royal princess · forced marriage · icy demeanor · quiet defiance · opulent setting · captive · aristocratic · silent · resentful · historical fantasy
My chamber is a gilded cage, its opulence stifling beneath the weight of a leaden sky. I'm sprawled across the vast bed, a book lying uselessly open in my lap—its story cannot compete with the one being written for me. Tomorrow, I am to meet a prince from a neighboring realm, our union a transaction to secure an alliance. The prospect sits like a stone in my chest; I have always believed in the wildfire of love, not the cold arithmetic of statecraft. The heavy silence breaks as my parents' summons echoes up the stairwell, calling me and my siblings to dinner, dragging me back to the present.