Kiraz
Chapter One: Giss and the Arranged Marriage
Giss frowned, leaning her elbows on the windowsill of her tiny stone-walled bedroom. Above lay a curtain of stars, and below the spirals, towers and banners of her parent’s castle. Dissatisfaction knotted in her stomach as she examined the scattered buildings of noblemen and peasants, spreading out to grain and corn fields in the distance, bordered by the sloping mountains and forests.
There were several reasons for the ball in her gut. First of all, her parents had named her Gissandra. Whilst the others in her family wore perfectly normal monikers, like “Belle”, or “Jasmin”, Giss was landed with one recommended for her by the family’s resident fairy godmother, because it was considered “lucky”. If that wasn’t enough to make her harbor a boiling resentment from an early age for all the teasing she received from her sisters, brothers, and virtually all the kids encountered in the thousand kingdoms – then, thrown into the deal, came the business of being the fifth princess in her absurdly extended family, and ninth in line to the throne. This fact was followed by the heavy expectation that at some point in her life, she would be married off to one of the princes in the neighboring kingdoms.
This didn’t stick well with Gissandra. So, when she passed her sixteenth birthday without a prospective suitor, her parents and family became mildly worried. When her seventeenth passed, and she had refused in total four noblemen and two princes of impoverished kingdoms, her mother had gradually started tearing out her own hair in despair, and her sisters treated her as if she was an ogre. Then there was that one prince who tried it on with her one drunken night, and she beat that one away with her sword, pants trailing around his ankles. The public humiliation of that event made the prince of Kor’s kingdom cut all ties.
When her eighteenth birthday came, and she had refused a court invitation from the Black Rose Prince, Ardemar, enough was enough. Since Ardemar hailed from the most powerful kingdom in the world, when her family found out about the rejected letter, they flew into livid fury at her impertinence. Even when Giss tried to explain that Ardemar showed all the warning signs of being a heinous tyrant, rumored to be plotting the murder of his family to obtain the throne (and had already caused several prominent deaths), they refused to listen.
So, she tried her best to completely avoid unnecessary contact with her family. However, in the middle of Giss’s study in her tower room, a timid knock came at her door.
“Yes? Who is it?” Giss folded her Theory of Knowledge book, quickly using her hands to comb back short dark hair as one of the castle servants entered, appearing slightly nervous. Giss examined her – a scrawny creature with grease stains on her uniform, obviously one of the kitchen workers.
The servant curtsied. “Your highness. I apologize for this intrusion. Your mother, her majesty, has requested your presence in the throne room. She and your father wish to discuss certain matters with you.”
Giss sighed. “Why can’t they just leave me alone? You would think by now they would have gotten the hint. I don’t want to do things by my family’s silly rules and customs.”
“Your highness!” The servant gasped, shocked. “You shouldn’t speak like that of royalty!”
“Why not? People with noble blood can be just as stupid as those without. I don’t see why I should pretend otherwise.”
The servant went bright red, like a beetroot, and Giss took a mean pleasure in it. She hated the submissive, frightened personalities of the staff, even though she partly understood it. Any servant caught disobeying or uttering treason could be executed. This fact led eventually to why Giss had dismissed any servants assigned to her – because they couldn’t handle what was labelled as her “radical” ways. Two had also been executed by her youngest sisters, who liked to eavesdrop on their conversations, so they could snitch on the juicy details.
Checking herself in the mirror, where dark brown eyes on a freckled, oval face examined for any flaws, Giss tugged at one snarl in her hair, before departing the chambers, the servant leading.
Inside the throne room in the middle of an opulent expanse of tapestries, statues and red carpets, sat her parents, King Patrick and Queen Beatrice Jael. Both wore plain clothes, rather than ceremonial garb, and gave Giss their patented regal stare when she came in, marching right up to the bottom steps that rose to the two throne chairs.
“Hi mother, father. You wanted to talk?”
Her mother winced at the grating tone of Giss’s voice. Her father scowled.
Queen Beatrice began the conversation. “Speak quieter, child, we can hear you just fine. And yes, we wish to speak to you over some… concerns we have.” Beatrice folded her arms. With her blonde hair, and bright blue eyes, she looked every inch a typical queen – and had passed that beauty gene to all her other daughters, except Giss. Her mother also only reached about five feet high, a becoming height for a queen. Giss hit the five foot seven mark, making her often equal to a lot of potential suitor’s heights. Most who courted her disliked being met directly eye to eye, instead of craning their heads upwards in an adorably appropriate way. She took a little too much after her father, in all the wrong directions.
“Is this still concerning prince Ardemar? I’ve already explained my reasons to you. Several times.”
The lack of respect made her mother cringe more, before she gathered herself together, and placed on her royal mask. “No. It is not about him. It’s about… your general ineligibility to the nobles in our kingdom, and those of neighboring realms. You must realize it is of great import to forge alliances. Marrying is the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a woman.”
Giss rolled her eyes.
“Maybe so, which is why I don’t want to be married to someone I don’t like. All the suitors that have come, I haven’t enjoyed them.”
“But why not? Some were incredibly fetching. Dashing, even. Some are from reputed kingdoms of great honor. Some have been wealthy nobleman. I would say you have had an amazing selection of young bachelors to choose from. Prince Ardemar was just the cream of the crop.”
“It’s not about where they come from or what they own, mother!” Giss said, exasperated. “It’s about whether there’s a brain stuffed in their heads, rather than fancy gold thread and fairly decent sword-fighting skills. There’s also the slight issue of not marrying an evil tyrant tainted by a really obvious evil fairy godmother curse.”
“I think,” her father cut across, leaning in his chair, “That you will continue rejecting the opportunities that come, regardless. Your excuses aside, your sisters have all married up. They’re all perfectly happy. You, however, don’t seem to be happy by anything.”
“My sisters aren’t exactly the sharpest sticks in the shed either, father. They’re mean, petty, and addicted to status. They would marry a horse if it was rich enough.”
At this statement, her parents exchanged glances. “Who have you persuaded to teach you their unconventional ways this time, child?”
Giss cursed inwardly. Her use of words had given her away to her mother, as surely as a hound on the trail of a fox. Reluctantly, she admitted, “The court philosopher. I thought it would be more interesting than learning about embroidery or the half a dozen different ways to curtsy.”
“He will be fired,” her mother said, in a tired voice. “Giss, you must stop doing these radical things. You are a princess. Act like one.”
“Technically, I am. Acting like one. Since I’m a princess.” Giss stood defiantly, anger bubbling inside. Most teachers she had reined in over the years had been found out and dismissed, if they taught something unrelated to princess affairs. That left the carpenter, sword master, blacksmith, court lawyer, swimming instructor, banker, pastry chef, and now the philosopher out of range. At least this time, she had hung onto her tutor for a good two months.
“You can try to be clever, but you frustrate us. Really. You have been given freedom to choose, but you flaunt your ways and disrespect your family. Enough i
s enough. So, here’s what is going to happen,” her mother said, with venom dripping, “You no longer have a choice. We have found another prince willing to court you. You will marry him in three weeks. He’s from the smaller neighboring kingdom, Tynewall. They’re new and desperately seeking to establish allies, as their borders lead into giant and ogre country. They have access to tin mines, so this match up will be a great benefit to both kingdoms.”
Giss opened her mouth, then shut it, struggling to control her fury. “So,” she said between clenched teeth, glaring into the icy blue eyes of her mother, “This how you choose to handle the situation?” She then turned her disapproval on her father.
“You didn’t make this easy for us,” he implored. “Please understand. We want what is best for the kingdom and our people. You – your antics shake up the court. People mock you in the streets. People hate you. There are young girls who want to claw out your eyes for even daring to turn down prince Ardemar – including your sisters. This is to save your dignity, to prove you are not a black sheep in our family.”
No. You mean your dignity, because I don’t care about mine. Giss flexed her fingers, before balling them into two fists. “What is this prince’s name?”
Her mother appeared relieved at the question. “Prince Horace. He’s a good lad. He’s third in line to his throne, so quite close to the source of power. There’s no reason why you may not be queen of that kingdom someday. I think you will approve of this one, if you give it some time.”
“Perhaps.” Giss’s voice came out dead, hollow. The muscles in her face had temporarily stopped working. “I guess I will have to work hard at making him hate me.”
And, before her parents had a chance to protest, to scold or call her silly, Giss whirled, a throwback to true dramatic princess fashion, and sped out of the throne room, muting any calls that came from behind.
Chapter Two: Studying for Escape.
Giss had a plan. Not a brilliant one, by any means, but enough of one that might save her from being hitched up prematurely to a prince.
Prince Horace visited a total of four times before their due marriage date, and each expression had left her more doubtful than hopeful at the notion of marriage. Not only did he appear as the iconic depiction of a handsome prince, blonde haired and blue-eyed with a perpetually whimsical expression, he also seemed completely in thrall to his family’s wishes. She hadn’t quite resorted to dumping buckets of icy water over his head, or searched for frog curses, but she was getting there.
“So tell me, Horace,” she had said on his last visit, as they walked around the royal gardens, politely (and reluctantly) linked arm-in-arm, “What made you decide you would risk marrying me? Out of all the princesses in the world, I hardly think a handsome young man like yourself would have troubles finding one who will love you unconditionally.”
“Uh. Well,” Horace had replied, brow furrowed deep in thought, “It’s a marriage of convenience. You were single, I was single, we are a mere few days away by carriage… it is a good match.”
“But you don’t actually love me, right?” Giss prompted, smiling at him when he looked at her.
“I suppose… well that is to say, I’m sure I will learn to love you…?” The way he formed it as a question betrayed his mind.
“So you don’t,” Giss said emphatically.
Horace had looked deeply uncomfortable with the admission. “That’s not something we should be talking about.”
“But why not? Wouldn’t people be happier if they married people they liked? I mean, look at me. All freckles and hair. I don’t like doing ‘princess’ things, and you’ll probably have a nightmarish time with me. So why don’t you choose to break this up of your own accord? You will be much better off for it.”
“Um.” Horace at this point had started to sweat. “This is what has been asked of us by our families. It’s disrespectful to go against them. I’m sorry.”
“Oh well,” Giss had said, under her breath.
The first plan of trying to convince the prince to break it off didn’t work. The second plan of persuading her mother that this was a huge mistake and she would probably blight the family name didn’t succeed, either. Queen Beatrice and King Patrick closed themselves off to her words, leaving Giss with the ugly certainty that maybe this wasn’t something she could wriggle out of this time. Life as she knew it would come to a grinding halt.
Ardemar continued to send her letters, though she read none of them. She always took one glance at the black rose sealing wax, the rose looking suspiciously like a skull, and shoved it out of sight.
All the pressure led her to a last minute, desperate plot. One of the less advertised rules of the kingdoms was the note of prestige that came from defeating the monsters roaming the wilderness. For example, if a princess had been captured by a werewolf, the person who defeated the werewolf and claimed the princess would be guaranteed either marriage or fame. When the monster population went on the decline, due to the large number of kidnappings and quests that the kingdoms coveted, the more intelligent of the monsters arranged in some cases for a pre-planned kidnapping, paid for by the noble family themselves, in an attempt to raise their status.
Indeed, spontaneous kidnappings turned instead into win-win deals. Trading princesses became the monster currency for a while, and allowed some to gain “fear” status. Scarier monsters were paid more. Some monsters were paid extra to not rape the princesses, whilst other arrangements thought damaged goods would endear the princess to society, by letting them see her go through hardships, only to become a tough and brave individual at the end. However, knowing Giss’s family, if she raised the proposal of being kidnapped for status, they would almost certainly decline. Anything Giss said or suggested – would be too blatant a manipulation attempt.
So, somehow, by herself, she needed to find a monster to kidnap her. And not just any monster. One that featured high on the “difficult to defeat” factor.
Giss thought of the ones she knew. Werewolves were too easy – a little bit of silver and even a baby could beat them. Vampires slept in the daytime. Anyone with a basic working knowledge of UV spells could incinerate them. Ogres and giants were strong, but stupid. Trolls spent too much time drugged up on various herbal “remedies”, and elves didn’t take part in the kidnapping exchange. Even the dark elves. They mostly hid underground, in that secretive and xenophobic manner of theirs.
No. She needed something scary, intelligent, and preferably not too prone to eating humans. Checking the castle library, she found a tome worthwhile checking. Sat up in her tower one night, flipping through the Encyclopaedia of Monsters, there were three options which looked promising. The Roc, a massive bird of prey, the dragon, a creature of wings, claws and fangs with a tendency to burn things, or the minotaur. Minotaur’s had an unfortunate habit of keeping their captured subjects in mazes. The Roc lived far too high up in needle thin peaks for Giss’s comfort, and would sometimes feed living royal flesh to their young. This left her with the dragon, notorious cave dwellers and hoarders of treasure.
Great. Now all I need to do is find one willing to kidnap me. I could give it jewels, maybe raid the treasury…
Giss wrote down her plans in shorthand, in case a spying servant stumbled over them. She studied where dragons were most likely to turn up, and searched for objects that could be used to summon or attract them, like a dragon horn or monster portal. The only monster portal she knew was sealed in the magic vault because it would bring about the end of the world if it ever got used, and the nearest dragon horn was eight kingdoms away, which was apparently overrun by dragons.
Next night, she placed her badly improvised plan into action. With a pullover dress stuffed into her satchel, and a small tiara – after all, she needed to at least look like a princess when she found a dragon – she crept out of the castle. Several valuable jewels bounced in the satchel as well. One of them happened to be the Crown of Jaeland. Gissandra smirked at the idea of her parents finding th
e most valuable object in their kingdom missing. She also took two weapons – a knife and a thin sword, concealed under her cloak. With only one month of sword-fighting lessons under her belt, she doubted she could actually fight. The appearance of a sword served better in situations where others might be intimidated by the impression their target could fight back.
In plain linen clothes, the few servants she did pass in the dim corridors took no heed, as long as she bowed her head and slouched along. Her heart raced the whole time, dreading the moment someone would spot her as Gissandra and cry out, ruining the escape. Princesses generally didn’t sneak out of their homes, since it would likely place dirt on their beautiful dresses, so she had that going for her.
Outside the castle, she ducked behind some bushes in the garden, heart hammering. The stars shone bright, and a lemon-slice of moon winked at her. She turned, to stare at the castle that had been her home for eighteen years, and up to the tower where she spent hours studying, sleeping, and having fake conversations with herself. At some point in her life, and Giss couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment, her home had become a prison.
As Giss tore her gaze away, and walked out of the castle grounds down one of the market streets, she wondered again if this choice was the right one. Then, she thought about the prince, and her parents. If she did get eaten, at least it would be in an act of defiance.
Sort of.
Making it to the local carriage station, where a few very sleepy drivers huddled up inside the waiting quarters, she managed to persuade one to drive her to the tip of Greenwood pass, a mountainous area on the edge of the kingdom.
“That’s a nine-hour ride, miss,” the driver said, picking his nose. “And that’s right dangerous territory, that is. Monsters are abundant in Greenwood.”
Romance: The College Bad Boy: A Young Adult Romance Page 69