She was to look for a husband. Instead, she found a King.
-♞-
Princess Mikayla is the only heir in Aurelian who had survived the War of the Four Kingdoms.
After her family was brutally murdered by the other creatures in the realm in the struggle fo...
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Chapter Eight
CRESCENT WAS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ONE COULD IMAGINE. Having never travelled to the far north, I was astonished by the stunning evergreen trees coated in sheets of glistening snow as the horses trotted, tugging the carriage where I hid. Though, it didn't do much seeing as I had about twenty soldiers donning the Aurelian crest protecting me on their white steeds. Peeking behind the curtain, my eyes widened as we moved through the Eclipse Forest. This was the furthest anyone who lived to tell reached the forest. I guess I had Christian to thank for that.
Whilst my two lords prepared my journey as well as preparing an excuse to hide my journey for the rest of the court, I had carefully drafted a message to Christian. I wasn't sure whether he was being honest about having his subjects in Aurelian, but when General Midas and Leuitenent Cindar rode out to the borders that separated our kingdoms, I was surprised to hear that there was a wolf setting camp in broad daylight. Successfully having sent my message to Christian, it was less than a day later that I got a reply. Regretfully, he didn't give it to me in person but when I found a letter on my bed with a lingering scent of fresh rain, I knew he was here.
Preparations went smoothly and secretly without raising the awareness of the court, who believed I was travelling to Venilia. By the dawn of Friday, I jumped into a carriage with Genevieve and Lord Nox, waving goodbye to Grandclain and Leuitenent Cindar. I knew Grandclain wasn't enthusiastic about my visit to Crescent, but he spoke no words of disapproval and kept his promise of trust. I shifted in the carriage, my behind beginning to fall asleep due to the long hours of unable to stretch my leg.
Crescent, after Aurelian, was the second-largest kingdom, with land that stretched as far north as one could think, bordered off by the Eclipse Forest from the others. Based on my map, I knew there would be a bridge we'd have to cross soon in order to reach the kingdom. It had been decades since anyone travelled to the northern castle which meant we only had old maps to rely on. That didn't make General Midas very happy as it meant he wouldn't be as prepared as he normally would.
I have never been to the far north. It was an experience I wasn't lucky to have, but I did hear the stories my father would retell after his journeys. He would say it was a completely different world. The mountains could be seen from miles away, peaking into the cloudless sky, and the snow was the purest type of white. The grass was a lush green and the trees would tower over the villages to protect the people from unwanted visitors.
He had said that the first time he ventured into the Forest had been the most exciting moment in his life. As the carriage rode through the path that hadn't been used for several years, I could finally understand my father's excitement. From my lessons, I knew that Crescent consisted of several villages, each housing possibly up to 50,000 people. After the War, I didn't think that was possible. Crescent saw the most devastating loss across Elysium, yet I wondered whether Christian's ability to hide an entire kingdom's reconstruction was part of that deception.
