The Queens Story

⚜️ 1 ⚜️

He was dashing.
Handsome.
The kind of man any woman would fall for.

Prince Kal was tall, handsome, but rugged. With dark curly hair pulled back and tied with a ribbon into a knot at the crown of his head. It was shaved short on the sides, right above his ears showing a long battle scar that started at his right brow and ended behind his ear. His bright green eyes could entice even a married woman. Even with all his good looks and charm, he could be brutal. I had heard stories of him ravishing woman so hard they couldn't walk for days. They screamed for him to stop, but the cries didn't end for hours. When they did emerge from his private chambers they were covered in bruises. Their faces bloody, tear stained cheeks red, eyes puffy from crying.

These horrifying stories of how gruesome he is during battle, never losing a fight, still didn't scare me like the stories of what happened to those women.

Because I am about to become one of those women. I am to marry this man/beast.

In order to keep peace between our two kingdoms king peter demanded an arranged marriage between his son and one of my fathers daughters. If not, our kingdoms will go to war. We will lose. We don't have the men. Our kingdom was twice as small.

Being the oldest at 17, I am to marry prince Kal who is already 26.

My mother pulls me away after our afternoon tea and cakes to talk privately. We went to the women's sitting room, picking up our sewing to work on as we talked. We are working on my wedding dress. Altering my mothers to fit me and the season. She was married in the middle of the summer. One of the hottest days. I think back fondly of the first time she told us the story of her wedding day. How father was sweating through the royal outfit he was wearing, the festivities having to be moved to a cooler part of the castle because the cake was melting.

I was getting married in the middle of winter. The first snow had already fallen, blanketing the earth in its fluffy, white ice. The lifeless trees and ground reflecting how I felt in my heart. I had no choice in the matter anymore then the flowers are forced to die as winter kills them off slowly. But hopefully something beautiful will be born of this marriage just like those same flowers regrow, stronger the second time.

I could tell my mother was enjoying just working with me in silence, but my curiosity got the better of me.

"What did you want to discuss with me , mother?" I asked softly.

I heard her sigh.

"About the man you are going to marry. As you know, the stories linked to this man are horrid. If I had my way, we would go to war before handing you over, but if there is a chance we can all live, including you, I am willing to take it. If we go to war, we will all be killed." She said, a tremble in her voice as she held back tears.

"I wanted to talk to you about laying with your mate. I know I have given you romance books, and discussed the joining of man and wife with you, but I am afraid I have Ill prepared you for the marriage you are about to enter. I had hoped all of my daughters would get to marry kind and gentle men like your father, but it looks like I can not save you from this." She said, looking right at me.

We both had stopped sewing as she talked. I had remembered her talks with me, but could tell she was trying to give me an idea of what I'm about to enter.

"Prince Kal is from a different land. A much more brutal kingdom. The women are used as bed warmers and breeders. They are much more animalistic there. The women don't mind, due to being raised that way, but here you have seen your father listen to me, take what I say into account and it has some weight to it in his eyes. There, your opinion will mean nothing. You will be told to be seen, not heard. I pray I am wrong and this soon to be king is different, but it sounds as though he is the worst." She said.

Then as if starting a totally different conversation her next words made me feel as though I had been knocked off my feet, unable to catch my breath.

"Your father has only hit me twice in the 32 years we have been married. Once was when we were very young, newly married. I was 14 and he was 16. I had called him a bastard, when I had caught him with another woman. She was 17, I had been warned about her, that he could take a mistress and if he did it would be her. He had pulled me to our room and slapped my cheek for calling him names without reason. When I told him what I thought he had promised he would put everything he had into making our marriage work. That he would try and love me. Neither of us knew each other when we got married either, so we didn't love each other or even know if we liked one another. The second time I had become too close to a personal guard. Your father had been gone for many months, traveling to different kingdoms, making treaties and peace pacts with them. I felt alone. Your father walked in on me having dinner with the guard, laughing and talking, holding hands. The look of hurt and betrayal evident on his face. He had the guard sent away and made me sleep in a separate room for a while. It didn't take long for him to forgive me, but I had broke his trust and embarrassed him. I say this to tell you, not all marriages are perfect and we all have problems, but do not make the mistakes I made. This man will hurt you in ways you never thought possible. Please my darling, be careful. I am sorry we could not save you from this fate." With that she stood.

"I will leave you to think." She said before turning to leave. "I love you, my sweet."

Think I did and worry. I couldn't help shivering, scared of this marriage. The best out come I could think up was that he could eventually come to care for me over the years, but I felt like that would be getting my hopes too high. Before long the bells rang, signaling that it was 7 o'clock. Dinner time. I put down the almost completed dress and walked out. I looked back at the dress once more, seeing the only barrier that would be between me and my husband to be.