The young man paced the floor nervously, his palms slick with sweat despite the cool breeze blowing in through the open window. His name was Baddeleyite and he, of all his comrades, had been chosen to take part in an arranged marriage to the daughter of a high-ranking human in order to cement ties between the beings known as the Crystal Gems and the kingdoms of humanity. And it made him incredibly nervous. What if his bride despised him? What if she was saddened by this turn of events?
He tugged at the collar of the silk robes he had been forced into, hating the way it felt on his body as compared to his usual attire. It was stifling and it barely breathed at all. He was thankful, at least, for the fact that they had left an opening for the smooth fist-sized gem between his shoulder blades.
His pacing was cut short by the sound of doors opening at the end of the chamber, followed by a small procession of blue and white clad servants bearing an ornate covered palanquin. The senior most of the servants beared a circular mark on the front of his robes covered with a series of slightly curving lines underneath three inwardly curling ones to represent an ocean wave. The servant clear his throat and announced, “Presenting her royal highness, Princess Yue.”
It had always been Yue's fate to marry a complete stranger. As a woman, and even more so as a princess, it was expected of her. She was aware that the marriage was one based solely on politics and that she was merely a small piece in a much larger game, that her own feelings were irrelevant to the situation- these were all things she had known since she was a small girl. She had just never considered how soon the day might come where she was to be married off to someone whose face she'd never seen.
Sitting in the palanquin she could feel her body trembling the slightest bit. There were plenty of horror stories about girls married off to cruel, ugly men who would use them only to satisfy their primal urges and bear them sons, and more often than not those girls died quite young or lived long enough to wish that they had. There were good stories too, of course, but those were talked about far less often. Clasping her hands together she tried to steady them, breathing in through her nose and slowly releasing it- she couldn't seen this anxious, she was a princess. She had to maintain an image of strength and serenity for her people, for all the girls that would someday be married off just as she was, who were afraid like she was.
As the palanquin came to a rest and the curtain drew back to let her out, the hand of a servant extending to her in order to help her out. Lightly placing her hand within the servant's she stepped out of the palanquin, standing in full view of her soon-to-be husband. Her white hair was tied up in intricate manner and she wore a gown light blue that contrasted with her darker skin- her icy blue eyes flickered over to the man for only a short moment before falling to the ground.
Stepping towards the man she stopped an arm's distance before him, hands folding neatly before her as she bowed deeply to him, her white braids falling to frame her face. "My name is Yue," she began, "and I am to be your wife. I will do all that I must to please and honor you, and to uphold the union we commit ourselves to."
