Ariana took a deep breath as she stared out the window of the car. She had arrived early to the restaurant but she didn't want to be the first there. Being the youngest of three children with two older brothers, she was very aware of how far from the succession she would really be, and it seemed to be of great interest to her parents that they see her married off to a high ranking family in order to uphold status.
Ari had never been uposed to marrying a man of stature, but having gained a slight party girl name for herself in college it had proven difficult find one who saw her as a fitting bride. She had felt slightly dismayed when her parents suggested they arrange a marriage for her, but when she had heard the name she was a little more excited. It had been a while since she last saw Merlin, but she had always had a slight crush on him in grade school but he never would have looked at her twice. Let's just say that puberty was
very kind to her.
After 10 minutes had passed, the princess smoothed out her
skirt and headed inside looking around. Her eyes landed on the familiar face, just as handsome as she had remembered it. She walked towards him slowly, giving a small wave. "Hello, it's so nice to see you again" she chirped, going in for a hug as he stood up to greet her, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek.
***
Eric frowned as his mother ushered him out of the car in front of the Montgomery Palace. He had merely been informed on the way here that the dinner was organised for him to meet his wife to be, and he was not pleased. Eric had never cared much for status, and would much rather renounce his title and marry a commoner than keep up the vicious games it took to be a royal.
Clearly his parents had noticed his lacklustre effort of finding a 'suitable' wife so they had taken it upon themselves to find him one. He forcibly plastered a smile on his face as he greeted the king and queen, lying about what a pleasure it was to meet them and all of the lovely things he had been told about their daughter. He looked around confused, wondering where exactly the princess was and why she hadn't been there to greet him.
@ katahdin