Loved By The Enemy

My story starts the same as most princess’ ends, with a wedding. I was going to be married to Prince Armonde Alabaster. He was going to be crowned king of Dalterran and I was going to be his queen. It begins in a dressing room.

“Princess, Adelaide,” my assistant began. “Why are you still in your underclothes? The ceremony begins in an hour.”

I looked up at Miriam. I felt bad for worrying her. I was nervous. I hadn’t known Armonde long before he proposed to me. It hurt my pride a little to know that the sweet words he had said in the beginning were just a ploy to secure my hand in marriage. It was sweet of him to at least pretend he cared. Alesia, my older sister, wasn’t as courted as I was. She was promised to a general of a foreign army. He didn’t dislike her, but there was no passion between them when they were first married. They had begrudgingly grown to like each other, but it wasn’t a love-filled union.

A part of me disliked Armonde for his dishonesty. I knew he had to court me to show my father that he was serious about marrying me, but every time that he claimed he loved me, there was no sincerity in his voice. His false declarations put a damper on our relationship from the start. I think he loved the opportunity I presented far more than he pretended to love me. I heard to maids whispering about how handsome he was, and how jealous they were of me. They complained that someone as gentle and kind as him was getting someone as ornery as me as a wife.

I didn’t disagree with what they said. I was stubborn. I had a strong temper like my mother. I was far more suited for the field of battle than to spend the rest of my days bearing children and hiding my intentions behind sickeningly sweet smiles. I was scarred and my delicate hands were calloused from years of training with weapons. Armonde sent me some lotion for my hands when he saw the callouses on them. I pretended to not be offended.

Even though a man ran our country, it was women whole protected it. The army of Hureneth was made up almost entirely of women. Our family lines were tracked through the mother. My grandmother had run the country before my father and was able to bear no daughters. So it fell to my father to run the kingdom to the world. It was my mother who ran things behind the scenes. To the public, she was the General of the Hurenethian Military. I was waiting for her to come to me before I was married off.

I was half hoping that she would tell me that it was a joke and that I wouldn’t have to marry him. I knew it wasn’t going to happen but hope is hard to kill. I looked around the dressing chamber. The walls were light blue and there were carvings that were gilded on the tops of the walls. It was one of the most elegant rooms in the castle. I wouldn’t miss this room. I thought. I was much better suited to the library and the training grounds.

While I was mid-plotting my escape plan, a maid I didn’t recognize entered the room. I shook my head to dispel the negative thoughts. It was my duty and honor to marry Prince Armonde, even if I wasn’t going to live the life I always had. It wasn’t his fault his country’s beliefs didn’t allow me to fight or even ride horses, I reasoned. The new maid walked over to my dressing table and set down a tray of sweets. They were small strawberry rhubarb pies. They were my favorite dessert.

“Who sent these?”, I asked the maid.

“Your betrothed,” was all she answered. She curtsied and then left the room. I thought that was quite weird, maids did not usually excuse themselves in the presence of royalty. Perhaps she is from Armonde’s kingdom, I thought. They do things differently there.

There was a card attached to the tray. I picked it up as I bit into one of the small pies. It read:

To the love of my life,

I am so excited to see you this afternoon. You are the light in the darkness always. Please, do get ready for me soon. Love will always find a way. I love you. I will be seeing you shortly.

Your’s Always, your trusting knight.

The ending surprised me. I hadn’t realized that Armonde had been knighted. At least there was something we could discuss on the way to his kingdom. I tucked the card into the top of my stays, right above my heart. I put on the blue wedding gown as I ate three more of the little pies. Miriam stood behind me as she did my hair. We made pleasant conversation as she tied my hair into a bridal knot. She laced the traditional blue wedding ribbon of my country through it and a green silk ribbon to represent the colors of my future husband’s country. When Miriam wasn’t looking, I slipped my dagger in its sheath onto my garter under my dress. I remembered how bloody my grandmother’s wedding was. Three men died fighting for her hand. In the end, my grandfather won. He was the only one who hadn’t fought.

I heard a knock on the door of my dressing chamber. I didn’t get to answer before Armonde walked in. He was dressed like a king. A ceremonial sword hung at his side. I doubted that he could have beaten any of the fighters in our kingdom. He walked over to me and knelt down.

“Hello my treasure,” Armonde said looking up at me. He was smiling lovingly, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I see you are dressed. I thought that I would bring you a gift before you would walk down the aisle.”

He handed me a gold broach with the symbol of his court on it.

“You do know that it’s bad luck for you to see me before the wedding?”, I teased.

A muscle ticked in his jaw, but his smile didn’t fade. He fastened the broach to my gown and kissed my hand. I smiled at him in what I hoped was a comforting way. He nodded and excused himself from the room.

He fled like the Dark God’s hounds were at his heels. Miriam gave him an appraising look and then pretended to fix my hair. She clicked her tongue a couple of times. I caught her shaking her head in the mirror.

“Alright, Miriam,” I said. “Speak freely.”

“That man is a slippery sort,” she said in her strong accent. She came from the west side of the kingdom near the plains. She had the strong accent of the nomadic tribes that resided there. “He seems very keen on becoming king and less on becoming your husband, princess. I don’t like the look of him.”

“He has seemed rather distant,” I allowed. Miriam simply shook her head and went to grab my shoes. I was beginning to feel a little tired. I stifled a yawn as I waited for her to come back. I heard a muffled gasp and heard my shoes hit the floor. I stood and looked around.

“Miriam,” I called out. She didn’t answer. I slipped the dagger out from under my skirts. I girded the bottom part of my dress around my hips and advanced on the area where Miriam disappeared to.

“You have no reason to worry, princess,” a voice called out from behind me. I didn’t recognize the voice, but the vocal inflections seemed familiar. I turned swiftly to see who the person speaking was. I stumbled half a step. I felt like I was going to be ill. I pressed my hand to my mouth as the room swayed. There were three attackers. No, there was only one. I was seeing three of them.

The intruder caught me as my legs failed me. I saw his face in good detail as he lifted me into his arms. I tried to thrash out of his grasp, but my body wouldn’t obey my mind. His grip tightened and I smelled the all too familiar scent of cloves and oranges. He had been using the same cologne since before he had become the Wretched King. Back then he was Deimos Maganti, my best friend, and the only boy I had given the time of day. As I was drifting in and out of consciousness I vaguely remembered him swearing to marry me when we grew older. He always claimed that I was the love of his life. I guess he had found a way to prove it.