"I have great news. We've selected a husband for you Eva and he has already been approved by the council."
Princess Eva felt like a bucket of ice water was just poured over her head.
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yes," her Dad, the King of Norway, said with a smile. "Very serious."
"But Dad, this is the year 2022, not 1822. Arranged marriages stopped being a thing a long time ago. People marry for love now," the princess argued, pushing her long brown hair behind her ear.
King Hans scoffed and scratched at his thick brown beard. "Love?" he laughed, with his deep booming voice. Saying it as if that word was ridiculous. "Love is a luxury for regular people. It doesn't matter what year it is. Marriage for royals has always been about political strategy and that's never changing. It can turn an enemy country into an ally, be a bargaining chip for better trade deals and give us allies for war. A royal marriage is too valuable to be wasted. You can learn to love this man we've arranged for you to marry."
"I don't want to have to learn to love my own husband. I should love him beforehand. Who's to say I'll even be able to fall in love with whoever this guy is you picked? What then? I spend the rest of my life stuck in a miserable loveless marriage and never get to know what love feels like? I can't imagine anything worse!" she said, raising her voice in frustration.
"Eva," he said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. "As a member of the royal family of Norway you were born with wealth and power, the ability to travel anywhere and have whatever you want. But that privilege isn't free pumpkin. You have a duty to always do what's best for your country and your people," he said, looking down and exhaling before looking back up into her eyes. "Even if that means sacrificing your own happiness for the greater good."
"So you're saying you want me to be miserable for the greater good?" she asked her Dad, feeling her eyes burning.
"No I don't want you to be miserable. I want you to stop making yourself miserable. You've always known that your marriage would be arranged since the day you were born so it's not like this is a surprise. You need to stop thinking just about yourself and look at the bigger picture here."
She looked up at him with her big, round blue eyes that were tearing up and he softened a little.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it sweetheart. It's all being taken care of. The lucky prince is going to be very happy to have such a beautiful bride," the King smiled.
Eva was very beautiful. She was tall like the rest of her family at 5'9 and thin and she had straight, shiny brown hair that came to her waist, bright blue eyes with long dark eyelashes and flawless pale skin. She was self conscious even though her Dad was always telling her that she reminded him of a perfect porcelain doll because of her rare beauty and pale, blemish-free skin. No matter how many times people told her how beautiful she was she didn't believe them. She had always wished that she was more curvy and maybe a little shorter.
"Your highness," his assistant said, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt but we have a meeting with the ambassador to the United States in five minutes."
Her Dad stood up and said, "I have to go," before kissing her forehead and walking away.
Her twin brother, Prince Kristoff had been sitting with them going over some paperwork and had overheard the whole conversation. She looked across the table into his blue eyes that were the same as hers. He was like the male version of her which was understandable since they were twins, only he was taller and stronger.
"I honestly don't know why you even bother," he said. "You and him have been arguing about this since you were little but he'll never change his mind. Everyone in our family for hundreds of years have had arranged marriages and they turned out fine. It's all a part of this gig. I'm going to have an arranged marriage too and I'm not complaining."
His eyes glanced down at the book in her hands before saying, "You know what your problem is? You need to stop reading those romance books that put unrealistic thoughts into your head."
Eva slumped down in her chair with an exhale, looking down at the last book of the Twilight series in her hand and said, "You don't understand. You're a guy. You don't care about falling in love."
Kristoff laughed and said, "You're right. I don't care about falling in love and you shouldn't either. Why should we make ourselves miserable daydreaming about something we can't have? We're both having arranged marriages and that's just the way it is. We can't change it no matter what we do."
She took a deep breath in and let out a sigh, looking down at her breakfast and pushing it around the plate with her fork, thinking about what he said. Her brother was always the responsible, level-headed one that thought about things logically and she had always been a dreamer, a romantic, with her head up in the clouds.
He got to be the next in line for the throne of Norway because he was a boy even though they were born at the same time, but she was alright with that because she could tell he was going to make a great King one day. Even though Eva wouldn't be King, her Dad had always invited her into political discussions and valued her opinion just as much as Kristoff's.
That had been a little controversial with some of the other members of the government, stirring up gossip, because traditionally in royal families women weren't involved in politics. Their role was entertaining and hosting and being sociable with world leaders, like a P.R. person for the crown. Eva was glad her father at least didn't care about following that tradition, even if he wasn't budging on the one about arranged marriage.
Eva's Mom, Queen Ingrid, walked into the room carrying her laptop and a couple beige file folders. Ingrid looked just like an older, shorter version of Eva but with lighter hair and she had a very warm, outgoing personality that won people over very quickly. That was one of the reasons why she was such a skilled negotiator. She was also very intelligent, which is where Eva got it from.
Ingrid sat down and looked at the faces of her two children and could instantly tell something was wrong.
"What's wrong with you two today?"
"Eva tried to talk Dad out of her arranged marriage again and he wouldn't budge. I told her he's never changing his mind so she might as well stop fighting over it and accept it already," Kristoff said, giving his sister a sympathetic smile as he took a sip of his coffee.
"I just think the whole thing is completely unfair. I should be able to marry someone I love instead of being forced to marry a complete stranger. I'd rather die."
"Oh, there you go being dramatic again," her mother said with a deep exhale, shaking her head. "It's not all that bad Eva! Trust me. I've been through it myself."
Her Mom had been a princess of Sweden before she had an arranged marriage to her Dad, who was a prince of Norway at the time. Their union was arranged by their parents and now her Mom had been busy planning Eva's arrangement.
"And it's not like we're marrying you off to some random guy we picked out of a hat. I've spent the last few months traveling to different countries to meet with princes and their families face to face, interviewing them multiple times to find out what kind of men they are to narrow it down to the best of the best. There were so many amazing princes that expressed interest in you that it was hard to choose but I know without a doubt we made the right choice. The one we picked is a VERY good man that I will be proud to call my son."
Eva sat there staring at her food, moving it around her plate with her fork, refusing to lift her head and look at her Mom. She couldn't imagine anything worse than having someone else pick her husband for her, especially not her parents. They had no idea what she found attractive in a man.
"His name is Prince Paulo Santiago Aragon of Spain. I took a lot of notes and pictures from my visits with him and his family. You should come over here and take a look," the Queen said patting the seat next to her as she opened one of the file folders.
"No I don't even want to look," Eva grumbled. "What if I'm repulsed by him? You wouldn't change your mind. You're going to force me to marry him anyway."
"Fine. Suit yourself," Ingrid said with a disappointed sigh, shutting the folder before sipping her coffee. "But I guarantee you won't be repulsed by him. He's very handsome."
Eva sat there, trying to process all of this. "I don't know the Prince of Spain. I've never even met him. You and Dad couldn't have at least picked someone I know?"
The Queen scoffed, "Well that's your fault for not coming with us to Spain when we went for visits to the palace through the years. Your brother went but you always wanted to stay home and visit with Astrid and be anti-social with your face buried in a book."
She had no come back for that because she knew she was right.
"He's better than anyone you know anyway. He's tall and handsome, smart, athletic, funny. He's a good match for you. Plus your father says Spain will be a very strong ally for us. They're a wealthy country with a lot of natural resources and ties to other powerful countries."
She knew what she was saying was true. Spain was a perfect country to align with but she still didn't like it.
"This is what's best for our country Eva but I truly think that he will make you happy too."
Eva sat there sulking, still refusing to look at her.
"The Prince will be here in the morning, along with the King and Queen of Spain, so we can make your official engagement announcement," her Mom said. "After that our family will be riding in the Annual Indepence day parade like always, and your fiance will be riding in one of the royal carriages with you. Then the next day we'll have the wedding."
"What?!" she shouted, coughing and sputtering from choking on the water she just sipped. "The wedding is going to be the day after tomorrow?" Eva asked in shock with wide eyes. "I thought we still had more time!"
"More time?" the Queen laughed. "We've been working on setting up an arranged marriage for you for six months! You know this."
"I know. I just didn't know you were that close to making it official," Eva said, feeling her heart beat faster as her anxiety rose and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"Well you would have known if you didn't avoid the topic like the plague and leave the room every time it came up," her Mom told her, raising an eyebrow. "We're all done. The marriage contract and trade deals have already been signed with Spain. There's no going back."
"Seriously?" she gasped, swallowing hard. This was really happening. She couldn't believe it.
"But what about the wedding? Don't you need time to plan it?"
"Already done. Luckily I started planning the wedding months ago. There are only a few minor things left to do, like pick out your dress," she smiled.
Her Mom sounded so excited, but she was terrified.
"Great," Eva said sarcastically, with a pained look on her face.
"Eva," her Mom scolded, sounding insulted and irritated. "It wasn't easy to make this happen you know! He's a very handsome man and there were a lot of other princesses fighting to marry him. I had to do a lot of negotiating and bargaining for this. You should be more grateful."
"Grateful? That's like asking a prisoner to be grateful for their cell," she scoffed, before she got up and sulked off back to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
She collapsed onto her bed and hugged her pillow to her chest and as she laid there and thought about it, she couldn't help but start crying. All she wanted was a chance to fall in love like everyone else in the entire world. She didn't get to choose if she wanted to be a princess. No one asked her if she wanted to be held responsible for an entire country. She was forced into it by birth which was completely unfair and this marriage felt like a prison sentence.