Struvland (REWRITING)

Chapter One: The Snow

STRUVLAND
Chapter 1
The Snow
Alessandra

The chilly winds that blew outside penetrate the carriage through the poorly shut door and cause me to shiver. I pull my cloak closer to my body, hoping that it would somehow make me feel warmer. I glance at Queen Edith and King Vincent, my parents, who were now wrapped in a loving embrace, seeking some warmth themselves. My mother had fallen asleep on my father's shoulder, who was staring outside the window of the carriage, deep into oblivion. His tired blue eyes were proof that he had stayed up all night, thinking anxiously about the well-being of his country, his family, and his people.

I needlessly smooth the wrinkles of my dress and silently find myself wishing to be a child again. I wouldn't have any worries that way, no anxiety over arranged marriages to form alliances with other kingdoms; and no pain, save for the occasional scrape or bruise from playing too hard.

"We're almost at the castle, Your Majesty!" one of the guards yell, and I snap out of my naïve thoughts. At the cue, my father gently shook my mother to wake her up and she sat upright almost immediately. She fixes her blonde hair which resembles mine. The same could be said about her pale skin tone and light-colored eyes. Aside from the hair color and pale skin tone, however, my mother and I seem to have nothing in common. Even our personalities differ, while I am more alike to my father in the way I am hot-headed, ruthless, and commanding, my mother is mature and calm.

My father's once blonde hair has turned grey with age like my mother's and of late, the king has developed temper issues that my mother helps soothe.

As the royal family, we closely resemble the typical Pentoyan in our looks, blonde hair, pale skin, and light-colored eyes, we have them all. Of late, however, foreigners have immigrated to Pentoya and with cross-cultural breeding, there were gradual changes in the general appearance of the Pentoyans.

In the past, before Pentoya got separated from Struvland and Ordizana by the ocean and Struvland got into a war with Arcavia, Struvland and Pentoya had been enemies that refused to as much as trade or communicate with the other country's people, putting up walls on the borders to keep each other out. Lately, the countries have become closer together because of the war, Pentoya's booming fish market, and their inability to plant many crops other than rice, potatoes, and eggplants, makes them less isolated and friendlier with the other countries, having their citizens mix together more.

Eventually, the carriage stops and a guard opens the door. My father exits first, with my mother at his heel, followed by me. When I step out of the carriage, a guard offers me his hand in a courteous gesture. I look at him in disgust as I take in his features, pointed ears, short strawberry blonde hair, and snow-white skin that was flushed red from the cold. I notice his customary Pentoyan guard uniform. It was stitched in the colors of our flag, silver, blue, green, and our symbol, the serpent wrapped around a crown was embroidered. I harshly smack his hand away in disgust and help myself down. My dress, shoes, and cloak hit the snowy white ground in the process.

"I would rather die a slow death than be touched by an elf of all things." I state.

The guard steps away and looks down at the ground in shame, "I apologize, Your Highness."

I roll my eyes at him and follow my parents inside the castle. We are then escorted by the Struvlandian guards, who look very different from the Pentoyan ones. In Struvland, they have darker skin tones and their hair is also predominantly dark, compared to Pentoya where blonde is more common.

As we make our way through the castle, I notice that all of the guards wore black uniforms with red pants and gold detailing while the servants wore simple black or red clothing. They also have an armored elephant, Struvland's symbol, embroidered on them. We finally make it to the throne room where the queen and king sit, waiting for us. The walls are high all around us and our footsteps on the black marble floor echo throughout the room.