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Naevius had never been to sure what would happen after her father took the throne. She knew her life was going to change, and it had, but never that this would happen. It was always a possibility just not one that she thought would actually happen. It was heartbreaking and put her in such a hard position so it was good that she had plenty of time to think about it on the ride to the vacation home. She briefly wondered if Varinia would be sent from the compound to help her, not that she needed help but it would be nice to have a friend around when she would be expected to host her future in-laws. Just the thought made her want to vomit. Her thoughts turned towards Sebastien and how close they had gotten lately. What would he think? Nae knew he thought the world of her father and the chance that he had given a poor oban boy who had nothing and gave him everything. She knew he already had thought their chances of being together as slim and now there wasn’t any way she thought she could convince him it was okay. What could she even tell him to get him to see this wasn’t what she wanted? She didn’t want a loveless marriage. A marriage of convienence just to appease some old stupid nobles. How was this fair to her? She already knew the answer but that didn’t make it okay. She’d drawn the short stick this lifetime it appeared. Most others would argue she’d drawn the best stick she could’ve. Who wouldn’t want to be a princess and perhaps even queen in the future? That answer? Naevius. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She wouldn’t mind it if she could be happy. If she could have the man she wanted. At this point, there probably wasn’t any reason to even contemplate what ifs. Naevius couldn’t see her way out of this one unless she gave up her crown. The more she thought about it, the more she was willing to do it to give herself and Sebastien the chance they deserved. But would he still want to be with her? After this stupid meeting was over with, she’d go back to the compound and talk to him about it. They could run away together. Run away to Yael or Belrea taming beasts as they went. It could work and the young woman could see herself happy. If only.


She’d been at her family’s vacation home for a little over a day when Varinia arrived with some other things for her from the compound. Her friend had sadly also handed her a letter addressed, Seb’s script writing her name across it. It was pretty short and sweet, to the point, as Sebastien often had been. He was leaving for some grand adventure for the king. He was unsure how long he would be gone. She shouldn’t wait for him though he’d remember her fondly. The tears had fallen of their own accord. It was almost as if her father had known, but how could he? They were so careful. She could no sooner stop the tears than she could make the moon rise at noon. Naevius found herself sleeping for most of the day and into the morning, her face still holding the tracks from her tears. Her eyes were red and dry when she was awoken. Her betrothed and his family would be arriving that day and it would be expected that she would play her part. Now, with a broken heart and all, she got up to play the part that was written for her as she found herself with no other options.


Naevius helped make sure the estate was being prepared with enough rooms for them though she was never given a number of how many guests to expect. She cleaned herself up. Dressed like a princess and looked every bit the Oban Princess that was expected of her except for the slight red and puffiness of her eyes from crying too much. Her thoughts had slipped and she found herself having spaced out when she heard the gates opening. Naevius rose from her favorite chair in her room and went down to greet her guests. Yet, she was surprised to see a single figure standing apart from her staff as he finished taking the tack off the large Janarim he had apparently ridden to her family’s home. The man was tall; tall enough he’d stand a significant height above her. His long dark auburn hair was pulled into a knot at the base of his neck likely to keep it from tangling when he rode. Even Nae had to admit he struck a pretty impressive figure. Once his beast was cared for and the tack given to one of the taming apprentices he turned towards her. His eyes were calculating but at the same time there was a certain warmth to him. It somewhat eased her nerves that there wasn’t a coldness to his eyes that so many noble men had when they looked at a woman, especially one of her stature. ”Hello Princess Naevius. My name is Vasili. I apologize for my lack of entourage. I assure you it was not intended as a slight to you or your family. My family is just...yeah.” He almost looked a little embarrassed that he had arrived alone. Nae shook her head ever so slightly. ”Welcome, Vasili, please come in.”


Naevius led her new betrothed through to one of the prepared rooms, the largest of the rooms in fact. He towered behind her as he followed with a medium sized bag in hand. He said nothing and didn’t appear to expect her to entertain him at the moment. Opening the door, she simply pushed it open and stayed outside. She wasn’t going to put herself in what would be his personal space. Vasili seemed to stand just outside as he contemplated her. After what seemed like an extended period of time, he nodded his head and said a small ”Thank you.” He walked in and looked around. His eyes covered the room the way a soldier would, something that Nae took note of. ”I’m sure you’re tired after your journey. I’ll let you rest up. Dinner will be in about an hour. I’ll have someone come up to collect you. I’ll see you then.” Nae didn’t really want to stick around for conversation so she promptly turned and left him staring after her.

As much as she tried to keep it together tears still fell as she made her way quickly to her room at the other end of the vacation home. It took all of that next hour to compose herself for dinner. How was she supposed to deal with this? It was one thing to have to entertain other nobles. It was an entirely different issue to have to deal with this one singular man whom she was supposed to marry in the near future. She made her way down early only to find he was already seated and talking with some of the staff that maintained the house. He seemed to smile easily with them, talking animatedly about something, gesturing wildly with his hands. From what Nae could gather he seemed to be telling a battle story. Once one of the staff came over to talk to her Vasili realized she had arrived and he seemed to withdraw into himself, becoming much more reserved as was fitting their stations. Dinner passed by with small talk, pleasant but lacking substance. It seemed as if neither knew just what to make of their situation. When they had both finished dessert, Naevius rose to leave but stopped upon hearing Vasili’s chair scrape as he stood up quickly. ”Princess wait. Please.” He walked over quickly. ”I know you’re not happy with this arrangement, with reason.” He added before continuing. His face was serious but there was something else underneath. She couldn’t help but wonder what his story was. Normally she knew most about the Oban nobility but couldn’t seem to remember much about a Vasili. Perhaps it was because he was old blood who followed the old king. Yet, she couldn’t figure out what he was trying to get at. ”Well, if that’s all, I’ll be going now.” She could see the slight shift in him yet again, he stood up straight once more and cleared his throat. ”I suppose it is. Goodnight, Princess.” And as if he wanted to be able to have the last word, he turned on his heel and left. The rest of the visit was rather uneventful. They were pleasant to each other. They made small talk and still Naevius could see the wall that they kept up between each other was still firmly intact. She said goodbye to him at the end of the week, they hugged awkwardly before he lept atop his janarim and left once more. Vasili looked back once before he went through the gate before spurring his mount faster and leaving. Even with him gone Naevius found it hard to find the peace she once had. ”’Til next time.”

Naevius tried to school her face although it was a challenge. Her father had hired a wedding planner who was trying to make this large extravagant wedding with all this frilly nonsense. She suppressed a sigh as she remembered her father’s face when she and Vasili had visited the capital together, holding hands for her father’s benefit. He had been over the moon that ‘her daughter had finally fallen in love’ and ‘what a strapping young lad’ Vasili turned out to be. She had been relieved that he was so happy but then again why wouldn’t he be? His council was now satisfied that they’d gotten their princess married off to one of the old blood families who had supported the old king. Perhaps they thought they could make things return to how they were. Nae’s mouth quirked at that though. Vasili was not that kind of person, at least she thought so. He was kind in small ways to not just her but everyone he encountered. He treated people with respect no matter their station. He worked hard to get to his position in the Oban Army even though he had no reason to be. He was the ‘spare’ as his family called him. Her father had once thought it a slight that his advisors would want his ONLY daughter to marry someone who wasn’t even an heir to a family yet he was the only one that wasn’t already married or too young so he had conceded. Because of all this, Vasili had once thought he would be afforded the freedom of choice: be who he wanted to be, be with who he wanted to be. He had all that up until Nae. There had been someone he’d had a crush on when he was pulled abruptly from Belrea and told to go meet her at her family vacation home. Naevius had not been what he expected for his future and he had resented that at first until he got to know her. She wasn’t like the other nobles. She was different, like him.

Vasili squeezed her hand as she apparently missed a question Cinna, the wedding planner, had asked of her while she day dreamed about Vasili and the not so distant past. Nae cleared her throat, ”I’m sorry, could you repeat the question.” Cinna sighed making it seem like this wasn’t the first time he had to repeat himself. To his credit, it wasn’t, and likely wouldn’t be the last. If only she could just have Varinia deal with this man it would make things a whole bunch easier. Not only did her friend have some awesome fashion sense but she also didn’t tend to take much crap from people. Maybe she should be more like her, she was the Oban Princess after all. ”I asked if you’d like this pink maroon lace to be imported or if you would rather go with a deep gold.” Naevius blinked at him a few times. If she was honest with herself she wasn’t really sure exactly what they were talking about. Decorations? Tablecloths? Her dress? She sighed as she stood up, ”So here’s the deal. I’ll work with a designer for my dress. You get no say over that. The ceremony will be held in the palace, keep the decorations tasteful, thin crimson fabric with golden accents to accentuate the hall. Keep it light and flowing. The dinner and the party afterwards will be held outside to accommodate the large number of people. The decorations there will also be kept tastefully and minimal. Accentuate the space you’re using, don’t MAKE a space. Gold accents as well as small green gems added here and there for contrast. Do NOT go overboard. Send me your selections and if I like them then I’ll give you the go ahead. You have two days for your first draft.” With that, Nae pulled Vasili’s hand gently to indicate they were leaving and left the wedding planner’s mouth open in astonishment behind her. She didn’t often act like a stuck up royal but perhaps it was overdue in some cases.

The engaged couple sat in her favorite little courtyard enjoying a drink after their meeting with the wedding planner. ”I don’t think Cinna expected you to speak to him in such a way.” There was a hint of laughter to his voice that made Naevius smile. ”Perhaps he had forgotten who he was talking to. Just because I don’t act like some of the other nobles doesn’t mean he can try to steam roll me.” He smiled back at her as they sat in companionable silence as they enjoyed the garden view and their drinks. ”Vasili...I know we’re not really a…” She paused as she tried to classify their relationship. ”Conventional couple. But because of my status...certain things are going to be expected of me. Of us.” Vasili’s eyes widened in understanding. Perhaps he hadn’t really thought of it. That because they were more of companions than lovers he hadn’t thought of the possibility of children. ”Ah, I see. You mean they’ll expect us to produce an heir.” Naevius nodded slowly. ”Vasili...I know I’m not exactly who you thought-” ”Are you kidding me right now Naevius?” Taken by surprise by his interruption, she looked at him in surprise. ”Have you seen yourself, Nae? Sure you’re not really who I thought I would marry but I’m not exactly complaining over here. Quite frankly you’re gorgeous. You’re amazingly kind and generous for someone of your stature. How could I not fall in l-” Vasili caught himself before he could speak his true feelings for her but they both knew what he was about to say. He laughed awkwardly. ”Lets just say it isn’t difficult to imagine having a family with you.” Vasili admitted softly. Naevius was shocked, she hadn’t really been aware of his true feelings towards her. She thought her feelings of companionship were mutual. Unsure what to say, Nae just nodded. ”I understand.” It seemed Vasili was on board with the idea of children. She had never really imagined herself as a parent, as a mom. Despite that, the idea of being able to teach her child all the kinds of things her mother had taught her before she passed brought tears to her eyes. Being able to teach her child all kinds of things about beasts and Vasili teaching them how to ride. Nae could tell that he’d be a good father but would she be a good mother? At least she would have someone who loved her to help her through it, even if all the feelings weren’t returned. Oba needed an heir. Nae wanted happiness. Having a child with Vasili could bring both couldn’t it? While she wasn’t sure if she was ready to be a mother, Naevius knew she would have people she could depend on to help her. Varinia would be around, she could ask her father for advice, and of course Vasili.You’re not exactly hard to look at either, Vasili. She thought. Maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult, to have a family with you. Their child would be loved, most of all by their parents.