The past is made to guide you, not to define you.
Do not lose sight of the way to the future while wandering in the darkness of the past.
"Do you, Princess Allura Sutton Iliana Schuyler of the kingdom of Altea, take this man to be your joined partner; in life, in death, and through all eternity?"
Blinking to keep the tears from fully forming in her eyes, Allura took a single, calming breath before stoically vocalizing her assent.
"I do. Through this life and the next."
At her back, she could feel her mother's tension rise; she'd never been able to lie to her mother, regardless of how much she longed to at times. She could not allow herself to regret this decision however; her father's concern and her mother's disbelief, though painful to her very soul, meant nothing compared to the potential this union would have for both the Altean and Galran races. Their current alliance was known for being shaky at best, built upon convenience and shared circumstances, but the whispers in the rooms, the unspoken 'but what happens when those circumstances change?', haunted all her recent thoughts.
When Lotor had come to her, bowed down in a such submissive display of deference, and requested her hand in marriage, her initial response had been one of amusement. In what universe would she, the heiress to the glorious kingdom of Altea, agree to marry some upstart noble boy simply as he was from the most upper echelons of Galran society? Apparently this one, her mind reminded as she was drawn back to her current position; watching him repeat the vows required of the second party within a joining, no she should call it a mating. That was what they referred to it as; the sacred process of joining dubbed something as callous and repulsive as mating. But as a soon to be Galran wife she would do her best to merge their cultures, even within the confines of her own thoughts.
His voice was deep, solemn and betraying such little emotion that she had to wonder how much of his motivations were of the affection and desire her claimed he held for her throughout their brief courtship, and how much of his motivations were actually the same as her own. Or perhaps, a darkened voice whispered in the back of her consciousness, his motivations are entirely different, child, and you are a fool not to see what they truly are.
Distantly, as though held within a dream from which she only longed to wake from, she heard his response to final question. The response that would bind them together, both as people and as races. Altean and Galran relationships were far from forbidden, he himself was a perfect mix of both the bloodlines, but joining? Such a solemn union between the two races? It was unheard of and as far as her grandmother would have been concerned, utterly unthinkable. Yet here she stood, her gentle ivory dress contrasting as any bride's should against her skin, desperately avoiding the man's gaze as his eyes turned to bear into her own as he spoke with a reverence that felt far more sinister than it ever should.
"I do. Through this life and the next."
Allura struggled to keep her breath steady as she forced the most regal smile she could manage onto her face and turned to her husband. His eyes were steady but she could swear that behind those lilac irises she saw through to the coldest soul she had ever had the misfortune to witness; it was a sudden realisation and it terrified her.
"Shall we, my Allura?"
Startled back to reality, she placed her hand within his with a startling amount of familiarity and obedience. She allowed him to guide her, as any lover would, back towards the front of the altar where their blood would be mixed to be placed within the gems that now rested upon their fingers.
Keeping the smile upon her face, she prayed to Thea that none of the witnesses present noticed the tears that she knew were no longer being kept at bay. At the very least, she hoped Thea would grant the grace of them believing they were tears of joy and not the tears of a woman who was doing everything within her power not to regret the unchangeable decision she had just made.
Meanwhile, listening to her husband and his now in-law discussing future endeavours, her mother could only hope that it would not be the final decision her daughter would ever make.
A/N: So I know this is terrible XD But I put so much time into it I just had to put it out there somewhere. Kind regards if you've come this far.