"...consider our reasoning for declining this offer, Ambassador Matius."

What?

I jumped from my seat and stood straight as though a thorn had pricked me in my bottom. An unethical action from a princess.

I cleared my throat before subtly brushing my front skirt and clasping both of my hands together. I arranged a look of genuine seriousness on my face before looking over the massive audience. It was no surprise their attention was on me. I had to deliver to them, not through words, but action that I had something crucial to impart. I have lost track of the argument until the end, but I could tell from everyone's faces that they just came out from a battle of words.

Mine was far from over.

I would not let my hopes, loyalty and faith in Suza's promise ruined and become a waste just because it took an eternity for it to be fulfilled.

"Vishta?" my father asked.

I turned to face him. "Your Excellency, this may sound arrogant but would you give me the honor of deciding whether to accept the proposal?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, sizing me up, trying to pry my thoughts open. The old subject about my arranged marriage to Migza had been a sensitive topic within the royal family. Especially when it had been the reason for my unmarried hand at twenty and one, already considered as ancient for a lady in this time and century. Father always wanted to carve it off from history.

"As someone most involved in this proposal, perhaps you can give me the right to do so? Please, Your Majesty." I begged.

The fact is, I never beg.

Perhaps having seen me plead to him in front a multitude of nobility, pushed him to see I was being genuine. "As my daughter and second heir to the throne, I will give you the right to give an answer to the proposal of the King of Migza. If you can guess the exact words he had ordered Ambassador Matius to do here in Amganad."

I ignored the shock faces from my sisters and Queen Mother. The gasps from the audience were plain. My father's eyes challenged me and I did not waver, meeting his gaze head on. He wanted this. So be it.

"Thank you," I said, genuinely grateful.

It was out of my expectation that he would give me the mantle. Today was a pure chance. Father must be gambling whether I would keep my cool or throw a huge fit. Everyone in the palace knew I could turn into a deranged woman, most of the time a witch, whenever my father or Geviv pushed the wrong button.

It was near impossible not to.

However, Migza came for me. The chosen time to fulfill the promise. I perceived that my parents were on edge for what I was about to do. The triumph in their eyes unmistaken.

They seemed to have predicted the outcome. They were expecting me to throw myself at the ambassador, ask him to take me and deliver me to Migza with all but the clothes on me. To be honest, I would. I could. The only thing stopping me was the fact I was royalty. The universal truth in my life, dictated even before I was born.

Pampered and privileged, being born in such a rank with pressure and expectations breathing down my neck was not a hard life. There was nothing to whine about. I had learned how to accept reality and pick up my share of responsibility, just like Geviv.

My two married sisters, however, were the type that whimper and whine if they had not been given enough attention. Since they had been weaned, they refused to learn a thing or two about responsibility. My respect for them had run off to the palace servants since long ago.

Organizing my thoughts, I faced the guests once again, still standing straight and proud. "Apologies, Ambassador Matius."

He flashed me a sympathetic look. "No worries, Your Highness, there is nothing to apologize for."

I smiled at his servile response. "Your king is a great childhood friend of mine even though we had only met twice. I do not presume I know him very well as ten years had already passed, anything could have changed in those times." I paused, weighing my intuitions on a scale.

Too bad there was nothing to weigh.

"If you can't handle it, Vishta, it is best to admit defeat and let things go as they are," Geviv said.

Me? Let go? Never.

Burning with determination, I tipped my chin up. "If I were to guess," I stated, "Did His Majesty, King Suza, summon you to his presence and commanded you with these very words? 'Go to Amganad and bring to me your Queen'"

The audience looked like I committed a ridiculous felony.

Matius blinked hard. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Gradually, his eyes brightened in fascination. He flashed an amused grin with a tinge of defeat on the edges.

"I am...speechless," Matius said, awestruck. "Princess Vishta, I am honored to say that Your Highness has guessed right, word by word."

A gasp, a cheer and a clap mixed with unconvinced people generated noise all over. I did not break eye contact with Matius and so did he, as though we were exchanging some unsaid words privy to us.

"Are you satisfied, Vishta?" my father asked through a tightened jaw as though he was barely containing a fit of anger.

"Tomorrow, twilight, I'll give my answer to the ambassador. With that, I am satisfied, Your Majesty." I gave my father a courteous bow and sat back on my seat.

ΔΔΔΔΔΔΔ

"Do not let any of my lady attendants, my sisters or messengers from the King pass through this door. Protect it as though this is your very last mission. Do you hear me?" I said to the massive guard stationed at the door to my chamber. The man bobbed his head rapidly.

"Good."

I shut the door close and for good measure; I picked up the wooden staff hung on my wall and placed it on the edge of the sliding door. If anyone from the outside tried to force his or her way in, they wouldn't be able to pull it to the sides. They would need to break it down.

Tired and drained from the court meeting, I loosened the sash on my waist and the underskirt which fell on the floor before throwing myself on the bed. I stared absentmindedly at the roof of my bed canopy, replaying what had transpired less than an hour ago. As soon as they had dismissed the guests and the congregation, I had snuck out of the hall before Geviv would grab me by the hair and drag me for a long and arduous lecture.

It felt surreal.

It dumbfounded me to know that Suza had been a king for eight long years. A year was already a stretch of eternity to someone like him, how much more was eight years. Anything could have happened in a year, but I guess a war-driven country views time differently. What started their war anyway? That was a different argument though.

What weighed on my mind was, why did he not send me letters?

Migza even closed off their borders from other countries ten years ago. Cutting themselves off from all the things that were happening outside their kingdom. Not to mention, Migza was the only nation that owned a third of the continent in the north. I never thought such a large kingdom could watch over their massive border. They must have had a large quantity of manpower.

Other more questions surfaced in my mind.

If I wanted answers, there was no other choice but to accept the conceited marriage proposal and see things for myself in Migza.

There was a time when Queen Dowager, my grandmother, who had passed away when I was seven would tell me stories about the north continent. My elder sisters had not taken part in her storytelling as they had argued they were proper ladies so they did not need stories meant for children. Too bad for them, they did not get to hear the most fascinating tales of the northerners.

It was said that there was a human race out in the deep mountains of the north who could see the spirits of nature. They were born to serve these spirits and to protect their birth land. By doing so, the spirits possessed them and gave them the ability to do their life duty.

Grandmother had inferred that the Migzan people were their descendants, but none of them could wield such abilities though. Or, as a twist for us, naïve southerners, they actually could? If I were a simpleton, I would have been convinced that Migzan's were kick-ass shamans. Grandmother's stories were interesting, but that was how far it could be.

A tale at night to lull children to sleep.

I chuckled, shaking my head from such ridiculous thoughts. I must have been desperate to seek answers by trying to disillusion myself behind the mysteries of Migza.

Eventually, everything boils down to how I would pacify my stubborn father and prideful-of-a-witch sister. I have to make them realize that giving my hand to the King of Migza had to be the most wonderful thing in our family tree. The treat in their royal life. The cure to their headaches, caused by none other than their fourth daughter.