Winterfall

It wasn’t long before the attack that I met the man I was supposed to marry and fall in love with. The man that was supposed to aid in my ruling of Winterfall. Despite my desire to be with another, I was stuck with Marcel’s proposal. I closed my eyes as the memory of that day flashed in my mind.

I stood in the grand hall that was beautiful beyond words. It was a room that was crystal lined, with frosted glass walls, marbled white floors, and stained glass windows that were placed on the back wall depicting the countryside of Winterfall. The room had one grand staircase that had thirty marbled steps and dark oak rails that reached the second floor balcony. Upon the second floor balcony consisted of a grand piano, a harp, and a few other various musical instruments.

Sybil’s high heels clicked against the marbled floor as she approached me in stride and had a hint of eagerness in her eyes. My heart pounded in my chest as I was unaware of what she was going to say.

“Maria Roza Silvermist, I have a decree from your parents and from The Council.” Her voice boomed with confidence as she delivered the message with ease.

My mind swirled with mixed emotion as I was confused as to her phrase of words. My parents are dead. They couldn’t tell me to do anything now. The Council on the other hand, had every right to, as they were the ones calling the shots right now. At least, until I was deemed ready to take my rightful place as queen.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I asked in confusion as I was utterly lost.

“Princess, your parents had arranged for you to meet and marry the King of Summer Crest in hopes of binding the two kingdoms together.”

I could feel my eyes go wide. Why in the hell would they do that! I shouted through the bond in frustration. Your parents had arranged for you to meet and marry the King of Summer Crest…I said that quote over and over again until it made my blood start to boil. Until the tears wanted to escape my eyes but I tried my best not to show this emotion in front of her.

Calm Maria. We will figure this out. Théoden's voice was calm as I could sense he was beginning the siphoning process.

After a moment of pure shock, “Do I get a say in the matter?” I crossed my arms and glared at her as I was not pleased with the situation I was stuck in.

“I am afraid not, Princess. As house rules state, a parent or guardian of the future king or queen must approve the marriage and sign a decree.” Her voice spoke with an affirmative tone.

My heart sank. I had no parents. No guardians. I had Théoden, but he was my guard, my protector. I had little doubt that they would allow him to sign the decree to forbid such a thing.

“Who is the King of Summer Crest anyway?” I asked Sybil. Two years prior, the kingdom of Summer Crest had fallen and a new King had recently been named, but since my parents death I had yet to formally meet him. And even though I despised the idea of a forced marriage I needed to know who this man was.

“His name is Marcel. He comes from power.” Sybil proclaimed with pride in her voice.

My eyes narrowed at the sound of his name. Was it possible to hate a man I hadn’t even met yet? Then again, I am being forced to marry him. I should probably meet him.

We both will meet him. Théoden sounded hurt if not jealous through our shared dragon-rider bond.

I sighed, “If I have no choice, I suppose I can arrange my schedule to meet him.”

“Great! I’ll get that arranged today.” Sybil hurried off leaving me to wallow.

A few hours had passed after that to which I was greeted in the grand hall by a man with striking red eyes, no shirt, tight black pants, and a well toned chest. His skin was darkened and his hair jet black and didn't lay flat. "Hello Princess Maria Roza Silvermist. I am King Marcel of Summer Crest and I am pleased to be your future husband." His husky voice echoed through the empty hall as he greeted me with a smile.

I couldn't help but stare at him. He was good looking, don't get me wrong, but he wasn't Théo. Théo had a charm to him and well Marcel smelt of brimstone. If I was to marry this man, this was going was going to be hard to get used to.

"Hello, Marcel? I...I don't think I can.." I stammered. Sorry Théoden. I whispered as I knew he was watching everything and feeling everything I felt.

It’s alright Maria. I know you love me, not him. One of the many reasons why I loved Théoden, he was always so understanding.

"It's alright darling. We can take this one step at a time." He took my hand, bent over and kissed it. As he went to stand up and his fiery red eyes met my green ones a chill ran down my spine. "I look forward to getting to know you, my future Queen." He pulled me towards him and kissed my cheek. "I'll check in on you later alright? I know you have been through some trauma recently and I don't want to rush into things."

He stepped back and I simply nodded. I was perplexed. I couldn't think properly, I couldn't leave. And as I stood there, he just simply gave me a grin and walked away.

I am not going to like this at all. Théoden said through the dragon-rider bond. Maria? Are you back with me?

Yes, I think so. What is happening?

I'm not sure Maria. I'm not sure.

I was grateful that the Council at least halted the arranged marriage following my parents death and put it off for at least a year as it gave me a year to grieve their deaths. And now, that year has come and I must follow the decree my parents had set in place, even if my heart wasn’t in it.

What Marcel had done in that time, I wasn’t aware of. For all I knew he spent his days sulking in the castle of Summer Crest waiting for the year to be up. To be fair, I could honestly care less what that man did in his free time as long as he left me alone, I was happy. As my heart belonged to another soul, a soul I was happy spending the evening with tonight.

Thinking back on all of that, I still felt like I was a bit of a mess, but I was doing better. The therapy visits with the high priest helped. Helped to the point where I asked to stop doing them since I was no longer crying myself to sleep nor having nightmares.

I was put together enough that I felt comfortable getting back to a regular routine. And that meant going out with Théo at least once a week. Something small, something that allowed us to enjoy each other's company.

This outing I requested that we travel to the white sandy beaches of South Haven. This was the main bay of The Isles as it stretched along the southern edge of the landmass, connecting all four kingdom’s harbors.

Sensing uneasiness within Théoden, I asked, “What is wrong?” I glanced up at him and saw he wore a look of concern across his face. His eyes darted in all directions.

I glanced around us in hopes to see what he had felt, but all I saw was cliffs of black rock, white sand, tall oak trees and lush green fields filled with a variety of wild flowers that touched the sand.

Upon exhaling, he looked down at me with his crystal blue eyes. I smiled as some of his hair brushed against his cheek, as the rest rustled in the wind behind us. “Are you sure this is a good idea Maria?” He questioned me with a charmed but concerned voice.

I reached up with my left hand and brushed away the fallen pieces of hair and tucked it behind his elven ear. “Why wouldn’t it be?” I smiled as I stood on my tiptoes and reached for his lips.

He met my lip half way with his and kissed me gently. I knew he still worried about my well-being in connection to the tragedy that had fallen before me. I knew he worried if we were being watched while we were out.

He quickly pulled away and did another scan of the area to determine if we were being followed. To determine what his senses were picking up.

I followed his eyes and tried to focus. I focused on the rustling of shrubs. I focused on the movements of the trees. The chirping of the birds and the crashing of the waves. I found nothing unusual. So, I had no idea why he was concerned.

“Considering you are promised to Marcel-”

“I am going to stop you right there. The only person I am promised to is you.” My voice spoke with confidence as I hoped that would be true.

I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of my first encounter ever with Marcel. The chilling feeling I got when I looked at him. His stench of brimstone. The hint of evil in his eyes that I swore was there. All of it. All of Marcel, I hated with a burning passion.

I sighed a moment later knowing he was right, “I know I am supposed to marry him but there is something about him I cannot shake.”

Théoden nodded in agreement. “I know the feeling. We are going to have to do some research before I fully commit to letting him have you.”

“My hero coming in to save me?” I looked up at him with a cheerful smile.

“I will always save you, Maria.” Théo kissed me on the lips as we reached the sandy beach.

We walked to a more secluded section of the beach and sat down on a soft woven blanket that Théo had brought with us. He pulled out a bottle of ruby red wine and two tall wine glasses from the picnic basket that he had been carrying.

“What is the wine for?” I watched him uncork the wine and pour out the ruby red liquid into each glass. Filling them half full.

“Celebration. Due to past events, we missed a few milestones this year. Your birthday and our anniversary.”

“And your birthday too, let’s not forget that.” I said with a smile on my face.

He sighed heavily. “Yours is worth celebrating.”

“Your birthday isn’t?”

“Not this year. We can celebrate it next year.”

Today marked a full year since the tragic events that derailed my life. A year that was full of sorrow, depression, and lack of romantic intimacy. A year where celebration was nonexistent, things like birthdays, holidays, and our anniversary were left uncelebrated.

The start of the year, the day the tragic event took place, occurred on Théoden's birthday. We had plans prior to the event for celebrating it in our dreams however, those plans did not stay as I was too depressed to celebrate anything.

Théoden understood and supported me during that time, however, I did feel terrible for not celebrating his birthday. Which I had hoped that since it had been a year since the events we could properly celebrate. However, with the tone of his voice and the depressed look on his face, I knew that celebrating his birthday was more than likely off the cards again tonight.

“I understand.” I whispered as I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him into a hug.

Part of me wanted to celebrate regardless, so perhaps tonight we would celebrate our usual way, intimacy. Due to the events, our intimate lives had been put on hold for six months after the tragic events. Yes, it took me six months of recovery to want to resume that part of my life. Now with the full year behind us, our lives were pretty much back to normal. And that meant celebrating life by sharing a bed with Théoden.

“So tonight we celebrate you.” He kissed me upon my lips.

“You mean us?” I reminded him.

I felt a smile form against my lips. “Yes, but I don’t expect intimacy tonight.”

I knew he was worried if I was able to emotionally handle it. It had been a full year since everything has happened after all, so I understood his concern, despite us having sex prior to this day. However, I was more than willing to give myself to him tonight. We both deserved it. After a year of not celebrating our lives, this year everything would be normal.

“Would it be a crime if there was some tonight?” I whispered softly as, despite his concern, I wanted him tonight. I wanted to celebrate the both of us, I wanted to celebrate him.

His smile grew a bit wider. “No.” He pressed his lips against mine again.