"I need to sleep some more"
The voice of a lady seems to come from the thick folds of cotton bedsheet, she even kicked her feet to show displeasure. But her singsong voice took much out of her whining. Standing round her bed were her maids and the chief maid who happened to be her wet nurse was the closest to her. In honestly, she was the only who who could do the arduous work of waking the reluctant lady.
"quickly stand up, today is the marriage Contest, your father is already at the Training Fielding with your potential suitors, it's rude to keep them waiting"
"humph, I am not some prize to be won. Father knows how to do useless things, forget it, I am still not going!" her voice was thick with displeasure
wack!
"oww, why did you hit me" the lady screamed as she crawled out of the thick bedsheet. Her beautiful face once out, seemed to change the overall atmosphere of the room, even the ambient from the early morning sun seems to lose out compared to her.
Mrs Suman frowned, feeling as if she had lost her anger and annoyance. The princess face alone is enough to disarm anybody.
Of course, as far as Suman was concerned, Princess Ariana was only slightly prettier than her late mother.
"keep on asking and the next slap will definitely make your butt red"
"ohhh, but I don't want to get married to anyone. Doesn't father know it's shameful to force my marriage even when I am still young and obviously desirable"
"you little brat, your father isn't doing this for himself, you know full well he wants to protect you. With him being the only brother to the king, it's no news that the king's son won't be comfortable knowing the whole northern dukedom is in your father's control. The kingdom's strongest military is also controlled by your father. Getting you married this way will show your father's total lack of ambition and will remove you from the crown Prince's gaze. In case you don't know, the prince has mentioned to your father that you will be a good match for his bodyguard Daeman. This marriage Contest will definitely incur the Crown prince wrath but your father still went for it. The alternative will be far worse than the Crown prince's fury ."
"I know, I understand father, it's just that.., I feel father didn't try hard enough. Maybe, if he swore allegiance to the Prince, he won't have his eyes on our dukedom. There are seven Dukedoms in the kingdom, while father might be the second in line to the throne, it's only when you go back a generation, it's safer to say that we are not even in line at all. Clearly everybody is being paranoid over nothing!."
wack!
"ouch, what is it this time?" the princess screeched as she rubbed her shoulder.
"The nonsense you just said showed how shallow your knowledge really is. Instead of talking, pay close attention to your teachers' lectures"
The princess nodded with a drepressed face. she closed her mouth and quietly stared up at Mrs Suman, waiting for her to finish her lectures. Mrs Suman was more than her wet nurse, she was also her mother's step sister. while the two didn't share any blood relationship, the bond between them was strong. Ariana never met her mother, she died while giving birth to her but Mrs Suman never failed to mention how beautiful and nice she was.
Ariana grew up with the warm stories of her mother sorely because of her Aunt who chose to live with her as her maid. Mrs Suman's greatest wish in life was to see her sister's daughter happily living her life.
After a while, she sighed and looked outside the window towards the training field, Ariana's room wasn't facing the field so Mrs Suman couldn't see the suitors nor the field but her eyes looked as though she saw them all the same.
"they are gathered already, I don't know if he will come or not, he has never been bound by fate or destiny. Aria, Your father might not be the perfect father, you only have to trust that he wants the best for you. I can atleast assure you that the man who will win the contest will be someone you approve of."
"Good, I also want to see the suitor I will approve of. Aunty, I better get prepared, help me pick out a trouser and shirt, I don't need a gown to sit at the field"
Mrs Suman made to comment but Ariana quickly added
"plus, I am not going there to impress anyone, I am fairly certain all of them wants to marry me not just for my beauty but also our family Fortune".
She jumped up from the bed but got tangled by the bedspread and fell towards the floor.
But something strange happeded, just like magic she froze in mid air before she hit the floor. Her body began to float upward until she was standing in air. There was no panic in her eyes and neither were the maids surprised. Mrs Suman flicked her fingers and she gradually landed on the floor.
"Thanks Aunty"
"humph, be this careless on any other day and see if I won't let you fall on your face!". With another hurrump, she left the room leaving the maids to get the princess ready. While no one mentioned it, it was obvious that Mrs Suman was a witch.
Princess Ariana stared at the retreating back of her Aunt and began to ponder, who is it that she speaks of?. Someone not bound by fate and destiny. Ariana got excited thinking about it. For the first time, the marriage Contest seems to not be as simple as she had thought, there is indeed something to look forward to. The most important part of her thoughts dwelled on the assurance that the final winner will be someone she appove of.
if it was any other person making that statement, Princess Ariana won't bother getting excited, but coming from Mrs Suman, she knew it has to be real; the Suman Family has always been the family of Seers.