AN: I like the concept on the Fates story but I'm changing it up a little… okay more like a lot. Same characters will be used in the story but things will be a little different.
Corrin's POV
I was jolted from my bed as my handmaiden jerked me up. I blinked blearily to clear my eyes and to focus. I was in my bed in Hoshido and the white cotton material was so comforting that I just wanted to lay back down and go back to sleep. It was still dark outside, not even close to sunrise so why would she want me up this early?
"Milady, please wake up, your mother needs me to make you presentable as quickly as possible," Lenore said firmly and urgently. I looked at my maid and was slightly stunned. What would I need to be presentable for? They always paraded Ryoma and Hinoka around as they were the eldest siblings. I was content to be in their shadow.
Lenore pulled me up from the bed, surprising me with her strength from her small body. Lenore was the handmaiden I had had since I was a little girl. She was a dark brunette with chocolate skin and the deepest brown eyes. She was beautiful and she appeared to be about 30 years old even though I knew she was much older than that. Lenore was one of my best friends in the palace, even though she was my handmaiden she had been there in ways my own mother, Mikoto had not. I spoke many times on promoting her to a better position but it always seemed to fall on deaf ears.
I was quickly thrust into a white kimono that had pale red flowers sewn into the material. Before she put me in the kimono she bandaged my breasts down to match Hosidan styles, even though it didn't do much good as I was pretty sizeable compared to most women here. Her hands softly and swiftly pulled my silvery hair up into a braided bun style. She adorned it with a single white lily and she nodded, pleased with her work in such a timely manner. She ushered me out of the room and I made my way to my mother's study.
I stepped into the study and saw my mother there along with my older brother Ryoma. It took me a minute as I was still waking up to realize that my other sisters were there as well, Hinoka and Sakura were both in kimonos but Hinoka's was red with white flowers and Sakura wore a pink one. My mother's desk was what separated us from her and Ryoma, her back was to us as she was speaking to Ryoma in low tones. My mother's study was simple but reeked of classy elegance. Her cherry oak desk was elaborate in the golden handles and knobs on it. Around the study were shelves filled with books and paperwork. She had the opposite wall from her desk lined in chairs for when she met with generals.
Ryoma nodded in my sister's and my direction and my mother turned, the look on her face immediately put me on guard. She had a steely gaze on her face and she sighed, she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Ryoma stepped forward and put his hands on her desk and leaned forward towards us.
"We have a development, sisters, in our father's release from Nohr," he said with authority.
Our Father, Sumeragi, was captured by Nohr about nine years ago, while I was still a child. I don't remember much of him, being that I was now 19 but I did have fond memories. From what I could recall and figure out later, our father was doing diplomatic meetings and apparently offended the Nohrians in some way that constituted in him being captured and imprisoned. We had no clue what his actual offense was as we weren't given any information despite multiple missives sent to Nohr to try and reclaim him. Thinking he was dead after a year of trying, my mother recalled any help she sent to Nohr in the form of trades and food. We had suffered as a nation as a result as Nohr had plenty of jewels and gold to compensate us for the food we traded constantly, but we made due.
"Development? What kind of development?" Hinoka asked.
"Your father is going to be released after ten years of imprisonment," My mother replied.
"T-That's great! W-We should go get Takumi and t-tell him too!" Sakura stuttered out. It was then I noticed my younger brother was not in the room, that was extremely odd considering the news we were just given. He would be pleased that our father was coming home.
"We have decided to wait to tell Takumi until we told you girls first. The condition on his release is that we have to reinstall our trade routes with him," Mother said grimly. I could tell she was not happy about having these trades reinstated.
"Well, if it means our father back then do it," I said finally.
"Corrin, that's not all…" Mother trailed off and looked away. She glanced up at Ryoma and I could tell she was having an internal debate. "King Garon also wants a treaty, an alliance if you will."
"He wants one of you to marry his son," Ryoma finished for her.
I blinked. I blinked again. This was unfathomable, King Garon was going to have a treaty by marrying one of us off to one of his sons. I knew he had five children, three girls and two boys, just like our family. This was the bargain to get our father back and the price was more than I could bear. I couldn't imagine any of my siblings leaving to go to Nohr, the kingdom that captured our father and kept him for ten years and didn't even let us know he was alive. How could my mother do this to us?
"Absolutely not," Hinoka cried out. "I refuse to marry any Nohrian scum prince!"
"You have no choice, it has already been decided. The peace offered to both of our countries is worth too much to turn it down," Ryoma said firmly. He was the crowned prince of Hoshido, he overruled me and my sisters when it came to these matters, but mother had final say. She was the reigning queen of our country. I turned to her.
"Mother, you can't possibly mean to do this to us, this is our home." I looked at my mother's brown eyes and saw sadness in them.
"The decision is final. King Garon will be arriving soon with his two sons and their retainers. They will be here before the sun rises," Mikoto said, even though there was sadness in her eyes her words were steady and left no room for argument.
"Mother, you can't do this to us! We don't know those people and for that matter that country is riddled with disease! They have no morals, or any sense of decorum! I've seen the things they wear, mother, you can't honestly ask to put us in this situation." Hinoka argued.
"Glad to know our country is so well perceived by the women that I intend to marry off to my son," came a very deep voice from behind me and my sisters. I turned and saw a behemoth of a man standing in the doorway.
He was tall, had black, purple and white clothes on. A golden crown was set upon his head and he had white hair that was long, it melded into his long beard as well. He was old, way too old to have children around my age, I would think. Behind him I could see two males on either side of him. The more he moved into the room the better look I could get of the other two males. One was on his left and had blond hair that fell into his eyes. He wore black armor and a purple cape that came up past his ears. He was handsome, I'd give him that. He was fairly tall too, not as tall as his father though.
My eyes then came to rest on the male on his right (so Corrin's left) and I was actually in awe of how he looked. While Garon was old and ugly to me, this man… for that is all I could call him, was handsome. He had curly blond hair that fell almost to his shoulders, but was held up by a black circle around his head. He had bone structure for days, and he was tall, taller than his father by a few inches. He had on black armor but I could tell underneath his clothes that he was muscled, a deep red cape was falling down his back and a white cravat rested at his throat. He was… Ahem.
I jerked my eyes away from them and turned to see Hinoka suck in a breath and raise her chin defiantly. Sakura clung to her arm and hid behind her slightly, peering over Hinoka's shoulder slightly. I just looked at them calmly, I knew being defiant in this situation wasn't going to help me any. However, Hinoka was the spitfire out of us and she would fight to get what she felt she deserved.
"King Garon, welcome to Shirasagi Castle," Mikoto said with her arms opened in a welcoming gesture. "I apologize for the offense from my eldest daughter. Let me introduce my girls to you. On the far left we have Sakura, then Hinoka, then Corrin."
As my mother introduced us to the Nohrians I could see their gazes run across each of us. When I saw the tall man look at me, I felt a flush creeping up my neck. I couldn't stand Nohrians, but my attraction to him was something I had to push down. Way down. His eyes narrowed at me and his gaze roved over me. I felt my flush creeping more up the back of my neck. Good thing my back was to him. It was almost like a shock of electricity as he gazed at me, almost like he was drinking me in. I looked deep into those brown eyes and my lips parted, my breath hitching just a tiny bit that only I could notice. Just as suddenly as he looked at me, he snapped his attention back to my mother and the tension between us broke. The whole exchange lasted seconds, but it left me scorched.
Xander's POV
I was in Hoshido, the country that I was raised to hate, especially after what their king had done to us. Then taking away the food that we so desperately needed to supply our people. Our people were starving, they were sick, and without the food that Hoshido offered to us they were going to die. I begged and pleaded with my father for years and finally we had a resolution which led me here. It was Leo's bright idea to solidify the treaty with a marriage as neither side would want to start a war with one of their own embroiled in the center of it all. The logic was sound, but the thought at one of us marrying a prudish Hoshidan princess left a sour taste in my mouth.
The girls were passable, you couldn't see much in the way of their bodies with the way their kimonos were styled, and they had to have something pressing their breasts down. It was unsightly. It made them look like they had no shape whatsoever, and being raised on the beliefs of purity which would make them pretty boring and bland held no appeal. The princess hiding behind the other would never make it a day in Hoshido, though she was cute. The one she was hiding behind held no appeal to me as I could tell she was trouble. Then the other.
My eyes roved over to her and locked with hers. Her red eyes shone into mine and it was like an electric spark that flit between us. I kept my composure but I noticed her chest rose and fell slightly more and then when her lips parted I jerked my gaze away from hers. She was more trouble than she was worth.
"These Hoshidan princesses will make fine additions to the Nohrian family. I am King Garon and this is Leo, my youngest son and this is Xander, my eldest," he said with authority.
"Daughters, give me and your brother some time with our guests as we have many things to discuss," Mikoto, the queen of Hoshido said firmly. The three princesses moved to the door, causing me to have to move to the side so they could pass. The two girls that were touching moved first then the third passed by.
As she passed, I got a whiff of her smell, it smelled of lilies and… cinnamon. It was unique smell to be sure and my nostrils flared at the scent. I turned my gaze to her and she was looking at me as she passed. The electric fire surged between us again and it wasn't until she left the room that I could jerk my gaze away from her. Father and Leo were already at Mikoto's desk with papers in front of them hashing out the details, while the crown prince, Ryoma had his eyes set on me, disapproval clear in them. I stepped up to the desk hastily, my secure emotional mask back in place and I turned to the documents that were in front of us.
"As you know we want the food and medicine and trade routes reinstated to Nohr. In return you will be well compensated for what you give us." Leo said with a serious look on his face.
"Yes, dependent on the return of Sumeragi," Mikoto said softly. "No marriage either until he is back in Hoshido."
"No, the marriage happens first," Father interrupted her. "No marriage, no return, no trade, no gold. That is how it works. One of your girls must be married to one of my sons before we return your king."
"That is not what we were led to believe," Ryoma said angrily.
"The marriage is dependent on the return of my husband," Mikoto said, backing up her son's words.
"I want a marriage first to ensure you will hold your end of the bargain before we return him to you," King Garon said.
"Well how do we know you won't kill him after you get what you want?" Ryoma's heated words came out under his breath.
"Just like how do we know you won't trade with us and guarantee the marriage otherwise? We will sign the treaty and will return the king to you, the day after the marriage," Leo compounded. "Once the marriage happens then we will return your king to you the day after."
"The day of. I want my husband there when my daughter gets married," Mikoto said and looked directly into King Garon's eyes.
"Deal." This was the first time I spoke up during their exchange and father and Leo looked at me with surprised looks. "The only way we are going to make a compromise is if we meet somewhere in the middle. We will return him on the day of the wedding. But the princess will have to be guarded under Nohrian guards to ensure you won't try to whisk her away."
Mikoto's and Ryoma's faces were showing they didn't like that at all, one of their precious princesses under Nohrian guard, but it would be that way anyways after the wedding. Mikoto looked to Ryoma and he nodded.
"That will do."
"Now, to discuss which princess will marry my son, Xander," King Garon had a smirk on his face. "I want the small girl." I turned to stare at him. The girl that cowered? She wouldn't last a day in Nohr.
"May I suggest Hinoka?" Mikoto offered.
"No. I won't marry her," I spoke up. "Nohrian scum prince, remember? She would cause an uprising before we even left Hoshido."
"Very true, then who would you recommend."
"Corrin."
AN: Look, it's a rough first chapter. I plan on updating as much as possible and if you guys see anything where I could improve please let me know. This is tough for me as I don't like putting myself out there but, thanks in advance.