Why me, of all people? Why did I have to be born to the most noble king of France? Why did my father have to make an alliance with the people in a faraway country? And why did I, the youngest, have to be engaged to someone I don't even know and have never seen?
I want to run away, but I know I can't. What would the consequences be? I'll either be stopped or punished somewhere along the road. Plus, I've no idea where I would go. Running away would be a disappointment to my family and I'd be shunned and possibly murdered, even if I am technically royalty. I don't even know where this new prince lives or who his parents are. If I had been a lowborn, I would probably be working in the fields, miserable by a princess's standards but peaceful by a peasant's. But now I am being forced to marry a boy at the age of thirteen and live with him for the rest of my life for the sole purpose of sealing a deal. Sometimes I wish these politics didn't involve selling people. Sometimes I wish my father wasn't so selfish.
I don't understand why he couldn't marry off my older brother, who's just two years my senior. Thirteen is too young, I think, but apparently it's not too young to have your young life cut off as if you were an object, not a person. I don't understand why he didn't just give money instead of me. What would my mother think?
But I can't say no; I can't put myself at risk for anything. I can only hope for the best in my future spouse and less misery in adult life. I can't disappoint my father or do anything that would potentially make him angry at me. I'm still a child, after all. I guess I have to be obedient and solemn, like a queen. I can't say anything.
I want to run away, but I know I can't. What would the consequences be? I'll either be stopped or punished somewhere along the road. Plus, I've no idea where I would go. Running away would be a disappointment to my family and I'd be shunned and possibly murdered, even if I am technically royalty. I don't even know where this new prince lives or who his parents are. If I had been a lowborn, I would probably be working in the fields, miserable by a princess's standards but peaceful by a peasant's. But now I am being forced to marry a boy at the age of thirteen and live with him for the rest of my life for the sole purpose of sealing a deal. Sometimes I wish these politics didn't involve selling people. Sometimes I wish my father wasn't so selfish.
I don't understand why he couldn't marry off my older brother, who's just two years my senior. Thirteen is too young, I think, but apparently it's not too young to have your young life cut off as if you were an object, not a person. I don't understand why he didn't just give money instead of me. What would my mother think?
But I can't say no; I can't put myself at risk for anything. I can only hope for the best in my future spouse and less misery in adult life. I can't disappoint my father or do anything that would potentially make him angry at me. I'm still a child, after all. I guess I have to be obedient and solemn, like a queen. I can't say anything.
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