Hey! So I'm new here and this isn't the first fanfiction I've written, but it's the first one I've published. I hope you like it, it's a totally different setting to the one in the Finding Sky books but I wanted to do something different to it, whilst still keeping the characters we all love. I don't know if it's any good, I think this chapter may not be very exciting so not the perfect opener? I don't know. Reviews will be highly appreciated so I know whether I should continue with this or not.

-Lizzy

Chapter one

I had never felt more like I was a possession, something to give away, than I had at that exact moment.

I was twenty-two years old and it was my wedding day. I had dreamed of this day, of it being like a wedding from the dusty old fairy-tale books I had learned to read from as a child. It should have been the happiest day of my life. I should have been in love with the man I was engaged to.

I wasn't a civilian though. I was a princess which meant I had a duty to my kingdom to do what was best for them. This wedding wasn't necessarily the best thing for me, but it was for the kingdom, so I couldn't say no. Well, I hadn't had a choice, but if I had I think mother would have persuaded me to make the right decision eventually.

I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. My hair had been braided and fell loosely down my back, with red flowers woven in throughout. My face looked fresh, with just a little bit of blush on my dark skin and some rouge on my lips. The maids had done well, with the assistance of my ladies-in-waiting.

The seamstress had done well too. My gown was white as per tradition, with lace sleeves to my elbow and lace covering my chest and the bottom half of my neck. It was floor-length too, meaning that almost all my skin was covered. Still, it hugged my curves tightly before spinning into a full skirt just below my knees. It was beautiful and suited me perfectly; I wished I could enjoy it, but the truth was I couldn't enjoy anything about today.

I wondered what my future husband would think when he saw me walking down the aisle toward him. It would be the first time we had ever met and I wondered if he'd deem me suitable for him. If he dared to say I wasn't, I would give him hell for it. I didn't want his approval anyway, I was only marrying him for the alliance.

The three kingdoms – Adwyndra, Zilathien, and Priewen – had been at war with each other for many centuries. The history textbooks talked of a betrayal long ago, but that was as specific as it got. The details didn't even really matter. What mattered was that it was getting out of hand and far too many innocents were dying.

Something had to be done.

The Priewenese were the most vicious of the bunch, so mother wrote to the queen of Adwyndra and asked for an alliance, to join their forces and protect both kingdoms from the Priewenese. The queen of Adwyndra agreed to the alliance on one condition: that I, the only princess of Zilathien, marry one of her seven sons.

I'd never met any of the seven princes of Adwyndra but I had heard of their reputations: two were apparently kind, gentle, and respectful; four were meant to be arrogant and womanizers; and one was the Beast. The Beast was the third son, and according to the rumours he had been given the nickname due to severe facial scarring. Word had spread that he was terrifying.

Unfortunately for me, I was to marry the Beast.

Clarissa, one of my ladies-in-waiting, stepped forward and smiled at my reflection in the looking glass. "Well, Adelina? What do you think?"

I took a deep breath, thankful that she wasn't bothering with formalities on a difficult day such as today. "I think it is lovely," I answered, smoothing my sweating palms down the sides of the gown. It was made of a thin material yet I still felt like I was overheating. "Please pass on my thanks to the seamstress." I turned to face the three maids in the room, who all bowed their heads to me immediately. "Thank you for helping to prepare me for this day. You may leave."

As soon as the three young women left, I looked over at Clarissa and Bethan. The twins, identical in their plain beauty, had been my ladies-in-waiting since I was sixteen years old, but I had known them much longer. Their mother was a lady-in-waiting to my mother, and had often brought the girls to work with her. They were the same age as me and we'd grown up playing together. They were my best friends.

I felt tears spring to my eyes and tried to hold them back, not allowing them to fall and ruin the carefully applied make-up. "I don't want to do this," I told them. It was something they'd been hearing for the past three months, since the marriage was first agreed upon. "I don't want to wed someone that I do not love. I do not want to move to an unfamiliar land. Why couldn't the queen of Adwyndra at least have chosen another of her sons for me to marry? Why did it have to be the Beast? Even the sound of him scares me."

"She probably chose him because she knows this will be the only chance he has to get married," Bethan answered bluntly, never one to hold her tongue. "I mean, from what I've heard about him, no one is going to choose to marry him."

Clarissa shot her sister a glance that said she clearly wasn't helping. "Lina." She gave me a soft smile as she readjusted the silver tiara that glittered with diamonds on the top of my head. "Just think of all the people this could save. Think of the fact that you will finally be out of your mother's reach so she can no longer control you. Think of the land you can explore. Bethan and I are coming with you. You won't be alone in this and we won't let anything bad ever happen to you, okay? Now stop scowling, put a smile on your face, and hold your head high. You are strong and you can get through anything."

I did as she told me to. I had to admit that she'd made me feel a little bit better and brought my confidence back. I had never shown a weakness to my people – as their future queen, I both wanted and needed their respect and admiration, which I had achieved over the years. I wouldn't let them think I wasn't strong enough to lead them and do what was necessary.

I would marry the third price of Adwyndra. I had made that promise and I would keep it, however that didn't mean I had to be the perfect princess bride to him. I didn't need to like him, I didn't need him to like me: I just needed the title of being his wife for this to work.

My confidence quickly wavered when I was stood outside the great hall and could hear the chatter of the crowd inside. Royal weddings would usually have hundreds in attendance, but Her Majesty Karla of Adwyndra had asked for a closed ceremony. Only the most important people from both kingdoms were in attendance inside the great hall, about a hundred in total, and honestly I was glad that there were less people there to gawp at me.

I'd looked out of a window on the way up to the hall and had seen thousands of people gathered outside the palace. People from both kingdoms had travelled to my home in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the newly wedded couple as we left. It had unsurprisingly been made into such a big event, which just made me more nervous.

I heard the chatter cease inside the great hall and as the huge oak double doors were opened before me, the organ players started playing the traditional wedding march. Violins joined in a moment later, creating a new melody that weaved perfectly with the old one, and my mother pressed up against me and linked her arm through mine.

In all three kingdoms, it were the women who were revered and worshipped the most, because of the fact all of our gods were goddesses. It was the queens who ruled the kingdoms, with their kings there just as their partner. A king could not sit on his throne without a queen beside his side. Because of this, my mother was the one to walk me down the aisle rather than my father.

"Get rid of that frown," mother hissed into my ear, tightening her grip on my arm. "If you can't force a smile onto your face, at least make yourself look neutral about this. We don't need the Adwyndrans to believe that you're miserable and don't want to join their royal family. Adelina." When she snapped my name, I stopped frowning.

My mother truly did scare me and I reminded myself, just like Clarissa had said, that at least this was my way of getting away from her at last.

We started to walk forward down the aisle, guests from my kingdom to my left and the others to my right. The great hall had been transformed, lit candles held in mid-air over the guests' heads – clearly the wedding planner had hired a savant with strong telekinetic powers. Red and white flowers adorned the guests' chairs and the two huge thrones at the head of the room, ribbons hung from everything, and the musicians sat high in the balcony dressed all in white for the occasion.

Walking down the aisle, I looked everywhere but ahead of me. I saw members of my mother's council, my aunt Sonya glaring at me as per usual, Duke Edmond's glum face (he had been in hopes that I would one day marry his son, an ugly, prematurely balding young man), and on the front row stood my father and my brother. My brother Charles looked angry at the situation, knowing this isn't what I wanted, whilst my father had tears in his eyes as he smiled at me.

Next I looked to the front row on my right side. I saw the royal family of Adwyndra. The family resemblance was striking, with their light brown skin and dark hair. The six princes stood there were all tall and handsome, looking at me with irate faces as if this whole thing was my idea. If they wanted to blame anyone, they should blame their own mother.

Finally, when I had nowhere else to look, I turned my head straight forward to inspect the man waiting at the end of the aisle for me. Like his brothers, he was tall. His body was broad and his dark hair, grown slightly past his shoulders, was pulled back into a neat, low ponytail. When he turned to look at me, I almost gasped in shock. I had been imagining what his ruined face would like, but I couldn't even tell. A black mask covered his entire face, made of a material that seemed to mould onto his face and defined his strong jawline. As I got closer, I noticed that only his left eye had a hole to look through, his right eye completely covered by the mask just like his face. Why was that? The one eye I could see was a striking, bright blue and had long eyelashes.

He met my eyes and I had no way to discern what he was thinking.

Everything after that sort of fell into a blur in my mind. My mother placed my left hand in the prince's, and I couldn't help thinking that his skin was abnormally ice cold. The officiator did a speech, talking about the duties of a husband and wife and how we were now under the care of the Love Goddess. I highly doubted that. Vows started to be exchanged and one quote of the officiator's stood out to me.

"And do you, Her Royal Highness Adelina Genevieve Rosemary of the family Ash of the kingdom Zilathien and heir to the Zilathien throne, take thee, His Royal Highness Victor Matthias Alexander of the family Benedict of the kingdom Adwyndra, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, in the names of all your goddesses, 'til death do you part?"

I stopped breathing for a second, looking up at the masked face. The thought of spending every single day of the rest of my life with this stranger haunted me. But I had no choice. As my mother had reminded me countless times recently: the kingdom came before my happiness.

So I did my duty. My hand trembled in the prince's as I said, "I do."

Rings were exchanged and a final statement declaring us husband and wife was made. For obvious reasons, we couldn't seal the vows with a kiss as per tradition. Instead, Prince Victor – my husband – went down on one knee onto the floor. He held my hand so gently, like he thought I was delicate and might break if he held any tighter, and pressed his forehead to the back of my hand. His mask was smooth and as cold as his hand. This position was a gesture of total respect and admiration, and I was too surprised by the action to say anything.

He stayed there for a moment before rising back to his feet, still holding my hand.

I didn't know what to think of Prince Victor. His size, the way he held himself, and his reputation intimidated me. I was in fear of him, which was made worse because of the fact I couldn't his face or expression. His deep, gravelly voice hadn't given anything away either. What did he think of this arranged marriage? What did he think of me? Did he wish he'd had the chance to choose his own bride, or did he think this was his only shot at marriage like Bethan had said?

I turned forward again, my gaze dropping to the floor just like I had been told to do in rehearsals for this day. Prince Victor let go of my hand and I knew it was because his mother was handing him something.

He stepped up behind me and I felt the weight of the cloak as he draped it over my shoulders. The cloak was made of a thick, soft and luxurious material. It was a deep red colour and I knew that the crest of Adwyndra – a swirling design of stars encircling a crescent moon – was on the back of the cloak. I turned around and lifted my head as Prince Victor tied the cloak at my neck, not too tight and not too loose.

He moved to stand beside me and took my hand yet again as we faced our guests together. Applause rang out and it took everything in me to keep holding Prince Victor's hand and to keep my expression steady as I stood straight and rigid. It took everything in me not to run away at that exact moment.

Well, there it was. It had happened.

I was married.

There was no going back now.