Elena took a long breath, looking at herself in the mirror. The wedding dress fell on her perfectly but she could barely see it.

"You don't need to do it," her father touched her back. "We can find another way."

The princess just kept staring at herself in the mirror. Her face was cold, and her brown eyes were digging so deep into her own reflection that she could feel her soul breaking into pieces.

"They are waiting for us," Elena finally reminded him. "Everyone."

She closed her eyes and then opened them once again.

"They need us," she reaffirmed. "Come on. Let's go."

Tony held his daughter's arm, walking out of her room and through the corridor while the staff watched them.

Elena and Tony were alone. She was an only child, having lost her mother early in her life, and the obvious future queen. It's not like they were in a full monarchy though, but their roles were important. Her father's decisions were always to be accompanied and measured by the parliament and his authority had limits these days, as well as hers would. Still, there were things she needed to answer for and alliances that still required her. That's why she was in that dress right now.

James Buchanan Sebastian Philip Barnes-Rogers was the prince of a country close to theirs, much smaller but they needed their help. His country was currently in a war, running out of soldiers and even food and his older brother – King Steven, the first – had approached Tony with a proposition of exchanging his younger brother for full support. The king wanted to refuse it, stating that Elena was not a coin to be exchanged, but he didn't. She was getting older – the two of them were – and the pressure to find a husband was turning her life into a mess. Every man she could ever meet was trying to get a place by her side or worse, her bed. Everyone who approached the princess wanted something and she couldn't take that anymore.

Elena waved outside with a large smile while people cheered around the carriage she rode.

"We can still leave," her father affirmed when they stopped in front of the church. "We can leave, just say the word, right Happy?" he said to the security man.

"Yes, sir."

Elena shook her head, squeezing his hand.

"Come on, dad," she smiled once again. "I'm not going back now."

Tony walked his daughter into the huge cathedral and the two stopped to talk to the bishop. She couldn't hear them, as Wanda – her maid of honour - fixed her dress and positioned herself along with the bridesmaids and the page boys.

When they finally started walking, Elena had to tell herself not to squeeze her father's hand too tightly or walk too slow – or fast. Her smile was almost painful to hold. She could feel the hand around hers tightening when her and Tony laid eyes on the man standing with his back turned to them beside his brother – the king. James was massive, with large shoulders and strong arms that could probably lift his wife up with little to no effort.

When he looked at her, his eyes were the bluest the princess could have ever seen in her life, beautiful and bright. She couldn't hear the words spoken to her, not with him looking at her with the corner of his eyes. When he turned to look at Elena, he couldn't look her in her own brown eyes, but his voice was firm and his grip tight on her small hand as he said his words.

"I, James Buchanan Sebastian Philip, take thee, Elena Catherine Grace, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy law; and thereto I give thee my troth."

The princess took a long breath before it was her turn. She and Tony had a long discussion about what she was going to say and how much she would actually mean.

Don't make promises you can't keep.

"I, Elena Catherine Grace, take thee, James Buchanan Sebastian Philip, to my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy law; and thereto I give thee my troth."

Elena could see the moment on his face. The single, small word she had left out that made his jaw twitch and his eyes to freeze on her face. She could feel everyone staring at her, from King Steven to her own husband and every single person inside the building.

Obey.

She didn't promise to obey.