Princess Eveline's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Princess Eveline wanted love like the stories she hid under her pillow. Tonight her father wanted a match to save his kingdom. Three years of war had emptied the treasury, and Eveline's marriage could buy peace. She stood at the top of the great stairs in her dark blue gown. Silver trim caught the candlelight. Her brown hair fell in soft waves, half pinned up. Below her, the ballroom glittered with strangers who had come to bid on her. She descended, and the room turned toward her. A young lord bowed and praised her gown. Another admired her slippers. A third called her the loveliest sight in Aurea. Eveline smiled and thanked each one. Not one asked her name's meaning, or her favorite book, or a single true thing. They saw the gown. They did not see her. By the third dance, her cheeks ached from smiling. She slipped through the tall doors onto the terrace and breathed the cold air. Her mother followed. Queen Elizabeth wore pale blue, her dark hair braided into a neat bun beneath her golden tiara. She did not scold. She stood beside Eveline at the rail and watched the dark garden. "They only see the dress," Eveline said. "Because that is all you have shown them," the Queen said gently. "You hide your heart, and then you blame them for missing it." She touched her daughter's cheek. "Love does not find a closed door, Eveline. In time it can grow. But you must first let someone in." Eveline gripped the cold stone. Her mother was right. She had guarded her true self like a secret. No wonder the suitors saw a pretty face and nothing more. She went back inside. This time she did not float and smile. When a nobleman complimented her gown, she asked him what he read. He blinked and had no answer, and moved on. She let him go. Then her father crossed the floor toward her. King Evander wore dark blue with his fur cape, gray shining through his brown hair, his golden crown bright. Beside him walked a guest she had not met, a king from a distant land. "Eveline," her father said, "I have made my choice for the kingdom." Her stomach dropped. She looked at the stranger, then squared her shoulders. She decided she would not hide from this man. She would show him the truth of who she was and let him choose that, or nothing. "Father," she said clearly, "before you decide anything, I must tell you what I want. I want to be known. Not admired. Known." The ballroom went quiet. Her father stared. Eveline knew that it may anger her father but if none of the men wanted to even bother knowing her for her, how could she find love?