The Hands of Fate

Chapter 4

The King's study was one of the smaller rooms of the palace. It had gray walls with a small golden chandelier reaching down from the ceiling. Candles softly lit the room, though the windows gave the study a great deal of light. The floors were wooden, except for under the King's polished wooden desk, where a bearskin carpet lay. The room bore paintings along the walls, all of them portraits of previous Kings.

Caspian's fathers' portrait was there also. The King's face was dull in the painting, lifeless as he stared ahead blankly. Caspian wondered why anyone would want to sit there looking so depressed for a million hours, as it took forever to paint such pictures. He would know, he had had a few paintings of himself—along with his family—painted before. He was pulled from his thoughts as the King stood from his chair, papers littering the desk.

"Ah! My son! So good to see you, how have you been?" The King asked with a radiant grin. He was a handsome man, with slicked back brown hair and a golden crown atop his head. His eyes were mature with a soft brown color. The King's skin was a shade of porcelain, his lips a pale pink. He compared to Caspian's mother somewhat, though she had high cheekbones and a dirty blonde hair color, opposed to the King's dark brown hue.

"We have some big news to tell you," The King continued with a smile. Caspian looked at them both, unsure of what they were going to say. All he knew was that it couldn't be worse than what his mother had told him in the hallway.

"As you know, you are to be the King of Allenia someday! And so, my son, we have arranged for you to travel over to one of the neighboring Kingdoms for a.... few years where you will spend some time with your princess," his father said, chuckling slightly. "How does that sound my boy?"

The young Prince frowned, not quite understanding why his father was calling some random royal his. "My what?"

"Oh, don't be silly, Caspian. You've always known that you've been arranged to marry Princess Amara of Elios, right?" His father's tone was upbeat and hopeful although he appeared unsure, seeing the look Caspian was giving him.

Caspian stared at them both in utter shock. A million thoughts ran through his mind, though the only word he managed to speak was; "What?!"

Truth be told, it did come out louder than he intended, but that didn't mean that Caspian didn't mean it. His nose wrinkled in an ugly form at the thought of marrying a girl that he didn't even know.

"When....when am I even going?"

"When you turn ten, my love. We thought it best to tell you now, since it wouldn't be too kind to tell you on the day of," his mother spoke up, her soft brown eyes glittering. It seemed her infuriated attitude from earlier had worn off. "I know you two will get along just fine. Besides, Caspian, think of your kingdom. We need this alliance with Elios to make Allenia stronger and wealthier. With the two kingdoms combined we will be very powerful," the Queen said, giving Caspian a small smile. His mouth gaped, could this really be happening?

...

Turns out, it was really happening, because there he stood, on his birthday, getting into a horse and carriage to leave home for a 'few years.'

Speaking of which, the past few years had been the most miserable times of his life, and that was saying a lot. Whenever he had tried to talk to Farah, she would avoid him, making his life less bright and much more boring. Caspian had nothing to do except work, and work, and work. He sometimes wished he wasn't the King to be. That would be much easier, since then he could spend all the time he wanted playing outside with Farah instead of trying to get her to stop avoiding him.

It had been going on for three years, since Caspian was now eleven. They had postponed the visit due to a group of bandits that were reported along the roads where Caspian was to leave through. So, he had to wait until he turned eleven, which was even more painful.

He remembered on his tenth birthday, it was only him, his mother, his father and a few maids that celebrated with him; just like always. Farah didn't even bother to show up, though he was told she was busy working in the kitchen. He tried to chat with her at times, trying to get her to laugh, but it never worked. One day she even dissed him off, telling him that he 'needed to stop attacking her like this'.

He remembered going into his room and seeing her hanging clothes on the racks. Upon seeing him, she put the last piece of clothing on the last rack and began to walk past him to leave. He had desperately grabbed her arm, telling her to wait, and to talk to him; but she merely gave him a sad look, telling him she didn't deserve to talk with him, making his tiny heart shatter to pieces. All he wanted was a friend, he could get everything in life except for a friend.

So here he was, lonely as ever, on his birthday, boarding a horse and carriage, ready to go meet his wife-to-be. As he climbed in with his bags of luggage, he glanced behind him, his mother and father waved in a royal kind of way. He looked past his parents, though, searching for one particular-

There! There she was! Actually waving! Farah had a small, meek smile on her face as she waved to him, her arm halfway in the air. He met her gaze for a moment and she gave him an even kinder smile, the one he remembered from so long ago.

The carriage suddenly jerked forwards causing Caspian to fall into his seat. He swore he heard her laugh among the dozens waving goodbye from the palace at his clumsy fall, and he frowned slightly. Where was that laugh three years ago when he needed it the most? Why was she laughing and smiling now? Was she glad he was leaving her?

Little did he know that to Farah, this was the saddest moment of her life, as she felt her heart drop, watching her one and only best friend ride off in his knightly carriage to go sweep away his princess.

Or so she thought.