Better Than Him

Chapter I

Love as a girl in a royal family was almost impossible. Well, at least true love. At age eighteen, a woman has to choose a man to marry. Preferably a man of royalty that was chosen by your parents. Well, it was Clarke Griffin's turn.

Clarke was in a carriage with her mother, Abby, her father, Jake and her best friend, Raven Reyes. Raven was also her adoptive sister, she was one of the castle's handmaid's daughters but her mother died and Jake and Abby took her in. Raven couldn't technically have the crown so she didn't have to get married to a man. Well, Raven was lesbian so the rules don't really aplied to her.

The ride was bumpy and quite boring. Sitting in a box for eight hours was not how she wanted to spend her day. The carriage had dark red velvet with dark woods. The seats were red velvet and dark wood framing. There were three windows on the sides and one big one on the back. Can't forget about the curtains that were also red with gold designs.

Clarke was sitting next to Raven. Raven was asleep, resting her head on her shoulder and snoring softly. Clarke was resting her own head on the window, looking at the town. She tried to distract herself to keep her mind off what was coming up. The nerves were making it hard for her to sit still.

But soon enough, the clicking of the horse's hooves stopped and the carriage stilled. Clarke elbowed Raven in the side which she only got a grumble out of her. She pushed Raven off of her and she woke up. She looked around confused.

"We are here." Abby said, sitting across from her. Shelooking out the window with a smile. Raven rubbed her face, trying to wake up."Okay, Clarke, listen up. This is one of the most important moments for you. You must make a good impression on the King and Queen but you have to do your very best for the prince." Abby looked at her and took her hands, looking her in the eye. This was not helping her nerves. "You got this."

The door to the carriage opened and Abby let go of her hands. A tall blond man was standing next to the door. It was hard to tell the age but he looked to be in his early thirties. Abby was the one to walk out first. The blond man offered her his hand which Abby took. Next was Jake and then Raven.

Clarke took a deep breath and fixed her hair. "I got this." She said to herself. She climbed out of the carriage, taking the man's hand for support. She got her feet on the ground and looked up.

In front of her was a huge castle. It looked like something out of a disney movie. The whole castle was made of gray stone and roof shingles were dark blue. There was a main building with tons of little buildings coming off of it. Something caught her eye though, there was a cylinder to the side. It looked abandoned, maybe it was just a storage room. Maybe it was nothing. Nevertheless, the castle was beyond what she expected.

She felt someone touch her arm and she was snapped back into reality. She looked to the side and saw Raven right next to her. "Pull it together, Clarkie. Abby is more stressed than anyone here." Clarke nodded.

The family of four started to walk to the castle and as they got closer three people were standing at the gates of the castle. One woman and two men. One of the men looked around her age. He had long-ish brown hair and average height.

It seemed like it took twenty years to reach the gates. Her mind was racing. Clarke finally got a good look at the three people. The older man was bald and was around the same height as the boy next to him. She assumed the bald man was the king by the way he was dressed and the crown on his head. The woman next to him was much shorter in height., black hair and was very beautiful. She had a crown on as well, by Clarke's guess, she was the queen.

The boy next to them was the one who caught her eye. He had longer brown hair that was combed back with a crown on his head. He looked freshly shaved. She got the feeling that normally he was a disheveled person and his neatness today was only for show.