The Betrothal

A Crack in the Ice

Somehow, Evenin managed to sleep rather peacefully through the night, but she was in for a rather cold and rude awakening in the morning. Literally cold, as it was absolutely freezing in her chambers. She heard someone shuffling around her room, and sleepily she cracked open one eye to look, seeing her maid stoking the dying fire in order to hopefully warm the room a bit more. But for the meantime, it was much too chilly to even think about getting out of bed, so she burrowed down deeper into the covers and dozed off while she waited for the fire to heat up the room.

A while later, perhaps an hour or so, the maid returned to rouse the tired princess, and Evenin got up with a small sigh, letting her maid pull her around her room to freshen up, get dressed, and to get her hair done and made up. Instead of the dresses she came with, a long sleeved dress was provided for her by whom she believed was Callista, and it proved to be much warmer than her other dresses. Her maid made plans to fix up some of her other dresses to make them more practical for the weather, and then Evenin was being escorted down for breakfast with her father and the McHeaths.

Breakfast was just the same as the dinner the previous night - mostly filled with small conversations between Orobus and her father, with the children and Queen Aella simply eating and listening to the words being exchanged. Then, to Evenin and Denali's unpleasant surprise, Orobus once again ordered them to go off together, telling Denali to bring her on a tour of the castle. Hesitantly, the two young royals got up and exited the room together, but they walked along in silence.

At long last, Evenin sighed and spoke up, not wanting these long silences to be the norm for the two of them, especially if they were to wed. "Look, I know you're probably as enthusiastic about this whole betrothal deal as I am. But if we're going to be stuck together, we might as well try to make it bearable for one another instead of staying silent all the time."

She could tell that by the way Denali's shoulders raised and fell that he knew she was right.

"Fine," he said after a moment, relaxing his posture a little. "But... what would we even talk about?"

Good question.

At least she wasn't the only person who didn't know what to talk about.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Evenin admitted, rubbing her arm as she glanced around. "Umm... you can tell me about your family, seeing as I'm going to be a part of it. And maybe you can tell me about some of the places we're going to see?" It would be a start in the least, and that's all Evenin needed to have the hope that this - that they - could work it out.

There was a long moment of silence, before Denali's shoulders rose and fell again with a silent sigh. "Well... you've met my father. He's not exactly the warmest and friendliest type as you can see. Everything is very transactional with him and if he ever gives something, he needs something to take in return. As for my mother... she's probably the warmest person living here, and she always seeks to impress. My half-sister, Callista, is very quiet and normally keeps to herself, but if you enjoy classic music you two will get along just fine," he answered, his voice still not straying away from the matter-of-fact tone, but at least he was giving her information.

Evenin mulled over everything she was being told. "And... what about you? What do you like?" she asked, glancing over at her husband-to-be with curiosity, wondering if he would even divulge into such a personal question.

The Crown Prince seemed surprised, which was the most emotion she had seen on his face yet. "I..." he paused, looking a little puzzled with himself. "Well, no one has ever asked me that before - I honestly haven't a clue on what to say to respond to it. Though... I do enjoy a small spot of hunting, or taking walks in the woods."