author's note: I felt like writing a Sleeping Beauty AU with Carenzo and this was the result. The plot will loosely relate to the plot of Sleeping Beauty and just to let you know, I'm not really good in all these Royal/Old terms and figure of speech. If it does seem a little off, it is my fault and I apologise for that. Till' then.
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.
Lana Del Rey - Once Upon A Dream
Year 1618
It felt like a rush, her standing next to the Queen, her mother, as millions of eyes rested on their unmoving figures.
Sure, millions might have been an exaggeration but she was just overwhelmed at the sight of the crowd that was standing before her. She took in a deep breath, earning a quick squeeze of the hand by the Queen, who'd noticed her daughter's obvious discomfort at the ceremony.
Truth was, Caroline had always hated these ceremonies ever since she remembered. It was a custom to hold one each year for the coming together of Kingdoms for political purposes and this time the vote had been to hold it in the Kingdom of Rania. They were always big and lavish, and it meant that Caroline would have to be on her best behaviour under the scrutinising eyes of the audience. It wasn't that she rarely behaved in a proper manner but the mere thought of failing her parents as their daughter and as the Princess of Rania was more than just an unwelcoming thought.
It was a nightmare.
"You can do this, my dear Caroline." Her mother's soft whisper immediately loosened her tension.
Caroline took quick glance at her mother who smiled in return, and the young lady felt a huge burden on her shoulder come off. She would have liked to think that her seventeen years as a Princess so far would have been short of nothing but messy if it wasn't for her mother.
Unlike her who was always a little too impulsive due to her insecurities, Elizabeth had been nothing like that. The Queen was a strong figure; she spoke prettily but firmly, she was gentle and gracious and most of all, she was beautiful adorning her blonde locks; something Caroline was thankful she inherited it from.
There were many things Caroline had been thankful for.
At twelve, her mother had told her to which her father agreed strongly, "You are beautiful, Caroline and you are the Princess the whole Kingdom would want to be loyal to. Show them that they can trust you, show them that you can lead too. You don't need to be a damsel in distress my child, you just need to be you."
Ever since then, Caroline had felt the real meaning of the word 'blessed'. Her parents, the King and Queen of Rania, have always told her from time to time again that her own happiness was key; provided she fulfilled the responsibilities of being a member of the Royal family.
Those too were simple; being kind to her people, making the effort to make friends with the neighbouring kingdoms for both diplomatic and personal relations and of course, being a filial daughter.
She could have had it much worse, hearing the horrid tales from her best friend, Princess Constance of Maine.
Constance paled in size in comparison, but she was still stunning. The brunette was the adopted daughter of King Maximus and Queen Felicity, both of whom were unable to conceive a child on their own. Their story travelled through many kingdoms and finally, at their mid-thirties decided to adopt an orphan in the Kingdom of Maine named Constance.
And that was how she became the Princess, an unhappy yet thankful Princess who was off to marry a snobbish King in a few months' time.
Caroline shuddered at the passing thought before settling her eyes on a familiar figure of whom she just thought of a couple of seconds ago.
"Constance!" Caroline called out a little too loudly, earning the stares of nearby spectators who shook their heads at the inappropriate outburst.
"Caroline!" The mentioned Princess moved in for a hug. "It's been too long."
"Over a month or so." The former replied, frowning. "I missed you."
"As I missed you." She answered as she sighed. "I've been rather busy with the wedding preparations. He is quite the useless fellow, but don't tell anyone I said that."
Caroline pursed her lips as her eyes darted the room for the supposed person. Upon seeing him, her frown turned uglier and she made a face to indicate her disgust.
"I still can't believe you're betrothed to Joseph. He's horrible."
"But he's the King of Winston, and he is rich with assets and money." Constance replied meekly. "And I know better than to defy Father and his orders. Thankfully, he's handsome so at least there's still a nice attribute to him."
"Yes, sure." Caroline agreed reluctantly. "But he's still horrid in my books."
"Was his move on you last year really that bad?" Constance laughed. "You are always so against him."
"He said I'll be an old maid when I didn't react appropriately to his advances. I can't help it if he does leave a bad taste in my mouth. But enough about me. Did your beau came today? I do recall his name was Philip?"
"Hush!" The brunette blushed, suddenly aware of her surroundings. "Please don't say it so casually, Caroline. He does happen to be the finest knight in our Kingdom."
"And a handsome one at that." Caroline's eyes spotted the young man who was alert should anything happen. "I honestly think you fit him better than King Joseph."
"And yourself?" Constance teased. "Who will you fit?"
The conversation dwindled down upon the announcement of King William, Caroline's father, to welcome a new Kingdom into the Order. It was honestly not difficult to be in what you called, 'The Order of Kingdoms', as all you have to do was to either be rich, or to have a passion in reuniting Kingdoms with peace.
It was easy to distinguish which Kingdom stand for which by a mere glance of their rulers, thus even in the Order, allies were made in exchange for friendship. Such an example was the Kingdom of Rania and Maine.
"I am proud to introduce you a new member to our Order, and today he has come in his father's stead so I assure you that he's a reputable young man although his kingdom may sound foreign. I present to you, Principe Lorenzo, Prince of Alessdria."
All eyes then glanced towards the door and in walked a handsome young man with his troops. Maybe it was the confidence he exuded or the poise he held so naturally but Caroline felt her heart flutter at the mentioned figure.
She had always thought that most Royals were naturally good looking, herself included, but this new Prince was just different. He had his messy dark hair and she could see the shape of his figure beneath his tightly fitted clothes, something Caroline thought was inappropriate of her to be noticing at first sight.
Or maybe it was just the way his deep set eyes rested on her for a second that had her stomach churned with butterflies and her mouth agape with wow.
"You like him." Constance whispered cheekily that made the Princess turned red. "Love at first sight, Caroline?"
"Don't be ridiculous." The girl retorted. "He's just really dashing, that's all."
"I honestly don't think he's anything special." Her best friend lamented. "But you do know what they say. True love conquers everything."
"Good evening to all." His polite greeting had the pair silent. "My name is Lorenzo, and I'm from Alessdria, a small Kingdom near Italy."
The first thing Caroline noticed was that the said Prince didn't speak in an Italian accent but an English one. Although he still had a foreign accent, Caroline can't help but wonder why an Italian Prince sounded English.
"You must be wondering to why I sound different." It felt as though he had read her mind. "I am more than familiar with the English customs for I've travelled to different Kingdoms before to study the way different Kingdoms function. That was my father's request before I succeed the throne as King."
Some nodded in understanding while others just stood motionless, threatened by the new Kingdom. Ironic considering that he was supposed to be an ally.
"I hope that our arrival to the Order would add on to the peace and safekeeping of all Kingdoms to together work towards a better future."
"We are honoured to have you join us, Prince Lorenzo." King William smiled greatly. "Please do make yourself at home. I will attend to you personally if need be but for now, let the celebrations begin!"
Year 2012
"Come on blondie. I always knew you were judgy but to this extent?" Enzo tried his hardest to stifle in his laughter, a result of Elena accidentally giving away the many nicknames she made for Damon. "I mean, I could understand Satan but a vampire gigolo? Now that really takes things up a notch."
"I'm glad you found it amusing." Damon rolled his eyes. "Don't you have somewhere to be Enzo?"
"And what about pretty vanilla here?" Enzo completely ignored his friend and pointed to Stefan instead. "Don't you have any nicknames for him?"
"Damon's right." Stefan was unamused at the whole situation before him. All it took were several encounters and now it seems that both Caroline and Enzo were getting along well. "Don't you have to go or something?"
Well, trust Caroline to always see the good in people.
"No." The blonde answered truthfully. "Though I always thought he had this super hero hair."
"And me? What about me?" Clearly someone was excited.
"You?" Caroline got lost in her own thoughts before blushing subtly. "You… well, you're just annoying."
And then she threw a pillow right at him, of which he thankfully managed to dodge.
"Come on, gorgeous." Enzo teased. "You can say what's on your mind. Everyone in this room knows that I am your type."
"She likes her boys bad." Damon joined in, giving up in making his friend leave. "From little Lockwood hybrid to big bad Original."
"Give her some credit." Elena frowned at the pair. "She used to date Matt too and he's a sweetheart."
"Are we seriously having a conversation on the boys I've dated or liked?!" Caroline practically yelled as she look at her best friend for support, who by the way, only shrug his shoulders nonchalantly. "So what if Enzo's my type? It's not like we're dating."
"So you do admit that I'm your type." The glint in Enzo's eyes cannot be missed. "Gotta say, blondie, you do remind me of Maggie."
"May she rest in peace." Damon interrupted softly.
"Well, like I was saying before I was interrupted rudely," Enzo glared. "You do remind me of Maggie and I certainly don't mind dating you."
"Well, I do." Stefan cut in much to his best friend's relief. "I think we could use a single Caroline for the time being. She's less of a control freak recently and I wouldn't want to change that anytime soon."
"Hey! I heard that!" The blonde pouted.
Unbeknownst to her, Enzo too was lost in his own thoughts. When he first heard that Damon had killed the love of his life, he had went on a rampage until a certain blonde vampire reminded him that Maggie would have hated to see him do that; would have hated him.
It made him pause, sad on the idea that Maggie could have despised him but he knew better because Maggie was dead.
Maggie was dead and the only one who could hate him was Caroline herself.
It didn't help that she reminded him so much of his precious Maggie because the thought of Caroline hating him with all of her heart nauseate him.
At the end of the day, he too felt disappointed in himself and he left hoping to find solitary silence.
Caroline though, she knew better and she searched for him and urged him to take things slow. She understand that the man was unstable, what not from the seventy years of captivity but she had promised him that she'll personally bring back the man that he once was; the man he said from his own mouth of which Maggie had reminded him that he was good all along.
And Caroline had kept her promise, much to the dislike of her best friend Stefan Salvatore. Enzo always felt that the latter had bear slight feelings for the blonde but would never reveal it to jeopardise their friendship.
This, Enzo thought, was really great because then he wouldn't have to compete with his friend's brother; of which Caroline had brought both them back when they were off the rails.
"Thinking of Barbie?" Damon's smirk annoyed and jolted the man out of his thoughts.
"Maybe." Enzo's cheeky smile had Caroline groaning in frustration, before adding softly. "And Maggie."
Her groans turned silent as it was her turn to stare at him. She gave a small sympathetic smile, as if to tell him that everything was going to be all right and that she was there for him if needed be.
Caroline had took it upon herself to guide Enzo back to the real world no matter what happens. There he was, the man who never once gave up on his love, even while suffering for a whole seventy years.
If she hadn't known that Enzo was a friend of Damon's, Caroline would have liked to think that she would be much closer to him than she is now.
"Guess it's' Goldilocks turn to think of me." His voice snapped her back to reality.
"Like I was thinking about you." Caroline huffed, something she always did when she lied, that the others knew too well.
"Get used to it, gorgeous." Enzo's sudden serious tone startled her. "I'll make sure that I'll always be on your mind. With Stefan's permission, of course."
Stefan had laughed it off, knowing Enzo was a joker. As much as he was intolerable at times, that because he felt like a negative influence to his older brother, the man did really know how to release one's tension.
But there was something in Enzo's eyes that Caroline felt all too familiar, something like she saw in both Tyler and Klaus before.
Something that told her that Enzo was set on pursuing her.
And tried as she might, she was certain she wanted it to happen.
She wanted to be pursued.
I know there's too much to be questioned right now like who are all these people from 1618 but I do promise you'll know with time.
But for now, hold tight and enjoy the ride?
I do hope to update this at least once a week.
Much love, lovelies.
xoxo