Edited and rewritten, 2014

Chapter One

The Crown Princess of Manjipour sat upon her throne as she waited for the elders to speak. Her full name was Princess Liliuokalani Parasha Khaled Persphone Amanirenas, a ridiculously long bunch of words on the kingdom birth records that still appeared foreign to her. She preferred Alex, but most of the time she was usually referred to as "Princess" to her dismay. She looked at the elders expectantly as they filed in the room and each of them bowed to her. One of her servants had informed her nearly a week ago that the elders needed to speak to the princess about an important kingdom matter. Now she sat with her shoulders back and head held high, appearing confident and ready for whatever the elders had to say to her. They had even gone as far as asking her to skip out on a music class at the university she attended and they knew how dear that was to her, so it must've been something of great matter. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. This did not seem like another one of those boring meetings where they sat around speaking of laws and other dull kingdom formalities, the princess realized as she gave the elders a nod to let them know they may stand up straight from their bows.

She had already asked a former servant of hers, Kuru, what he thought they wanted to talk about this time. It appeared that he already knew, but he would not say anything more than, "It may change your life," in that annoying, vague way he always answered her questions. It frustrated her that he refused to tell her anything more, him being one of her closest friends, but she knew he was only being professional, as irritating as it was. He would not interfere with what went on between the elders and the princess. So now she tried to look prepared, sitting in her Manjipourian garb of deep red and a golden headpiece with a single ruby in her chestnut hair. Each time she dressed up like a true Manjipourian, she could only hope that she had inherited a small fraction of her birth mother's beauty. She had lighter skin than the former queen, something she'd inherited from her biological father, but she did have her mother's dark waves and a certain something in her eyes that she couldn't quite put a name on.

"Princess," one of the elders addressed her, forcing her to reemerge from the chasm of her thoughts. Having grown up in a different world, being called "Princess" was still strange, but she'd long ago accepted that it likely always would be. "Soon you will have ruled Manjipour for five years. Your twenty-first birthday will be approaching in the coming months." he began, standing in front of her and looking into her eyes seriously. "That is something to celebrate." He swallowed hard and kept clasping and unclasping his hands, as if he were nervous about her reaction to the news that was about to be shared.

"Yes, I suppose it is." She gave a small shrug, knowing there must be more. The air was too thick for this to all be about some celebrations. Celebrations were light subjects that seemed too carefree for the intense kingdom elders. They hardly ever spoke of celebrations at these meetings and they certainly wouldn't be going this far out of their way just to talk about such a thing. The most they'd ever have to do with a celebration was to announce it with a grim expression, lips in a straight line without the slightest hint of a smile or excitement anywhere on their faces. In all honesty, the princess was expecting a kingdom celebration of her birthday no different from any celebration of her birthday before. There would be festivities and a feast and she would greet her loyal subjects and kiss their children, just as she did on every other birthday since returning to Manjipour. Though it did seem strange to her that they were speaking of it so soon. Usually they wouldn't start their planning for at least another three months. Six months in advance seemed to be a bit excessive.

The elder nodded in agreement, looking down as if he were unsure, an emotion Alex had never seen an elder express. After a shaky silence, he looked up again and said, "Do you know how old your mother was when she was married to the king?" he questioned.

"No." Alex shook her head. The king had not even been her father. That made it hard to take much of an interest in him. She supposed that was wrong. She should've taken more of an interest. He was a great and beloved king, not unlike any of the great and beloved kings before him, but his example was something she could've studied.

"She was sixteen." he said and he appeared to be hoping that she would catch on, but the princess remained clueless. It was not surprising that in a place like this a young lady of royalty should be married at sixteen. At one time in Alex's world, young ladies of all statuses had been married off to men much older than they at ages as young as twelve years old—still just children. Eventually times changed and the typical "marrying age" shifted back and forth depending on location and status. Fifteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty one. They were scattered all over the place. In a place such as this, sixteen seemed to fit. Of course, Alex hadn't even known she was the princess until her sixteenth birthday and so the same could not be expected of her when her situation was considered. Now it'd been four years and six months since then. "The king was only seventeen himself." the elder added. This was something rather unheard of in Alex's world. It was something that only happened in different cultures so small and in lands so rural that they might as well have been different worlds or periods in time. Despite these things, Alex did find relief in the fact that her mother had not been forced to marry some wrinkled old man desperate to have an heir born to him before his approaching death.

"And?" Alex urged the elder to go on, but he seemed to have trouble finding the words. He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth.

"Princess," another one of the elders spoke up and took a step forward. "You have done a very good job of taking up your royal duties and taking care of your people. Especially so suddenly and with less training than anyone in your position has ever had before. Most would have trained their entire lives to be prepared for your duties, but you managed to pick them up and do what no other has done before. The dark magic has been vanquished, the markets are thriving, the people are happy. In fact, I have never seen Manjipour in such conditions in all my years." the elder struggled not to choke on the kind words as heartfelt speech was foreign to her. "The people are more than satisfied."

"Thank you." the princess said in reply. She loved to see the smiles on her people's faces, knowing that she had cared for them the best she could. She took pride in that. At the age of sixteen, upon discovering that she was responsible for so many people, the idea frightened her. She tried to run from it, she tried to reject it, but somehow, now, it was something she put before anything else. It was as if it were an instinct installed in her at birth. It'd only needed to be reawakened.

"But Princess, only one thing could make them happier." she went on.

"And that is?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

The elder looked around at the others, unsure of what to say, having hoped that Alex would catch on by now, but Alex appeared ignorant to what they were asking of her. "For the princess to be married, to have a king and an heir to the throne." the elder replied, composing herself and returning to a serious demeanor.

Alex slowly nodded and breathed a sigh. One might've expected this girl, sent away from Manjipour as a baby for her own safety and raised among modern people in Australia, to fight this, to be shocked and to flat out refuse, but in truth, she had seen this coming. She hadn't noticed it'd somehow turned up right behind her while her back was turned, but she'd know this was how things were. She'd known it would only be a matter of time before the elders would want to see her married and give birth to the next royal. Her mother had died rather young—not dramatically so, but enough that Alex could understand the people's desire for the security of an heir. In all honesty, she was surprised it'd taken them this long to ask this of her, but Kuru had been right in saying that this would change her life. Yes, she'd seen this coming, but now things were being set into motion.

It saddened Alex to think that when she married, her adoptive father that'd raised her would not be there to give her away, her adoptive mother would not be crying tears of joy, and her annoying little sister would not be in her wedding party. They would always be kept in the dark. But she did have her biological father, Omar. She tried to stay positive and pay more attention to the good than the bad. She also knew that once she married, little time would be spent in the real world and most would be spent in Manjipour, tending to her people and to the future of the land, a prince or princess she would give birth to. What was she going to tell her parents? What excuse would she have for disappearing? She would have to give up her part in her band, her musical education. She knew and she'd known for a long time. But she must not be selfish. Her people came first. Being a princess came first. That instinct in her was both a blessing and a curse, but she could not fight it. "And did you have someone in mind?" the princess asked, fighting to keep any emotion from showing.

"No," the elder shook her head. "You are just like your mother in the way that you are headstrong, stubborn and you always must have your way. And as princess, that is your right. Princess, we know you well enough to know that you will not accept any prince that we choose for you, so we have decided to give you a chance to choose a husband for yourself." she announced to her. She did not seem too pleased about it, but she was aware there was not much she could do to change the truth. The princess was taking the news better than they'd expected and they did not want to upset her. They would prefer a prince or someone wealthy and of good breeding, but they knew the princess would not do well accepting someone they'd chosen for her. Sure, she knew how to act like a lady and be civil and she would take any fall for her people, but they knew she wanted more than a loveless, pre-arranged marriage. They would have to meet her in the middle somewhere.

"I see." Alex breathed. Though she didn't show it, she was pleasantly surprised by this little opportunity of choice offered to her. She had been raised in a world where the people married for love—or at least tried to—not for money or for status or for any gain and she was wanted to have that; love. She had "courted" two boys before, but neither time had it lasted. Nor had either of those boys been fit to be the king of Manjipour. Whomever she picked would have to be loved by her and by her people. He would have to be selfless and loyal and brave—willing to live and die for this place. That was a lot to ask of a boy in her age group and of her world, she realized, biting her lip. Surely, it didn't look very Princess-like, but the thought had her biting down hard until she tasted blood. She hardly knew any eligible boys—young men—in Manjipour. She'd hardly ever seen one as anything more than a servant. Likely this future king could come from her world and if it'd been a lot to take in for her, it'd be so for him as well. This place was a different world, culture, and time. It'd have to be one of those "love at first sight" things she'd heard of for him to give her a chance. He'd have to be very enchanted by her to follow her all the way to Manjipour. And she knew she did not have forever. She was young and in her prime. The people wanted a marriage and a child and she would not be able to reproduce forever.

"Is there anyone you had in mind, Princess?" the first elder spoke again when Alex said nothing more.

She lifted her eyes that'd somehow drifted to the floor without her knowledge. She hated that she'd allowed that to happen, allowed for it to appear that her confidence had slipped. "No." Alex answered flatly, her chest rising with an intake of breath. It fell again when she released in the form of the softest sigh, thinking of the task that lie ahead.

"What about that Caleb fellow?" he suggested. "Were not the two of you courting for a while not too long ago?" he seemed rather eager to see her paired up as soon as possible. They all did, and she understood, but she didn't fancy this particular suggestion.

"No. The boy is just that. A boy and a childhood sweetheart. Not a king." she stiffened. Two years ago hardly could've been described as a time of "childhood," as she'd been considered an adult in both worlds, but looking back, it felt like it. Had she been raised in this world, perhaps she would've gotten caught up in his charm and pretty eyes and married the boy at sixteen due to their customs, or maybe she would've never met him. They didn't exactly run in the same social circles. But she had not been raised in this world and she liked to think herself more levelheaded than that. No, Caleb was no king. She held nothing against Caleb. He'd never done anything to hurt her and she'd felt the ache of his absence when they grew apart, but he hadn't the heart of a king. One day he would marry another and so would she and they would both be happy that way. She'd accepted that by now.

"Princess," the second elder interrupted. "One thing no one has mentioned aloud: we would like to see you married by your twenty-first birthday. You have a limited amount of time, only six months, before we will be forced to pick a husband for you. The date has been set for a combined birthday and wedding celebration and preparations will be made. You've got until your royal twenty-first. The people want a king."

This made Alex's heart stall for a quarter of a second despite the fact that she was not surprised by this new condition. She'd known it'd be in the fine print, but it was another thing to hear it spoken. Where she came from, you had to know someone longer than six months before you knew if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them. Only six months to give her heart to a man worthy of being king, only six months to give her life to Manjipour even more so than she already had, to say goodbye to her life in Australia. She would only be able to visit on rare occasion. She would have to set up lies and a false story of her life and figure out her excuses. But this was for Manjipour and it was in her blood, her heart, and her instincts. This was what the people wanted. Alex sat up straight and with more confidence than she really possessed, she spoke, "Then a king they shall have."