Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

A/n- May 3, 2015: Okay so I was originally going to publish this later on in the month, after exams. But it's been an extremely tough weekend so I decided to start working on this right away. All right, I already wrote a NaLu one-shot before and it was also an AU, so the praise on that gave me the courage to write a multichapter story. All right, so I'm a giant history nerd and so I decided to incorporate it into the fan fiction that I write. So that's how this story was born. The characters may be a little OOC at times, but I thought it'd fit them the best. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this!

Summary: She was formerly the crown princess and he had seized her father's throne. A marriage between the two would secure him the throne. Love was not necessary and they didn't even expect to like each other. But love can be found in the most bizarre places under bizarre circumstances. Even between two former enemies.


Chapter 1: Reluctance


Natsu had stopped listening. Anything but the subject that was being discussed would be better. He had seized the throne fair and square. But, as his advisors had been repeatedly telling him, obtaining it was one thing and maintaining it was a whole other thing. Most of Fiore still didn't recognize his rule. Being king meant very little if one did not have the support of his people. And for weeks now, they had been suggesting possible ways to get him their support. And so far, no solution seemed to be any good.

That was until...

"I have a suggestion, Your Majesty?" one of the advisors asked, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Do you now? Anything that doesn't involve me riding out and being chased out of villages by an angry mob?"

His irritable tone of voice matched the mood and patience of every person on the council. Everyone was tired and exhausted. After all the efforts to get Natsu on the throne, whole towns and villages had were still rising up against him. Calling him a false king and a usurper. Something had to be done soon, otherwise the country could torn apart by his supporter's and the old king's supporters. This country could not afford a civil war after everything it had gone through the last few years.

"Yes, sire. I am not sure how on board you will be with this solution but..." he trailed off. Natsu sighed. He wasn't that frightening was he?

"Spit it out. If it'll possibly secure the damn throne, I'm open to it."

"The country is in a state of confusion. The sudden rise of a completely new monarch and dynasty is bound to cause unrest. No one is convinced that you can actually rule them properly. However, there is a way to solve this peacefully and the people will have to accept you. Marriage," he said. Once he finished, he paused, waiting on the king's reaction.

The rest of the advisors seemed to raise their eyebrows at the suggestion. But Natsu openly grimaced at the thought. He knew this particular subject would come up eventually. I mean it was inevitable. He was king and he had to secure the line of succession. He had to produce legitimate heirs. And for that, he needed a wife. He hated the very idea though. He was a free spirit, not to be tied down easily. But still, the country came before his own desires, "Marriage. I see. So do you have anyone in mind then?"

Either way he'd hate it. But the advisor beamed and so he said, "The country recognizes the last king, Jude, as the rightful monarch. But now that he is dead, the people recognize his daughter and heir, Lucy Heartfilia, as their queen. I know it may seem like a distasteful suggestion, but I propose a marriage alliance between her and yourself. It may solve a large amount of our problems."

The room went dead silent for a good half of a minute. Natsu, who had previously been so disinterested in this very discussion, found himself staring almost furiously at the advisor. The advisor bit his lip, fervently praying that his suggestion hadn't just cost him his head.

"The Heartfilia girl? Are you mad?" one advisor barked. He had said what Natsu had wanted to say. Only he said it in a less crass manner.

"Yes the Heartfilia girl. As I said, a good portion of this country still sees her as the rightful heir to the throne. Think of it this way, if you were to marry her, the country would have no other choice but to accept you as their king," the man defended, pushing the positive side of the suggestion.

"And a Heartfilia back on the throne," Natsu said, flatly. His tone as well as his entire demeanor was kept in check when he was in a meeting with his advisers. But in truth, he wanted to burn the whole place to the ground at such a suggestion. He hadn't spent years in exile, fought battles with a ragtag group of soldiers, and miraculously win for this. He spent so much time trying to oust the Heartfilia and now he has expected to wed and put one back on the throne. No, there was no way he would do that.

"Yes it would. But you have to remember one thing, Your Grace. She's already our prisoner. If she were to escape with supporters of the Heartfilia and marry someone else, possibly someone with an army, it could spell disaster for you. She and her husband would be able to rally a majority good chunk of the country behind them and take back the throne. However, if you were to marry her, not only would your rule be secured, but as your husband you could have control over her actions," he said. He sat back down and waited.

Natsu didn't show it, but he was clenching his fists under the table. No matter how much he wanted to scream at the adviser that he was wrong, he knew that he wasn't. While he was king, which technically meant he could do as he pleased, he couldn't. Securing his rule was priority and to that, again he needed the support and favor of the people. And though he thought that he would eventually have the former crown princess executed on some trumped up charge, this solution was a lot less bloody and a lot more favorable. But still, he needed to think about that...

He nodded his head, "I'll take it into consideration. However, if I find anything problematic with this solution, I'm going to shoot down the suggestion."

The adviser only smiled and nodded, knowing that even though there could be potential problems with his suggestion, it was the best course of action and that the king would see it soon enough. Natsu, however, was trying to think of all different ways to shoot suggestion. And that by itself was difficult...


"A marriage huh?"

The meeting went on for what seemed like hours. Natsu didn't think that there was any more joy than when he was let out. And the second he was, he grabbed his best friend Gray and rode out to a small river close enough to the castle. Natsu groaned at the mention of the marriage proposal. Gray had a habit of listening in on the meetings from the outside.

"You really need to stop listening in on those damn meetings."

Gray shrugged as he picked up a pebble and flung it into the river, "Well, someone's gotta listen to what they tell you. Lord knows that you don't."

"Do we have to talk about this? Don't kill my mood even more," Natsu grumbled, also grabbing a pebble and throwing it into the river.

"No, we don't. Although I hear that Lucy Heartfilia is quite the beauty," he smirked, side eyeing his best friend, waiting to see the reaction. Often times it was hilarious, but not this time.

"Yeah? Isn't that what they all say to get their daughters married off? For all I know, she looks like a hag."

Again Gray shrugged, "Well I wouldn't know. I haven't seen her myself. But a few of the people around the castle definitely have. It's obvious from all the crude things they say and what they wish they could do to her. You'd probably be a lucky guy."

Natsu snorted, "Yeah, well if beauty were the only thing she had, I'd be completely all right marrying her. But I hear she has a bit of a temper, doesn't bend to anyone's will easily, and lots of determination."

"That's what you've heard. Have you actually met her?" Gray asked. Natsu eyed his friend suspiciously.

"What the hell do you care if I have or haven't? She's the daughter of my enemy. Why the hell would I want to marry her? And why the hell would she want to marry me? If there's one thing that for sure, being married to her is going to be miserable!" at that point, Natsu took a rock and flung it into the river, hard.

Gray just rolled his eyes, "All the more reason to keep her close. Whoever suggested it was right, you know. You'll be able to keep a closer eye on her if she's your wife. Also, I can still see that you're as stupid as ever." Natsu scowled at him but Gray went on before Natsu could even get a chance to open his mouth. "And who cares about what either of you want? You're the king, she's a princess. People in your high position don't get that luxury."

Natsu pouted and fell back on the grass and stared up at the sky. It was starting to get cloudy, much like his mood. Damn, he could've at least counted on Gray to at least have his back for once. But no, he had to be icy and reasonable. The bastard.

"Give it a shot. Who knows, you might actually fall in love with her," Gray smirked, half teasing.

Natsu scoffed at the idea, "Yeah, like that'll ever happen. Again, daughter of my enemy. She has more of a reason to hate me than I hate her."

"True. But give it a shot. I mean even if you don't like her, she's going to bring you a lot of power through marriage. Think about that. That's exactly what you need right now," and with that Gray went silent. He had nothing more that he could say.

Natsu whined a little. He only did it around Gray because if anyone else had seen it, he'd never hear the end of it. "Fine. I suppose I can meet her just once. But if I don't like her, which I know I won't, this whole thing is off. I don't care how much power she's going to get me, I'll get it some other way. I am not going to spend the rest of my life with a woman I won't be able to stand!"

Gray had to refrain from laughing in his friend's face. Natsu was honestly such a child in so many ways. Sometimes he wondered how he was able to win the throne in the first place. Gray wasn't about to go on and on about how, sometimes, the kings and queens of the past had to marry for political reasons and sometimes to people they outright hated. If Natsu was still in exile, he may have had a little room to complain, but as king? Definitely not. Gray knew that one way or the other this marriage was going to happen. He didn't know how, but it would.

And he also knew well, that while Lucy Heartfilia had a reputation for being a bit defiant, she would do her duty. After all, she was alive completely on Natsu's whim. And he also knew that if Natsu ordered it, she could lose her head in a flash. So if he chose to marry her, her life would depend on her answer and obedience...


Sewing and sitting indoors wasn't something that Lucy Heartfilia was particularly fond of. She'd spent so much of her life running around outside. She was always a bit of a free spirit.

And yet here she was. A prisoner in the house small castle she grew up in. Sure she wasn't a prisoner in the traditional sense, but she had so much more to lose if she made one wrong step. The men who guarded her were rude and more often than not, making inappropriate comments at her when they thought they couldn't hear her.

And at first it bothered her, it bothered her to the point where she would cry herself to sleep every night. She had been the crown princess, born with a silver sppon in her mouth, respected and loved by all. She was now reduced to a prisoner of the man who had taken everything from her. The girl who had kept her head so high was almost forced to bow her head in order to survive.

The two things that she held dear were the two things she had been allowed to keep: her life and her two dearest friends.

"Princess, I've brought you some food, you haven't eaten anything all day," Lucy spun around to see that it was Levy holding a tray of bread and apple slices. It wasn't a lot, but there wasn't much else she could eat around here, so she smiled warmly at her friend.

"It's Lucy, Levy. I'm no longer the princess remember?" she said, her voice slightly hushed. These days, she didn't speak much. And Levy for one, would not have any of it.

"You will always be the true princess in my eyes, Lucy. No matter who's sitting on the throne, it matters little. Most of the country is rising up in support of you. That pretender's days are already numbered. One day soon, it will be you sitting on the throne and he will be at your mercy!"

"Quiet Levy!" Lucy scolded, her eyes widening as she looked around frantically, fearing that someone had heard Levy's words.

"I do not care if someone heard me. You are the rightful heir. I know it's unlike me to speak like this, but I see you suffer day by day. I can't bear to see it anymore!" Lucy could see tears starting to form in Levy's eyes so she grabbed her hands gently.

"I haven't lost everything Levy. I still have you and I still have Erza. Maybe I don't have Juvia, but I know that she would be here if she could be. I still have my head. Don't...don't speak ill of the king. I'm still alive because of him," she said, but in truth she couldn't help but imagine herself running him through with the same sword that he had used to run through her father on the battlefield. But she had to keep herself in check. "I'm not broken Levy."

Lucy grabbed the small roll of bread and nibbled a piece off. She was famished, truth be told. She might've been in an extremely precarious situation right now, but she wasn't about to give up on hope. It had carried her this far and if she had to, she would fight to keep the life that had thus far been spared. But she had to be smart about it too. Being outspoken and defiant may have been tolerated by her father, but it was certainly not going to be tolerated by the current king. She cringed whenever she called him that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door suddenly opening. Lucy almost cringed at how loudly the doors here opened. But she smiled ever so slightly when the door opened to reveal the form of her other dear friend, Erza. And she had a letter in her hand. Lucy's heart dropped a little. Last time one of her ladies had come with a letter, it was ordering her to leave Lucy and return to her family's home at once.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but..." Erza started, holding up the letter in her hand.

Lucy inhaled, "Is your family ordering you to return to them as well?"

Erza arched an eyebrow, "Hm? No of course not. This letter is not addressed to me. It's addressed to you. And it's from the palace in Magnolia.

Lucy had to remember how to breathe properly for a moment. Maybe it was an order for her execution? No, it wouldn't have gone directly to her if it was. But why would they want with her?

"Did you intercept the messenger on your walk again?" Levy asked, sighing as she shook her head. Lucy may have been the most defiant of them all, but Erza had the most courage. Some of her stunts could have gotten her killed or at least severely punished had she been caught.

"What does it say?" Lucy asked, seeing that the seal had been broken. Normally that would've bothered her and she would've spared no effort in scolding but she was impatient now to know what it said.

"It says that the king is coming here, to this castle to meet with you. It says the matter is private, so I couldn't tell you why he wants to meet with you," Erza said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Erza liked to be on top of things and it frustrated her to no end when she wasn't in on something.

Lucy's brows came together as she visibly scowled at the prospect, "So the pretender is coming here. To meet with me. I wonder why. Maybe he wants me to swear my loyalty to him so that the whole country will follow suit. And if that is the case he is very foolish indeed. I will never bend a knee to him. He'll have to kill me first."

Lucy would've regretted saying all of that, but she couldn't be bothered now. Erza and Levy gave her a smile. It had been a while since they'd seen the confident, defiant princess in Lucy.

"King" Natsu really had no idea who he was dealing with...


Blekh! Sucky ending is sucky. Okay that went...not as great as I wanted it but it could've been worse. It's been a while since I started writing a multichaptered story. And this would be my first ever one for Fairy Tail so I'm a little terrified as to how this went. Again it's been a while since I wrote anything with any real plot so...I'm sorry! Okay I'm rambling. And do leave a review! I really like reviews. Kind of a whore for them. Every little one helps me improve a bit. And if you did like it, well I'll be updating again in a few weeks. Okay I'm done now. Thanks for reading this first chapter! :*

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