Alliance

Chapter 2- Occursum

This- this truly was a King- and a warrior. Barring how pale and young his face was, the man in front of her- her husband­-to-be, Sanya remembered tremulously- was quite possibly one of the most beautiful human beings she had ever seen. He was going to marry her? She was half in the mind to swoon at him.

Well, the romantic side of her mind might have taken over right then but there was no denying the fact that King Edmund of Narnia was a very handsome boy-man- with his demeanour and stance calm yet protective, fair skin which could be called pale and which was shining with sweat, wavy dark hair which covered his forehead and begged for someone to run their hands through it, guarded and calculating warm brown eyes, finishing with an adorable button nose and a pursed mouth. Oh, and freckles! He had freckles!

Sanya refused to think of what was underneath the bloodstained armour, that would only add to her physical discomfort and make matters worse- not to mention the impropriety of that sort of thoughts.

Perhaps to make up for the lacklustre introductory warning of 'Aanya is coming' by her son, the High Queen gestured to a man in purple and gold, and he immediately boomed, "Her Highness Sanya, Crown Princess of Rihaaya, a Reza of Azraq, and-"

And followed a long list of her titles, most of which had been bestowed at birth, all of which made Sanya roll her eyes.

"-the Begshah of Azraq, the Duchess of Kolindi Rajyah, the Shahzadi of Hanees, the Mahalkumari of Veersa Baagh, the Jalladina of Jaminaz, and beloved daughter and Heir of our gracious High Queen and High King."

Edmund saw the bright chestnut eyes roll themselves and was heartened, just a bit.

It was difficult to even move, with the snug heaviness of the fabric and the jewels weighing it down even more, but Sanya finally managed to get to her parents, formally curtseying before them, before she hesitantly turned towards Edmund and curtsied again, saying- in her throaty yet toneless voice, "Your Majesty."

"An honour and delight, Your Highness." Kissing her hand was too presumptuous and much too soon, so Edmund only bowed. "And my apologies for my unseemly appearance."

Oh Heavens, his accent, oh goodness. She had always had a soft spot for accents...

"It is alright." She couldn't help a small blush- to her annoyance, redness did show even on brown skin- as he looked at her, but then the look lasted for only a moment before he turned to the royal pair on the dais.

The only thing, Sanya decided suddenly, she was thankful for right then was that there was no audience and that her little brother was there so they could pull faces when no one else was looking.

"Sanya, meet Edmund." The King said, biting down on the irritation and overprotectiveness he felt at seeing the man who was going to take away his daughter right next to her- it felt like he had already lost her, a moment of grief setting in his chest.

Not wanting to say it- oh, how she loathed this, she loathed everything about her daughter having to marry out of duty instead of love- but feeling like someone had to, the Queen added, "Your husband-to-be."

Suddenly Edmund didn't feel quite so floored anymore, and nor did Sanya feel as bewitched as she had just a minute ago.

"The wedding will be here, in about two weeks' time-" Sanya's mother was saying and Sanya herself felt sick- she legitimately had to work hard to not spew out the contents of her stomach, but she didn't manage to conceal her look of nausea, prompting her mother to pause and ask, "Are you alright, Sanu?"

Why the nickname? That was between family only.

Sanya's cold took that moment to resurface in the form of a sneeze, giving her an excuse.
"Haan, I'm fine. Just a cold."