When The Gold Is Gone ✔ ~ trixya

Prologue

Once upon a time, there were two neighboring kingdoms,  Resvya and Midrosen, who were at risk of war from yet another kingdom.  The King and Queen of Midrosen, who knew their land to be the weaker of the two despite having plenty of gold, proposed an arrangement to join the two kingdoms through the marriage of their children seeing as the The King and Queen of Resvya had already been blessed with a pair of healthy twins, one boy and one girl, and they themselves were expecting a child by the end of that summer. Queen Agnes of Midrosen strongly predicted her unborn child to be a girl and so despite there being no proof, the rulers of Resvya believed in her conviction and trusted that a baby girl who could marry their son Alexej would soon be born. 

Months passed and the alliance was growing strong even before the child's birth, but anticipation was rising in both kingdoms as the Queen's belly grew. Soon enough the blessed day came, but a dark cloud would come to cover the joy of the child being born. For whilst a healthy baby princess was given to the world, Queen Agnes was stolen from it as the child opened it's eyes and gazed upon the world for the first time. King Erik was heartbroken by the loss of his dear wife, but he swore to protect his daughter against all he could, and so to give her and his kingdom their best chance, he signed the finalized document which promised his Beatrice to Prince Alexej of Resvya. 

It was decided from then on that Princess Beatrice should travel to Resvya every summer so the two children could grow to love each other, or at the very least know each other. The alliance was after all mainly for the good of the kingdoms, but their parents were not cruel nor heartless, and they wanted happiness for their children at the end of the day.

The visits started calmly with little real impact on the children, they were after all still too small to truly grasp what was happening.  But the Prince and Princess got along well whenever they played together, and equally as much when they played with the Prince's sister Yekaterina. The three were practically inseparable, and after the yearly celebration of Beatrice's birthday which marked the end of every summer, they would all cry as their parents pulled them apart before the King and Princess of Midrosen journeyed home. 

The 8th summer seemed to be no different at first. On most days the castle in Resvya was filled with joy and laughter from the soon to be 8 year-old Beatrice, and Yekaterina and Alexej, who had both turned 9 in the month of May. But once more the end of the summer would bring tragedy. Princess Beatrice and her father returned safely to Midrosen, but only days later sorrow would fill the halls of the once joyful castle of Resvya. 

The Prince and Princess had a habit of testing limits, even at a young age, and so they liked to climb on the stone walls of the castle and run across the rooftops. It was harmless they thought, as the young children knew too little of the dangers to truly understand to what degree they were putting themselves at risk. Bravely Yekaterina jumped down from the balcony of their bedroom tower, unto the rooftop that went across the Great Hall. 

"Come on, Alexej!" She yelled out as she sat down safely. 

"Katya, I'm frightened." Her brother replied as he stared down from the tall tower. 

They had done many such things before, but never one quite so daring. It was a long way down and he'd land on the harsh stone grounds of the courtyard should he slip, he realized. His sister did not think the danger was large though, she had managed fine and thought it safe without a doubt.

"It will be fine! I did it, didn't I?" 

"Yes, but..." The boy said, and yet seconds later in a leap of faith he attempted the jump.

The young princess couldn't quite grasp what was happening.
One moment her twin brother was jumping towards her.
The next he was falling.

She heard a thump and a cracking noise, and as she looked down her whole world seemed to stop. Her ears were ringing and although she wanted to scream, she could not find her voice. For on the ground below was her brother, a pool of blood surrounding him as a crowd of people gathered. She ran across the roof, trying to convince herself that he was surely only injured, but a voice in the back of her mind whispered otherwise.

She stormed down the stairs, tears streaming from her eyes as she saw her mother run to the lifeless boy, hugging him to her desperately to her chest as she cried out in agony. The young princess stood there in the shadows for a long while, just silently watching with tears falling like raindrops down her cheeks as she observed how her mother sat crying whilst trying to shake Alexej awake.

"Come with me." Katya suddenly heard her father's voice say from behind her before she was quickly dragged away. From the corner of her eye she saw her mother carry her brother away from the scene too. 

"I... I didn't mean to... I thought it was safe, I swear, papa! I didn't mean for Alexej to.."

"Oh my darling, no one is blaming you. This is not your fault." Her father said as he hugged her close. "But I need your help now, Kathinka. We must make haste. What has happened is a tragedy, but we have a Kingdom full of people who look to us to insure their safety, they look to us for security. We may have strong armies, but we lack gold. We need Alexej's marriage to Beatrice, otherwise our people will be in danger. Do you understand, Yekaterina?"

"Yes, but papa... Alexej is...." 

"I know my dearest." Her father interrupted. Sorrow filled his voice, but he had to keep the mind of a King still before he could truly grieve as a father should. "This is why I must ask you to make a sacrifice for your country. For your people. Our people."

He took a deep breath before he voiced the proposition his advisors had given him as soon as they learned of the accident. As a father the idea disgusted him, but as a King he saw the need for it. 

"You need to become Alexej."

"W-w-what?" Katya asked in confusion.

"The nation needs a male heir who can marry Princess Beatrice. It is much to ask, I know, but it is the only way, Yekaterina. You must be the one to have died, and Alexej must live on."

And so it went, despite Yekaterina arguing with the King and Queen for years and feeling betrayed by the way they had shown that she was somehow disposable, she did not refuse. For so great is the loyalty of a child to her parents, even if it meant she would loose her whole identity at the mere age of 9, she agreed to play her role. It was what a member of The Royal Family did after all; they all played their parts.

The summer visits came to a halt for many years, but once the summer which would end with Princess Beatrice's 15th birthday arrived, the Kingdom of Resvya would finally open it's doors to the Princess once again.