Northern Lands: Bound by fate

Chapter 2

CALANDRA

⌘ Asterion, fae realm. Two years ago.

The walls closed in on me. My airways were cut off. The water I just sipped sputtered to break free from my lips, when my mother uttered the words I never wanted to hear.

"It's decided," Cressida Asterion announced casually over dinner, "you're marrying Tybalt Drasden, the nobleman."

I wanted to scratch off the grin dancing on her face with my fingernails. I never hated my parents so much as I did right at this moment, when they had decided my fate for me. On the evening of my birthday, my worst nightmare had come true. We were supposed to be celebrating, not throwing husbands in my lap.

My hand gripped the stem of the glass as I tried to control my anger, the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I couldn't believe their audacity to bargain my life away as if it was nothing.

"I don't want to marry, mother. I just turned twenty!" I controlled my voice from trembling and slammed my fist on the table when the rage bubbled up my throat. "And especially not a marriage that's forced upon me." The glass in my other hand shattered to pieces, littering the table with shards of crystal, making me jump from my seat.

A neat cut on my thumb began gathering a drop of blood that then fell onto the pristine white tablecloth in the luxurious great hall. I watched the crimson color taint their perfect image before taking it to my mouth and licking the wound.

"You are the Princess of Asterion and you shall conduct yourself like it!" my father boomed from across the table. His face was stoic and resembled a bored stance. It was futile and foolish to go against his wishes, but this time they had both gone too far.

"Calithea, you need to listen to us in this matter." My mother rounded the grand oval shaped table and reached out to rub soothing circles on my back as if I was a petulant child having a tantrum. "We will always know what's best for you and this kingdom."

"No," I sputtered. "This is all about you and the greed of the Drasden lineage. They want the Kingdom's money and you want their political ties," I spat at my parents, the fae King and Queen of Asterion.

"And that's enough!" King Allerick rose to his full length, sending his chair clattering to the marble floor. Two servants that had been stationed at the doors as statues, watching the conversation in complete silence, scrambled their way over to upright the piece of furniture. "You will marry Tybalt with a smile plastered on your face and that's the last I will hear of it."

My mother took a step back from my shaking frame, leaving me alone in facing my father. It was stupid of me to try to change his mind, when it was clear it was already made. From what it seemed, even the Drasden family was notified about this arrangement before me.

With my hands fisted at my sides, afraid to use my magic, I bit the inside of my cheek to calm down. I didn't need a middle finger to hold up as defiance. The coldness in my stare as I gazed at my father dead in the eyes was enough.

"I would like to retreat to my chambers now." My tremor was unwavering, my wings flat against my back offering a protective shield as I spoke, waiting for my dismissal from the rulers of the fae realm of Asterion.

King Allerick waved me off with a deep sigh and weaved a hand through his beard, deep in thought, not making any sort of eye contact with me, his daughter. His word was the one that counted, and I had no other option but to obey.

"Calithea," my mother, Queen Cressida, reached out for my hand, but I recoiled, retreating quickly towards the hallway. My footsteps were faster than the etiquette allowed, but right now I was tethering on a fine thread, holding on to the last strand of willpower to not snap in front of them. In the privacy of my room, I could let all the bottled up emotions free.