Arranged Marriages

August, Prince of Yililia

"Your highness, be careful!" said Mason, an elderly servant who has worked here ever since I can remember. We both held on end of Aris' chest of clothing, the heavy wooden box weighed down even more by the abundant fabric girls tend to have on their dresses, as we made our way down the stairs. The crazy old man had tried to do it by himself!

With a roll of my eyes, I manuevered around the last twist and finally stepped on level ground, backing up so Mason could do the same. 

"Old man," I teased, "I'm not the one you should be worried about. How many times have to injured that ol' right hip of yours?"

Mason blushed and stuck his chin out as we filed out the doorway, "That concern is none of yours."

We heaved the chest onto the wagon, and I flung an arm around Mason's shoulders, "You, my old friend, are just as much of my concern as I am yours."

With a huff, the grumpy old man shrugged off my arm and picked up his pace, despite the limp on his right side, as he laughed to himself, "Then it's a good thing you're no concern of mine, now isn't it? I'm no nanny, no sir!"

I chuckled to myself as he hobbled away: you couldn't help but love the frail old man.

"August!" cheered the voice of my sister, and I turned just in time to catch her as she jumped for a hug.

"Are you ready to go, dear Aris? The horses are ready and the wagon nearly finished being packed. Go on, go say goodbye to whom or whatever you wish, or have you done it already?"

That, perhaps, was a mistake. She was gone for God knows how long, to the point where I had to go seraching for her before anyone truly became suspicious and Aris got in trouble. 

"Aris?" I whisper yelled, not wanting anyone to know that I had to look for her. 

I swear the girl is hiding. She was there as we packed the wagon, but after my brief encounter with her she just disappeared - none of the servants had even seen her.

Opening the door to the ballroom, the last room to be searched, I checked to see if she was in there then went out to the front of castle with the horses. Unhitching my favorite horse, Theo, from the front of the line, I mounted him and clicked my tongue, signaling him to go. 

I had a pretty good idea where Aris was. I steered Theo towards the beach, and he slowed his run once the sand became prominant. There I saw her, my sister, standing with her legs in the ocean, her dress bunched in her hands.

Dismounting Theo, I took off my boots and rolled up the legs of my pants. Approaching the cool water, I waded in towards my sister and stood beside her. She stared off into the distance as if she didn't see me, but grabbed for my hand. I examined her face closely, her cheeks damp from salty tears and the salty spray of the ocean. 

A frown tugging at the corners of my mouth made me want to keep her, forget the blood alliance and let her stay with me until she found someone she truly loved. But I couldn't do that.

Aris turned to face me, a weak copy of a smile on her face as she said, "Let's go, August."

We both mounted Theo and ran with him back to the castle. Reaching the wagon, we dismounted and I rehitched Theo. Aris found her way into the carriage of the wagon with mother and father, and I followed her. And then....we headed for Bryni, Aris looking sadly out the window at the fields and homes of commoners, the children playing and women doing laundry, and the men coming home to their wives.