The Princess Bride (Self-published)

1: The Unwilling Prince

Mikael Linus Ricaforte wasn't nervous. In fact, he was beyond nervous, he's near-panic. He quickly toweled himself dry then absentmindedly ran a comb through his shoulder-length, black hair.

"This is what's fucked up about wars..." he mumbled out loud as he rummaged his bedside cabinet's drawer for the leather thong he uses to tie his hair. "You'll eventually get tired of it and offer your sons and daughters to achieve peace..."

Bakit ba kasi ako umuwi? he thought to himself.

He had stayed in Europe for most part of his life and although he was getting lonely, he would have said no immediately had he known what his father's intentions were for asking him to come home.

"Ano po ang ibig sabihin ninyo, Dad?"

"Since when am I 'Dad', Mikael?"

"Pasensya na po, 'yun po kasi ang kadalasang naririnig ko sa mga kaibigan kong tawag nila sa mga ama nila. Paumanhin po, Ama..."

"Naiintindihan ko dahil matagal kang nanirahan sa ibang bansa. But I would rather that we stick to our family's dynamics including the honorifics."

"Naiintindihan ko po, Ama..."

"To answer your question about why I have asked you to come home, kailangan mong magpakasal sa kahuli-hulihang saserdote ng pamilya ng mga dela Paz—"

"Kasal po? Did I hear you right po?"

"Yes, Mikael, you did."

"Para po saan? I don't even know this girl 'tapos bigla na lang po akong magpapakasal sa kanya?"

"You can get to know her after you're married—"

"Ama, hindi po ako makakapayag sa gusto ninyo. I have my own life. You can't make decisions for me—"

"'Yun ang batas at dahil anak kita ay kailangan mong sundin 'yun. Lalo na't anak kita. You can't break a promise that our kind forged with the humans centuries ago—

"Exactly po. Centuries ago. Ang tagal na po n'un, bakit kailangan pa pong tuparin ang kasunduan na sa sobrang tagal ay malamang po wala na po 'yung taong pumayag sa kasunduang 'yun."

"Just because they are no longer around does not mean that you can break what had been agreed on. 'Yung kasunduang kinukutya mo, ipinasa ng mga ninuno ng mapapangasawa mo sa sumunod nilang henerasyon—"

"I do not understand why I have to sacrifice my life for some centuries-old betrothal—"

"Sinusuway mo ba ako, Mikael? Masyado bang matagal ang paninirahan mo sa isang bansa at ultimo palabra de honor ay nakalimutan mo na?"

"Unfair naman po kayo. How could you sacrifice your own son's happiness over something that only you partook in. Ni hindi n'yo man lang po ako tinanong."

"Bakit pa kita tatanungin? Prinsipe ka ng mga Sehrli at obligasyon mong gawin ang mga bagay na ikabubuti ng lahi natin."

"Pero, Ama—"

"My decision if final, Mikael. You will be married on the next full moon."

He sighed haphazardly tying his hair at the nape. It was big of his father to announce that the fate of their kind rested solely in his decision to marry a girl. A human girl.

"Dapat talaga hindi ka na umuwi," he told his reflection on the mirror out loud. "Dapat nagtiis ka na lang d'un."

He was nine when he was sent to Azemitli, an ancient institution that trained Sehrli warriors for generations. His father called it school but for him it felt more like a prison and he had an uncanny feeling that he was being punished for something that he didn't even know about.