The Beauty and Her Beast

Three: Zakin

                                                                                         T h r e e

The Matching Center is not as extraordinary as others make it seem, I think to myself. It's all high ceilings and chandeliers, twinkling lights and all. After living in a palace your entire life that looks like this, the charm is lost on you.

"Son." A voice calls out and I look towards where it came from; immediately atent. It's just my father and mother. They're a couple of paces away and I realize that I'm walking significantly slower than them. I pick up my pace and they wait for me to reach them. As do the twelve security guards surrounding us. I can't help but think they're unnecessary, if any problems should arise my mother, father and I would be able to adequately handle the situation.

"What's wrong?" My mother asks as we continue walking, she loops her arm through mine and I try not to feel uncomfortable by it. I fail.

"Nothing, just thinking." I reply and she gives me a hard look.

"If this is about you being Matched with someone below us, then I wouldn't worry about it." She hisses venomously. She's still angry that the Matching Department refused to rematch me with someone else. If only she knew that I really don't mind it. If I'm being Matched with someone that's not in our social group than it's probably because we really belong together.

"Kaltain. If they did decide to redo his Matched then they'd have to redo everyone's, and that's not fair to those who took it. We may be the royal family but we can't just do things like that for selfish reasons." My father says, and I nod along. Everything he's saying is reasonable.

"Well it's not fair to our son, Zafin!" My mother hisses through clenched teeth.

"And Why wouldn't it be? He's been Matched, just like everyone else, and has the same possibility to be happy and fall in love as everyone else." My father replies just as heatedly. I try not to show how their fighting makes my heart quicken in a painful way, this type of confrontation does not bring me a sense of calm the way other types do.

"Lets not speak of this anymore, more people are arriving." I say and that makes them both quiet down and paste smiles on their faces. How I wish Zara was here. She'd make this entire process easier, but anybody who hasn't been Matched is not allowed here until they have been or they're going to be that day.

We make it to the private box where we will sit to watch the Medians be Matched. They go first and we watch, and then we go and they watch. I wonder where Avyanna will be sitting. I feel as if this whole ordeal will be awkward and uncomfortable for her. She has to sit down there with all of those that will be Matched, but she won't be Matched at the same time as them, and they'll probably think she's Matchless. I feel guilty that this is her situation.

My father and mother and, I all have seats closest to the glass, the other Monarch members are in the seats on top of the bottom seats where we will sit when the Medians are done with their Matches. The royal family are the only ones allowed in this private box, for it was made especially for us, but sometimes we invite people up with us.

"You know what we should do?" My father asks in a booming jolly voice.

"What should we do?" My mother asks with a teasing smile and a hand in his. Even when they fight it's obvious that they love each other, and they get over their fights very easily.

"We should invite Zakin's Matches family up here to sit with us, they will be family soon. And we can ask them what we've been meaning to." He says with a face that says that he knows that my mother's happy mood will leave at the suggestion. Her smile drops, just as predicted.