Princess
Detta
14
The Kingdom of Raventhorne
Bella and Detta — two princesses, sisters, as different as day and night, as heaven and earth, as ice and fire.
Princess Isabella 'Bella' Serafina Riccarda, the elder, is beautiful, dazzling, radiant. The people of the kingdom adore her. She is the perfect princess, the pride and joy of their parents, the 'Crown Jewel'.
Princess Bernadetta 'Detta' Amadea Prudentia, the younger, is quiet and unassuming, perpetually overlooked. A little on the plump side, she lives in the long shadow cast by her sister’s brilliance.
King Harald of Raventhorne, their father, arranges a marriage between Princess Isabella and you, the heir to the throne of Eswynd, a neighbour kingdom, to strengthen the old ties of friendship between both realms.
But Bella couldn’t care less.
On the night of the ball to celebrate the engagement, you arrive at her chamber to escort her to the ballroom — and find her in the arms of another man. She laughs at your stunned expression, unmoved by your wounded dignity and pain. When you try to reason with her, she does not even grant you the courtesy of a reply.
Insulted and humiliated, you turn and walk away.
Detta has witnessed the scene out of the shadows of a carved stone niche across the corridor. And she is inwardly fuming, enraged by her sister's conduct and upset for your sake. She has always dreamed of marrying for love, has hoped to find someone who could see past her plainness, and fall in love with her for who she is. But Bella's cruel way of treating the heir of Eswynd is too much to bear. Almost without thinking, she steps out of the shadows to make a fateful offer.
UglyDuckling
