LUNARIS

Chapter 5

A sudden noise woke me up from my deep sleep. As I opened my eyes and looked outside the carriage's window, I could tell a thunderstorm was nearby, and a thunder woke me up. Great. My second favorite weather, though my parents seemed to be annoyed by it, I could hear whispers of them complaining about it and thunderstorms in general.

"Clementine, is everything alright?" Kieran asked. 

          I didn't answer his question, I was feeling quite dizzy, and the upcoming thing would make me faint internally.

"Are we there yet?" I asked sounding like a foolish, useless little girl. 

"We are nearby, hopefully, we aren't the last ones." My mum answered. 

              That was enough for me to make me feel even more dizzy. I didn't want to be forced to meet people, I was alright in Dawnsbury. I was used to staying inside my room or somewhere in the castle to keep me busy, or at least have an excuse to avoid attending to "special" etiquette classes. Unlike my sister, who would stay outside for hours just looking up at the sky, surprisingly not catching an eye desease. I've always wondered if I would be like her someday, I had my charms, but if anyone had to choose between Quince and me, i bet anyone would choose her.

               Another thunder took me back to reality, and I instantly felt the urge to ask another question. "How many days are we staying in Westview?"

"3 days, however, the chosen one will stay longer." My mum answered. She seemed to be happy that I asked questions, as if I wanted to marry Alastair. "If you get chosen... Clementine... You might not return to Dawnsbury..." She added looking down at her feet, blinking twice.

 "I... don't like that idea..."

"I said 'might', Clementine." After she said that I looked back to the window, another thunder could be heard from afar.  

          If I didn't return to Dawnsbury, Westview would be hell for me. I didn't know the castle, not a single inch. DeShawn would probably never come back to me. I would loose many things, and I would be living with a shameless pedophile. All the gifts Quince gave me before her fate (which were really important to me, I wouldn't let anyone out of my kin touch those things). 

          "You've got to obey me, Clementine." My father said with an angry tone in his voice, even though his face was hard to read. "If you get chosen by the king of Westview, you're becoming the queen of Westview like it or not." he added. 

          I couldn't find anything to say otherwise. I decided to look away, but I was deeply hurt inside. I couldn't bear to live with someone I'm forced to love. No. It wouldn't be the same as TRUE LOVE.

         "Beautiful Clementine." My father said, sweetly and manly. "Daughter of kings, and decendant of Gerard Snowmelt. Don't worry about the future. I can see through your beautiful, icy blue eyes that you do not desire to marry Alastair. I cannot assure you that you won't get chosen. However, if you are, use this as an advantage. Westview is one of the strongest kingdoms in land, and if you use its wealths to help Dawnsbury grow. Do not consider your possible marriage a punishment. I'm sure you'll learn to love Alastair quick, because I know my daughter is capable of doing everything she desires." He said poetically. I looked back at him, serious. narrowed eyes. 

          "I do not desire to marry Alastair." I whispered loudly. Just when my dad was ready to argue, the horse-carriage stopped, signalizing our arrival to Westview. After that short stop, we went through the kingdom. We saw the poor residences first, then the middle class, then the nobles, and after that, Westview's castle was in the middle of the kingdom. It took quite long to get to the castle, where the dance would take place. My father kept his mouth shut and didn't dare to look at me in the eyes. Kieran gave me his concerned face, but I didn't dare to turn to see him in his eyes until we arrived.

          I got off the carriage, helped by Kieran and other servant, who seemed to be from Westview. The castle's doors opened for my family and Kieran. The first room was the dance hall, which was full of paintings and 3 big golden chandeliers were hanging from the roof. I looked up and down as I saw the beautiful pieces of artwork, trying not to miss a single detail. My moments of wonder stopped once I was asked to stop walking, by another servant. I turned my face to my mother, who looked back and smiled brightly. Her brown eyes glittered. I smiled back, weakly. 

          "Are you excited to meet king Alastair?" she whispered, loud enough for me to hear. 

          "I'm curious." That's the only answer that came to my mind. I knew my parents and probably Kieran had a different perspective from mine, so I wasn't honest with my answer. No. I didn't want to meet Alastair. 

          "Follow me please, just the princess." said a servant with slick back hair. I nodded, then looked back to my parents. My dad nodded half excited half serious. Then I followed the servant to a room, where I guessed Alastair would be.

The servant opened the door for me, and I walked in, feeling nervous, imagining a conversation between Alastair and me. When the door closed, I heard a manly-youthful-childish voice. 

           "Clementine! Welcome to Westview! Beautiful, right?" Alastair said. He was sitting on a fancy wooden chair, he sat up and walked to me, ready to embrace me. I took some steps back. 

           "Keep your hands to yourself, please don't touch me and keep your member in your pants." I said rolling my eyes. He widened his eyes, but decided to laugh in an attempt to hide it. 

          "I knew a girl like you would come. So amazing. The other princesses seemed to be willing to be with me."

           "Then they must come from really poor kingdoms."

           "Are you saying they love me just because they want my wealths?" he asked raising his left eyebrow. And I nodded and walked away from him and looked around the room I was. The room had various paintings, most of them representing historical events from Westview. I turned back to him.

            "Who painted these?" I asked, trying to start a friendly conversation that didn't involve flirting.

             "Oh, if you want to know their stories you'll have to be chosen first." he said in a flirtatious voice. I narrowed my eyes.

             "Nevermind, I wasn't desperate to know about them anyways..." I said. He walked towards me as I kept staring at the paintings. He embraced me from the back.

              "Um... EXCUSE ME. I just met you and you're getting really touchy so lets calm down." I said attempting to free myself from his surprisingly warm embrace. This was clearly ending bad. I hoped I wasn't the only one he flirted with.