For the Crown (Canute x FemReader)

The Party

The next day. King Sweyn's Castle.

I walked down the dimly lit hall fluffing my ball gown out. The king had ordered it made for me the day before, and it sure was hot. I reached up to wipe the nervous sweat that had formed on my forehead off. It was the night of the party, where it would be announced to everyone that I was to be Prince Canute's wife.
I stopped for a moment to collect my wits before opening the door to the great hall. I opened the door and the room fell silent, only whispers were to be heard. It was full to the brim with other nobility and all of their eyes fell onto me.
"Princess (Y/N) come here!" King Sweyn shouted from the back of the room. He held a glass of wine in his hands while two women were hanging off of his arms. I looked at the ground and walked towards him. The room was so quiet I could hear my footsteps echo.
When I got close to King Sweyn he grabbed my arm and forced me to walk with him towards the center of the room. His crown was almost falling off his head and he moved at an unsteady pace. I took one look at his face and realized his cheeks were bright red from drinking. He looked at me and smiled a bit before starting to address the party goers.
"Everyone listen up as this is a royal declaration from your king! I have gathered you here to make an important announcement about the future of England!" He paused for a moment, taking another sip of his wine before continuing. I could feel glares on the back of my neck from the women that were just around him.
"This is Princess (Y/N) of Wales. I am more than pleased to announce that she will be marrying my son, Prince Canute, when he arrives back from his military duties in London!" He said between slurs, throwing his hands up in celebration at the end, spilling his wine on the floor.
The room stayed quiet for a moment. Everyone stopped to take in what he had just said before erupting into celebration. The party was louder than even before. Everyone was singing and dancing by candle light. I stood still for a moment. I had never been to a party before, much less a celebration just for my honor.
"For the new Princess!" King Sweyn called out as he raised a toast in my honor. He grabbed me with his other arm and pushed me close. Hands full of wine were raised into the air. It felt like a bizarre dream.
"For the new Princess!" The crowd called back. I smiled and threw my hands up in the air.
As the party continued I warmed up to the celebration, dancing along and talking to the other English aristocrat women. But I couldn't help but watch a figure from the corner of the room stealing glances at me while he sipped his wine.
He looked to be a bit older than me, but not by much. He was tall and had brown hair and facial hair. Every time I met his gaze he would look down on the floor awkwardly.
"Princess (Y/N) how are you enjoying the celebration! You seem to be warming up to being English!" King Sweyn asked in a slurred voice as he hobbled over to me. I smiled and nodded.
"Yes sir this is lovely thank you." I said practically shouting so he could hear me over all the festivities.
"Yes! Well I have some great news to share with you! Prince Canute's group just sent us a message. He will be arriving earlier than we had expected. We believe he will be in around tomorrow afternoon." He said while awkwardly patting my shoulder.
"O-oh that's great!" I said trying not to sound nervous, though inside I was dying. I thought I had days to prepare to meet him. Now I only had the matter of hours.
"Yes yes! I just know you two will hit it off! Now go and enjoy! Tomorrow I'll send a servant in the morning to prepare you." He said before turning around and walking towards his group of women again.
I felt my face heat up with anxiety. I walked over to the drink table to try and cool my nerves. I picked up a glass and looked at my two options. Wine and water. I looked at the wine for a moment before moving  my hand towards the water pitcher and filled my cup, downing it in seconds.
"Not a big drinker huh?" A man's voice called from behind me. I turned around to look at who had said it. It was the same man who had been looking at me from the corner.
"I never have." I said, turning around to fill my cup with water again.
"You've never drank?" The voice asked astoundingly.
"No. My father forbids it." I said holding my cup close to my chest.
"Not even he drinks?" The voice asked confused
"Nope. Apparently it's immoral." I said looking at the wine for a moment before turning around to look at the man. His eyes were wide in shock.
"I bet he must be tons of fun at parties." He said under his breath
"I wouldn't know we don't host them."I said looking into his eyes.
"Well welcome to England then. You'll learn to tolerate them." He said while taking another drink
"Tolerate would be a blessing." I said grumbling under my breath
"What do you mean this whole party was thrown for you?" He asked laughing
"Seems less of a celebration on my behalf and more of an excuse to drink." I said grumbling
"Yeah my father tends to use anything as an excuse to drink." He said motioning towards King Sweyn, who was currently sitting with two servants in his lap.
"Your ... fathers the king? I'm so sorry I didn't know. Please forget what I just said!" I felt my face get warm as I realized what I had just said, wondering if he would tell.
"I'm the oldest brother, the one you're not marrying. My names Harold. I'd ask for yours but I think I've heard it about 20 times being screamed by drunk people and don't worry I don't tell anything. I get tired of them too." He said looking down at me and smirking.
"Yeah I'm sorry about that." I said looking at King Sweyn again who was happily drinking another glass of wine.
"It's not your fault." He said smiling
We sat in silence for a moment. I felt his eyes look at me before I opened my mouth to speak.
"So what's your brother like?" I asked trying to break the silence.
"He's quiet and awkward. He's also stubborn and a cry baby but mostly just quiet and awkward. He probably won't talk when you first meet him." He said looking away from me.
"Sounds like he'll fit me well." I said sighing and looking at the floor
"He will." He said agreeing
"You don't even know me. You can't agree to that yet." I said smirking
"I don't have to. I've been watching you this entire time. You seem like a fish out of water here. That's what my brother seems like every time I see him." He said while taking another sip of his wine
"Well I can't help it that I'm the princess of a small kingdom, not an entire empire like you are. We don't exactly have the funds to throw a party every weekday." I said looking down
"You'll get used to it. Luckily you won't have to be a queen." He said looking at me.
"What do you mean?"  I asked while turning to look at him, confusion on my face.
"I'm first in line for the throne. Canute's second." He said looking at me and then back at his cup.
"Ah well I'm the only child in my family. When my parents pass I'll be the queen of north Wales." I said looking down. Truthfully, I never wanted to be royal, much less a queen.
"It'll suit my brother better to be the king over a smaller nation than of England. He's a good man but lacks a commanding spirit, you can tell by looking at his face." He said looking at me.
"Why do you say that?" I asked, genuinely curious
"Probably because he looks more like a woman than most women here." He said while laughing
"Harold!" An angry woman's voice called from across the room.
"Yes I'm coming." He shouted back before turning back to look at me.
"I'm sorry my fiancées is calling me I must go now. I look forward to talking to you more Princess (Y/N)." He said smiling at me before walking towards his fiancée. She looked at me and scowled before turning and walking away, pulling Harold away by the wrist.
"I guess I wasn't the only Princess chosen to marry this week." I said out loud to myself as I turned back around to the drink table. I looked back at the party one more time before trying to sneak out. King Sweyn was more than occupied with being drunk and the women hanging off of his arm. He wouldn't notice.
I walked out of the great hall and into the small hallway, walking slowly to my room. The hall was quiet except for a few voices coming from a room towards the end, next to where my room was. I walked closer, trying hard to hide my footsteps.
As I walked closer, I peaked into the room through the cracked door. It was empty except for two men who were sat around a table. One of them I recognized from when I had first arrived, he was King Sweyns military commander. The other I had never met, the most remarkable thing about him was how his head was shaped like a cone. In the middle of the table was a map of Wales, marked with possible battle paths. My eyes widened as I saw it . I pushed my ear to the wall to listen in.
"She seems to be a nice girl. Much more a character than that stupid prince she's stuck marrying. Poor girl. She'd be better off back in Wales." King Sweyns military commander said.
"It's a shame I agree, she seems to have her wits about her. But you know him choosing her to marry his son makes the most sense. With the next battle being the battle for Wales, him marrying his son off to a Welsh princess makes the most sense." The cone headed man called back.
I covered my mouth with my hands, trying not to gasp. I felt my heart drop as he mentioned attacking Wales.
"That's true. When we take over Wales, King Sweyn can order Canute and her to reign over that region. The people there think a lot of her so I've heard. It'd make the transition to English rule easier."
"King Sweyn made a sane choice for once. Though personally don't you think it'd make more sense to get rid of the Prince all together?"
"That was originally the plan. Send him to battle and hope he dies. But recently he's gained an ally that's been protecting him from every attack we've thrown at him." King Sweyns military commander said with a sigh
"For such an annoying young man he sure is persistent on living huh? It's a shame he's stuck with my brother." The cone headed man said while sipping on his wine
"Well this is better I suppose. If the prince died in battle there'd be fingers pointed. This way he gets a beautiful wife and a country to rule over. And for us we get an easy victory in Wales. Let's talk about this later Gunnar. I fear I'm growing tired." He said while getting up from his chair.
I ran back to my room as quietly as I could, throwing the door open and collapsing on the bed. I laid there for a moment trying to catch my breath and collect my thoughts.
The first of which was, "there's no way I can marry this man."

AN: I hope you liked this chapter! I'm sorry it's another background building chapter but next chapters when Canute finally comes in. Please let me know what you think!!!  (Also any errors will be edited out in the morning. I'm posting this at 3am)💙💙 thanks for all the votes  and comments they mean a lot!!
.. also! Chapters might become a bit more infrequently posted because I'm recently engaged (and now I have to plan a wedding and all that bullshit) and I'm also a graduate student, so I'm having less time to write. But hopefully I can still post a chapter a week for each book! Thank you so much again!