Chapter Text
Ellie had been suspicious since she had woken up that morning. She had been scrubbed to the bone before she had even fully opened her eyes. Her hair had been brushed back into two delicate braids that just reached the bottom of her ears. Much more formal than her usual puff of red hair. Her maids even had the gall to put flowers in her braids. All of this was topped off when Ellie was put into the most extravagant dress she had even worn. It was a mix of fine lace and a soft fabric that she wouldn’t have minded had it not been attached to a fifty-pound dress.
Her suspicions only grew as her maids avoided eye contact with her. Especially Dina, her maid of three years and best friend of just as long. Dina was never quiet, always blathering on about some knight she was in love with or whatever new soup the kitchen had thought of. But today, she was as quiet as a mouse. Ellie didn’t like it. Something big was going on and she seemed to be the last one in on it.
"What the hell is happening!?" She tried to make her tone as authoritative as possible, but her maids had known her since she was a toddler, so it held little weight.
There was no answer. She crossed her arms, stomped her feet firmly into the ground, and made her entire party come to a halt until someone answered. She gave Dina an expecting look.
"This will be good, Ellie. Try and see it from the citizens perspective," Dina said, she looked a little sorry for Ellie which only put her more on edge.
Dina always told her everything, and the fact that she was keeping this from her only served to deepen the pit in her stomach.
She almost regretted asking the question because after a gruelingly long meeting with her father and his court she had been informed of exactly what was to occur.
She was being married off.
After lots of cursing and a brutal fight with her father, she sat begrudgingly quiet in her throne next to his larger one. She thought idly that maybe she could burn a hole through his head if she stared hard enough. Sure, she would be hanged for killing the king, but she could live with that. He shot her an unimpressed look and then went back to ignoring her.
She slouched in her throne as the very large party of people began to enter the room. Whoever was to be her future husband sure was a show off. She rolled her eyes as the third row of dancing, vibrantly-clothed people entered and spread out in a makeshift red carpet.
The man at the end of the parade was nothing to write home about. He was short, scrawny, and his hair was even greasy. Ellie thought he looked a little like a rat. Sure, his eyes were a pretty blue, but the rest of him was off putting. And his hair was brown, Ellie was staunchly only attracted to blondes. Speaking of, next to him stood his bodyguard. Ellie resisted licking her lips as she eyed the woman down. She was jacked, as most bodyguards would be, and had two massive arms that made Ellie want to lick every dip of each muscle and map her out. As mentioned, she had blonde hair, tied back in a practical braid. Ellie wondered distantly if she would tie her back too if she asked nicely enough. Her eyes were also blue, except her blue was light like the sky and the stupid man’s were dark like a puddle.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to our court the Great Lake faction. His Royal Highness Owen Moore and his loyal knight Abby Anderson.”
Abby was her name. Ellie liked it. Could she also go by Abigal? She wondered how it would sound if she moaned it while Abby used those thick fingers of her to-
Her thoughts were interrupted when the prince came up and kissed her hand. She had to hold back bile as she saw him up close.
“Hi, I guess” Ellie mumbled, less than eager to get to know the smiling man in front of her.
Her father eyed them very obviously as a proper royal introduction and lunch took place. Ellie wished that the floor would open up and take her to hell. The man in front of her wouldn’t shut up about his kingdom for two minutes. He was all ‘my citizens are better than yours’ and blah blah blah. Well, maybe not exactly. Maybe he was charming, had kind eyes, and Ellie could see how a girl would be very excited to marry him. But she certainly was not one of those girls.
The Great Lake faction had been at war with her kingdom for decades. All of it starting because some dummy on their side killed some dummy on her side. And now all the dummies had been slaughtering each other since before Ellie was born. In actuality the war was devastating for both sides and at this rate neither kingdom would survive much more fighting. Soldiers rarely came home and attacks just kept getting more and more sophisticated. Her father had been boasting just yesterday about his new flaming arrows and how they could level any army. Hell, Ellie had seen one of the few soldiers that did make it back and it had given her nightmares for weeks. He was completely ruined, walking half dead. His eyes were blank, as if the war had stolen his limbs, half his sight, as well as his mind.
Now, the horrors of war didn’t stop her from agreeing with her citizens that the people of Great Lake were the lowest of lows. It was rumoured they were all scraggly, peasant, snobs that acted as soul suckers to anyone that got near. Ellie couldn’t help but agree as she stared at the man in front of her as he blathered on about farming or something equally as dumb. She wondered distantly how someone as pretty as his knight could of come from such a place.
The date ended with a begrudging hug from Ellie and the prince leaving with that insufferable smile still solidly painted on his face. Ellie mourned the loss of the tall blonde woman and her muscles. Who knew she was such a whore for women with muscles.
“What the hell was that?” Joel’s voice cracked through the now quiet room.
Ellie rolled her eyes, expecting but still dreading the fatherly talk.
“He looks like a turnip. Like a lifeless, eternally smiling, weirdo-” Ellie ranted in the background of Joel’s talk about her role as princess and the importance of responsibility.
“You have to understand there are sacrifices we all must make. He’s not a bad man, Ellie. I would never have you marry a bad man, you know that.” Joel came over to where Ellie was slouched in her chair to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“I know that” Ellie mumbled. “But he’s so… bleh”
Joel chuckled.
“Yeah, but he’s not too sore on the eyes, ay? I saw the way you were staring” Joel bumped her with his shoulder.
Ellie rolled her eyes. Joel had never, and would never, guess her crushes accurately. Hell, he even used to think she had a crush on Jessie, her maid’s knight boyfriend. She was just relieved they could joke again, their fight earlier was no laughing matter.
Joel left her all alone in the throne room to be with her thoughts.
She kicked a vase over and then stomped back to her room like a child. She at least got some satisfaction from ripping the fancy dress off of herself and replacing it with a more casual set of skirts and tunic.