Zara''s eyes twitched as the sun beamed onto her face. God, she was not looking forward to what today had to offer. It was the day of the Bell Ball, an annual ball held by the royal family so that they could invite all of those with influence and power, and influence them to do some favors for them. The groom would be there of course, and she as the bride would be expected to interact with him. However, she didn''t like the groom. She barely knew him; they''ve only met a handful of times. He was a complete asshole with no regard for anyone except himself. The stories she''s heard about him paint him in a less than worthy light. Ignoring all that, which was disqualifying in and of itself, she had no chemistry with him whatsoever. While he was conventionally attractive she felt nothing towards him, and his charisma was lost on her. It had all the makings of a boring, loveless marriage. Ugh, why are all the heirs of the excessively wealthy beautiful on the outside, but ugly on the inside? She knew exactly why of course, living her life surrounded by them, but it still burned that her life would be forever chained to them.


    She could''ve spent all day thinking about why she hated all of the people in this castle, but she had one other big obligation today. Meeting with her parents for breakfast. She knew this breakfast wasn’t going to end well, as her parents only cared about themselves and how influential their family was, Making all of her desires null and void unless they aligned with what they wanted at the time. Which quite frankly happened so rarely that she wasn''t even sure that it was even possible. Knowing that tardiness meant a lengthy, pointless lecture from her mother, she got herself out of bed and dressed in some semi-formal attire. Hopefully making it, so that her mother wouldn’t give her a second lecture, and headed out of her room.


    She was walking to the mess hall when she heard the voice of her best friend.


    "A little early for you to be up, isn’t it,” said Mary with a smile on her face. She looked at her for what felt like the first time in a long time and felt something deep inside her try to break out of her. Unable and unwilling to confront the feeling she forced it back down.


    "I see why you don''t have any other friends,” she said exhausted from her restless sleep, "but I agree if I didn''t have to meet my damn parents, for this waste of time I wouldn''t be up yet.”


    Mary''s face dropped the smile and held a more sympathetic look. "Oh, I''m sorry you have to deal with them.”


    "It''s fine there''s nothing I can really do about it. Except be a pain in the ass."


    Mary laughed, "I''m glad to see you''ve still retained your sense of humor." Her face formed a more serious expression. “I want you to know, I’m always going to be here for you." Her heart was starting to beat harder. "I know it''s sudden, and you don''t like to deal with your emotions, but after seeing you yesterday I want you to know that I''m going to support you. However, I can no matter the circumstance.” Zara was surprised. It was unusual for anyone to show genuine emotion with her. She knew that Mary was her best friend, but actually acknowledging what a great friend she was, was something she had never done before. She added remorse to the emotional soup her insides had become.


    She wanted to let Mary know how she felt, “I know I''m a pain in your ass, but even know a good friend when I see one.” She quickly grabbed Mary and pulled her into a warm embrace. Her heart beating as hard as a drum. She feared that Mary may hear or feel it. She had been fighting to keep her feelings dormant, but she now knew that would be a more daunting task than she had originally anticipated. They stayed that way for a while and eventually Mary released herself and broke the silence.


    "That''s enough of me being melodramatic, you have some royalty you need to annoy." Mary gave her one last look and headed off. She watched Mary leave for a moment. Why had her feelings exposed themselves now, two days before her life would be swept away. Sighing, she turned away to head towards the dining room. Her emotions were giving her a hard time. She eventually got her heart under control and then locked her emotions away. She had practiced this many times and if she were going to get through today she needed to steel herself.


    Finally arriving at the doors to the dining room, she took one last deep breath and pushed the doors open. It was showtime.


    The contents of the mess hall revealed themselves to her. The long table in the center of the room could sit up to 30 people, the tapestries on the wall were banners of the kingdom’s houses. They were supposed to evoke a sense of conquest and victory, but all it really did was showcase their vanity. Since the banners were extravagantly decorated, laced with gold, and embodied with gemstones.


    Sitting at the table were her parents. They were a fine example of how the exterior of a person did not always reflect what was inside of them. She took a step inside and headed towards them to reluctantly join them for breakfast.


    "It''s finally timed you graced us with your presence.” Mother said in a disapproving tone. However, she never approved so this was perfectly normal.


    "Ah, it''s been some time, since we''ve had a family breakfast hasn’t it." father said. Considering they were always blowing her off, this was rich coming from him.


    "I''m only doing this because you said I had to be here,” Zara said sitting down, ”I don''t participate in your fake pleasantries, and social facades. So please, just tell me what you need from me, and we can move on." Whenever her parents actually took the time to talk to their oldest daughter they used that time to criticize every aspect of her and to get what they want. She decided long ago that enough was enough, and stopped trying to cooperate with them unless she absolutely had to.


    "You''ll never be fit for the throne with those manners,” mother said, "You don’t get to dictate the terms of how these meetings go, we as your parents ultimately decide your fate and that''s just how it is.” She had steeled herself to these kinds of comments from her parents, she knew that fighting back only caused them to push back harder. Which meant she would either have to just take their comments or suffer the consequences of fighting back. She stood by her convictions, but even she had her limits.


    "We want you to travel with Ruther back to their home after the wedding,” Father said, “it will be good for you to spend some quality time together and to broaden your horizons.” She knew they had something big coming. However, this was low even for them. Ruther, her future husband, had a notoriously strict and ruthless family. They wanted to not only gain more support for their position but also, to break her spirits at the same time.


    “You can’t do this,” she said raising her voice, “you have no right to force this upon me, especially without any warning.”


    "You don''t have a choice,” mother said, "There''s no need for your input. The decision has been made and the arrangements are in place. We are not asking you for your input. We’re just telling you what is to come.” Mother gave that retort all the emotions she had, which was none. That was a bunch of crap. They didn''t care about informing her. They only wanted her not to make a scene when it would''ve been sprung on her later. If they had told her sooner she would’ve been able to come up with some way to disrupt the wedding or to delay everything, but now she was stuck. With the wedding so close, causing massive delays would hurt many people in the kingdom, as she was sure that her parents would not pay a dime to any of the wedding employees unless the wedding actually happened. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    “And what if I don''t go?" Zara asked knowing the answer, but her spirit refused to let her give up.


    "Honey you don''t have to ask, the dungeons are always open for those who misbehave,” mother said. Those words hung in the air, almost choking her. The kitchen service had finally finished preparing breakfast and brought it out to the not-so-happy family. Mother told the waiter what to report back to the chef, all complaints of course. She tried to absorb what she was just told. It never ceased to amaze her how emotionless her family could be. She thought of her own daughter as just another problem, and that she would just throw her into the dungeons for any inconvenience. These dungeons were cruel places, they were full-blown torture chambers meant to bring someone to the brink of death and back. They wouldn''t go that far with her, but she would have to witness it which was horrible enough.


    They sat in silence for quite a while eating their breakfast until father broke the silence. "We are just doing what''s best for you, you don''t need to get so moody about it." He had to be so out of touch with reality to think that anything that was just said was justified. They were just trying to rub salt in the wound under the pretense of caring. She did her best to ignore it, quickly finished her breakfast, and stood up.


    "Thank you for the lovely breakfast, I''ll remember it since the rest of my life will be downhill from here." She said. Turned away to ignore the comments and complaints from her mother she walked out of the room. Her emotions could only remain suppressed for so long. She needed to cool down before the ball tonight if she was going to have any chance of staying sane. She decided to go back to her room and get the sleep she desperately needed before she was forced into more wedding stuff. God this was such a pain.


    ***


    After breakfast, Zara only got to sleep for about half an hour before the wedding advisor knocked on her door and dragged her on planning errands. She had taken her to almost every room in this castle having her talk with advisors, artisans, chefs, and every other person you could think of. By the time the advisor excused herself she was totally exhausted, and the sun was at the horizon.


    She stood at the castle’s balcony. Taking a moment to breathe, and relax before the ball. As her red dress flowed in the breeze, she closed her eyes embracing the cool air imagining it taking away all of her worries with it. Opening her eyes she felt a pit in her stomach form. Tonight would be her chance to see if herm and the prince had any hope of a future together, she hated him, but if they could pretend to get along her life would at least be tolerable. She had only met him a few times and she knew from personal experience that people could be different from their parents.


    She stared into the horizon and let her vision fall out of focus. She had not yet decided if she was going to fight for her freedom or if she was just going to accept her fate and make the best of the situation. She needed the answers to two questions. Firstly, was there anything between her and the prince, could she make the prince see her side, and make for a reasonable relationship. Secondly, she needed to understand how she felt about Mary and what those feelings even were. She would find that out tomorrow hopefully when she got to spend the day with her.


    ”Princess Zara, it is time.” she heard a butler say. Her eyes refocused, the display of oranges and blues moved her. She wanted to enjoy all of these moments she could. Standing on her own with some peace of mind. Turning to the butler she followed them to the ballroom. Focusing on controlling her emotions and building her social facade, so that she could spend the rest of the night talking to people who did not care about anything, but themselves. Hopefully, getting through it without clawing her eyes out.


    Arriving at the door to the ballroom, the butler opened it and gestured for her to enter. She gave the butler a polite nod and stepped inside. The noise of the band was the first thing that hit her, the loud, energetic music helped calm herself. Every attendee was in an obtusely, fancy outfit. Making the event look less like a ball and more a competition of how fancy and rich you were. It was offensive to her eyes, the broad range of colors and abstract outfits, were far too much. Too focused on the visual and auditory noise she was startled when she heard a voice directed at her.


    "You look stunning.” Turning to the source of the voice, she saw Ruther. Who was in a bright white suit with some gold embellishments on it to showcase his status as the heir to a royal house. Looking at the prince, she felt a little repulsed. She had a gut feeling that this night was not going to end well.


    "It has been some time Ruther. I see your style of standing out as much as possible hasn''t changed,” she said. He appeared to have no reaction to her, but she knew that her comment had pushed some of his buttons.


    "You’re as pleasant as ever,” he said with a smile, "this is going to be a long night, especially if you are going to be all melodramatic about everything.”


    "For the record, this was always going to be a long, unpleasant night,” she said, "you of all people should''ve recognized that, or at least if you actually cared." He simply smiled in response. He was not going to show how her comments had affected him. She knew that if she was going to stay with his family such comments would be faced with rather disproportionate consequences. She had to get as many jabs and quips out while she still could.


    "Why don''t we go greet some of the guests,” he said, "That''s sure to cheer you up." She sighed. It was clear that he had no interest in caring about her, she was just another tool to him. They talked to several of the guests. Who were members of royal houses, politicians, and other wealthy folks. All of whom were only here to squeeze as much influence out of the other attendees as possible. The conversations were superficial and not interesting, while simultaneously far more exhausting than a regular conversation. This night was going to go on for an eternity. After talking to a number of guests. Ruther turned to her and asked.


    "Would you care for a dance?” This was the moment of truth, they would be close enough to talk discreetly. She could find out if he could be a reasonable person and a tolerable partner.


    “I suppose that couldn’t be much worse than talking to all these guests,” she said, "lead the way.” She held out her hand with an overly dramatic flourish. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor.


    This was a disaster.


    While he had a good sense of rhythm he cared little about what his dance partner, her, was doing. This caused a number of awkward stumbles, and some stepped feet, which happened to always be hers. They weren’t in sync. She eventually rose up to follow his rhythm, but she realized he had no interest in matching with her. The band switched to a lively waltz and in the simple repetitive motions, Ruther started to speak.


    "I hope you realize that you can''t fight me forever. You need to learn to work with me, or else this will be very hard for you,” he ended that with a smirk. He was just like his family, so much for hoping for a tolerable relationship.


    "Hard how? In a relationship we should be working together,” she said. Ruther laughed.


    "Oh, you are so naive. Let me be clear. What you want is irrelevant. I can make your life very difficult. The specifics of how don''t make for pleasant conversation, so consider this a warning." Why did her parents have to choose this man for her to marry? She knew the answer, but it was so hard for her to understand how some people could be so blatantly selfish, and repulsive.


    "Why would I marry you then?” She retorted clenching her teeth to save herself from fuming too much.


    "I don''t know how many times I and everyone else has to say this,” Ruther said with a simple smile on his face. "You don''t have a choice. The king and queen declare it, or should I say my future in-laws declare it." She ripped her hands away from him and raised her voice.


    "You''ll regret those words someday, enjoy the rest of this ball alone,” she said and started to walk away, but felt someone grab her hand.


    "Why don''t you stay? The ball has only just begun, and besides your empty threats really don''t mean anything to me. You might as well enjoy all this while you still can" It took everything in her to not explode right then and there.


    "I don''t make empty threats,” she said with a controlled ferocity and stormed off. She would eventually make him regret saying that.


    As Zara arrived in her bedroom she slammed the door and used her chair to barricade it. She wasn''t allowed a lock since privacy didn''t mean anything to her parents, but she would damn well try to get some privacy even if she has to lock herself in.


    Her dress had started to make her feel claustrophobic, reminding her too much of the events that just transpired. Stripping it off, she threw on some comfy clothes and then threw herself onto the bed. laying there, focused on her breathing. Her emotions were out of control and trying to escape. She got the answer to her first question. No way in hell.


    How could she be the only one who could see how repulsive everyone around her was. She knew that all of their beliefs and actions were based on an endless struggle for power, but even considering the lack of empathy and ethics displayed by them was truly horrifying. How could she show these people a way to be more genuine and collaborative. Forcefully shaking her head, she shoved her face into the pillow.


    She couldn''t think about how to fix the world, she needed to breathe. Overwhelming herself with emotions, and problems were not a way forward. Not until she answered her second question.


    She needed the answer.


    That scared her.