The king's Entrance

"Are you alright, My lord?"Asked a man who had witnessed the whole event with a frown on his face, he looked at the man for a moment before shaking his head with a smile still on his lips, he didn't want to ruin the fun that he was having. He turned around elegantly as if to walk away, the man couldn't help but stare at his back and back at the entrance.

"Shall we?''He asked, making the man nod his head from behind as they left. The ceremony was about to begin but then not without the presence of the king, it was an exchange between the groom and the bride, but then without their families.

Chioma took in a deep breath, as she thought to herself up till now she couldn't understand why her family wasn't invited, it was almost as if she was being sold off and not being married. As they were about to enter, the knight gave a nod to the guard stationed at the main entrance, and he informed me of my presence, then motioned for me to enter the moment my presence was announced. I could feel different gazes raced towards me as the place became slightly noisy.

I felt my legs tremble, as I saw the large crowd and their heated gaze, taking a deep breath, I tried to reassure myself that my situation wasn't that bad and these people weren't wolves that would devour me, as I put a confident smile on my face while embracing their devilish glares, I walked with my head high but kept my gaze away from making eye contact with anyone, only looking away until I was told I had reached where the throne was, only then did I raise my head but then just as I was about to vent my frustrations... I mean great the king, I realized I couldnt see the king except for a woman who smiled at me, for some reason when I saw the smile my heart felt slightly at ease.

She must be the king's mother, I thought to myself. The woman gestured at me to sit down at a table quite close to her. As I sat down, I could tell the rest of the people sitting next to her were unbothered about my presence, they only glanced at me before redirecting their gaze somewhere else, within those glances I could tell most of them were filled with disgust and mockery, but I didn't mind it was not like I was being married off to them right?

Ignoring them, I smiled back at the king's mother and then went to my seat, with each step I took I could feel everyone's eyes were on me, some stared at me with envy and others with pity, although I could understand why I was being stared at with envy, what I couldn't understand was why I was being stared at with pity, my heart couldn't help but skip and beat faster as different thoughts, imagination, and scenarios began to form inside my head, it was needless to say fear was gradually overwhelming my little mind with different horrifying things.

My legs trembled more, but I couldn't fall on the floor. The last thing I wanted to do was create a scene where I could be ridiculed in the presence of everyone. I couldn't help but blame my parents, most especially my wicked and selfish father for my terrible situation. It didn't take long, as if an order of knights were making a special match, the entire hall room soon became quiet, letting only the sounds of footsteps echo, a guard walked in amid the silence and informed the presence of my groom, the king himself.

At this moment, everyone turned their attention from me to the door entrance with a heated gaze. I could even hear discussions of how devilishly handsome the king was said to be. While the hall room had become quiet as the guests awaited the king's entry, I, on the other hand, was beginning to get even more nervous than I was before. I couldn't help but hold my hands together nervously. I wanted to look up, but I was afraid, the thoughts of marriage just kept bringing bad memories and scenes of carnage.

I wasn't worried about whether he was handsome or not, or if he was short or tall, slim or fat, what I was worried about was how he would treat me, have seen how my father treated mother, that the only thing I was praying for was for him not to be anything like my father, I didn't want to have the same type of miserable fate mother had. I didn't want to be afraid, but what could I do? I had never been in love before, because of what I saw and what I fed my mind with, love to me meant miseary and suffering. I was too afraid to take any step into what being in love felt like.

Don't be ridiculous, I told myself and took in a deep breath, and decided to look at the entrance, slowly like in a horror tale. I raised my head gradually and glanced at the entrance as my heart hammered heavily against my chest, and almost gasped out of fear when the king entered.

Wait!

I told myself for some reason, my heart couldn't help but flinch, but I couldn't understand why I was having this feeling, because it was not like I had really met the king before. It couldn't be that he had heard me when I was cursing him could he?

But then I felt it was impossible since I always made sure I was the only person there whenever I was cursing him, at same time I never did them out loud. The guests who had been waiting for the king, became even more surprised as well and began to whisper hysterically into each other's ears, although he was said to be handsome it was only rumored since no one had really seen his face before but now everyone felt the rumors were true, most especially his eyes.