Lockwood and Co. One-Shots

The King's Choice: Garden Statue

"Garden Statue" - Lockwood x Quill

Lockwood and Co. Series

Summary: The Choice was made

——Lockwood——

When the princess of Deadstone and I met officially for the third time in our lives, it was only three days before the wedding took place. Before that, our only interaction had been through a mandatory letter that had to be sent between the two intendeds; a description of ourselves and some detailing of the things that we could offer to the marriage. While mine had been long, descriptive and smooth, filled with all the particulars I felt she'd need to know before the actual commitment; the princess's had been short and robotic, cut off of any specifics about herself. A frustrating letter to read to say the least.

The actual meeting wasn't much better than it. Lord Carlyle proudly marched inside the throne hall of my castle, making me feel almost like it wasn't my own, followed by all his daughters in a perfect line, their low-ranking husbands beside them. And at the end of the line, head hung and eyes firmly trained on the skirts of her garments, princess Lucy stood hunched over herself, trembling anxiously as the proper introductions were made.

Once all the curtsies were exchanged, the Lord practically demanded a tour of the castle, his family trailing after him like a personal guard. I offered the princess a more private tour between us, as was customary to do as a way that she and I would get to meet each other better. It would have probably worked its purpose, if the princess had actually had anything to contribute to the conversation with, but she limited herself only to following me like a lost puppy, making quiet signals of understanding to my words and speaking when absolutely necessary.

She was a completely different woman from the powerful and blood-thirsty conqueror I remembered her to be. There were no threats of total annihilation of my country in the talk, no accusations of past wrongs ever committed, no claims of future victory over my pleading corpse, not even the slightest curse over my deathbed or looks of hatred in the direction I was.

I only ever caught her making a pleading look her father's way a couple of times, but I kept this details to myself.

The day of the wedding arrived like any other day would have, except my whole kingdom woke up early to prepare themselves for the celebration. Oh, what a glorious wedding it was going to be - extravagant curtains hung from every wall of the palace's halls, embellished white and red flowers adorned every room inside the castle, royalty and important head-figures of my neighboring countries and many others had attended, all dressed up in their finest galas for the occasion, the kingdom's most prominently known classical-music orchestra, the largest red-velvet chocolate cake I'd ever seen (my secret, personal favorite) with the best, most delicious white icing I'd ever tasted on top.

Yes, it was truly a wedding fit for a king and a queen of a nation as mine, and it was definitely the kind of wedding I had pictured for myself. Everything was exactly like I'd wanted it, every last detail of the decor, the banquet, the guests, the music. The only thing that wasn't how I wished it to be, was the bride.

I stood before the altar feeling nothing but apprehension, fear and frustration. Even with the orchestra playing, I could hear the murmurs of my people behind me.

"Our king is so brave, marrying that monstrous girl..."

"His a fool if you ask me, he should have never agreed to this!"

"Our army is strong enough to teach this 'Lord' a lesson, we should have gone to battle against them"

"Show some respect! The king is doing this for our sakes!"