The Unclaimable Bride

Our story is set in the poorest village on Nickle Island with under 200 residents called Daniskville. Nickel Island is a little known island on the Bering Strait. Although it was mostly unheard of, the hierarchy ran much the same as the rest of the world, the rich get richer and the poor stay poorer.

Nickel Island got its name from the many nickel deposits sprinkled across the land. The collected ore from the mines sustain the island's income and way of life. Any village with small or no mines usually meant that place was not as well off as the others. So that brings us back to Daniskville.

There used to be a VERY prosperous mine in this village. However The Great Takeover changed that. It started over a simple denied request. Well.... maybe not so simple of a request.

The prince and heir to the throne, Lindell, sought the hand of the Mayor's daughter and beauty of Daniskville, Meredith. He wanted to make her his queen as he would soon ascend to the throne. Although it would have been an honor, not only for her but also for Daniskville, Meredith refused. She was smitten with the love of her life, Winston.

Not willing to accept refusal, Lindell tried various means to win her over. He sent gifts, invited her on outings and even promised to move her and her family to a villa near the castle. All of his attempts failed. Lindell grew tired of being nice and decided to go an entirely different route.

One late night as the village slept after a hard day's work, Lindell sent in guards and a construction workers to block off and guard the Daniskville Mine. When the villagers awoke and made their way to work, they were forcibly pushed away and yelled at! Hearing the commotion, Mayor Reid, his wife Rita, Winston and Meredith ran out to see what was happening.

The scene was full of confusion and fear. Some of the village men were on the ground writhing in pain being hit by the guards. Wives and children were holding the other men, crying. A rage boiled up in her heart and before she could be stopped, Meredith lunged forward, headbutting one of the guards in the chest, knocking him to the ground!

The guards and villagers gasped seeing this, but Meredith just fixed her hair straightened her dress and yelled,

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?!"

The guard on the ground laughed as he stood up and unlatched his helmet. As he took it off, the color drained from all of their faces as if they had seen a ghost. Everyone except Meredith, who just scowled and crossed her arms.

The "guard" that Meredith hit was none other than Prince Lindell! He walked toward her and bowed to her then stood up and said,

"Not only are you beautiful but you are also fiery and protective of your people. The perfect wife and queen for me." He had a sly grin on his face that made Meredith cringe and shudder. She understood now why they were there.

"I already refused you because I'm with someone." Meredith said, looking to Winston who smiled. "That is no reason to hold these hard working people from their jobs. Now stop this so they can get back to it."

"Well unfortunately for them, since this is your choice, this mine now belongs to the Capital!" Lindell exclaimed.

"So you mean to deny their way of life because she denied YOU?!" Winston screamed.

"Precisely!" said Lindell with sinister joy. Before anyone could protest, Lindell looked at Meredith and added, "So long as you will not be my wife, this village will not prosper!" He walked away without a second glance.

With tears of anger in her eyes, Meredith ran to Winston and buried her face in his chest. Mayor Reid consoled Rita as well. The villagers were in disbelief and some looked disapprovingly at the mayor's family before going home.

Months went by and the Capital Miners continuously took resources from Daniskville Mine to the Capital. Guards ensured that none of the villagers could go in and "steal" any.

The villagers were starving. Their land was decaying with no way to repair it. Buildings fell apart. Homes and businesses were abandoned. The once paved roads became overrun with weeds. Vines and moss crept up the walls of the school and town hall. Most villagers that could leave left to find better living conditions. Villagers that had to stay constantly complained to the mayor to convince his daughter to agree to the marriage. The mayor decided to give it one last try.

Mayor Reid found Meredith her bedroom sitting on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. They were wrapped in dark cloth from her forearm to her fingertips. She was breathing heavily and sniffling like she was crying. The mayor approached his daughter and stopped at a stain on the floor near her bed. It was hard to tell what the stain was because the lights in the room were very dim but it was very dark and wet. The lights were so dim that Mayor Reid did not notice that Winston was sitting in the chair next to the bed with his head down. That startled him.

After getting his heart back in his chest, Mayor Reid was about to make his plea but Meredith interrupted and said, "I'll do it."

Mayor Reid's eyes went wide and he asked, "Are you sure, my love?"

Winston answered for Meredith with a question saying, "Isn't that what you came here for?" His voice shaking with icy cold anger.

Meredith looked at her father as he began to speak, "I did. I don't want this for you, but the village is suffering and I don't believe there is any other option." Mayor Reid hung his head and continued, "I wish I could have protected you from this fate, my love."

Meredith began to stand up, at which Winston immediately stood by her side to help her. She shook her head no, refusing his help but thanked him anyway. Winston stood back and watched as Meredith retrieved a small package from her cabinet.

She showed it to her father and said, "Please give this to one of the guards and inform him that this is a token of my promise to accept his proposal." She held the package before her father and added, "Tell the guard that Prince Lindell can begin the arrangements for the wedding, however this package is not to be opened until our wedding ceremony. Also I want the village to be restored and control of mine given back to Daniskville. If he can agree to those requests, I will wed him." She then handed the package to her father.

The mayor slowly examined the package, turning it around to view its entirety. It was a paper box about the size of an apple but square, tightly wrapped in twine vertically and horizontally and had a black and red wax seal in the top center to keep it closed.

Mayor Reid looked up at Winston, who nodded, and then to Meredith cupping her face with one hand and said, "I shall do as you ask. Thank you." He turned to leave and noticed his wife, Rita at the door with tears in her eyes. She heard everything. Reid kissed her on the forehead as he passed her to relay the news to the guard. The guard immediately left with the package and message to the capital.

Prince Lindell wasted no time and spared no expense to get preparations underway. One week later he sent an escort and carriage to Daniskville with an exquisite wedding dress, veil, shoes and all the necessary accessories for Meredith to prepare for the wedding. It even included a last minute request from her for a white hand muff for her to wear as well. she requested that instead of a bouquet.

After her makeup was done and she was completely dressed, Meredith was a picture of beauty. In her form fitting mermaid style dress with a sweetheart neckline, draped in lace from top to bottom, the dress fit her like a glove. The back had a corset tie down to her waist and both the dress and veil were adorned with crystals that sparkled like stars when the light shone on them. The amazing train had to be at least 8 feet long!

As Meredith and her family made their way to the awaiting carriage, the villagers lined the streets to see her off, oohing, aahing and clapping along the way. She politely bowed her head to them and smiled sweetly and climbed into her carriage with Winston's help.

Reid and Rita both had solemn looks as on their faces as Winston did this. As soon as she sat in the carriage, Meredith slightly lowered her head and sniffled a little. Noticing that tears were forming in Meredith's eyes, Winston cupped her chin to lift her face to his and said "Don't cry my sweet. I will always love you. And he can never claim you." Hearing those words, Meredith regained her composure as Winston smiled and gently brushed away a single escaped tear from her cheek. She nodded as her father signaled to the coachman that they were ready to leave. Cheers could be heard from the villagers as the carriage departed. Winston stood in the road, locked eyes with Meredith and watched until she was no longer in view.

The trip to the Capital was quiet, uneventful and short to say the least. As it was a small island, it only took half an hour to reach Nickle Island's Capital. Fanfare filled the air alerting the prince, his family and all of the guests that his bride-to-be has finally arrived.

Handmaidens were already lined up to assist Meredith off of the carriage and adjust her clothing and makeup to ensure perfection. Two guards opened the enormous doors of the castle as all of the guests stood to their feet and gasped in awe at Meredith's beauty. Mayor Reid hooked his arm into Meredith's and whispered, "Ready?" She nodded and took the first step and her father followed suit. Her mother walked slightly behind her father on his right side.

As they reached the alter and Reid led Meredith up the stairs, he unhooked his arm, kissed her cheek and made his way to sit with Rita. Meredith noticed that the package was on the podium and smiled. Lindell noticed that, smiled, leaned toward Meredith and whispered, "I knew you'd come around." Her smile instantly disappeared.

The ceremony soon got to the point where the rings were to be exchanged. Meredith looked at Prince Lindell and said, "Why don't you open the package first?" At first he wanted to deny the request but seeing Meredith give him a pouty look that could melt steel on a glacier, he agreed.

"My beautiful wife has given me a gift and can't wait for me to open it!" Prince Lindell announced to the guests. Confused murmurs filled the air until the prince gave a stern look and hushed the crowd. As he excitedly broke the seal and snapped off the twine, Meredith's smile grew wider and wider.

With all of the closures removed, Prince Lindell was about to open the box when Meredith leaned in really close to his ear and whispered, "You will never claim me."

With a confused look, Prince Lindell opened the box and to his horror found two fingers! Women's fingers! He looked at Meredith as the color drained from his face and watched her remove her hand muff revealing her hands with BOTH ring fingers missing! Meredith laughed maniacally as the prince ran off, and she yelled behind him, "You can't put a ring on it with no ring finger!!" The prince kept running and was never seen again.