"Amir!", his mother yells as she aggressively barges into his bedroom.

"What...", he groans, getting up from his bed and facing her with partially shut eyes.

"Get out of your room! You cannot continue to be like this...you need to actually do something with your life that is productive," she states to his bemusement.

He chuckles awkwardly and then replies, "Have you seen your son lately? I can't go out with a face full of bandages in public."

"Please. You are not the first to show a bit of scar...", she starts only to be interjected.

"SCARS? Do you know why I wear these bandages, Mother?" She stays silent while he continues his tirade. "To prevent infection! I can't even look at myself in the mirror without seeing what I've become..."

"You could still go to college..maybe in America? where they do not know you as well," she continues on to say only to be interrupted again.

"As if. You're asking me to face the firing squad of my peers...", he replies.

"I just want you to not waste your life away when..."

"Well, that's out my hands now! I was burned in a fire, mother. A lot of people died in that fire...including several people I knew well. I would have died too if it weren't for my magic...in fact, that's what kept me alive. Thanks to that hell blaze, I haven't been able to use any of my magic since!"

"Do you not think I know that! That somehow all those nights you were in the hospital, that I was not looking for spells to heal you or contacting all the healing magicians I know to alleviate your pain or give you a chance to live? You think that you are so miserable compared to everyone else, but..."

"But what? I should have died in that fire!", he shouts, dropping to the floor and crawling into a ball at the sudden realization.

The faerie princess lays on the ground, wraps her arms around her son and mutters, "I already lost one child...Please, Amir. I do not want to lose another."

"I know you miss her. I'm sorry for even bringing it up," he says after a long time.

Suddenly, his mother stands up and says, "Good. Well it is settled then. You are to go and live with your father in America."

"What?", he responds, clearly startled at her change in tone.

Had she been manipulating him this entire time? For a few seconds, he thought he could see his mom back from when he was a child, before she became uptight and only focused on stuff involving the throne. Sometimes, he wondered if her change had anything to do with his sister dying.

"And after you are done with college, then I can finally see you marry Princess Patricia."

"Who's Patricia?", he asks, while his mother continues pacing the room.

"Oooo-the wedding is going to be gorgeous! Maybe I should start planning now-hmm..where should the decorations go? On one hand, if we have the wedding here, then I can talk to some people i know. On the other hand, if it is on their island, then I would have to work with the bride's family to adequately prepare provisions and also coordinate travel for all our family members...Wow, this will be an undertaking to take on by myself. Not that I have not done quite an ordeal already for..."

Standing up, he stops her and says, "Mother, you mentioned an island. Now, tell me exactly where does Patricia live?"

"In the Pacific...", she starts.

"Ocean? You're doing it again, huh? Trying to control my life and probably ruining someone else's in the process too...Do you even remember what happened with Danica? She didn't even want to marry me and now you want to set me up with another woman? Can't you let it rest for once in your life?"

"No. I cannot 'let it rest for once' because you are the heir to the Germanic faerie throne and I do not want to risk any chance of Leopold, my lunatic brother, getting the crown by default. Besides, Patricia is also a witch in her own right and has always been considered the backup should any scenarios like what happened with...you know who arise."

"First of all, that's messed up you have her as second best. Secondly, haven't I told you before that I don't want to get married...or be king like at all?"

"I distinctly remember a young Amir clamoring for the chance to..."

"BUT I'M NOT LITTLE ANYMORE!", Amir yells before calming down and stating, "That may have been true when I wasn't aware of the responsibility that comes with being royalty and the duties that a king holds, but now I don't want to be a faerie king."

Amir's mother pauses and says, "Are you certain that is what is best?"

"What I'm certain of is that I don't want to be king," he retorts.

"Alright. I will allow you to stay here for a night and think things over..."

"Thanks..."

"Do not thank me just yet. I expect an answer in the morning, young man." And with that said, she abruptly leaves his bedroom in a huff.

Amir plops himself on the bed and mutters, "This is fantastic! At least it can't get any worse."

Then, he hears a thunk as the mantle breaks and the bed plunges farther down with him in it. He groans from the pain and mutters, "Great...so much for a good night's rest. Can anything go right?"

As the universe fails to answer him, he stares at the ceiling and lets his thoughts flow freely.

What am I supposed to do now, he thinks. Whether he goes to America or stays in Europe, he is bound to have his mother parade a line of suitors for him-the one thing that all those ladies would have in common is royal lineage.

Since Princess Danica is clearly out the picture as she is betrothed to Prince Anthony of Lesotho, not that he wanted her in the first place, then that means the lady will probably be a stranger he has never met who will be marrying him for the same reason he will-because someone forced them to.

He chuckles at the irony of this situation. Even with his face burnt to a fiery crisp, his mother is determined to marry him off.

Sadly, the constitution only would let him off the hook if he was magically incapacitated or in normal English, cursed.

Where's a witch when you really needed one?