The first chapter of the one-shot series I have been promising. These will not all be romantic by the way. Just one-shot stuff I have kept stored away.

Anyways, here is a weird little pairing I have dropped hints about. SaraxArchibald

He called her "The Summer Beauty".

She called him "Archibald".

He loved her.

She didn't know.

He was a general.

She was the queen.

He was older than her.

Garlan law forbid such love but Archibald was a man who was not about to be denied by words written on paper.

Arcana, the Wizard Council building

Sara Evadeus sat by herself in the small garden within the Wizard Council building. She had recently crowned herself the queen of Fiore and queen of the Garlan Empire by taking power from the Wizard Council by force. But now she sat in the garden, looking at all the beautiful plants and listening to the birds fly by.

She was young, not yet seventeen. But she was one of the most powerful people in the world. She had many suitors, all of them handsome young men of lower wealth but of royalty. She had long considered a marriage between kingdom and empire but she was still choosing her consort.

There was reason for this unrelenting suitor crowd. She was a beautiful young woman, dark brownish-blonde hair, blue eyes like sapphires and a regal bearing like no other queen. She was wearing a cool and loose dark blue gown and was smiling at flowers.

But among the huge amount of suitors, there was one, lesser known one. His name was Archibald and at this very moment, he was watching Sara through a window from within the building. He loved her dearly. He was a general in her army but alas, he was at least six years older than her and Garlan people were suspicious of marriages between a man who was much older than a woman. Archibald was a tall man, standing a head taller than the queen, short brown hair combed neatly, small round reading glasses, wearing his ceremonial armor with a fluffy animal fur trim going around the back of the armor. He was wearing white breeches and his sword was belted to his waist by a steel belt.

"The Summer Beauty is so close yet so far…unreachable by this damned superstition." Archibald said broodingly as he watched Sara from afar.

The general had started to love Sara ever since she had accepted him into her service as a mage. The love was only admiration at first but then Archibald discovered that he truly loved the young woman who he had sworn to when he became a general.

"Perhaps I can try a subtle approach…get her in the mood by speaking of suitors and then tell her…"Archibald muttered to himself as he looked out of the window at the love of his life.

Finally the general decided that today would be the fateful day. He would show his love for Sara today, no matter what. The general strode out of the council building, confident and he reached the queen in only a few strides. He bowed as the queen smiled at him and Archibald pushed his glasses up.

"My lady, more suitors have sent their letters." Archibald said, not lying about the batches of letters.

The queen nodded, knowing that each one was a potential match. She already had a few in mind as a matter of fact.

"Thank you Archibald. But I would like to ask you a question." The queen said, looking at the general, worry on her face.

"Anything my queen." Archibald said in reply, his breath bated. Was she going to speak about which match was best?

The queen sighed and looked around the garden. If only she could spend her entire life like this, surrounded by pretty flowers and songbirds. Would her end be as happy as this? But the queen turned to Archibald, seriousness on her face.

"My suitors, I was thinking of an alliance with another nation by marriage. I was considering Daniel of the Angkols or Gregory of the Carolinians." Sara said as she told the general her plans.

Archibald nodded his head, thinking furiously. Daniel was most certainly out due to his hate of mages. Gregory was certainly a viable option, Archibald had met him many times and he was a very nice young man. But Archibald held firm. For once in his life dedicated to the servitude of the monarch of the Garlan Empire, Archibald would make a move for his own personal benefit. But was this a benefit to Sara as well? Would she be happy, her consort a man who was six years older? Would the public be happy? Archibald bowed.

"My lady, in a due respect, I believe none of those suitors are viable options. I would suggest a suitor…closer to home…" Archibald said, dropping a subtle hint with his suggestion.

The queen shrugged and thought about her potential suitors within the royal court and in the consuls. There were a few promising individuals…

"Then would Feodor of the Gassani family be eligible? His family is quite wealthy and they have been a long supporter of my reign." Sara said to Archibald, the general thinking once again how he could steer the conversation to his own love.

Would this be a good time to profess his love? No…he would have to wait a little bit longer. But then Archibald had an idea. What if he brought up a general? Depending on her reaction, Archibald to either confess or wait…

"My lady, how about one of your long serving generals as consort? There are many capable young generals in your army and they have proved themselves strong. Would any of them be eligible?" Archibald said, waiting for a flat out rejection.

To Archibald, marriage with a general seemed wrong. Just something about it did not feel right to Archibald. But to his astonishment, the queen slowly nodded her head! Archibald's heart soared high and he felt like getting on his knees right away to confess. But he waited. Just a bit longer…

"And who did you have in mind Archibald? You seem to be the quite the match maker." Sara said jokingly, smiling at the general.

To the queen's surprise, the general dropped to one knee, head down. His voice was steady although his heart was beating out of control. Sara looked at the man with surprise. Just what had gotten into him?

"My lady Sara, queen of the Garlans, queen of Fiore, defender of the faithful, daughter of Peter Evadeus, scourge of the Yulfstein Empire, ruler supreme of all the people of Seria and liberator of the hearts of the poor*, I, the lowly Archibald Wener, ask for your royal hand in marriage." Archibald said, looking down into the concrete path.

Sara was speechless. He had never heard anyone call her by her full title, nevertheless call themselves 'lowly' in comparison to her. She was about to speak but was cut off by Archibald.

"I have nothing of value to give to your highness like the other suitors who ask for your hand but I can give you safety from all who would wish to harm you. I now swear in the name of The Parallel Saint and Saint Evadeus that if I was to break my vow, I shall be sentenced to the same fate as that of a thousand sinners." Archibald said as he remained kneeling.

Sara slowly smiled. This was certainly a pleasant if not sudden confession of love. Archibald never stopped to amaze her.

"Rise Archibald." Sara said calmly.

Archibald stood and looked at the woman he just proposed to. She suddenly held out her hand and Archibald just looked at it dumbly. Sara smiled at his confusion**.

"It is a Garlan custom of courtship for a man to help a woman stand when she is sitting." Sara said, quite pleased with Archibald and herself.

Archibald helped Sara stand and the queen looked at the general, a beaming smile on her face.

"Oh Archibald, we shall see where this courtship will lead us."

…

And there we go! The first romantic one-shot I ever wrote! Unfortunately, we know how this story ends. They have a good marriage until Darius goes off on his own adventures….

Anyways, here are the references.

*This is Sara's full title as Garlan queen. Drake's full title was at least three times as long and it HAD to be announced at every state dinner and other formal occasions.

**Archibald is not from Garla. That is why he didn't understand what Sara meant when she held out her hand.

I hope you all liked this! Thanks for reading! FF