Chapter Thirty Two: Tait

Once upon a time...
A good friend of mine, okay actually a boy a dated, had the incredible idea to set me up with one of his best friends. His best friend's name was Tait. Unfortunately, Tait lived in a land far far away from mine and we could not go out. We did however begin to write each other.
Being a princess, I did get distracted often with suitors and didn't really think twice about anything going anywhere with Tait. If that wasn't enough of a problem, I got into a mess with an evil witch who put a curse on me. My curse turned me into something resembling an ogre (but of course prettier.) I grew claws when upset and would begin to gain super strength.
For a bit of time, I was locked in a tower as a form of protection until my royal family and royal medicine men realized that I wasn't a harm to anyone at all. That when I was upset, it was best just to avoid me or calm me down and no danger would occur. This curse was kept a secret of course, for who could ever learn to love a beast?
One day, my dear friend, his family, and his best friend Tait came to my land far far away. We decided to go see historical sights that were decorated lovely for the special holiday season. When Tait walked into my home, I kept my distance. It was one thing to write him, it was another to actually befriend him. Especially now that I was cursed. I talked to my dear friend and my mother, the queen, but my eyes kept wondering to Tait. He was so handsome. He was taller than I and well built. He had a beautiful golden tan, and short brown hair. His eyes were as green as a four leaf clover and I found myself captivated by him.
Rather than letting him know, however, I kept my distance the entire evening. In the carriage ride, I didn't speak to him. As we were walking, I didn't either. My friend wasn't happy with how this was playing out and pretty soon I found myself alone with Tait. Naturally, I then become extremely charming. And goofy. I dared him to lay down next to one of the statues as though he were a plank on a pirates ship. He was confused. I told him "Lay down as stiff as a board. Like a pirate ship plank. Everyone does it now as a form of entertainment." He was about to when I spotted a guard. I panicked and grabbed his arm and began to talk to the guard as though me and Tait were long time lovers.
Once the guard left, we had a good laugh about it and became rather friendly the rest of the evening. The following day he attended the place of worship with me. And the day after he was set to travel back to his land far far away. He asked to take me out before he went. I agreed.
We ate a feast in which we had a long conversation which actually went terribly. When he asked what I thought of him, I told him, "You seem cocky and rather full of yourself. You're overly confident and are handsome so you aren't the kind of guy I would date." Of course Tait did not like that and we parted ways without so much as a hug goodbye.
Until he returned for the celebration of the New Year. He asked to take me out in which I agreed. We attended a party with him and a friend of his. Then we parted ways and Tait and I went to the village for an enormous celebration. The clock struck 12:00 and fireworks began to shoot in the sky. "Princess Brailee," Tait said. "What if I wanted to kiss you?" I turned and looked at him and smiled a little bit. Then I said nothing and looked away. Right before the clock turned to 12:01, I turned to him and kissed him.
After that we became very close. He began to visit me often, despite the hundreds of miles that kept us apart. He wrote me daily. And the day came when he wanted me to be exclusively his. And I turned him down. That didn't end things like I thought it would. Instead he tried harder.
We attended plays and went to the place of worship together as often as we could and participated in different cultural events. Our relationship was perfect. I was not going out with any other men at the time, but I wasn't ready to commit.
I had a conversation with my mother, the queen, and told her about Tait. I told her about how he made me laugh. How he was patient with me. How he was real. How we had the same beliefs. How we had the same goals. How I trusted him. And she told me he seemed like a dream boy and didn't understand why I wouldn't be with him.
I agreed and the next time Tait asked me, I agreed to be exclusive.
Our next step was for me to go to his land far far away and meet his family. I was hesitant to do so. I did not want my heart broken. How would I know if this was my prince? How would I know if he was worth it? I began to ponder it deeply and ask my ladies in waiting and go to the place of worship to consider it. When I finally felt good about it, I took my fastest horse and lovely carriage out to his land.
His family were wonderful people. They were darling and sweet and welcoming. They took me in to their cottage and had my favorite foods there for me. They talked to me as though they had known me since birth. I had never felt like I belonged somewhere so strongly like I did in that visit. I knew though that I was keeping a strong secret from Tait, and decided it was time he knew. So I took him aside and said, "Tait there is something you need to know about me." I could see the worry in his eyes. I began to tell him about my curse. He looked at my and smiled. He took my hand and kissed me. "I love you," he whispered. "What?" I asked in shock. "Brailee, I knew you were keeping something from me. And now that I know, I can honestly say I love you and know it without a doubt." I leaned away from him. "But it's a dealbreaker Tait," I said softly. He kissed me again. "Not for me it isn't."
Our relationship blossomed after that. He knew every secret I had, and loved me for every weakness and strength I had. Any time my curse began to take over, he would sit and hold me and I would instantly calm down. No one was more patient than he was with me. No one had cared for me the way he did or understood me the way he did. We seemed unbreakable.
Then we had our first argument. Concerning his ex girlfriend. Of four years. He kept on talking about her and I began to feel as though he wasn't over her. Once I found out that he dated two of her sisters and still kept in close contact with her family I grew very jealous and upset. Tearfully he begged me to trust him. He promised me he didn't care about her. He told me he felt he had to date her because if he hadn't he wouldn't have been friends with my friend and we never would have met.
And I believed him. I chose to trust him.
More months went by and soon the topic of marriage was brought up. And I panicked. I told him not to talk to me about it until he knew without a doubt he wanted to be with me. He promised he did but promised to respect what I wanted and not bring it up until he was ready.
He was ready however to make the long move out to my land far far away just to be with me.
And again I panicked.
We got into an enormous fight. "I don't think you should move here," I said bluntly. "Well, why not?" Tait asked me confused. "Because I don't. I think we should break up," I replied. "You know you don't want that," he said. "Yes I do. I want to break up. So don't move out here," I said irritated. "Brailee, I'm moving out here whether or not we are together. And you're going to regret ending things with me when I get here, you know that right?" He stated simply. "Whatever. We are done," I said, now angry. "Brailee, you aren't breaking up with me," he responded. "Yes I am. You can't tell me that I am not," I retorted. "Yes I can," he said still calm. "Uh no you cant!" I was fuming. I could feel my curse begin to take over. "Brailee it's a stupid reason. Give me a good reason why you want to break up and we will break up. But that's not good enough," he said and smiled. His childish innocent smile. And I melted. My anger disappeared and I apologized and told him he was right.
We become stronger and closer when he moved here. No amount of time was enough. I constantly wanted more time with him. And he felt the same. Marriage came up again. And we decided to test if we were ready by traveling the long journey to his home land far far away together.
We did so and we passed with flying colors. On the way back we began to plan the wedding.
Within the next month, he asked my parents, the king and queen, for permission to take my hand in marriage. Their concern of course was how he would take care of me and if he was going to be understanding enough of my curse. He told them of the multiple ways he knew that I was the one. He told them how he had handled my curse before and how he would in the future. He promised to love me. To care for me. Always.
One day I became ill and required my arm be bled out. When I started to recover, Tait took me on a date to a gorgeous rooftop where music was being played and a feast was being served. He then had a horse and carriage pick us up where we then rode to the place where Tait and I had our first date. As we were passing by the most beautiful building in all the lands, Tait took my hand. He began to tell me all of the reasons he loved me. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. My heart began to beat fast as he kneeled on one knee on the floor of the carriage and took my hand. "Brailee, will you marry me?" he said shakily. I nodded as he slid the ring on my finger. I kissed him and held him as tightly as I could.
The carriage took us to a green field, where Tait and I had been on a previous outing. "Where are we going?" I asked. He took my hand and led me up stone steps to where he had my favorite dessert on a bench, with roses on the ground and candles lighting up the small area. My eyes began to water. "So this is real?" I asked him. He smiled and pulled me close. "Yes it is," he said happily. "You really want to spend forever with me?" I asked. "Nothing would make me happier," he replied as he too began to cry. I was going to have my happily ever after. I had found my prince charming. I was going to have my storybook ending. It didnt seem real.
And I'd soon find out it wasn't.
Our engagement ended up not being the fairytale I thought it was going to be. I began to find that Tait had lied to me about things and he would get angry at me when I'd confront him. It turned out that Tait had royal blood in his line, therefore he was very wealthy and was literally my prince charming. One day he came over and announced to me that he had offered to purchase three different castles. I was taken aback that he hadn't talked to me about it first, but I was getting my own castle, why would I fight about it?
I began to get stressed. I was moving away from my land to go to his land far far away. We decided to build our own castle. I was planning a royal wedding. It began to be too much. I would start crying and wanted space to breathe, which Tait hated. On top of it all I soon found out that my fiance's cousin had been proposed to also, had been given the same ring as mine (much smaller than mine of course), was having her wedding the same week as mine, and was using the same ladies in waiting to help plan hers as were planning mine. Tait of course could not understand why I was upset and was actually angry at me for being upset at his family.
This was too much and I exploded. My curse came out full force and  I told Tait that I couldn't move to his land far far away if he was never going to listen to me and if I was always going to be fed to dragons before his family would. I even offered to give back his ring if that is what he wanted.
He was extremely upset by this and wouldn't speak to me for days. He went to the place of worship to make sure he was making the right decision. I felt ill waiting for his verdict, but I knew my curse would be difficult for my future husband and knew it was right for him to make sure.
I received a knock on my chamber door from a lady in waiting. "Princess Brailee, Tait is here to speak with you," she said. I didn't want to see him. I didn't want him to break my heart. "Ask him what he wants," I replied. I heard the door open and saw Tait step in, dashingly handsome. This was it. I knew it was it. He was going to end it. He stepped forward and scooped me up. "We are meant to be," he said and kissed me strongly. "I know we are meant to be. I'm so sorry for ever doubting it." Relief rushed over me as he explained exactly how he knew. Everything would be ok. Or so I thought.
We proceeded in the planning. We had an artist paint our engagement portrait. His family through a bridal party for me. My wedding dress was finished. Our invitations were about to be sent out. The flowers were picked. The location was ready. The castle was being built. The honeymoon was planned. Everything was going perfect.
Except it wasn't. Tait began to question me constantly about what our future would be like. If I could handle him being a successful king. Would I get married and stay in bed for days. How would I adjust to going to a new land. I kept reassuring him, but I became worn down. This was not what it was supposed to feel like.
Everything seemed alright when we went to purchase furniture for our future castle. We were as happy as could be and he kept apologizing for being nervous and telling me he couldn't wait to marry me and how he couldn't believe he was so happy. I went to sleep that night as happy as could be, not knowing the horror that would await me the following day. If I had known, I would not have let him in. I would not have spoken with him.
Tait showed up at my castle unannounced while I was filling out thank you letters. He instantly picked a fight. He began to cry saying that he couldn't give me what I wanted. He said nothing would ever be enough for me. I didn't understand. I didn't agree.
Then he suggested we postpone our wedding. And I lost it. I through my glass slipper at the stone wall of the castle where it shattered. At my reaction, he left. I ran after him but he wouldn't stop. My father, the king, followed him and my sister and mother stopped me and held me as I sobbed uncontrollably. "He won't come back," I cried. My sister stroked my hair, "Couples fight Brailee. He will come back." I shook my head. "No he won't. I can feel it. We are supposed to be married in less than a month what do I do!?" I fell to the floor. "Breathe Brailee. It's not called off yet."
I ran to my chambers, grabbed a pen, ink, and paper, and began to write my apology. I wrote why I acted the way I did. What I did wrong. What I will do in the future. I wrote everything I could to reassure him that our future would be ok.
When Tait returned with my father, I gave him my apology and stepped outside with him. He smiled as he read it and then tears came to his eyes. "Brailee, I want to believe you. I want to believe we will be ok. But you are too big of a risk to my happiness." His words struck me. I couldn't breathe but I forced myself not to cry. "I need to think about it," he said and turned to go. "Brailee, may I have a hug," he said opening his arms to me. I shook my head no. "You can have one if you return." He nodded and left.
To make matters worse, a dear friend passed away that evening. I laid in bed sobbing. The following day I took my carriage to Tait's home to speak with him. He wasn't there. His friend told me he didn't want to speak with me and I was not to know where Tait went. On my way back to the castle I was a mess. To make matters worse, a soldier didn't recognize me and I ended up arrested. I pleaded with him saying my friend passed away, my fiance was calling off our wedding, and I was princess Brailee and was just trying to get home. It was of no use.
After I was released, I returned home where I waited some more. A knock came at the door. I ran down the steps of the castle and grabbed the letter off of the tray that I knew was being carried to my chambers by the servant. I opened it.
"I can't do it. I'm sorry," was all it said. "I hate you," I whispered aloud and fell to the floor where I laid sobbing for the next few hours.
The following day I put all of Tait's posssessions I owned into a basket, including the beautiful ring, where it was sent by horseback to Tait. I included the thank you letters and a letter to Tait apologizing and asking him to make sure everyone received their letters.
I received a letter the next day which read, "Princess Brailee, You are the sweetest girl I have ever known. You are beautiful and fun and amazing." The letter proceeded to tell me about all of my wonderful qualitites that he didn't truly care about. "...and are 97% what I want in a wife. But the 3% scares me. I believe you we are right, just aren't right right now. Someday maybe we will get back together, but I can't think like that. It won't be fair to the other people we will be dating." I didn't finish reading the letter. He already wanted to date other people. I threw the letter in the fire and watched it burn to ashes.
Later that week I found out Tait returned to his home in a land far far away, never to be heard from again.
And we lived happily never after...