Arranged Love

Chapter 4

(Pic of Zane on the side)

£Time skip - 1 week£

It's been a week since the ball and the two visiting families haven't left yet. My family left a few days after the ball. I was sad to see them go, but I knew I would see them every so often. Hopefully. I've been having lessons about how to act like a queen. Yeah, like I don't know how to act fancy. The lessons weren't anything like what I thought. They basically taught us how to govern a kingdom correctly. Every lesson was torturous. My teacher, Piper, has an annoying high voice which distracts me.

"Okay," Piper says in a high pitched note, "if another kingdom decades war, how should you react?"

"Try to reach a compromise and kill the threat of war," I answer, "but if they don't accept the compromise, then war it is," Piper smiles.

"Correct," she says, "what if famine happens?"

"Compromise with another kingdom for food in exchange for something else," I answer simply.

"Excellent," she says, "now what if a kingdom has a drought and needs help?"

"Help any way possible," I say, "like send them water, food, etcetera,"

"Very good!" Piper says, "that will be all for today. Next week we will work on posture," I nod as I leave the room. I bump into Xavier, who smiles at me before walking away again. I roll my eyes as I walk back to my room. On the way, I run into Tanya.

"I'm sorry, Ally," Tanya says in a calm voice, "I haven't gotten the time to congratulate you on your engagement. Congratulations!" I nod, smiling slightly.

"I was just heading out on a walk in the kingdom," she says, "would you like to join me?"

"Sure," I say, "nothing better to do," she smiles as we walk towards the doors to the castle.

"I bet you said yes to the engagement right away," Tanya says, striking up a conversation.

"No," I say, "I didn't say yes. This is an arranged engagement,"

"Oh," Tanya says, taken aback, "I know I would have, at how handsome Xavier is. But the marriage would also bring money to the Southern Kingdom, which is in desperate need of it,"

"Tanya," I say, "what does the Southern Kingdom look like?" I was curious, I have been for a long time.

"It's quite beautiful," she answers, "most people think of it as dark and gloomy there, but it is quite nice, even though it is in the middle of a flat prairie," I nod.

"I would like to come for a visit," I say, "I would like to visit the Eastern Kingdom as well,"

"Ally, I need to tell you something," Tanya says suddenly, her tone serious, "my father isn't happy about the engagement. He thinks I should be the one to be engaged to Xavier. But I don't think so. I think you and Xavier will make a wonderful couple," I smile weakly. 

"We have nothing in common," I tell her as we walk out of the walls and into the market area. People bow and smile as they greet us.

"Ally," Tanya says, "my father will do anything in his power to ruin the engagement. Don't yell at me for this, but he is greedy and selfish. He says he wants me to marry Xavier, and that its apparently the best thing for me, for the kingdom, but I know he only wants me to marry him so he can drown in money again," I look at her and see her staring at the ground as we walk. We contnue to walk n silence, eventually walking back to the castle. We enter the castle and I see King Garold, Tanya's father, talkng to Xavier and the King and Queen. I turn back around and walk upstairs towards my room. Tanya follows. She gasps suddenly, causing me, the King, Queen, Xavier, and Garold to turn and look at us. 

"What?" I ask, embarassed a bit.

"I heard there is a stables in the back of the castle," Tanya says excitedly, "we should go ride some horses!" Thats not a bad idea.

"Sure," I say, smiling, "let me go get changed into appropriate ridng clothes, then lets meet at the stables," Tanya nods and walks towards her room. I turn around and continue walking towards my room. I enter the room and Macy stands there.

"Macy," I ask, "could you find me some riding gear?" I would do it myself, but I don't want to get lost in that jungle of a closet packed with dresses and stuff. Macy nods and disappears into the closet. A few minutes later she reappears with black riding pants, a light blue riding top, black riding boots, and a black riding hat. 

"Thank you, Macy," I say gratefully as I walk into the bathroom to change. A minute later, I leave the bathroom and put my long brown hair into a ponytail. I grab the helmet, decidng to put it on outside. I leave the room, closing the door behind me. I walk down the hallway to see the King, Queen, and Xavier talking, Garold no where to be seen. I shrug and continue to walk down the steps. I leave the castle and walk around to the back. Sure enough, the stables were there. Horses were poking their heads out of their stalls while servants cleaned the stables. I walk down the line and spotted a black horse with a white stripe in it's hair. I smile as I rub it's nose. I wait patently for Tanya. I saddle the horse up and walk around the stables, still waiting for her. Soon she arrives.

"Sorry," she says, "my father was talking with me," I nod as I wait for her to choose a horse and get on it.

"Let's have a race," she says excitedly. I smile as I made the horse run full charged towards the wall.

"Hey! You got a heads start!" Tanya yells from behind. I laugh as I reach the finish line and stop the horse.

"No fair!" Tanya exclaims, "I call rematch!" I laugh as I notice it getting dark.

"Maybe tomorrow," I tell her, "it's getting dark," Tanya nods, disappointed. We put the horses away and walk back to the entrance and to our own rooms. I change from my riding clothes to a nightgown and climb into bed. I blow out the candles by the bed and fall asleep.

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Author's Note:

A boring chapter, i know. I'm not updating because I don't have any ideas for the chapters. If anyone could give me suggestions, that would be great. I will most likely use them, but might change some stuff. The chapters could be about anything. It could be another ball, feast. It could be an Ally/Xavier chapter, or Tanya and Ally hanging out again. And you could also give me some ideas for some drama as well, that would be great! I'm going to make it so that you, the readers, can help me write the book. And in case I haven't mentioned, this series might be a trilogy.

Thanks For Reading!

~NZ