And I remember looking into her pensive eyes and telling her that for me, a girl who wanted to fly, having clipped wings was unbearable.
She held me, nodded sadly, as if she knew.
And maybe she did. She was once a Princess too.
For some women, being a Princess is enough. For me, though, I’d give it all up if it meant I could soar.
My sisters just thought I was a brat for trying to run away. They never understood what it felt like to be tethered to a place you wanted to leave.
“How can I help, father?” Dahlia asks. “I’m just a princess.”
I can practically hear Violet roll her eyes. Those words just a princess grate on her more than any other phrase.
“Marriage,” my father explains. “The plan for you, my daughters, is to enter into arranged marriages to Princes in other countries in exchange for dowries that will replenish Elexia’s momentary monetary deficit.”
I blink, thanking my lucky stars.
FINALLY, PEOPLE.
As my father announces that the recklessly handsome Prince Hunter is going to be Violet’s husband, my older sister sinks to the floor. Dahlia will marry the agreeable Prince Lucas, and of course she has only one reaction: selflessness. She’s on the floor consoling Violet.
I haven’t even heard who my husband will be, but already this is the best news I’ve heard all year.
All decade.
I’m getting the heck out of dodge.
I want more. And yes, I know I sound like a VHS recording of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But is that the worst thing in the world, to want more than this water-locked island has to offer? Because I feel like I’m drifting in a circle, like I haven’t started my life, and all I see when I look at social media on my stupid phone is a big, bright world waiting for me.
I want in on it.
“And who am I to marry?” I ask tentatively. My fingers are already wrapped around my cell phone; I’m ready to Google the shit out of whoever he says is my royal ticket out of here.
“You’ll be marrying Prince Garrick of Alpinweiss,” my father says, holding up his hand. “And before you put up a fuss, Iris, let me explain. His family is incredibly wealthy. The country of Alpinweiss is an abundant land, full of natural resources and a military that has kept them front and center in international negotiations. And while Garrick is known for being a bit of a recluse—he hasn’t shown his face in the public sector for years, but...”
I tune out the rest of his words. Because literally none of them matter.
The country of Alpinweiss is abundant. That translates to the more I’m looking for. The more I’ve been dreaming about.
I wrap my arms around Father, never having been so excited in my entire life.
I am going to marry a prince.
I am leaving Elexia, finally!
I’ve never dreamed of finding Prince Charming ... but I think my own happily ever after fantasy is just about to come true.
2
Oh, hell no.
Look, my parents have been running potential wife options by me for the last two fucking years. I’ve vetoed every last one of them. I’m not opposed to marriage—of course not. I want a woman to keep me warm just like the next man, but I’m not interested in a woman who doesn’t understand a mountain prince like me.
Alpinweiss is a country full of money. We’re rich for one motherfucking reason: we’re not idiots. Though I tend to think the people my parents surround themselves with are a bunch of fucking jokes, always holding their heads high like they’re better than everyone else, never thinking about the common man who needs a leg up.
That’s why I live like I do. I don’t think just because I have a title I should have any special privileges.
“We told you after you nixed the last princess we found that the next time we found a viable option, we were agreeing to it with or without your consent. Remember?” my father says.
I swing my axe into the final log, chopping it into a good size for my wood-burning stove. I remember the conversation from last month, clear as the crisp morning air. My parents aren’t forcing me ... hell, I forced this upon myself for taking so damn long to make up my mind. I knew this day was going to come.
“So, Son,” my mother says, “we found a princess whose father will actually send his daughter out here, to you, in the middle of nowhere—though of course we didn’t detail the state of your housing.”
Mother looks around my property: the cabin I built with my hands, the thick forest around us. As far from the Historic Village of Alpinweiss as I could get without leaving the village altogether.
Only thing worse than being in that town, filled with cobblestone roads and horse-drawn carriages, and so many fucking tourists gawking at our “quaint town,” is going over the mountains into the big cities of Alpinweiss.