I've learned to appreciate being alone, well as alone is the first born daughter to a king can be. It's been a week since the wedding and I haven't seen my new husband since. This was not the marriage I dreamed of, one brought about by the love burning between two people who are destined to belong together but it was the one that my duties to my family placed me in.

I haven't left my room since that day, now I sit at the window looking out at the forests beyond the castle walls. I've been thinking of what has been going on lately and have come to the realization that I need to figure out where I fit in all this. My new husband, Jackson, and I were the first born children of kings from neighboring kingdoms, who have never actually met officially before the announcement for our engagement followed by a wedding and all it's events the week following. This strange young man who was of the age of twenty-one was now to be my life long partner. He was handsome however, with brown hair that looked so effortless in a wavy mess and dark brown eyes that give meaning to the eyes being the windows to the soul, leaving you curious as to what are inside those windows.

After the wedding, we moved into the castle that was almost between his kingdom of Marod and my kingdom of Adros, as the heirs of both kingdom it is expected that eventually at either the passing or resignation of the kings we shall take over and merge the two kingdoms. For now we live at the Castle on beach hill, on a cliff overlooking the ocean to the far north-eastern end of the kingdom this use to be like a summer home for my family and a place for visitors who travel to our kingdom to stay, other royals and nobles whether they visit for a treaty signing, a royal event or a visit of important matters. This place held memories of my childhood when my father would take my sisters and I here in the summer, the sea air blowing during the warm days and the sound of wolves howling in the forests that lead to the cliff by night but this place is now the begining of a life I can not imagine.

A knock at the door brought me back to reality, and in came my personal maid, Miss Perry, who has taken care of me since I was a baby. It was morning, time for breakfast and for me to be bathed and dressed. She entered pushing a trolly bearing hot tea, toast, jam and butter saying, "He's been asking for you."

My gaze still fixed out the window as the words meet my ears.

"You can't hide in here forever, your highness. Sooner or later you will have to meet him." Miss Perry said, her voice laced with a bit of worry.

I moved over to a chair at the table to that was almost at the center of the space in my room where she laid a plate with all the contents of the trolly. The aroma of the hot peppermint tea filled the air. I took a small sip then placed the cup back on the saucer before saying, "I'll see him when I'm ready."

"It's been a week, everyone and even I am worried about you. You haven't left this room, you've nearly not spoken a word at all and you have not been eating." She replied without sparing a beat.

Silence rang as my mind returned to all my thoughts from earlier. It is time but I am uncertain of what to expect, the acceptance of this situation is stuck at the back of my head but moving forward is difficult. Without a plan all I can do is go along with what is to come. "I'll meet him today." I mumbled, forcing the words out from burning my throat only for them to come out in a whisper but Miss Perry's desperate ears heard them perfectly. She grinned and moved quickly to the closet that stood on the far wall. Rummaging around through the tons of dress only to pull out a light pink dress and laying it on the bed, smoothing the skirt with her wrinkled hands saying, "This is the one, Rosie.", With a bright smile.

Miss Perry cared for me since the, day I was born, taking care of my every need. When my mother died when I was the age of three she became even more caring as she didn't have any children of her own, we were very close and behind closed doors we would sometimes forget the formalities. I sat at the table and put a lavish helping of jam on a piece of toast and took a bite. Miss Perry smiled, as if she was relieved and went to the bathroom to fill the to for my bathe.

The water in the tub was warm with bubbles that smelled of the lavender scented soap that was used. Miss Perry uses a jug to pour the water down

the back of my neck without wetting my hair which was strategically placed in a bun to keep it dry. When my bathe was done. I was sat on a chair facing a mirror while wearing a silk robe. Miss Perry let my long dark hair fall, the long loose curls ending after my waist. She brushed my hair before taking two pieces from the top of my head, securing them with a pink ribbon and letting my curls fall openly at the back. She hugged me saying, " There is my princess." And then went to get my dress.

For the first time since the wedding I studied myself in the mirror, I looked pale from the lack of sunlight on my skin, my blue eyes looked intense and my hair looked dark as obsidian. She returned with the dress in a minute and helped me put it on, then a pair of shoes, short heels that click against the marble floors and finally a simple pair of diamond earrings. Other than that, I wore the heart shaped diamond pendent I haven't taken off since the engagement, it was a gift from my father, The King of Abros. As I stood in front of the mirror looking at myself completely dressed, anxious of the day that might be awaiting me, Miss Perry said, " twirl, my dear."

Oddly enough I just went along with what she said and twirled, the fabric from the dress flairing at the breeze that passed under it as I spun. When I faced Miss Perry again, the smile never left her face but it was now paired with a tear. When she finally spoke she said, "you look just like your mother."

Those words made me still for a second and I took a second look in the mirror. From the pictures I've seen I spair few similarities to her but she was a more beautiful version. Her hair was brown, her skin has a warmer, tanned shade and her features were slightly more soft but our eyes were identical the same deep shade of blue that put the ocean below the castle to shame.

The dress she picked out was baby pink, with a longs skirt and sleeves that sat off my shoulders, the underneath was a silky fabric that had layers of soft mesh flowing down. It was my mother's, she never wore it and it remained among some of her belongings that we kept. I almost don't remember her, the pictures are all ik her to look like but without them I'm almost lost and sometimes in my dreams I hear her voice. A soft, warm, caring and inviting voice that instantly makes you feel safe, sometimes singing an old lullaby.

****** "Weary princess, close your eyes. Sleep tonight and don't you cry. Warm and safe as ever. Dream of lands far away and awaiting adventure. Magic tales, flying with wings and all your heart s desire."******