The Fake Bride

The departure was a blur of deafening cheers, scattering flowers, and blaring horns. Princess Farsiris waved ceremoniously at the masses from the balcony, her family all gathered around her. Trinity, as was appropriate of her status, stood in one corner, peering over the edge at the elated crowd below. For this one special occasion, the king had permitted the people to tread the palace ground, to catch a glimpse of the beloved princess for the last time.

Their enthusiastic shouts filled the air from all directions, vibrating throughout the spacious ground and could be heard from the city’s town square for those who had remained there. Trinity was the only one who didn’t make a single sound. Looking at their wide, thrilled expressions, Trinity felt a certain hate for them. How could they rejoice and celebrate in the face of the princess’ misfortune? Their genuine gladness of being saved from certain demise was easily misunderstood by Trinity as cruel betrayal.

But the truth was they didn’t know any better. They couldn’t be held accounted for what was not in their power.

What hurt more was the princess’ calm demeanor as she smiled at the people who called out her name, extending their hands as if to touch her grace even though the balcony was unreachable.

She searched the assembly, passing her glance over faces, one by one. None of them was the earl. He was nowhere to be seen. Trinity thought he could have come to bid her goodbye, at least for old time’s sake if not more. Trinity knew, though she appeared serene and unfazed, the princess was discreetly looking for the earl, too. It broke her heart to see the princess tried so hard to please her people and holding back her longing.

When the dreaded time finally came, Princess Farsiris turned, holding her dress for better footing; Trinity trailed behind her, hold on to the train of her wedding gown. The Royal Family descended flights of stairs together, slowly and quietly, between the two continuous rows of bowing guards and servants.

The main entry was open wide at the end of the hall, where Gloria, Wren, and even Lorena were standing with their heads bowed, waiting. As Trinity passed them, she stole glances at each of those faces that she had seen every day for the last nine years of her life. She knew she would miss them, even Lorena, whose presence had posed as the terror of her childhood. The terrible parts didn’t matter as much as the influences they had had in her life. Everything would be gone in seconds.

They crossed the ground to the courtyard, where a carriage pulled by four majestic, white horses awaited. The princess spun around to face the members of her family as she stopped before the steps to the coach. They began talking, but their voices were drowned in the mix of shouts.

Gazing genially and solemnly into her eyes, the king whispered so the only ears that could hear him were of his daughter’s. “Princess, you must take good care of yourself. Never lower your guard because there is sure to be many who wish you harm.”

She nodded, her eyes suddenly glazed with a spark of determination that was startling, as if forming thick layers of steal around her heart, shielding them so she wouldn’t waver at the face of danger. “I understand, Father.”

Smiling in satisfaction, he kissed her cheek, while knowing they were never to have a moment like this again. “I must have been a cruel father.” His voice was sad and old. “But even so, I hope you can be happy.”

As if she hadn’t expected to hear those words, the princess’ eyes watered, but she held back the surge of emotions from tearing down her valiant front. “Nothing could make me happier than you being safe and happy, Father,” she said. “I will do everything in my power to protect my people. I am your child after all.”

The princess said her good bye to her mother and siblings. They all had their turn of tears, yet the one who should be crying wasn’t the least bit sad, at least that was what shown on the surface. For the last time, she waved good bye to the people she had grown up with, good bye to the home where the most joyous moments of her life had been.

“Are you ready?” she asked Trinity, who nodded. Without a second glance back, she entered the carriage. Trinity curtsied to the king and queen, seeing them look upon her with as much fondness as they had done to their own daughter. Behind them, her closest friends, Wren and a few other maids that she had became close with over the years, waved their hands in the air, their expressions hardly concealed their sadness.

She was still watching them and waving as she settled next to the princess. The only thing that stopped her was the coach as it began rolling on the pavement and took them far away from the palace, until all they could hear was a muffle of cheer that sounded like chatter on a deserted street at night.



It was late in the afternoon when they made a sojourn at the gracious Lord Detles’ Manor. According to the traveling plan, the princess party was to make a short stop at the lord’s place for the night. His home resided very near the border between the two countries. Trinity wasn’t impressed when she peered out the coach window and found his still smug self at the steps of his mansion.

“I am delighted to have you here at my humble home, Your Highness,” he said suavely, kissing her hand. The princess showed some signs of amusement in her eyes as she smiled at the lord, who always seemed to have a way with his words. Still, seeing someone with an identical face as the man she loved—but had to leave behind—quickly darkened her spirit. Trinity thought her smile only looked strained.

“Likewise, my friend,” she responded.

Unexpectedly, he turned to Trinity, grinning widely; she didn’t miss the impertinence in the way his eyebrows rose as if laughing at her reaction. “Well, I didn’t expect our little reunion to come so soon.” He passed a voluptuous glance over her. “Did you miss me, little dove?”

Appalled, Trinity forgot to curtsy; truthfully, she didn’t care to. And quite frankly, she didn’t believe he deserved any respect from her. That rogue! She feigned a subtle smile, but it was hard to conceal her scowl when it seemed to recognize him and came out despite Trinity’s command. He snickered quietly like a rat as he whirled around and ambled into his home. Trinity grudgingly followed.

Despite being quite a…scoundrel, he was a pleasant companion at dinner that night. He started conversations smoothly, and more often than not attempted to make jest. Trinity was grateful of his deliberately doing it for the sake of the princess, who occasionally smiled at a humorous story or remark. Then she would be taken over by a certain depression that, though was invisible, was apparent.

No one was well perceived of this than Trinity herself. The princess wasn’t cheerful, and even the slightest change in her behavior alarmed Trinity. She wanted to ease her heart, tell her things would only get better, but instead she was watching by the side, waiting for Princess Farsiris to finish her dinner, which she barely touched. The only one who could heal her of this heartbreak, she supposed, was the earl.

A round of jovial laughter was abruptly broken when the princess laid down her eating utensils to one side. “If I may excuse myself, dear friend. I am quite full now,” she said, standing from her chair. In the middle of sipping a spoonful of his soup, the Lord’s eyes flickered toward her. “The meal was lovely,” she added as an afterthought, as if to spare his feelings.

Lord Detles munched away absently at his bread, one of his hands propped up under his chin. His eyes were unfathomable —even cold, and indifferent. It angered her to see his sitting there and did nothing, as if he was only a spectator of a show! Though she dared not to voice it, she knew he was part of the reasons. He looks too much like the earl.

Trinity stared at the spot where the princess’ dishes were. The food gone was barely enough to make a person full. She looked back and forth between the table and the princess, worriedly. As she heaved a sigh, Trinity quickened her pace to join the princess.



Princess Farsiris was immersed in thought as she stood staring out the window of her room. Her maid servant made the bed, straightening the wrinkles and edges without enthusiasm, as she was more concerned about the princess than the task at hand. When the princess heaved a rueful sighed, Trinity finally decided she couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Your Highness,” she said, “you have not touched much of your food. Would you like me to fetch you something else? Is there something that suits your taste?”

The princess lifted her gaze to Trinity, cracking a small smile. “I’m not hungry,” she said. “I’m full, really. You don’t have to worry yourself over it.”

Trinity expression shrunk further, and, involuntarily, she began chewing at the skin of the inside of her mouth—a habit that she had developed over the years whenever she was distraught. A sting pricked at the spot where her teeth had sunken into, making her moan out of pain. After having constantly nipping at the same spot, she was starting to taste the copper of blood in her mouth. The princess looked at her then, her head tilted to the side in puzzlement. Then she smiled—an endearing kind of smile.

“You are doing it again,” she remarked.

“Do what?” Trinity asked absentmindedly as she had momentarily lost her focus.

“Biting—your habit when you feel anxious.” She pointed at Trinity, shaking her head, though not in a harmful way. Then she dropped the calm demeanor altogether. “I must be the cause again, am I not?”

“No—it’s not you…it’s just that…” she fumbled for the right thing to say, only to come up with nothing.

With a kind smile and warm hand, the princess guided Trinity to the edge of the bed where that sat down next to one another. “It’s all right. I won’t lie and say I’m fine anymore. I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear—that is, if you are willing to listen.”

Trinity’s eyes brightened instantly. “Yes, of course.”

“To be honest, Damon was the first reason,” she started with a slight tremor in her voice when she spoke his name. “I know we should sever…what we once had as soon as possible, but I, secretly, hoped that he would come to see me off—at least as an indication of his love for me.

“But, perhaps, that was for the best. I don’t believe I’m strong enough to break our relationship myself. It’s just too hard. I guess, he understands the situation we’re in better than I do. Still, I couldn’t help but feel this pang of disappointment. It’s pathetic…” She paused, looking into the distance. Trinity sensed there was still something else in the young princess’ mind, hanging there like a persistent gray cloud in the sky.

In her momentary frustration, Trinity had condemned the earl as a heartless, indifferent coward, when he had not appeared for the princess. But the reasonable part of her thought it over, and she knew he was not such a man. There must be something she did not comprehend. She hoped that was the case.

“And the second thing,” Princess Farsiris continued, suddenly presumed a grim tone, “concerns the king of Elithianora—or rather, my husband-to-be.”

“The king?” she questioned. It did not completely appear in her mind what the king was like until the princess’ mention of him. It was, indeed, something important to consider.

“Despite what the circumstance is, I will still become his wife. I hope, at least, that I can come to love him.”

The maid was rather shocked that such words could come out of her mistress’ mouth.

What about the earl? She wanted to scream. What about the love that proved to me that true love exists?

“Mother told me a political marriage has a high chance of being a failure if it does not have love,” she said with a frown, playing with her thumbs distractedly. “But I feel as if, this marriage is already going down that path of failure.”

“I don’t believe any man alive can give you the cold shoulder. This king, no matter of how much of a beast, can be tamed by you.” And she spoke with vehemence.

A fleeting smile passed across her lips; as she did her eyes twinkled like bright stars. “Oh, Trinity, you think too highly of me. I’m embarrassed. Look! My face is as red as a tomato.” Cupping her rather glowing cheeks, the princess chuckled. Trinity laughed, too, for in that moment, her soft, girlish giggle brought back the life that seemed drained out of her.

The light humor finally subsided with a few more snickers. Trinity was slightly disappointed that the conversation had fallen into its previous solemn mood. She rather preferred the princess in her carefree self.

“Like I said, I find it hard to accept a man who is willing to take me as his wife without knowing what I look like.” The hint of confusion in the arch of her eyebrows allowed the princess to explain. “Father told me that the ambassador who delivered the letter left without taking a single portrait of me. Can you believe it? I may be enemy, but the king’s bride, if not a princess, should be presented with some respect.”

In a narrow corner of her mind, Trinity recalled the Elithianoran man from the hall on the night of the revelry. The unintended, brief encounter with the man whose courteous smile left an impression that she couldn’t quite place. Yet, it was a smile with an inkling of hidden intentions.

If a subject dared to treat a princess in such a way, she could only wonder what the horrific king of that very subject would do.

“I certainly hope the king at least shows some interest in me,” she said as if thinking the same thing as Trinity.

“As do I,” replied Trinity.