1 A Princess For a Gift

"I'm scared Margaret." The young princess stared at her made up face in the dressing mirror with a tight sulk.

The miserly adoptive daughter was to be given away in the stead of the royal princess.

Rain, named offhandedly so, for she'd been found amidst a storm, fiddled her tensed fingers. Her raking blues drooped in pleas as it stared at her maidservant.

Margaret let out a sigh and with a gesture, waved off the rest of the servants.

Once the older lady and the princess were left alone, Margaret came behind to knead her taut shoulders.

"You'll be fine mi'lady. It is absolutely natural to be anxious at this period."

Rain's eyes glistened with stagnant tears.

She complained in a hush, " It isn't just anxiety, Margaret. Do you not hear the rumors? They say he's the worst of his kind. Exiled from his own land. Cursed. Hideous.

Heavens be with me, he is the infamous prince of death!

What he did with my fath… the king's soldiers? Only a beast could be that grotesque! And I'm to be carted off to him, in the stead of the royal princess, in debt of the king's greed…"

"Stop it, mi'lady. You know better than to conceive such ridiculous rumors. The people love to gossip. Rest assured, no prince is of that sort. The prince of Eragon will be… normal. A dream come true."

"A nightmare perhaps." Rain rubbed her sweaty palms down her skirt, "The rumors cannot be completely false."

Eragon was a powerful kingdom. A kingdom only a ruler as selfish as the king of Cradya could dare to go against. If it hadn't been so, the adopted princess wouldn't be made a gift of atonement.

Like an offering, but on a platter of plain wood instead . Especially in cheaper bargain of the royal princess.

Rain's voice was low and heavy with emotions. Perhaps it was the strangling corset, but she felt a lump stuck in her chest. It was hard to breathe.

"What if he dislikes me? And I dislike him too? I'm afraid he would leave me, the daughter of his enemy, to perish. Worse is, I'm not the royal princess. "

Margaret frowned slightly and thought for a while as she pushed a hairpin into the young girl's strands of red hair.

Although she sounded reassuring, she prayed the fate of the princess wouldn't be as scary as feared.

After she pulled her hair into a neat bun, she glossed over it with a satisfied gaze.

"I doubt any man would be able to withstand your charm, princess."

Rain wasn't flattered. Her nervous expression remained the same and when a thought crossed her mind, she sprang from her chair to face the maidservants with anxious orbs.

" What about the nightmares, Margaret? They keep getting worse by the day. The kingdom of Eragon abhors enchantments, if I am to be found out Margaret…"

"Calm down, your highness," Margaret pulled her arm and brought her to a halt. She lowered her voice and said in a soothing whisper, "Haven't you done well so far to control it? Don't have such scary thoughts, please mi'lady ."

Rain pulled away and hastened to the open windows. She scaled the window near the balcony as if getting ready to go over it . "It isn't too late to escape. If I can…"

Startled, Margaret rushed forward to hold her. "Please think through my lady. You've tried this several times and failed. Besides, there are only few minutes left until your carriage arrives. If you suddenly go missing, your fa… the king won't let anyone off!"

"It's getting stronger," Rain returned quietly in breaking tones. "I'm… I'm afraid I won't be able to control…"

A knock came at the door soon, bringing a tense silence to the chamber.

"The carriage from Eragon has arrived mi'lady ."

Train of maidservants pulled the door open and filed into the chamber to escort the princess.

Rain's gaze lingered on Margaret as she was been led away.

*

Out the castle's courtyard, a single carriage had parked was in waiting.

The king of Cradya, whose tyranny the adopted princess had grown under, stood in the company of his twin sons and kinsmen.

The royal princess, for fear that she might be taken a liking to by the prince of death, must have been confined safely in her chambers.

Rain wasn't heartbroken leaving the palace. Neither was she going to miss the royal family which had treated her like nothing but a burden. But who knew if she was going to worse hell than h. She had always wanted to escape here, but not like this.

The hatch on the carriage's drive flung open at this moment and a man dressed in fine regalia stepped down the carriage.

He had a tall and muscular build as though he'd been in combat all his life and an ugly scar ran across the side of his face making him look scarier.

His lips were a constant grim and his honey gaze were frigid.

Seeing him approach with steady steps, Rain instinctively shrunk under his giant shadow.