Your Highness

Chapter 1: Elysian

 The rock of the ship was making Princess Elysian near a point of nausea. Back and forth. Back and forth. She wasn't sure how anyone could handle it, let alone enjoy it.

It didn't help that the young woman was in a medium-sized room, which was completely windowless and only lit by two small candles. Her bed rested against the wall, with her trunks sitting at the foot of it. Besides the bed, there was a small wooden desk and chair, with a couple of books sitting on top of it.

The books had been there when she arrived. One was about a siren by the name of Natheliana who brought dozens of sailors to their deaths, keeping a collection of their skulls. Elysian hadn't read deep enough into it to know what happened to the siren, but she had to assume that she was killed by the end of the story.

The second one was about the mechanics of a gun, a topic that Elysian knew little about to begin with and had even less interest in learning about. She hadn't gotten past the first paragraph.

And the third was a book of psalms. She didn't recognize them, but she also had never been one to hold to religion. Her Kingdom held to it, but she herself only attended the required masses, and even then she was not mentally there. Something about putting her faith into a invisible being scared her, so she never did. She put her faith in what was tangible and what she could control. This is why her faith was only in herself.

A faith she was clinging to as she sat on the stiff mattress of her bed, trying to ignore the way her stomach was churning. She hailed from a larger Kingdom by the name of Katerissa and was being sent across the sea to a rivaled Kingdom called Afreeta.

Why? Well that was the question wasn't it. Elysian knew the set reason. She was to marry Crown Prince Ameer. A handsome man, from what she had heard, but that was all she really knew of him. That, and that he was an enemy to her own people.

The war between Katerissa and Afreeta had been going on for longer than Elysian could remember. War over very futile reasons. Some sort of trade dispute, she believed? She wasn't too sure herself. All she knew was that the war was becoming too strung out and the two Kingdoms had come together to establish a treaty. With that treaty, the oldest son of Afreeta would be given the oldest daughter of Katerissa, which happened to be Elysian.

She was only seventeen. Yes, courting began at age sixteen, but Elysian didn't care much. Courting didn't mean leaving the only home you had ever known to marry a stranger. This arranged marriage did mean that. It was terrifying.

Maybe that was the real reason her stomach felt the way it did. Not because of the ever-flowing sea, but because of the anxiety that filled her body at the thought of her future. What if he was mean? Or dismissive? What if they hated each other? Or if he forced himself upon her? There were too many uncertainties and Elysian hated that.

She wanted to go back home.

Home to her brothers. Two ruly boys who had the energy of a newborn puppy. Killian, who was the oldest of the bunch, enjoyed horseback riding and really riding of any variety. He was known to hang out in the brothels that resided in the village near the Palace. Good-hearted, but with a few bad habits. And Declan, who much preferred the dirt and brawls over attending to court. He also had a secret love for the lute, but no one knew that except his siblings. If it were a very good night, he would play you a song. But only when he was in the best of moods. Elysian loved them both dearly. Killian had been the one who showed her how to ride facing front, instead of the sidesaddle that her tutors always pushed. And Declan had been the one to put a sword in her hand and teach her how to truly defend herself if she was ever put in a position of danger.

Home to her baby sister. Rhiann was a near surprise to the family but loved the most. Their mother, Astrea, had passed in childbirth with the girl. She had been on the older side when it came to having children, so the death was not a surprise. It was heartbreaking, of course, but they had been expecting such a horrible outcome. Because of the lack of a mother, Elysian took up that role instead. She cared for the baby as much as she could, ensuring that her baby sister always felt loved and could cherish in that motherly love. Now she was three years of age. Her favorite things were braiding Elysian's hair and having tea parties. It broke Elysian's heart to have to leave the little girl. She hoped that Rhiann would remember her and all the love she had.

Home to her father. The two were not close, and this marriage only widened that rift. Her father was a man who was quick to anger. He wasn't a mean man, necessarily, but he would shout and snap often at the littlest of things. If a cup was spilled, it would be the biggest thing. Or if a sleeve was torn it was made out like the end of the world. Elysian hated it, but she knew he was just stressed. He was running a country all by himself. Who wouldn't be stressed over such a thing?

Elysian missed them all terribly. She didn't want to be doing this, to be here on this damned ship. A part of her considered jumping ship, if not for the fact that the weight of her skirts would drag her to the bottom of the ocean. Even if she could successfully swim away, though, she knew that she had to make this sacrifice. For the good of her people, she had to marry this man. She just hoped he wouldn't be too horrible.

One small perk of this was being able to experience new terrain. She never had the chance to travel outside of her own Kingdom. It just wasn't a luxury that was given to a Princess. Her oldest brother would receive such things, in order to learn about the other countries he would be dealing with, but not Elysian.

She would be landing on the docks of a city called Monerre. From what she had gained in research, it was a huge port city and the second-largest in the country. People flocked to and from it, but there were very clear warnings on what side one wanted to be on. The east side was known for all its luxury and the west was known for its crime. Since it was spread the way it was, Elysian would have to cross the bad to reach the good. She wasn't worried, though. Anything would be better than the rocking of this ship. Even if that meant having to clutch her pearls and pray that her guards were competent.

The Princess's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shouting and boots along the deck, accompanied by cheerful hoots and hollers. That only meant one thing and the thought of it made her grin widely. They were here.