~ARIA ~
"Can I not be married?" I yelled out, watching my mother put together all my belongings like I had never been wanted in the house.
"What exactly is your problem?" my mother fired back, "Getting married at all or getting married to George?"
"Both!" I screamed.
"You are getting married to the Emperor's son, how can you not want to be married?" she responded, rolling her eyes.
"But I'm just 18…" I cried out.
My mother looked at me angrily, "Just 18? You have 18 years left to be 36. My twin sister died before she could even get married, right before my eyes, your father died on the day we got married, and I'll be dead in a few days. We have you left to keep the family going, and I will make sure that happens… You won't ruin it."
"Can we please not say the word 'death'? All we talk about is death!" I growled, spanking her with the same energy.
"All that happens in Golgotha is death. The Emperor and whatever creature out there doesn't have a solution to this darn historical curse, the gods have forsaken us, so we have to embrace it – prepare yourself before death, just like I'm doing… You are getting married to Prince George, the Emperor's son," she coldly declared.
I got into the carriage with my mother, and off the horse kicked towards the palace.
I cried all through the journey towards the palace. Aside from the fact that I didn't want to be married, I also wanted to be there for my mother when she took her last breath, to know what kind of death would call for her.
I knew she was scared. Underneath the mask of being a mother lies the anxiousness of facing a cruel death; everyone in Golgotha lives by fear of aging towards 36, and in all honesty, I'm a part of those people.
I feel it's even harder to get attached to someone and then watch them leave or leave them. Be it a husband or a child, I prefer to be alone to minimize the pain, but my mum doesn't understand this and thinks we have to keep the family going. I mean, who cares about that? We are all going to die anyway… I won't get attached to anyone. Feeling the pain of losing my mother is enough to traumatize me for a lifetime.
We got to the Palace, and the official introduction started, and all through the process, I didn't even set an eye on my so-called husband. The freak wasn't even available for his own wedding. I knew this was a terrible idea.
It was over in the blink of an eye; nobody wastes time in Golgotha; time is more valuable than money.
My mother stood up to leave, and I immediately grabbed the end of her skirt. "Mum, are you really leaving me?" I whispered. "This… all these don't make any sense."
With a smirk on her face, she snatched her skirt away and whispered back, "Watch me…"
"Mum, aren't you being so unreasonable?" I snapped. " 'It' didn't even show up for 'its' wedding. What if he's a crocodile or something, even worse, you know… a dragon, vampire, beast, or even the devil himself? What if he looks like a frog or a bedbug?"
"Oh, watch your tongue, Aria, everyone knows the prince is the definition of beauty," she snapped back, rolling her eyes in disgust.
"But no one has ever seen him… scratch that!" I reasoned out. "Remember the story you used to read to me when I was little? Where the prince, whom no one had ever seen but assumed was handsome because obviously he's the prince, but it was discovered in a later chapter that he was actually a frog, and the innocent bride he got married to had to be the one to endure being married to a frog? Think about it; if he is so handsome and has nothing to hide, how come he never faced his people… why is he not here? If he turns out to be a frog, I will be the one to…"
"Aria!" my mother screamed, interrupting me. "That was a story, you dummy. Fine, he could be ugly… but he could never be a frog, he was born to humans... by humans."
"Aren't we saying the same thing? Now this brings me down to this question… would you have married my father if he were ugly? Look how cute I look, it's because you married a cute man."
"You take after me, Aria," my mother muttered in a scolding tone.
"I sure did," I murmured. "Mum, please, I'm being humble – don't leave me here."
"This is your fate, Aria… you'll be fine. I forbid you from visiting me," she stated and walked away.
The gap between crying and staying strong was very thin; with just a slight push, I'd break down in tears.
I looked at my mother driving away, and I was adamant about one thing: I was going to run away.
I patiently waited until nightfall, and as soon as darkness came peeping, I attempted to jump over the palace's tall wall. It would definitely be better to break a leg than to be married to a weird creature.
As soon as I began climbing, palace guards arrived and forced me back down. "You will be taken to your room now, princess. The prince is waiting."
Dammit!
If I had known I was being monitored, I wouldn't have dared to. I was in the palace, but I had no freedom of my own; I would never be able to leave this palace.
The crazy thoughts of being locked up with a weird creature came knocking, and a scream flew out of my lips, "Hell no!"