Amara's Wish

Ch 1: A Proposition

A beautiful young maiden lived in a land and a time when kings and queens ruled over kingdoms. She was daughter to a very wealthy and influential merchant. Although she was the lovliest girl in the land, she was also the lonliest. No one could match her beauty and elegance. The men she met were either too shy to seek her hand or they were so bold, they disgusted her with their antics and shows of what they called masculinity. The women she knew were too envious of her beauty to befriend her truly. They acted kindly towards her, however, it was simply because of their desire to share in the spotlight of attention that this young beauty received. Her mother and father named her Amara, a name her father had heard in his travels; Greek for eternally beautiful, because of her striking beauty from birth.

A part of Amara craved the constant attention she received, but it was only on the surface, once the admirers had gone, so did the pleasure of their presence. A small part of her hated all the attention. She felt so alone in the midst of all crowds, yet when she managed to escape their presence, she felt a different kind of loneliness that was somehow less stifling.

Amara’s parents sensed her sadness and they kept a close watch on her. She was the youngest of their four children, the only girl, and the only one who remained at home, unmarried.

Amara was nearing nineteen, and her parents worried about her. She did not seem to have any great ambition. She recieved her visitors with a smile that never ventured beyond her lips to her eyes. When no visitors were around, there was an emptiness in her face that her parents could not ignore. Amara’s parents presented her with every luxury they could think of, her constant stream of tutors taught her anything that her parents hoped would interest her. To their delight, she excelled at nearly all the lessons, painting, music, geography, history, horticulture, and writing were among the list.

Amara excelled, but without passion, it was almost as if she did everything with little thought or effort. They tried and tried again to find something that could bring her happiness with no avail.

As was the custom of the time, as soon as Amara awoke, her mother would bring other young lady guests and they would sit in Amara’s chamber and breakfast. Amara was fitted by the best tailors and with every new fashion. Still, no avail. Every promising young gentleman was turned down with a gracious, though heart breaking smile.

Yes, indeed, her parents were very worried. None of Amara’s brothers had acted as such. They had all three been passionate in something. The eldest, geography, following in his father’s footsteps as a merchant, the second studying governmental structures and matters of state, and had procured his place in the king’s council. The third, a passionate mathematician, was employed in the king’s service with the other inventors of the kingdom. Amara’s father’s wealth had procured each of them with the education, position, and even the wives they desired.

But not their daughter.

She remained a delight to all, but fell silent and brooding as soon as she lost her audience. This attitude was constant and unchanging. Amara’s father could remember seeing light in her eyes as he told her about his travels, when he recalled stories of his youth about looking and looking for a wife in many different countries and finding love in his own small home town that had been there all along.

Maybe it was adventure, love, that Amara desired. So he and his wife, set forth with even more determination to introduce Amara to every gentleman they thought fit.

Still, every evening, Amara retired looking weary, kissing her parents goodnight with a look of relief to be rid of the company of her peers that she tried so hard to mask.

They almost felt as though Amara was looking thinner, but as corsets were the style of the day, they hoped their eyes deceived them. Her skin, the color of ivory did not worry them, it was fashionable for young ladies to have pale skin, but the light purple arcs below her bright blue eyes did worry them.