𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐥.𝐫.𝐡

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐕

Luke and I were now heading towards the throne room, in complete silence. As much as I would have liked to have spoken to him more, he seemed quite unbothered and only made small talk, which I thought was quite odd.

We then turned the brick corner and were now facing the long aisle which led to the two golden thrones. The room itself was highly decorated in reds and whites, from the curtains down to the carved tiling. Four long arched windows were on the wall behind the thrones which also had their own design of stained glass.

King Andrew was sitting on his throne, consulting with one of the guards whilst Liz was listening to their conversation.

"Mother, father," Luke said as we stopped in front of the small four steps and Liz's warm smile appeared on her lips. "You wished to see the Queen?" he added before moving opposite me and he placed his hands behind his back.

"Thank you dear, you can leave," she said waving her hand about, so Luke bowed to us all before he disappeared behind a door. "I do trust my son has shown you around by now?" she laughed watching Andrew dismiss the guard.

"Yes he has and I must say, you have a lovely home." I smiled, bringing my hands to my front, feeling quite relaxed from the friendly presence.

"We thank you for your kindness, it is much appreciated." Andrew smiled. "Come, let us go outside to discuss," he said, taking hold of Liz's hand and they stood up. I took deep breath as I followed them quietly, my nervousness starting to build again.

A few moments later, we were standing under one of the oak trees which was set at the edge of the lake, its leaves giving us plenty of shade from the sun's hot rays.

"Well then, let us begin by saying that we are very happy to finally have you here. We have all waited many years for the day you and Luke would come of age to go through with this alliance between Ocerallia and Cadeiric." Andrew said.

"Yes and I thank you for accepting me into your home." I added with a bow.

"Yes, of course. You are always welcome in our kingdom, and so is Queen Eleanor." Liz said but then frowned. "We understand that you are still having problems with the kingdom of Keit?"

"Indeed. Now with my absence, I fear for the worst." I sighed, shaking my head. "Even with my mother on the throne, I can't help but feel concerned."

"You needn't worry. From this day on, we are on your side and we will assist you in any way possible." the King assured me. "Surely you know that Cadeiric is against war and anything unorthodox and always has been. We only want peace with our allies and our enemies."

"As does Ocerallia. You have probably heard about my trying to reason with the King of Keit but he doesn't seem to understand my views."

"He will once he finds out our kingdoms are joining forces...His strategy is to try and scare kingdoms and it's people but with us, but he has never succeeded. Now however, we stand a better chance against him and anyone for that matter." he huffed, rubbing his chin slowly. My eyes then widened, realising that Keit had also targeted Cadeiric.

This could end up having consequences.

"Neither of you should be worried. You are both powerful leaders with strong armies at your side and Keit cannot compare." Liz said looking between us both. She was just about to open her mouth to continue when a guard called for the King so he excused himself and went off with him. "Well then dear, I would like to remind you that you are set to be wed in twelve months time but if anything serious occurs before that, we won't hesitate in pushing the date forward."

"Yes, I understand completely."

"I really do hope we can go through with this alliance. Andrew and I know this is crucial for both kingdoms and I'm sure you do too."

"Of course but why would it change? I thought it was all settled?" I asked, confused by her doubtful tone.

"I think Luke isn't exactly pushing for a wedding at the moment. I do not know if this is true but if it is, he just needs time." she said stepping closer and lowering her voice, causing me to cock an eyebrow from astonishment.

If anything, I thought Luke would be willing to go through with this. His kingdom could very well be on the line without this marriage!

Perhaps, I could ask him about it.

--

"Sophia! Finally!" Clara jumped up from her seat and I blinked up to see her, Mari and Louise grinning at me excitedly. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you all day!" she continued, watching me stroll over.

"I know, I apologise girls." I huffed going over and I fell on my bed with my arms and legs spread out and I let out a groan. "I was having dinner with the King, Queen and Princes and then the King wanted to discuss a few things again."

"Oh! Tell us everything! What was Luke like?" Mari jumped on the mattress beside me and brought her hands together.

"Well, I don't know. The Queen doesn't think he wants to go through with this marriage." I sighed sitting up and their jaws dropped. "And, he seems a bit odd around me. He didn't say a word to me whilst at dinner but he'd just stare whenever I would laugh at Jacks jokes!" I shrugged which didn't stop them from wiggling their eyebrows about.

"Well, that means you're going to have to win his heart somehow," Clara said thoughtfully as she wasn't joining in on the other twos giggles. "Maybe he finds it strange that you're here after all these years and that he'll be married to you soon?" she suggested with a shrug.

"I suppose he just needs time, but I do think you should befriend him as much as possible. It could be a good start." Louise now said. "You needn't worry about that now. I'll tell the servants to run the water for a hot bath whilst you can listen to us contemplating about what we are going to wear to Prince Bens wedding." she laughed, jerking her head towards all the dresses hung up everywhere which seemed to have gone unnoticed by me.

The girls had a point. I would have to give Luke time for all of this. It was understandable. But, I still needed to give a good impression on the people around me, especially now knowing that things would be much harder than expected...

This was definitely going to be a challenge.

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