The Princess Broken Wolf

14

She could have said no and all of this sham of her marriage would have come to an end. It would have ended and no one would have questioned her. Neither the King or Queen nor the Karkonz King. She could have stopped from killing and being killed herself. More than one chance was given to her to put an end to all this plan of the king and the queen. But just as chances were given to her to say no, the apparent consequences were flashed in front of her eyes in slow motion. The chaos it would bring, the impending war that hung over her neck as well as the people of her kingdom, reminded Rosamund again and again about how many lives were gonna be lost at the expense of just hers. She couldn’t stop from dragging herself to the stage, she couldn’t help herself from standing straight, spine upright, her head held high, her pride and her decision resolute, no matter how many times the choice of rejecting this wedding was given to her. She had to go through it, the world could tell her to stop, but only the true meaning of war was clear to her. It was her life vs everyone else, and the blood of her ancestors was never more dominant in her before today.

So Rosamund readied herself right, for the last time, shook away the dust on her beautiful wedding gown and lastly, steeling her heart, she made her way towards the person she had to kill and be killed by.

A distant male violinist played a soft melody with a girl playing the trumpet in a beautiful manner. The atmosphere was serene, calm. The long way towards the stage was filled with white roses, there were only a few people in attendance seated in the chapel. The beautiful statue of Goddess Lucina was decorated with flowers and world stone. A man of huge stature was seated on the plush cushion under the statue of the Goddess. Another cushion was placed across from him, Rosamund immediately knew it was her seat and the man, covered in a white robe with a red belt and a dark golden cloak placed on his powerful shoulders, was, without any doubt, King Ruslan. Rosamund felt her heart skip a beat, not from elation but from something very akin to fear and curiosity. His face was also covered in a veil of thick lace with small red stones stitched in small irregular patterns.

Walking towards him, Rosamund tightly clutched Demir’s hands, seeking an unspoken strength. Demir didn’t say any word but held her hand a little tighter in silent support, which Rosamund was grateful for. To distract herself, Rosamund looked around the chapel under her veil. There were hardly any people in attendance. Four people from the kingdom of Draunkoom, a small group of five from the people of Sahar Bagh, a couple from Loswar and all the advisors of her own Kingdom were present. They were inspecting her from head to her toes, their faces ugly with satisfaction and sneering. The Elders were also seated near the stage. Rosamund felt the ugly emotions emitting from them, the dirty glances and smirks made her skin crawl. It was unfortunate that such people were her kingdom’s advisors and elders. She would let them have fun, she would do that knowing their days were numbered just like hers.

Reaching the steps towards the stage, Demir stopped and bowed low while walking backwards. The rest of the journey was her own. She had to walk the rest to sit in front of her groom who had his head directed towards her. Rosamund felt a burning sensation on her face and everywhere else on her body. Sweat settled on her nap, her hands sweaty from perspiration. Even though her inner emotions were in turmoil, she steadily walked towards her place and poisely sat down in front of her groom. Upon closer inspection, Rosamund saw the long robe that she thought was white was transparent, giving off a pearlish shine. He had an inner dark red undershirt, his hands were bare of big large rings. A small white band nestled on his small finger. A long beautifully carved sword hanged on the side of his waist. He was so simply dressed compared to her that it made her think if he was indeed the King seated in front of her.

His veil was similar to hers but it was only a face cover. His eyes and hair were visible. The moment Rosamund met his eyes, her breath was stolen from her involuntarily. He had to have the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. They were light golden brown, like a sun's ray breaking through the shadow during summertime. They sparkled like honey with gold dust in them, making Rosamund question was this how the sun looked like under behind the moon during solar eclipse? She felt herself calm under his gaze, his eyes had the warmth that she had been searching for. His face was strong, even under the veil, she could see the hard lines of his beautiful face. His hair looked like chocolate, dark chocolate that was bitter but addicting. This man, in front of her, was a beautiful enigma.

And a dangerous opponent, her inner voice reminded her.

Rosamund couldn’t help but sneak glances towards him while the priest made the elaborate vows under the statue of Goddess Lucina.

“ In the gracious presence of the Goddess Lucina and the humble servant of hers, we have gathered here for the ceremony of union between His Majesty, King Ruslan of Karkonz and Her Highness, Princess Rosamund Marigold of Marigold. With the permission of both the kingdoms, and everyone that is present here, we shall witness the holy vow ceremony of the children of Goddess Lucina. With this, may Her Highness speak her vows followed by that of His Majesty in accordance to the Karkonz’s laws.”

Rosamund kept silent, no one ever told her the ceremony was to follow the Karkonz law. Traditionally in Marigold, the Groom would first make his vows and place the token as an embodiment of his vows, whether it was a necklace, a bracelet of a hairpin or any other accessory in front of the Bride. Rings were rare on such occasions because, with rings, the bond was made by blood. The ring would have the blood of the groom that the bride had to wear for the rest of her life and the same was for the bride. Rosamund didn’t know what token was prepared as her gift to him, and she wasn’t prepared to make her vows before him. Ridding herself of any pending emotion, Rosamund said the vows, loud and clear.

“I, Rosamund Marigold, the First Princess and First Commander of Marigold, daughter of King Thomas Marigold and Queen Beatrice, pledge myself to your honor and pride. I give myself to you, as a promise of forever, as a promise of eternal and as a promise of loyalty. My wishes shall have you in them, my actions shall have your acceptance in them and my words shall have my loyalty to you in them.” there was silence, everyone left stunned in their seats, but most of all, Rosamund was left surprised. She made the pledge from her heart, she promised him, herself unknowingly, that had left a visible shock on his face and hers. How could she say all that yet her heart and her mind in full acceptance and calmness. She was at peace, Rosamund realized. For the first time in forever, she was at peace.

The priest, visibly astonished, cleared his throat and made a silent gesture towards Ruslan.

“I, Ruslan Aleksander, King of Karkonz, Commander of Karkonz and Child of Gerald Aleksander and Mavis Aleksander, pledge myself, wholly, with flaws and perfection to you. I give my words, my actions, my love, my body and my soul, all of that is me, to your love, satisfaction and happiness. I make a vow to give up my life where you are concerned. I vow that only you are for me and no other will have an existence in my heart and my soul. I pledge my forever love to you, to every eternity that exists, knowingly and unknowingly, for every forever that is present and that will come, I pledge you myself, fully.” with his vow, Ruslan took the small white band from his small finger and placed it infront of Rosamund, leaving everyone in attendance stunned to silence. He chose the ring, the most sacred of the tokens, and Rosamund couldn’t help but look at his eyes, only to see sincerity and conviction. No one gave her the token that she had to present to Ruslan. A commotion broke out when Edward and everyone else tried searching for the maid that had to present the token. Rosamund's eyes unexpectedly fell on Maxim, seated just behind Ruslan. He was spouting a smirk, a hideous feeling churned in Rosamund's heart. These people never prepared a token in her stead, they wanted to downplay her, disrespect her in front of everyone, especially in front of Ruslan. They truly were the worse. Rosamund couldn’t help but feel a bit more hatred towards them. She would take their lives in the most painful way possible, Rosamund vowed.

Rosamund could feel the uneasiness in the crowd. Her fingers unknowingly went to the little ring on her finger given to her by Pandora and she knew, she knew what she had to do. In an instant, Rosamund took off the ring and put it with his token, again astonishing everyone. Everyone froze, Maxim’s smirk wiped from his face and was replaced by a disgusting hatred. Rosamund focused her attention on Ruslan, who was looking directly at her eyes even though they were covered. What she saw made her heave a sigh of relief and alarm at once.

His eyes held a firm respect for her and a longing for what felt like a thousand years of waiting that he made no move to conceal.

Ruslan Karkonz was nothing like she had expected and Rosamund didn’t know whether it was a good or the worst thing that had happened to her.