Frustration bloomed in Jasmin’s chest as he watched woman after woman waltz up to him, their charming smiles and batting eyes only succeeding in making his stomach churn with disgust as they flocked around him like birds. He wasn’t a prize to be won, not an item to be passed along because of the unjust laws put in place for him. To be forced into a room, forced to shake hands, and be nice to every girl was similar to a prison. He felt chained to the floor, his mother’s stern gaze a collar around his throat.

It wasn’t fair, the women’s saccharine words felt mocking, as if he was stupid as a flower pot. He probably was in their eyes, just a toy to be won. His heart clenched at the thought, hands curling into fists as his eyebrows furrowed. Stupid. It was all stupid and unjust, why should he be isolated from his peers all because of his high status? And why did he have to be the award? Couldn’t his love be enough for when he marries? But the moment he dared to voice these questions, his mother’s searing glare would shut him up. He was just a silly child, his mother would say. He doesn’t know better, hurt more.

————————————- His heart beat so hard that it ached within the confines of his chest, feet stumbling against the cracked concrete floor, threatening to burst. Pants left his lips as he wobbled through the streets of the poor district, grimacing at the sight of starving street kids. It was repulsing how his citizens were living, and his mother didn’t even help them, simply pulling the cloth over Jasmin’s eyes like that helped any.

His eyes caught onto a child huddled underneath a brick staircase, lips turning down before he shuffled to a small stand. “Can I have an apple?” He murmured to the elderly man behind the table selling them.

“Do you have the money?” The man murmured in response, looking at Jasmin with scrutiny. Jasmin swallowed, eyes darting down. He’d forgotten to bring money on his brief escape from the palace. It was his first time ever out, how was he supposed to remember to?