• How did I get myself into this?’ thought Princess Felicity. ‘Here I am, walking down the aisle in the most beautiful wedding dress ever imagined, a puffy, snow white gown with a lovely lace collar, yet I’m still not happy. Oh, how I wish my father had never come home… then he never would have betrothed me, and I could’ve married the man I wanted!’ It was true. If her father hadn’t come home from France, he never would’ve met her soon to be husband. But that’s not exactly where this princess’s story begins. No, it actually begins with an adventurous fifteen year old Felicity.

    Her father, William the 3rd, King of Etoileia, had been gone for many years, only coming home to see his child on her birthday. It had been like that for thirteen years. Since princess’s mother had died, the ladies of the kingdom were left to raise the child, while the king was away.

    On the princess’s fifteenth birthday she was ecstatic, for every year she looked forward to seeing her father. She loved to pick flowers in the royal gardens, even though she knew the gardeners would frown upon it.

    “Princess Felicity!” the young man called. “Princess, are you out here? Your ladies sent me out here to look for you! They said that you would be out here playing!”

    Excited, the princess yelled, “I’m over here! Is my father here?!” Quickly, she ran over to the sound of the young man’s voice, where he stood looking all around for her. He was in his early twenties and quite handsome, with dark brown hair that looked a lot like the colour of the sweet treat that she so much enjoyed: chocolate. His eyes were a shade of blue which looked very much liked the ocean, and his white and gold apparel matched them perfectly. He had a round, sweet face, and she immediately took him as a man with a kind soul.

    As his eyes fell on her, he smiled, bowed, and said, “Your highness, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I just came down here to inform you that your father has arrived, and he wishes to see you before the night is up. Will you meet him in his chambers in about an hour?”

    “I will,” she said, smiling at his friendly disposition “Thank you so much for finding and telling me. I’d hate to miss his trip on account of my love for nature.”

    “Quite so,” he said and added, “It was very nice meeting you, Princess.” Then, with a final bow, he turned around and headed back up to the palace.
    *~*~*~*

    About an hour later, the princess had changed into her most beautiful gown. It was sky blue, with a lacy collar lined with white pearls. The gown matched perfectly with her ocean blue eyes that fascinated most people, and her white hair. Many inhabitants of the palace complimented her on her natural beauty, as her white hair fell down to her waist. Her ocean blue eyes always held a mystical look about them, which made her ladies think that this was a good omen.

    Quietly, she stepped inside her father’s chambers to see him, with his dark brown hair, standing near the window, looking out at the glorious orange sunset.

    “My daughter,” he said, turning away from the window. “It has been such a long time. You grow so much every time I see you!

    “My sweet princess,” he said, beaming as he looked at his fifteen year old daughter. “We have much to discuss before the night is over.”

    Her thoughts instantly became curious. He’d never come to discuss royal matters with her, yet this was obviously what he wanted; she could tell by his tone of voice.

    “You are of age now,” he said, smiling brightly. “And it is time for you to be married. I’ve searched long and hard this past year, but could find no one better than Julian, the Prince of Cresentia.” Her heart sank at once. She’d heard stories about this Prince Julian, and they weren’t very nice. The ladies of the court had told her that he was, from what they’d heard, not very pleasing. His was quite handsome but, his manners weren’t very good.

    “Prince Julian?” she said. “You want me to marry the Cresentia Prince, Julian? But father, can’t I meet him before you betroth me?”

    “I’m afraid it’s already been done,” he said. “Now follow me.” Obediently, she followed her father, while he explained all about the lessons she’d have to start taking over the next year.

    “But,” he said, smiling down at Felicity. “Out of all of your lessons, dancing will be the most strenuous. Your dancing teacher, I do believe you’ve already met.” He was right, for the young man she was introduced to was the gentleman she’d met earlier that evening. “Antonio, this is my dearest Felicity, you will be teaching her how to dance. She must learn all the steps, for she will be dancing at her wedding.”

    “Yes, your majesty,” Antonio said, smiling. “I will do everything I can to make sure that she learns.” “I’ll leave you two to be aquatinted.” The King said then left.
    Antonio then turned to Felicity and said, “Lessons will begin tomorrow at noon. Please, don’t be late, princess.”

    She princess nodded her head, and said, “I won’t be late, Sir Antonio, I promise.”

    “Please just call me Antonio”, he said smiling.

    “Then you must call me Felicity,” she said.

    He laughed, bent down, kissed her hand, and said, “See you tomorrow, Felicity.”
    *~*~*~*

    Her first dance lesson didn’t go too well. She was, indeed, late, and Antonio was not happy about it. He said it was disrespectful, but he’d let it slide just once.

    Once they got over the lateness lecture, he partnered her up with a lady of the court, and began teaching her. The first time she stepped on the lady’s foot, her face turned red in embarrassment and frustration. But when Felicity did it the second time, she got so irritated that she began to step away. Antonio knew what she was up to, and insisted that she come back, adding that leaving in the middle of a dance was also disrespectful.

    It took months for her to actually become better at her dancing, however when she finally did, she found them rather enjoyable. But her favourite thing about her lessons was her handsome teacher. As the months went on she found herself thinking more and more about him. She didn’t think he felt the same way she did, though, until her dancing lady got sick one day.
    *~*~*~*

    “Well,” Antonio said after being informed. “It looks like I’ll have to be your dancing partner today. You think you can keep up with me, Felicity?”

    She laughed and said, “Oh, I know I can keep up with you, Antonio."

    Surprisingly, she was right. Dancing with him wasn’t a problem for her at all. As a matter of fact, she enjoyed it. "Something weird was happening". Every second the dance continued she would get closer and closer to Antonio, until finally they were barely apart. He was looking directly into her ocean blue eyes.

    The final twirl led her straight into his arms. She couldn’t help herself; every second that went on, she longed to kiss him. Finally, she leaned forward, bringing her lips closer to his, and unexpectedly, he was doing the same. They were less than a centimetre apart when he realize what he was doing and jumped back, as if he was going to get struck by lightning at that very moment.

    “I— I must go,” he mumbled, looking away. “This lesson is over, your highness.” He bowed slightly, and left the room. The instant the door closed behind him, she ran out the opposite door and headed straight up to her bed chamber, where she fell onto her bed, and cried.

    She had always hated the idea of marrying that Prince Julian, but now she hated the idea even more, because he was the only reason she couldn’t be with Antonio. For the first time she felt rage towards her father for marrying her off to someone she’s never met.

    *~*~*~*

    Antonio cancelled the next day’s lesson, which was the first time that had ever happened. He sent her servant the message stating that he was very ill, and would not be able to teach her on that very day. Nor did he continue his lessons after that day. This broke Felicity’s heart, for she had wanted nothing more than to talk to him and tell him how she really felt about him. But she knew that, even if he did love her in return, they could not be together, for she was already betrothed.

    It was a month before her wedding, but still he hadn’t spoken a word to her. She missed him terribly, and was getting tired of the whole situation.

    Since she felt as if she needed to speak to him, she sent her servant to his chambers to tell him that she needed to speak with him, and to meet her in the ballroom in one hour.
    Antonio did end up showing up.

    “You wanted to see me, your highness?” he asked, bowing down as he was supposed to. She raised him up, and told her servants to leave, wanting a minute of privacy. As soon as the servants left, she walked over to him.

    “I told you not to call me ‘your highness’, Antonio” she said her voice shaking as her eyes filled with tears. “You’ve never called me that, and please don’t start now. Now, I think we need to talk about what happened weeks ago. I know that we almost… well, next time my lady is sick, I just won’t show up for lessons. It’ll just make us both uncomfortable, and since I know you don’t like me in that way, it would be better for both of us if I just didn’t--.”
    But she was interrupted as Antonio pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her arms slowly snaked themselves around his back, and his did the same thing. The kiss only lasted a minute, but the moment it was over, Antonio looked as pale as a ghost.

    He sat down on one of the ballroom chairs, and held his face in his hands. She felt awful for him, because she knew that this was all her fault.

    “I’m so sorry, Antonio,” she said, looking like she was about to cry. “It won’t ever happen again, I promise.”

    “Don’t be sorry,” he said through his hands. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. You see, I seem to have fallen in love with a betrothed princess. Let’s just say I’m at a complete loss at what I’m going to do with myself.”

    She couldn’t believe he’d said those words. But still, her wedding was a month away, and her father would be there soon to plan it. She couldn’t help but think that maybe running away with him would be the only answer, but they couldn’t run forever.

    “Listen,” Antonio said, interrupting her thoughts. “Don’t worry about it, Felicity. Nothing we can do will change what your father has decided. Tomorrow is my last day here in Etoileia anyway, but I’ll be back for your wedding, I promise. Just…,” he said getting up and taking her hands in his, “please don’t forget me, okay?”

    “I will never forget you, Antonio,” she said, and jumped into his arms, giving him another kiss. When he pulled away, and turned to leave, she said, “I love you. And I will do everything in my power to stop this wedding!”

    “No!” he said, turning around really fast and grabbing her arms. “Don’t stop the wedding! I mean, I don’t want to disrespect your father or anything. He wouldn’t be happy if he heard that his only daughter had fallen in love with her dance teacher. No, you deserve a prince, Felicity; not a… a teacher such as myself.”

    “But--,” she said, but to no avail. Right after he said those words, he turned around and left the ballroom.

    *~*~*~*

    A month later the king arrived for his daughter’s wedding. She looked beautiful, but she didn’t feel that way. She felt sick, and as she walked down the aisle, she couldn’t help but think about her true love, and if he was watching her right now.

    Her veil was so thick she could barely see through it, but what she could see told her that Antonio was not in the audience. At once her heart sank as the thought that he lied to her came into her mind. Again, she couldn’t help thinking that this was all her fathers fault. If he had never met that Prince Julian, she never would’ve been forced to marry him. Anger flooded throughout her veins as, for the first time, she felt a hatred for father.

    Finally, after what felt like forever, she reached the minister at the end of the aisle, and her husband to be. They exchanged vows and, with great regret, she agreed to marry him.

    “I now pronounce you man and wife,” the minister said. “You may now kiss the bride.” This was the part Felicity was least looking forward to, and as her prince lifted the veil, she felt her whole body cringe.

    But seeing the face of the man she was just pronounced married to, made her smile. There, in handsome black attire, stood Antonio. He smiled at her, and kissed her.
    *~*~*~*

    It was during the wedding dance that Felicity finally got a chance to talk to Antonio about what had happened.

    “Well,” he said happily. “A year ago, when I first arrived ,your father told you that I was a dance teacher. But before we got to Etoileia I told him that I wanted my true identity to be kept secret from you. Just until the wedding. I’m so sorry I fooled you, Felicity, but I had to. I wanted to get to know you first; to fall in love with you. Before I actually say ‘I do’.”

    Quickly, so he wouldn’t think she was mad at him, she kissed him. This kiss lasted only a moment, but it was enough to tell him that she still loved him just as much as she did during their first dance together.