. As petty as it sounds I was upset about it. I knew my parents were going to try and marry me off and I'd eventually get kissed. But I had wanted to give my first kiss to someone of my choice, not my parents, and now that was gone.

When I got back to my room Mei had asked me what happened. I simply told her that I wanted to be left alone. She left without pushing me for information. I stayed in my room the rest of the day not wanting to come out. Mei brought me food which I nibbled on, but didn't finish. I felt dirty, not on the outside but on the inside. I kept telling myself I was being petty. All he had done was forcefully kiss me and feel my body up and down, but it was my first kiss. I eventually fell asleep.

I jerked awake at the sound of something hitting the floor. My eyes searched the room until they landed on Mei. She bent down to pick up the pieces of a glass pitcher which had shattered on the floor. "Oops, sorry Freya I didn't mean to wake you." I rubbed my eyes. "It's fine." Mei hissed in pain when she picked up a shard and dropped it. A line of blood staining the edge. "Are you okay? What are you rushing about, this early in the morning?" I asked. "I'm fine. Queen Amelia has planned a huge party tonight and is requesting that everything be done perfectly, so it's kind of hectic right now." I stilled. "Why is she planning a party at the last minute?" Mei just shrugged. This was very unlike my mother. She would plan 6 months ahead. There was no way she just wanted a party. The question is what is she planning? I had a feeling I knew what, But I didn't want to admit it.

As soon as I was up and walking around the castle I noticed the rush everybody was in. The maids were scurrying about as fast as they could, the cooks were going crazy with how much food they were cooking. Decorations littered the halls. The main colors are pink, blue and white. I decided I was going to spend the day reading in the library away from people.

The library was huge with books in every place you looked. It was about the size of the ballroom. As I stepped through the doors I breathed in deeply, relishing that smell of novels with romances you could only dream of, the smell of pages whose words could occupy anybody for days, the smell of home.

The castle had never felt like home to me, but a room filled with books that was home.

I decided to read some of the old books which we had recovered.

I picked out one book with an illustration of a rose. I had read the book many times before. It was about a girl who was forced to live in a castle with a beast. At first she was fearful of the beast, but she soon grew feelings for him, something neither of them expected. For who could ever love a beast? It was one of my favorite stories. A story that didn't care about how a person looked. A story about a girl who could see the best in everyone.

I couldn't see the best when everyone, but I had a knack we're seeing what people actually wanted, what their motives were.

Mei came and got me when I was in the middle of a particularly good book. "Are you sure I can't just call in sick?" I asked jokingly.

Mei had her hands on her hips and was staring at me like I was crazy.

"Your mother would only kill you but also me." she huffed. I threw up in the air giving in. "Fine!" I muttered standing up.

"Why are people in books so much more interesting then in the real world?" She laughed then flicked her shoulder-length black hair in a mockingly flirting way. "Hey! What about me? I'm interesting."

I just giggled. When we got to my bedroom my dress was laid out on the bed. It was strapless. The dress was a pure white with roses and random wild flowers on the bottom. The roses on their intricate vines wrapped around and went up to the waist. When I put it on, it was soft and silky.

Mei spent an hour doing my hair and then another doing my makeup.

My eyeshadow was dark purple, my cheeks slightly tinted pink, and then my lips were painted redder than the roses on my dress. My hair was in a messy bun with curled pieces of hair tugged out and arranged around my face.

"Mei we have to go or we're gonna be late."

"I know, just putting on the finishing touches." After messing around with my hair a bit more she stepped back and surveyed me. "Perfect."

As we approached the steps of the ballroom a voice called out.

"Announcing princess Freya." Everyone turned to look at me as I walked down the stairs to the ballroom. I quickly made my way to the food table.

I hated going to parties like these. My plan was to stuff my face with food for a couple of hours then make some excuse and leave.

I didn't want to stay longer than I had to. I grabbed a chocolate covered strawberry off the plate and popped it into my mouth relishing the sweet taste. Footsteps behind me made me turn and I came face to face with Prince Noah. He held out a hand. "May I have this dance?" He asked innocently. What I wanted to say was 'no you may not', but I kept my mouth shut and nodded my head. People were watching, I couldn't just beat the crap out of him in front of everyone. The song was slow, and when we reached the dance floor he curled his arm on my waist holding me against him. I had the sudden urge to break his arm but fought against it.

Noah was smiling like he knew something I didn't, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of asking what it was.

"Well you look absolutely stunning tonight." I just rolled my eyes at him.

"I would say the same, but that would be a lie." It was true. He was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt that was too thin. I knew it was made thin for a reason, to show off his skin tone and muscles.

It might have appealed to the other ladies in the room, but it didn't appeal to me. He just snorted at my comment. "I hope you don't expect to be able to talk to me so disrespectfully in the future." I hope I never have to see you again. I knew that was impossible, my parents were going to take months to decide who they wanted to marry me off to. I was going to fight tooth and nail to make sure I wasn't going to marry Noah. I had always been against the idea of making a woman marry a person that was not of her choosing.

I believed it was a ridiculous idea and there were other ways of making alliances. "And I hope that you don't expect to be able to control what I say." I glared at him. "Oh I will have control over what comes out of your mouth." before I could ask what the hell he was talking about I heard the clinking of a spoon on a champagne glass. The loud noise drew everyone's attention to the end of the ballroom where my parents sat in their throne-like chairs. My mother sat the glass down on a platter a nearby servant was holding. A smile lit up her face. "I have an important announcement to make." My face drained of color at her words. I knew she was up to something but I never imagined this. My mind racing with other possibilities of what she could be announcing, but I always came back to the same one. "We are making an alliance with King Ronald." My mother paused, and whispers filled the room. My heart was pounding. "My daughter, princess Freya is engaged to king Ronald's son Prince Noah. A date is not yet set, but there will be an alliance-" "No, the hell there won't be!" I yelled, cutting her off. I was going to pay for my outburst later. The people in the room stared at me with shocked faces not only because of my choice of words, but also because of my defiance. I had never spoken anything against them, as far as everyone else knew I did exactly what I was told.. "I have not consented to this." My parents face was a picture of rage. "Everyone out." My father's words were filled with anger. Soon the room was emptied of people except for me, my mother, my father… and Noah. Mom strode toward me and slapped me across the face. The sound echoed through the room. I resisted the urge to break her arm.

"What were you thinking?!" she screeched. "That I have a choice in who I marry. I will not allow someone to force me to marry someone that I hate."

"You don't have a choice!" my father yelled. "There is no point in arguing because you will marry prince Noah." I glared at him. "I will not." I replied in a calm voice, but really I was raging on the inside. "If you were a boy this never would have happened." father said, almost more to himself then to us.

And there it was. The one thing that my parents had never directly told me.

They wished I was a boy, they wished so badly that they had a son who was strong. They never stopped to realize that their daughter was strong, Stronger than they could have ever imagined… and that was what hurt the most, that they never saw me, that they wanted me to be something I'm not.

"If I may," Noah started, and I wanted to tell him to shut it. "I think me and princess Freya could better acquaint ourselves if we traveled to my Father's castle." I glared at him, but he continued. "I think if she knew me better she would not be so apprehensive to this marriage. We could also set a date while we're there." My mother beamed at him. "That's a wonderful idea!" she exclaimed, and something in my stomach twisted. "You leave tomorrow morning." My stomach twisted further.