Arranged From Birth

Chapter 4 After Dinner

(Seán is pronounced Shawn by the way.)

Seán and I made our way back up to the castle. We continued our conversation from earlier about our mothers.

"I didn't know my mother for very long." I said, inching up the edge of my dress to avoid a mud puddle.

"To be perfectly frank I dislike mine." Seán added, side stepping the puddle. "It's not that she isn't a kind mother. Just... over bearing."

"I understand. My father's the same way. I am his only child, the heir, to his throne." I explained. Seán and I had reached the castle door, but before we entered:

"Oh, we should probably..." Seán said mildly stiff.

"Hold hands," I finished. "We are getting married after all."

"Right, about that."

"What is it?" I asked. I knew it was wrong of me, but something inside of me hoped that he was about to tell me that he was going to call off the wedding. But I knew it wouldn't happen.

Instead, Seán got down on one knee, and held a ring out to me. "Will you marry me Isablee?" I half-smiled, and nodded.

Seán stood up again, and slipped the band onto my left ring finger. We then grasped hands, and entered the castle together.

Dinner seemed to last forever. And once Seán and I had been dismissed -12 minutes after I had finished eating- we traveled up to my bedroom. I sat down on my bed, as Seán pulled out my vanity chair.

"Stevie," I called gently.

"You wanted me Isa?" Stevie said, popping up from behind one of my bookshelves. Stevie popping up so suddenly, made Seán jump.

"Where did you come from?" Seán asked, his breathing slowing back to normal. Stevie and I giggled.

"I'm where Isa needs me to be!" She replied shortly.

"Could you take my hair down please?" I asked. Stevie nodded, smiling. Stevie walked over to me, and started taking the pins, bands, and sprays out of my hair.

About 20 minutes later, Seán's butler came in. "Seán? Are you ready to go?" He asked.

Seán glanced outside, and realized that it had turned dark. Seán stood up, and glanced at the foot of my bed. There was a medium sized brown bag there, which I kicked under the bed with my foot.

I stood up too. Seán bowed to me. "Goodnight Lady CoCoral."

I curtsied back. "Best of evenings Sir Peppre."

The beauty of a broken angel...

Seán's P.O.V.

I bowed to Isablee as was custom. And before I straightened back up, I saw the bag under her bed again. She and I locked eyes for a moment before  I left her bedroom. Her eyes glinted in the light for about half a second before I left, closing the door behind me. But what were they glinting with? Sadness maybe? Fear? Or perhaps she was planning something.

Back to Isablee's P.O.V.

As soon as Seán was gone, Stevie pulled the bag out from underneath my bed, and tossed it into my closet. "That was almost a close call. I don't think he suspects anything though." Stevie said pulling open a side drawer in my vanity.

My bedroom door banged open, and Stevie ran into a corner where she couldn't be seen.

"What in the name of Rosooho was that?" My father 'asked' not bothering to knock, rather striding straight into my room. Rosooho was the most widely worshiped godlike figure in the 13 Kingdoms

"What are you on abo-" I started to ask, before getting interrupted by a hand coming across my face.

"You know exactly what 'I'm on about'. You're not even wearing your ring."

"This ring?" I asked, standing and raising my left hand to show him the engagement ring around my left ring finger. His face turned red.

"You think you're smart. You're just an ungrateful..." He continued on yelling for a good amount of time, sometimes mixing in a hit or two. What  may have seemed to be hours later -but I knew was only half of one- he finally left, slamming the door behind me.

He had yelled about the mud on my dress before Seán and the Peppre's came, my apparent lack of manners during dinner. Disappearing with Seán before dinner started. And a few other things I couldn't quite make out.

"S-Steive?" I called, and she appeared again.

"Yeah," She replied. Not as a question, but as a statement. She knew what I was going to say. "I'll go get the things."

20 minutes later, the bag Seán had seen underneath my bed was filled with everything I needed, or valued in anyway.

"Do you have the things ready Stevie?" I asked.

"Yes I do!" She agreed.

"Beautiful," I muttered, sitting down at my vanity, and watching Stevie cut my hip length hair up to my shoulders. She then put some kind of concoction into my hair, that turned the reddy brown into an almost white blonde.

20 more minutes later, I changed into something good to run around in, and Stevie handed me the bag. "I'm gonna miss you." Stevie said, sniffing.

"Oh Steive, I am going to miss you too." I replied, hugging her for what I knew would be the last time. "Take care of yourself. And of the ducks."

"I will." I kissed the top of her head, and she helped me tie our long lenth of rope to one of the feet of my bed. We lowered it down through the window and I made my escape.

Once I was down, I tugged on the rope, which Stevie untied, and I pulled out the window, wrapping it up, and stuffing it into my bag. I saw her little blondish head pop out from my bedroom window.

'I love you,' I signed up to her. She signed it back. And I was off. I ran, hugging the castle walls, and staying in the shadows.

I had been planning this for about 6 months. I don't want to be queen. I know that I would be better than my father but Teech could be a better king than father is.

I also, don't want to marry Seán. No offence to him, but I don't know him, I don't love him, and we have no idea if we can work together well enough to run a kingdom.

In the cover that the night gave me, I made my way to the castle grounds wall. I found the second tower, where Seth was waiting for me.

Originally Seth had nothing to do with this. But he offered hiss assistance to me when he saw Stevie bringing items into my room and not returning them, more than once. He figured out that I was going to leave.

"I do not blame you for going through with this." He whispered, pulling open a door hidden behind the ivy that's been growing up the tower for the past 200 years.

"Thank you Seth." I whispered back, kissing his cheek, and walking through the door.

"I hope to see you again some day Isablee. Do you know where you are headed?"

"I plan to travel until I reach the forests of Rantommubb. There is supposed to be a group of people there called the Hunters. And I plan on joining them."

Seth nodded. "Take care of Stevie please. I couldn't take her with me but I fear this isn't the best place for her."

"I will watch over her," Seth agreed. "Best of luck to you my friend."

And I was off again. I travled all the way through Orantulle, through the plains of Jeeree Detren and made it to the forests of Rantommubb.

I don't expect you to remember the names of all of the kingdoms. I'll draw a map of them all and include them in the next chapter, which should help you a bit.