@pvlchritudine
Send me 👑 for an AU where our muses are royalty who have to get married!
One week.
That was all the notice she had been given.
Her parents had known about the arrangement for 3 months prior but had kept it from her. Wheein was the youngest of 6, the only one not yet married. At 19 years old, this was starting to become a problem. Her parents had been trying to find someone to marry her for years, but opportunities were few and far between. Being the youngest meant that she had no rights to the throne. It also meant that she had few rights to any wealth left behind at the time of her parents’ deaths. No prince wanted to marry a girl with no promise. A girl he would have to take care of without the promise of power or riches to accompany her presence.
But things had finally gone right (for her parents, at least. Wheein thought it an unfortunate situation). A treaty was to be made between their kingdom and another, and in exchange for their promised peace and loyalty towards one another- a marriage.
Wheein did not appreciate being used as a pawn in this political game. A marriage did not assure peace and loyalty. She could married off tonight, and in the morning her husband could order an attack on her country just to be cruel. And she would be unable to stop him. A foreign woman in a foreign kingdom, alone and forced to watch her people die. Except they wouldn’t be her people anymore. Not after she was married. Because his people would now be her people. Right?
How absurd this whole situation was. Wheein wished she had been told of this arrangement sooner so that she could have planned to run away. Then again, that was probably exactly why her parents hadn’t informed her of the decision sooner. It wouldn’t have been the first time the young princess had disappeared.
Now, however, it was too late. The sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels against cobblestones warned her that they were close. She’d be meeting her future husband soon. Her parents hadn’t even bothered coming with her yet. They were to arrive the evening before the wedding and leave the morning following it. It was as if they were pleased to finally have her out of their lives.
The handmaiden they had sent to accompany her, however, was a fair substitute for them, Wheein supposed. At least the woman was willing to talk to her.
“I’ve heard he’s very handsome, your highness. I wish we’d all be so lucky as to have a handsome, suitable, husband like yours.” The woman said, wide smile on her face. She was probably excited to be travelling, maybe even excited to meet the handsome prince. Wheein was not.
“Then you can have mine.” Wheein stated, not a hint of joking in her voice or her expression. The handmaiden’s smile fell and she looked momentarily stunned. A moment later, however, she was laughing. A small sound, mouth hidden behind her hand politely.
“Oh, your highness, your quite a funny girl, aren’t you?” Her accent was thick. The atmosphere matched.
And then Wheein was staring down at her hands, wondering why she had to be here at all. A useless peace treaty. A wedding to a stranger. A life she didn’t want.
“Maybe he’ll be kind.” The handmaiden offered, her voice far more gentle now, “It won’t be so bad, your highness, you’ll see. You may even come to love him.”
Wheein only nodded. She wouldn’t have had time for more conversation anyway, because it was at that same moment that her carriage door was being opened and she was being helped out. It was time to meet her new family, she supposed. People spoke of butterflies in their stomach when they were nervous. Wheein, however, felt more like she was carrying around an entire, anxiously buzzing, beehive. She’d been trained to remain poised regardless of circumstances, but as they stepped inside, she could feel her hands trembling.
