Conquest of War

Chapter Six

A few days later in the Talvok Palace

Fayrn swallowed hard as her maids pulled the laces of her gown tight and turned her to look in the mirror. She saw a small woman with long dark curls that spilled down to her lower back, lightly tanned skin from spending her time in the village helping the people, a slender figure accented by the simple green cotton dress she wore. She had never been a woman to wear flashy jewel embellished clothing or yards of silk embroidered with gold and silver. She, like her mother had decided a tasteful simplicity held far more beauty than the gaudy embellishment chosen by most noble women.
"My lady, you look beautiful" one woman commented as she smiled at the princess, but the other women looked at their mistress with worry.
"So what is going to happen to us?" One of the younger girls around Fayrn's age bluntly asked fear evident in her voice as she spoke and Fayrn sighed.
"I don't know. The Shavendral Prince's plans have not been shared with me. The only thing that I know is that most of the nobility has been locked away. I don't know why. As for everyone else it seems as if the prince and his soldiers are leaving them alone, but I will do my best not to allow any harm to befall my people. I will lose my own life before I will see my people in pain..." She trailed off as the Prince's words replayed in her mind and she looked away. She had not seen frost since that day a week ago in the library when her feet had been sealed. She had asked the soldiers where he was and no one seem to have seen him in the last few days. One of them had heard rumors that he had been sent on a mission with several other rangers to scout around the palace. Also, she had not seen Gala since that day either and that filled her with joy because that meant she had escaped. As for the prince, she had only seen him in passing and cringed every time someone mentioned her being his future bride. She was not  sure that anyone actually knew what his plans for her were.
He was going to kill her in the end, but this was the only way to save her people. He held all the cards and she was at his mercy.
Then someone pounded on the door so hard it rattled on the hinges making all of the women jump.
"Crown Prince Tavrik demands the presence of Princess Fayrn in the throne room at once" a Shavendral soldier yelled brusquely through the door and the women looked at their princess with apprehension. They may have some times been quite jealous of her position, but she was always kind to them so they wanted nothing ill to befall her. She considered them to be her friends, they were the only thing even close to friends she had. Because of her position in society, she was supposed to be friends among the high ladies of the court, but her values were far from aligning with theirs. That meant she had a few friends outside of the ones she made with the commoners that she helped and the soldiers who's families she often helped if they were lacking. Whenever she walked in her room she was the brightest person in it and all the people loved her for it. It had been whispered many times that she would've made a far better ruler than her father ever had. She was kind and charitable where he was cruel and greedy. Had she been born a boy she would've made a fine king.
"My lady, please be careful" the maids whispered as circled around her straightening out her clothes and hair.
"I cannot make any promises this time. I am at the complete mercy of the prince, but I will do my best to keep all of us safe no matter the cost" she murmured softly, trying to reassure them and they looked at her sadly, knowing she would give up anything to save them.
She gave each woman around her a quick hug, which each one returned before she stepped back.
"Princess, please do not sacrifice yourself..." The small woman held up a hand cutting off her maids as she let out a soft sigh.
"I am sorry. It is my duty to put my people before myself. I know my father may have forgotten that, but I have not. I will do anything, even give my own life to make sure my people are safe" she said firmly as she stepped away from her handmaidens and turn towards the door.
"My lady, I wish with all my heart I could take your place. You of all people do not deserve to suffer any pain. All your life you have dedicated to serving others and helping everyone else even when you needed help yourself. If there was someway I could take your place I would do it in a heartbeat. Promise me you'll be careful." One of the maids sighed  forlornly as she watched the small princess slowly open the door and disappear into the corridor where the enemy soldier was waiting for her.
The soldier looked at the small woman with surprise the moment he laid eyes on her making her blush. He had not expected her to be so tiny and beautiful. Nor how do you expected her to be dressed so simply. He had been expecting a gaudily clad overweight noble woman who would have fit in with the rest of the Talvok nobility. Instead before him was the slim petite and beautiful young princess dressed in a simple gown. Seeing her dressed so simply he finally understood the saying about not gilding the Lily. She was beautiful enough without any embellishment. He noticed her blush and realized he had been staring and quickly turned his gaze to the ground, fearing the prince would somehow wander up on the scene and see him gawking at his bride. That would not have been a pleasant experience for him, his prince was notoriously possessive of things he saw that were his.
"This way, my lady" he muttered quickly as he turned in the direction he thought the throne room was and she simply smiled at him.
They walked for several minutes before the soldier looked around and realized he was quite lost within the maze of The Talvok palace. He wanted to curse himself for not paying attention. This place was more of a maze than any other keep he been to. It was so difficult to navigate because there has been so many additions from the original central keep that were non-continuous with the rest of the building making it very difficult to navigate.
"The throne room is to the left"a soft pleasant voice mused behind him and he turned red as he looked at the woman in embarrassment.
"I... it's hard to navigate and..." She raised her hand and cut him off with a smile.
"We all get lost sometimes, but I won't tell if you won't" she chuckled softly and the soldier could not help returning her dazzlingly warm smile.
Fayrn led the stranger through the maze of hallways and corridors until she reached what had once been her father's throne room. The enemy soldier walk through the double doors with the young princess in tow and the noisy room immediately fell silent. It was so quiet that the princess was sure that everyone could hear her heart starting against her ribs. The room was full of courtiers and nobles, but all of them were in shackles or bound with rope.
Her fiancé, The ruthless Shavendral Prince, was sitting on throne glaring down at his prisoners, but as soon as the princess entered his full attention turned to her.
"Good morning, my lovely bride to be. How did you sleep last night?" He sneered as he slowly stood up to his towering height and Fayrn wanted to run out of the room and get as far from him as possible, but she forced herself to stay put.
"Good morning, sire. My rest was quite refreshing. What is it that so pressing you pulled me from my morning routine?" She asked calmly  as she smoothed her simple blue dress and the war prince smirked down at her.
"Well my sweet, I am deciding the fate of your Nobles and I thought you want to be here. Especially since you to be my wife" he said coolly as he stepped down from the dais and walked across the room to where the tiny woman stood between two of his soldiers.
"You promised me that none of my people would be harmed..."  The warrior raised a hand and cut her off before she could finish.
"I said that no one would die, but I never gave any promises about the retention of land and status" he said darkly has he smirked down at the tiny woman and she frowned.
"What are their fates to be?" The princess demanded she glowered up at the much larger Prince.
"The Nobles will be stripped of their titles and land and sentenced to live out their lives is nothing more than beggars." He answered firmly and the princess's face scrunched up into a frown as she bit back a string of unladylike curses.
"You bastard! You lied to me! You tricked me!" The woman yelled accusingly and the War Prince held up a hand shutting her up.
"Enough! What is done is done we had a deal. Do you care to break it and see every last one if you people die?" He spat venomously causing her to flinch away  from him.
"No I am sorry I questioned you" she mumbled submissively as she looked at the ground and her heart pounded against her ribs. 
"Good now come stand by my side as I pass judgment on each noble. I want you to watch me sentence them to their fate" the cruel man muttered in her ear as he guided her towards the dais and she meekly allowed him to lead her.
He took the seat on her father's throne and she was forced to stand at his right hand, looking like the perfect little queen to be she was.  She longed to flee because she did not have the heart to watch people suffer.
"Why? Why are you doing this? Have I not suffered enough?" The tiny woman pleaded, but her captor held no sympathy for her.

AN
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