Come Love A Stranger

Seventeen

Mariah sat in her room and let her handmaidens dress her up, it has been more than five days since the day Alador brought her back to the room and has not shown himself to her again. No matter what she does, even though she would often stand in her balcony and call out to him, he never answers, he never appears. When he had said he would keep away, she never thought he meant it until now. Twice she had sneaked out of her home at night to search for him in the forest but no matter how long she searched, she never sees him. She knew she had to stop lying to herself, even if she denied it earlier because she had just met him and haven’t known him for long, she couldn’t do it anymore, her heart beats for him, so deeply than it has ever beat for any man.
It wasn’t helping the matter if he was often appearing to her in her dreams and when she wakes up, he won’t be there and she would end up crying herself to sleep. Right now as she was being prepared for the party the king was holding in her name as his future wife and the future queen, all she wants to do was escape and never to be seen again. But what was the point if she doesn’t even know where to find the man that had stolen her heart?
“Oh my lady, you are really fit to be the queen,” Kayla praised after holding her hair with different golden pins which the king had sent over in her honor. According to him, since she was soon to be the queen, she needs to start dressing like one. Over the last few days, there was no day he doesn’t send her new jewelries, even her dresses now are being made by the palace seamstresses. The news had gone around Vagadon the next day that she was the chosen one. Unmarried ladies wept in envy and jealousy while unmarried lords swallowed their defeat, for what could they have against the king? Even the prince had been broken the night he had the news, turned out his father was faster than he was.
But even though the people of Vagadon were in mixed emotion about the impending wedding, Mariah wished she could just close her eyes and escape from everything the way Alador takes her around without moving her feet.
“Aye, my lady, the crown really deserves to be on your head,” Mary, her second handmaiden praised.
Mariah looked at herself in the looking glass before her, with one glance, she could see what they meant, she was indeed a beauty, but what good is being beautiful if you are being forced into a marriage you do not want simply because the king had spoken and your father would do everything to satisfy him, regardless of your own happiness? Looking at how beautiful she was in the looking glass, she became angry at her face. Perhaps if she wasn’t beautiful, the king would not have wanted to marry her, and her face wouldn’t be her biggest enemy.
She stood up from the stool immediately, backing the looking glass, “when will the horses be ready?” she asked.
Kayla and Mary looked at each other, they do not understand, their lady loved to be praised before and she loves anything that would make her look like a queen or princess, why did everything change? Sometimes they often feel like she doesn’t even want to marry the king. But how could that be possible? She was the one that had been enjoying the praises when the rumor was going around and often talked about the first thing she would do when she becomes queen, whether she marries the king or the prince. “My lady, the palace guards shall escort you personally, you father said the king said so,” Kayla answered.
“Then go see if they have arrived, I want to be over with this already,” she ordered and matched to her bed to sit down.
“Yes my lady,” they both answered and clearing the room, they left.
Mariah looked at the balcony just as the tears threatened to fall, tonight she shall be officially engaged to the king and they would be no turning back, why did Alador abandon her so? Why is she the only one feeling like this? A furry caress on her arm made her look down to see her beautiful fox in her arms. She sniffled and caressed it’s back, she had picked it up in the garden six days ago and it had a wounded leg. Now her wounds were almost healed and soon she would return it to the wild but she doesn’t want to, the thought of parting with it makes her heart ache. She hadn’t fail to notice that in all the people in the house, she was the only one that understands her pain and often listens to her when she talks about Alador and when she cries, she would place her paw on her hand as if consoling her.
“Why does he have to leave me? Just because I said the king wants to marry me doesn’t mean I want to marry him. Why does he wish to punish me like this? Why is heaven punishing me like this? Why make me meet him when he is going to leave me? Why make me fall in love with him when I won’t be with him? Why make the king propose now that I do not want him? Just why Shelia, why am I being punished like this?” she sobbed.
Shelia whimpered and rubbed her head on her palm, Mariah lay on her bed and hugged her to her chest. Immediately she had thought of naming her, the name Shelia had rang in her heart and when she called her that, she answered immediately and she had wondered then if it was her name or if she just loves the name so much and answered to it. She held her tightly in her arms and tried as much as she could to stop crying so that she won’t have to sit for hours in front of the looking glass again for Kayla and Mary to re-do her makeup.
A knock on the door woke her up after and she called to the person to come in, “my lady, the guards are here to escort you,” Kayla announced.
Mariah nodded and stood up, she picked up Shelia in her arms and walked out of the room with Kayla following behind her. When they got outside, her mother smiled to her and caressed her hair.
“You look beautiful my darling, don’t worry, everything would be alright,” she added and led her to the mare the king had provided for her. One of the guards helped her up, “do you really need to go with Shelia?”
“Yes mother, she brings me calmness,” Mariah answered.
Lydia looked at the white fox and then at her husband who smiled and shook his head at her. She shrugged then and smiled before going to her own horse to get on. They started the short journey to the palace and Mariah had to stop herself many times from kicking her horse and urging it forward in a different direction. She didn’t do it, not because she was afraid but because she knew she could never outrun the trained palace guards.
When they arrived at the palace, it was bustling with activities and filled to the brim with the guests who were all dressed to the nine. People turned her way as she passed and realized that even though they dressed so beautifully, none of them out-dressed her, the king really proved himself this time around.
“The king shall be here shortly,” a man said behind her and she turned to see a tall man with intelligent blue eyes, “do come with me,” he smiled and led her away and then into a room. “You can stay here and I would come call you once he has arrived,” he smiled and left the room.
Mariah walked to the chair in the room to sit down but no sooner had she sat down did she feel someone behind her and she turned around, shocked to see him.
He smiled to her, his face lit up like the moon outside, “hello, Mariah.”