"People too often forget that it is your own choice how you want to spend the rest of your life."

- Rachel Wolchin

******

Aryan

I tiptoed quickly through the halls, making my way to the wing of the castle where my room was.

Everything was dark and eerie, and I found myself wishing that Soren was there with me.

Stop thinking that, I said to myself, he's leaving.

I pushed my door open silently and took off the dirty brown clothes, washing my face and combing my hair to erase any signs from the events of today.

Exhaustion became evident as I peeled the covers off my bed and slipped under them, sighing in satisfaction.

In a couple months, I would be married. I would be king. I would be busy. Stressed. Unhappy.

My mind wandered back to something Soren had said earlier: "Why do you stay?"

Why did I stay? I had never thought about leaving before. Well, I had, but I'd never considered it an actual possibility. Why was I staying if I was going to waste my life? Why didn't I leave?

I sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake.

Why did I stay?

*********

"Your mother will be back from her visit in Darenville shortly, I expect you to be on better behavior for her than you have been for me." My father said to me the next morning.

I stood stiffly in front of his throne and nodded, trying to get out of the eye-rolling habit before she got back.

"Pardon me, King Leroy, Prince Aryan," a subject rushed in and bowed to us, "Queen Regina has returned and awaits in the hall." He said, running out right after.

My father rose from his throne and stepped down, his long robe trailing behind him as he walked.

I went behind him to the main hall where my mother stood, in her red dress and golden crown.

"Hello, darling," my dad said, kissing her on the cheek and embracing her. "How was Darenville?"

"Oh, hideous." My mother gawked. "So dirty, and the people were incredibly improper. We ought to have them over here, teach them how a real castle's run."

"I'm sorry, dear. We haven't had breakfast, shall we eat?"

She nodded as a servant took her overcoat.

"You can tell me more about it then." He said, guiding her to the dining hall. I followed after them, wondering what Soren was doing.

He was probably in the kitchen, baking cookies or talking to that other girl he seems to hang out with.

A pang of jealousy went through me and I wanted to slap the idea right out of my head.

No, no, no. Bad Aryan.

"So, where did you stay?" My father asked once we were all seated.

"The guest wing of the castle, absolutely horrid." She complained. "Dust everywhere, servants actually talking to the royalty-" she cut herself off and turned to me. "Do not stoop down to the level of a servant, Aryan. Do not talk with them the same way you do everyone else." She advised me.

I almost choked when Soren walked into the room holding a tray full of plates and bowls with fruit, oatmeal, and muffins.

"King Leroy, Queen Regina," He said, bowing to them. Soren looked at me so that only I could see, a playful look on his face, and changed the tone of his voice ever so slightly. "Prince Aryan."

A chill went down my spine and I frowned at him, embarrassed and feeling my face turn a bit red.

"Please forgive me for intruding, I couldn't find the serving staff and I figured you wouldn't want to wait anymore to eat." Soren explained, looking nervously at my parents.

"That's alright, thank you." I replied, nodding towards him.

My mother's eyes shot towards me, and I shrugged at her.

"Enjoy you breakfast," Soren said, leaving the room quickly.

"Did I not just say that you shouldn't talk to the servants?" She sighed.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I was just trying to be polite."

"Do not do it again, do you understand me?" She asked sternly, eyes boring into me.

"Yes ma'am." I sighed, picking some strawberries out from the fruit bowl.

"Now," She said, clearing her throat, "tell me all about the ball."

"Uh," I stammered, "it was very colorful."

She raised her eyebrows at me.

"And...very dancey. Lots...lots of dancing." I added quickly.

"The girls, Aryan. Tell me about the girls."

"What about them?"

She gave me an 'are you serious?' look.

"Which ones did you like?"

"Oh... none of them." I muttered below my breath.

"What's that?" She asked, leaning towards me.

I coughed awkwardly. "None of them."

"None of them?" My father choked out. "All do those princesses, and you liked none of them?"

"They just all seemed very..." I tried to find the best word. "Desperate."

"They were trying to show off for you, Aryan. It's just what girls do." My mother sighed.

Yeah, I thought, maybe I'd care if I liked girls.

"Well, do we need to have a second ball?"

"No!" I shouted. "No. That won't be necessary."

"You do remember the conditions? You must pick by the end of the month, or I pick for you."

"Well, I think we should invite the ladies who he is considering to dinner soon to help shape his decision."

"There was one girl who stuck out to me, actually. From Contown." My father mused.

"I have only one request for the dinner, you can pick the rest." I said. "Princess Cambria of Oakdale." My mind wandered to the blonde girl whom I had spoken to at the beginning of the ball.

"Well then why not just pick her?" My mother asked.

"Because," I explained, "I don't want to marry her. I just want to talk."

Both true, but there was one little lie.

I didn't want to marry her.

I did want to talk to her.

Call it a lie of omission, but I needed her help.

*******

The next morning I snuck out of bed early, certain of two things: Soren was working, and my parents were in a royal meeting for most of the day.

I quickly dressed in the clothes Soren had given me, messed up my hair, and went out to the stables where I followed the dirt road to the village.

After moving a few carts and boxes, earning half a bag of coins, I purchased an apple and sat on the side of the road.

So many different people walked by, not sparing me a glance. Carts carrying food, clothes, and appliances passed by, along with horses and donkeys.

Life in the village seemed so simple. Not having to worry about ruling an entire kingdom one day must be nice.

I guess I could thank Soren for showing me about this, the town. Without him, I would still be stuck wandering blindly around the castle.

Sitting on the side of the road suddenly seemed very lonesome without him, and I decided to turn in for the day.

I had the sudden urge to see Soren. The sudden urge to get away from everything together, to leave it all behind and just live. Live our own lives. Not the lives that people have planned for us, or that we thought we had planned for ourselves, but to live without worrying about other people, about making mistakes, saying the wrong things, picking the right princess.

Just live.

*******

"The queen seemed happy to see me," Soren smirked as we sat on the kitchen counter together at three a.m.

"She's got too much pride to see that we're all just people, and that she's queen of a kingdom, not the world." I said bitterly. "I'm sorry if she offended you."

"It's fine. Besides, you seem more upset than I am." He grinned, holding a jar of freshly made treats out to me. "Cookie?"

"What I don't understand is how you let things roll off you so easily. You don't seem to care when people judge you or don't like you." I said, snatching a few cookies out of the jar.

"First of all, everyone likes me. And if they don't, then they're not worth me getting mad over anyway. Besides, I'm not staying long enough to care about their opinions."

"Do you care about my opinion?" I asked him, solely out of curiosity.

"More than I care about anyone else's, if that makes you feel better." He shrugged.

"I guess it does. My dad wants me to have dinner with my final choices of brides. I have less than a month now to pick which one I want to marry."

"Who are you going to invite?" He mused.

"I only know one, Princess Cambria of Oakdale. When I talked to her at the party, she seemed as upset about this as I am."

"So you know she doesn't want to marry you, but you might make her marry you?" He asked, squinting at me in confusion.

"No! No." I scoffed. "I would never. I need her help with something."

"With what?" He asked.

"Can't tell you yet. You'll find out." I smiled.

"You have two months to tell me." He said.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, until I broke it.

"Two months? That's it?"

"Two months. I have to leave sometime."

"Oh." I frowned, trying to hide how upset I really was.

"So I won't be at your wedding." He added.

Of all things, that made me smile.

Soren must have thought that I was crazy.

Little did he know, there would be no wedding.