Soren the Silent

Zatana meets the man she is to marry

“Do you need any help, princess?” Corina asked.

       Zatana threw herself onto her new bed enjoying the softness of it after a long ride in the carriage on the bumpy roads.

       “We are alone now Cor, you don’t have to be so formal.”  Corina laughed and came to lean against the bed.

       “Oh Zanna what have you gotten yourself into?” Zatana smiled at her friend then sat up.

       “You have to go see about Raven.’ Corina placed a hand on her shoulder.

       “No, I must stay with you. I can’t leave you alone in this place, should anything happen to you your mother would kill me.” Zatana began to argue but knew from the look on Corina’s face that she would not budge on the issue.

       “Hurry and change for dinner. I’ve told Silva to report on Raven’s condition.”

       Zatana jumped up and hugged her then hurried to get ready to meet her future husband and his family.

         Corina escorted Zatana to the dining hall where the royal family waited.  It was not until the smell of the food hit her that Zatana realized how hungry she was, her stomach growled making her blush and Corina laugh which she quickly turned into a cough alerting everyone to their arrival.

       The queen was the first to come and greet her, giving her a crushing hug. “Welcome to your new home!” she exclaimed.

       “I am queen Flora but you can call me mother if you like,” she laced Zatana’s arm through hers and pulled her farther into the room.

       “This is my husband, king Verick and my daughter, Dahlia.” The king smiled and gave her a gentle hug; he was a tall man of slender build the opposite of her father who had been a bear of a man. King Verick had kind light brown eyes and black hair kept short his skin was the color of milk coffee, which contrasted nicely against queen Flora’s darker complexion.

       Her hair was in a bouncy updo that showed off her high cheekbones and slender curved neck.She had a small cupid bows mouth and grey eyes surrounded by thick lashes. Dahlia was almost the exact copy of her mother but had her father’s light eyes and her hair was down going just beyond her shoulders in soft waves.

       She smiled at Zatana but said nothing.

       “And this is our youngest son, Bram.” Zatana looked around but did not see anyone until Dahlia’s skirts moved, looking down she saw a little boy of about four peeking out from behind her, she smiled and waved causing him to go back into hiding.

       “He’s a bit shy but he’ll warm up to you,” the queen assured her.

       “Where is prince Soren he should be here greeting his bride,” the king stated.

       “Well he was just here, I don’t know-"  before Flora could finish her sentence the dining hall door was thrown open and the head rider from before strode in but dressed in nicer clothes.

       “Soren, there you are, come meet princess Zatana.”

       Zatana stood shocked as Soren came closer the resemblance between him and Verick was undeniable.

       “We’ve already met,” he said sitting down at the dining table.

       His father gave a disapproving look before seating himself at the head to the table, Flora sat to his right with Dahlia next to her and Bram squeezing himself between them, leaving the only place for Zatana to sit next to Soren.

       Everyone was silent as the servants brought out the food.

       “So we’ve planned the wedding to take place the day after tomorrow to give you time to settle in and have all the preparations ready,” said king Verick. Zatana nodded, Soren continued to eat without reply.”

       “So Zatana, Soren mentioned you met earlier, what do you think of our prince so far?” Flora asked.

        I think he’s stuck up and arrogant. Zatana thought.

       “He’s very brave; he saved my travelling party earlier today making for a safe ride here.”

       “Yes, our Soren is brave and though it might not seem like it now he has a very kind heart as well,” Flora said. Zatana highly doubted that but nodded anyway. The rest of the dinner continued in silence.

After the servants cleared away the dishes Zatana made a show of yawning so she wouldn’t have to be stuck in an after dinner chat with Soren the Silent.

       “Oh you poor thing, you must be exhausted after your journey and all you went through today.” Flora put her arm around her and Zatana tried her best to act as if she was truly tired.

       “Soren be a dear and please escort Zatana to her room,” she placed Zatana’s arm in Soren’s and went to take a sleeping Bram form Dahlia.

Zatana cringed inwardly.

       “Goodnight my dears I’ll see you in the morning.”  With that, she and the rest of the royal family went off to their rooms leaving Zatana alone with Soren. The moment the Royal family was gone Soren dropped her hand and wiped his own on his shirt as if she had some sort of disease.

       “Did you not learn the way to your room?” he barked giving her a dark look with a hint of disgust. Zatana clenched her teeth and took a deep breath before replying.

       “It was the queen who suggested you take me not I, I have no problem going by myself in fact I’d actually prefer it, so goodnight prince Soren.” She waltzed past him into the main hall and began to make her way to her room, smiling a little to herself from the look of shock that had registered on the haughty prince Soren’s face.

       She could hear him walking behind her, when they reached the staircase she turned around almost making him run into her.

       “Isn’t your room on the other side?” she said, he looked away and shrugged.

       “Mother told me to walk you to your room so that’s what I am doing,” he walked past her to the stairs.

    Swallowing the anger that threatened to choke her, she managed to let go of the urge to hit him, assaulting her future husband was not the best way to start a relationship.

  “Then why make such a big fuss earlier if you were going to escort me anyways?” she followed slowly behind him not wanting to get too close.

       Candles lit up the hallway giving off an amber glow that danced across Soren’s face, he was handsome with his mother’s eyes in a darker shade of grey with thick lashes, her high cheekbones that almost made him look feminine but not quite, he was as tall as his father but had more muscle than the king.

       He glanced over and caught her staring. “What?” she shook her head and quickly looked away. They reached her room where Corina stood waiting; she bowed and opened the door for Zatana.

       “Well thank you for escorting me prince Soren I will see you in the morning,” Soren said nothing just gave a slight nod before leaving. Zatana all but yanked Corina into her room and quickly shut the door.

       “Did you know he was the prince?” she hissed.

       “Not until after I left you in the dining hall, I passed him in the hall and one of the guards called him prince but it was too late to warn you, so don’t give me that squinty eyed look your only succeeding in giving yourself wrinkles.”

       “It’s just my luck to be marrying that jerk; at least the rest of the royal family seems nice.” Corina helped her undress so she could put on her nightgown.

       “Well you did ask for this and look on the brightside, he’s pretty cute.”

       Zatana groaned and flopped onto the bed, Corina laughed as she left the room.

Author's Note

Any feedback is always welcomed