"𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞."
A STORY IN WHICH, you've never had a choice, especially not when you were forced to marry the future king of marley, 𝘻𝘦𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳.
things were difficult from the start, a foreign country a host...
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Countries were a difficult thing to maintain; more so when it seemed like they were surrounded by enemies at every border, and the alliances they had managed to make over the years were losing their initial luster, thus making room for forgetful minds to take advantage of the darkness that came with time.
Zeke would know, he was on the brink of a Civil War, one that had been brewing long before he'd taken the throne. His father had been a weak man who had spent too much to much time with his hands up Carla Shadis's dress to realize that Marley would fall apart if something wasn't done soon.
He ran a hand through his thinning hair and sighed as he looked down at the papers piled in front of his desk, he needed to find a solution, and he needed to find one fast. If there was one thing his tutors ever said of him it was that he was as gifted with wit as Eren was with a sword.
In fact, he was so bright, that he had been the one who suggested his marriage to the only daughter the King of Paradis had to offer at the time; thus ending the never-ending threat of a war with Paradis.
Nearly eight long years had passed since his wedding and Zeke had expected pushback to his marriage with an Eldian woman, but he was sure that once [Name] gave him children and proved herself a useful Queen-Consort, the people would accept her.
He was wrong.
The people who accepted [Name], absolutely adored her and worshipped the ground she stepped foot on. They loved her for ending the war with Paradis; for restoring drinking water to the fountains in Ragako; for the orphanages, she'd donated food and funds to; for the two male heirs she'd given the throne.
Those who despised her did so with a persistent fury; they called her a usurper who'd stolen the crown from a Marleyan woman; they blamed her for the loss of a quarter of Liberio's troops; they called her a foreign leech with blood-stained hands who only served to taint Marley's lineage with her Eldian pedigree.
Zeke let out a dejected sigh as he pushed the papers out of his view, hoping for at least a moment of peace, sadly that moment never came, and he was sat before his privy council with yet again no solution to their ever-growing mountain of problems.
"You're nervous." His wife had emerged from the shadows and stood before him wearing a dress the color of blood-red wine. Her long hair was loose from its usual intricate braids, and instead, it flowed down her shoulders in waves, just like it had when they'd first gotten married. "Don't worry, it's all going to be alright."
Zeke closed his eyes and shook his head as the old men's shuffling lessened, only highlighting the impending danger. "We're on the brink of war, [Name]."
"We're always at the brink of war." she shot back, with that quick tongue of hers that never stopped. "We will make it out alive as we've always done."
"It's different this time, [Name]. These are our own people turning against us, in masses we have not seen before." Zeke lowered his voice. "And they're escalating their methods, they attacked you for heaven's sake," he reached for the hand she'd laid on his arm and tightened his grip around it, after all, it was only weeks ago that he feared she'd been killed, or worse.
