"I came to see you," replied Arianna, one of Alex's best friends. "Also your parents requested that I come."
"But, if you came, then that means..."
"Yes, he's here."
Alex smiled. "I am so happy for you! I always said you'd be married before me, or betrothed anyway." Ari laughed. "Yes, yes. Anyway, I am to tell you to go to your parents quarters." Alex looked at her puzzled. "Normally mother would send Dei or JC to tell me. She tends to love etiquette, so why she would send visiting royalty is confusing." Ari smiled. "Hey. I'm not helpless; I can walk down the hall. Besides, I was going to come talk to you anyway. Just go see her."
Alex nodded and walked out of the room to go to her parents quarters. She lightly knocked on the door and stepped inside. "You wanted to see me?" she asked. Her parents nodded. "We have something to tell you," said Roald standing up, a smile lighting his face. Alex stood there, waiting for them to continue. "You are officially betrothed to Prince Justin of the Timberlakes."
Alex couldn't even breathe. How could they? After all she'd said after all she'd done? They go and give her hand in marriage to someone she'd never even met? She hardly knew him, she just knew he was a couple years younger than she was. She didn't want any reasons as to why they had done this. Surprising them both, she turned and walked out of the room. She didn't speak to anyone as she walked down the hall. Not to servants or close friends. She even ignored Dei and JC as they said hi to her.
She walked into her room and got her sword. She walked back out into the corridor, not caring who saw her. She went to one of the practice courts and locked the door behind her. She whispered a few words and an illusion of a knight appeared in front of her. "Guard," she whispered as she brought her sword to bare.
Alex just needed to let out all of her anger. She felt so betrayed. The knight swung at her legs, but she jumped over the razor-sharp blade. She parried and then had to block his sword. She spun and kicked at him, waiting for an opening. She tripped at one point and fell to the ground. She quickly rolled out of the way as his sword came down to the point where her head was. She tried to swing the blade out of his grasp using her own, but he didn't fall for it.
"Remind me to put more restraints on you next time," she panted. She shook the droplets of sweat away from her eyes and wiped her palm on her breeches, changing her sword from hand to hand. The knight made a butterfly sweep and Alex barely blocked it, coming body-to-body with him. Even though she was tall, this was still a bad position for her to be in. She rolled away and he stumbled, almost losing his blade. She swung around and her blade came to rest on his neck. "Match," she whispered hoarsely. The knight bowed and disappeared.
Alex sighed and dropped onto the ground, every muscle aching. She laid her sword down next to her. With the adrenaline leaving her body, everything that was said came back to her. Much against her will, she put her head in her hands and broke down in tears.
JC was worried about Alex. He said hi to her in the hall and she ignored him and Dei. Dei looked at him. "Something's wrong with Alex," she said.
JC nodded. "Do you know where she went?"
Dei shook her head. "I'm not sure. Should we leave her alone?"
JC looked around nervously. "I don't know. I just have this feeling that we should find her." Dei nodded. "I still have to do something. Why don't you go find her?" JC nodded and started off. He checked her room and the war room. He looked almost everywhere he could think of. He sighed and went to the practice courts; sometimes she went there when she was really mad or depressed. He turned the handle and found it locked.
"Alex?" he called into the room. He heard something but couldn't make it out. After a second he heard her say something and the door unlocked. He quickly opened it to find Alex seated in the middle of the floor, her back to him. He looked at the sword on the ground and the way her shoulders slumped and knew that she had been fighting again. He closed the door and walked over to her. He kneeled down next to her. "Lexi?" he questioned. She lifted her head and he saw the tears streaming down her face. "I...I've" she couldn't get it out. She just couldn't bear to tell JC what had happened.
He put his arm around her and she leaned against him. "I've been betrothed." JC froze. "Betrothed?" he whispered. "To who?"
"Prince Justin of the Timberlakes." JC closed his eyes. He had heard of the Prince, but didn't know much about him. "When did this happen?" he asked. She gave a weak laugh. "Today I guess. They told me that I was betrothed and I walked out on them. I came here to get my mind off of it, but that ended when I stopped fighting." She took a deep breath. "Why? Why? After the whole argument I had with them over my marriage, they go behind my back and marry me." Tears continued to roll down Alex's face.
She shook her head and wiped the tears away. She stood up and offered her hand down to JC. She gave a half-hearted smile. "I need to stop. This isn't how a princess acts now is it?" JC took the offered hand and stood up. "Since when are you always a proper princess?" Alex laughed. "Thanks." She gave JC a quick hug. "I'll see you later." She bent down to pick up her sword. When she straightened, she looked into JC's eyes and was surprised to see pure concern.
"Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly. She nodded. "I'll stop by later, okay?" he nodded and she walked out of the practice court, lingering at the door but still moving on. He sighed and followed.
Justin stood outside, waiting for his parents to show up. Char and Lance were talking quietly beside him, waiting for the journey to begin. He sighed and looked up. Why? He asked silently. "Let's go Justin," said his mother, walking toward him. His mother and Char along with another lady-in-waiting got into the carriage, while Justin, his father, and Lance mounted horses. They started at a brisk pace. "How are you doing?" asked Lance as the rode next to each other. Justin sighed. "I don't know. I don't know the girl and there are other things." Lance nodded. "Well, maybe you'll get lucky and she won't be a stuck-up brat who cries when she breaks a nail." Justin laughed. "I can only hope."
Ari sat in the dining hall with her betrothed, Chris. Their friends and servants, Joey and Lydia, sat with them. Ana and Dei walked in and they all began to talk like the old friends that they were. After a few more minutes, JC came in. "Is she okay?" asked Dei with concern." She... she was betrothed," he said in disbelief. "What?" asked Ana stunned. "I went to find her and she was in the practice court, she had been fighting again. She was crying and she told me that her parents had betrothed her to Prince Justin of the Timberlakes."
Everyone looked at him with shock. He dropped into a chair. "She said she would be fine, but I don't know."
"Alex isn't going to be here," said Ari.
"What do you mean?" asked Chris.
"When she didn't want to be around the people at the castle, she would go somewhere that they weren't, which was in a meadow or something faraway."
"Do you think she's there now?" asked JC. Ari nodded. "And chances are she didn't take any guards with her either." JC sighed in frustration. "I have to find her before her parents find out."
"I'll go with you," said Chris.
"Same here," said Joey. JC smiled. "That's great. Let's go get the horses and then we'll go find her. Hopefully, she won't be too far." They nodded and hurried out, leaving the girls to try and think how they were going to distract her parents.
"This trail leads away from the castle and doesn't loop back, so Alex probably went this way," said JC. The others nodded as they trotted through the woods on their horses. They were mostly silent, straining their ears for sounds. JC sighed. He had never seen Alex like that. She looked betrayed. He was more surprised by the fact that her parents would even do that. Betroth her to someone that she didn't know against her will? They came out into a clearing and JC recognized it. "If she's not in the next clearing, then she's not here."
"Why do you say that?" asked Joey.
"Because she never went any farther, even with me and half the royal guard. Beyond the clearing is the Horus Kingdom. The kingdoms aren't on good terms, but they aren't in an all out war either. Even Alex wouldn't cross the lines. "They nodded and plunged once again into the forest. When they neared the last clearing, they dismounted and JC walked ahead while the others stayed behind. JC held his sword in case he needed it and looked into the clearing.
Alex stood there staring at the trees while she twirled her blade from hand to hand. She was getting better by the day, but he wondered why she was using her sword so much. "Alex?" he asked, walking into the clearing. She whirled around, leveling her sword at him. When she recognized him, the blade lowered and she returned to what she was doing without so much as a nod. "Alex, why are you doing exercises with your sword so close to the kingdoms borders? If you want to fight them in the future, showing them that you can use a sword isn't the best way to surprise them."
"I'm tired," she said simply, not glancing at him as he moved closer. "Tired of what?" he asked cautiously. "Everything!" Her movements became frantic as she yelled. "I'm tired of always watching my actions, my words! Heaven forbid I speak my mind or I might offend that King or that kingdom. I'm tired of having to let my parents dictate my life! I'm tired of doing things that only a princess can do! I want to do magic and sword fight cause I can! I'm tired of having to act like I hardly know you at events because you are one of the few people that actually understands me! I'm tired of not showing who I really am!" She drove the sword into the ground. "And I'm just tired of being taken for granted."
The last sentence was said so softly, he wasn't sure he heard it. "Alex." She turned toward him as he walked up to her. "I wish I could tell you I know where you're coming from, but I don't. But I have a very good idea. I pretty much grew up with you and watched all of the hysteria surround you. The whole time, you went around with the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you let no one know it. Certain things can't be changed, but others can. You need to go back there and try and talk things out. Then you have to remember that everyone as well as myself are here for you."
Alex smiled. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thank you so much JC. I wish that I could marry you." The words were said lightly, but they seemed to have a different effect other than what was meant on both of them. She pulled away and turned to her sword, still implanted in the ground. She grabbed the silver hilt and tugged. The sword finally gave way and she stumbled backward. JC reached out and held onto her arm. "You okay?" he asked. She chuckled. "Yeah, just pulled a bit too hard." They walked toward the end of the clearing and found Joey and Chris. Alex laughed and hugged them both, saying how good it was to see them. Realizing that they didn't bring Iris, Alex mounted behind JC and put her arms around his waist as they galloped out.
Meanwhile, a man who blended in with the shadows watched them go. "There is more to Princess Alexandra than we thought," Rand mumbled under his breath. "This will be an interesting point for debate." He slunk away, toward the dark castle of the kingdom of Horus.
Four