Rewrite a fairy tale. Give it a new ending or make it modern or write as a poem.

He was bored. A parade of princesses day in and day out, all batting their eyelashes and twirling their dresses and giving him their best "pick me!" eyes. It was exhausting, then it was annoying and now it was just boring.

He felt bad for them. He had zero interest in them. His parents knew he had no enthusiasm for this and yet...they persisted. They desperately wanted him to "marry well." They couldn't quite understand why he was so against this to the point where his dad flat-out shouted, "Are you gay or something? Is that why you're so determined to break your mother's heart?"

He stared at them for a full five minutes before laughing for another ten. 

"Of course, you'd jump to that conclusion. I kinda wish I was, it'd be easier than just saying I don't want to marry someone I'm not in love with."

He distinctly remembered his dad's exaggerated eye roll while his mother hid a smile. They never did come to a compromise. His father kept getting increasingly frustrated with him while his mother tried to keep the peace.

"And last but not least, Princess Ivelisse of the Southern American kingdom." A murmur went through the receiving hall as the last princess walked in.

This marked the first time a Southern American monarch stepped foot in New Valhalla. For hundreds of years, tensions between the two kingdoms had steadily risen. The South Americans wanted their colonized territories back while the Vikings claimed they'd won fair and square...until his father became king and negotiated peace terms between the two kingdoms. That included giving a large chunk of territories back to the Southern kingdom in exchange for the hundreds of hostages they'd taken from New Valhalla in their last skirmish.

All of that led to this historic day...

Ivelisse stepped into his sight and gave him an appraising look.

"So you're the one they want me to marry? Color me unimpressed." 

He froze. Everyone grew quiet.

He had never seen anyone quite like her before. Dark brown skin, long black hair down her back, black eyes glaring at him. He was so used to the pale blondes, fiery redheads and freckled brunettes that made up the women in his kingdom and the surrounding territories. She was terrifying and beautiful. Her eyes looked like they would devour him if he stared too long.

He starting laughing. "I mean, I guess. Only if you're into it, I would never force anyone to marry me."

Mild laughter rippled through the crowd.

Ivelisse raised an eyebrow and smirked. She looked over at the other three princesses he was meeting with and said, "You guys may as well go home." She turned back to him, smirk growing into a full-blown mischievous grin.