"You'll just have to get Ariel pregnant immediately. That way she'll be chained to you forever." my fiancé's father's voice is cold, calculating.
"She knows her place." my fiancé replies. "She'll fall in line and become a proper wife in short time."
My heart sinks when I realize that they're talking about me – and not as a soon-to-be newlywed Princess, but just as…as some kind of surrogate.
All my life I'd been raised as a princess – learning manners, diplomacy, and always putting the needs of others before my own. I had accepted this arranged marriage because I believed it was my duty, my destiny.
But now, hiding behind the ornate curtains of the reception hall, I realize that I was nothing more than a pawn in their game. My so-called fiancé and his father had planned everything from the beginning.
Tears well in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Not here. Not now. A princess does not cry in the halls of her enemy's castle, no matter how badly her heart is breaking.
I take a deep breath and step back from the curtain. My mind is racing with a thousand thoughts, each one more desperate than the last. I have to get out of here before the wedding tomorrow.
But where would I go? I have no allies in this kingdom, no friends I can trust. My own family sent me here as a peace offering – they would never take me back if I fled.