Master s Slave

Chapter One

Our procession moved in silence. Everyone seems to understand that a wedding during war is a joyless affair. Although the war has raged for generations, the new king of our enemy has made it worse.

To be the darkest of those already living in the shadows, it made my skin crawl to think of the blood on his hands. Deep in the north, the shadow elves plotted against my father's kingdom. And after the death of their last monarch on the battlefield, his heir was carving a path of carnage through the land.

Even now we were far too close to the border with the north than I had ever been in my entire life. As a princess of Mithra, I had spent my entire life in the kingdom of Sunlight, Galad. But now that things were desperate, my father was sending me to marry a Mithran Duke whose army we desperately needed to turn the tides of war.

Here I was riding in a gilded carriage that might as well have been a pretty cage, sitting in silence with two handmaidens who spent the time on needlework. The yellow curtains were shut, hiding the dark forest outside.

My head rested on the wood next to the window and I desperately wished I was back home soaking up the sunlight with my sisters.

"Bit too close to the border, if you ask me," the older handmaiden with golden hair curling around her face piped up. I ignored her, knowing she was speaking to the other handmaiden who usually accompanied me these days known as Xiomara.

Xiomara sat up from her needlework to look at the older woman, Nadene. "Indeed, it's much colder the further away we get from the border, capital. The season doesn't help it either."

"It's a shame not to have a wedding back home, your royal highness," Xiomara clucked in my direction, which finally brought me out of my daze enough to look in their direction. "It must be hard on you to leave your family behind. The other princesses were all married in the palace."

"This is no time for a proper wedding and to have no family in attendance? It's not right, I say," Nadene chided as though her opinion could have swayed king Helios in his decision. A small smile graced my lips for her as she'd been at my side for a few months now, and I was finally becoming comfortable with the sharp tongue I knew her capable of. It's the only reason she'd lasted with me as long as she had now.

"It's fine. I'm sure this to be only a temporary setback. Once I'm married to Ayden, we'll probably be back in the capital while he cooperates with father to get his forces up to the same standards as the rest of the army." Although I agreed it didn't feel fair.  None of my sisters were in attendance when they all had glorious summer weddings surrounded by our remaining family.

A sigh left me, and I slumped back in my cushioned seat that did little to help in the ways of comfort when the carriage ride was so bumpy. But it was late, well into the darkness. Perhaps the soldiers would stop soon to allow us to sleep for the night.

Being so close to the border, they vowed to spend as much time on the move as they could. They were under orders to see me delivered to Ayden's fortress and get the wedding underway.

"Your father should have simply ordered the Duke to marry you in the palace and be done with it. Royal politics really make no sense sometimes. Duke Sulien's men technically belong to the king anyway, why does Helios have to marry his youngest daughter to the man to have them cooperate in the war?" Xiomara murmured.  She had the guts to say all that with my father away.

"I heard that Ayden Sulien has been hoarding his resources since his court is so close to the north and the new Thanaten king has been frequently pushing over the border," Nadene chirped. "My cousin lives in a small village near here and she wrote to tell us that the Thanatens have been attacking Mithran villages under the cover of darkness when their shadows are at their strongest. She's considering moving back to the capital. You know, naturally, I told her it was a wise decision."

My head thumped back against the wooden wall as the handmaidens gossiped between themselves about my betrothed and the war. It was nothing I hadn't heard before. Yet it still brought a shiver along my spine to remember the stories brought to Galad about our people who lived too near the border with the Thanatens. My heart ached for them.

Even now it felt dangerous to be as close as we were for the sake of a wedding. But I knew I had to do my part. And if my father told me he needed Ayden's soldiers to help actively fight against the shadow elves instead of hiding themselves away, well, I would do my part in this war. Marrying a man that I'd never met properly seemed a small sacrifice.

Without warning, my head thumped painfully against the window frame as the carriage made a sudden stop. I heard the horses nickered and brayed wildly and soldiers were shouting.