This was it, the blonde supposed, this was the beginning of the rest of her life. It was the day the tournament began, thus making it a year since she had seen her beloved. The blonde was too crushed and heartbroken to look for a potential partner, so she wasn't married when Winter Solstice came.
She became numb, her normally bubbly personality had disappeared, just like Eliza. She couldn't really blame the brunette. In all her hysterics, she hadn't told her she could get married to whoever she wanted before Winter Solstice. She just hoped that where ever her love went, that she was safe.
Her subjects had noticed the shift in personality, the clever ones linked it to the disappearance of the Right Hand's daughter, though the rumours had never spread.
She had resigned to her fate, she was going to be in a loveless marriage just so she could be crowned Queen. At first, she made it her sick to her stomach, but with time she started to get cold, clinical and she decided to just deal with it. Her father noticed it, but he chose to hold his tongue. It was probably for the best, if he asked about it she would revert to the little daddy's girl she was and would spill the beans about her past relationship with Eliza.
She sighed, her handmaidens gave her pitying looks. "Don't look at me like that, I don't need your pity. Just try and get me ready as soon as possible." She almost snapped at her handmaidens, but she decided the older women didn't need her bitching at them.
A couple of hours later, she was sitting on a throne, her father sitting on his own throne next to her. He stood up and looked at the crowd of nobility that had gathered from all corners of the realm, they were all hoping they could win princess Arizona's hand in marriage.
"Dear friends, I thank you for coming all this way to the capitol. It is an honour to have so many of you try and battle to win my daughter's affection. As you all know, she has promised to marry the victor of this competition. So bring forth your best warrior. I wish you all luck. Thank you." The crowd politely clapped and moved to the sides of the room so that the warriors could come forth and introduce themselves to the King and the princess.
The announcer stepped next to the door and rolled out his parchment, calling names one by one. Arizona didn't listen to the man, and she didn't pay attention to the men that were introducing themselves to her.
But then, something happened. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, it was the response to a person of incredible power stepping up to the door.
"Commander Blackwell, leader of the Dark Crest forces." The announcer bellowed the name just as he had done with the others, but Arizona's interest was inexplicably piqued. Her father noticed his daughter's response to the warrior in the black armour. They were only one that head their faces covered. He decided to keep his eye on his heir, just to make sure she didn't do something rash.
The warrior walked up to the two thrones, and respectively bowed before the King and the princess. They didn't talk, which was strange, and after a couple of seconds they stood up again and left the same way they came. Arizona was starting to feel excited again, something that hadn't happened in a long time.
|AR&EM|
The duels would begin shortly, they royals just had to one last thing before the competition could begin. Again, the King stood, regarding the audience. "In a few short minutes, the fights shall begin," The crowd cheered at that. "but before we do this, princess Arizona shall bless her favourite warrior, giving the warrior in question a token of her confidence." He motioned for the blonde to step forward.
The princess walked forward, Nathan in tow. Since he would be her Right Hand when she would be crowned Queen next Spring, he started going to official events with her, giving protection and providing advice. They were already in sync with each other, syncing happened when a monarch and their Right Hand trusted each other so much, that they let some part of their minds meld, making it that they could read each other's thoughts if they so whished. Their syncing was so fast, it had shocked all the experts in the subject. Nobody knew that it was because of their shared grief and love for Eliza, they heavily depended on the other for support during this difficult time in their lives.
The blonde walked to the row of warriors competing for her hand, and stopped just left of the centre. The black knight stood there, shoulders ram-rod straight, showing a perfect posture acquired from time and extensive training in the military.
Arizona grabbed the handkerchief from a little pocket in her summer dress. "I choose you, I hope you do well." She smiled at the warrior and tied the fabric around their wrist. Then, she turned around and walked back to her father, Nathan trailing her once again.
"Then let the competition begin!" The King roared when they were stood by his side once again. The crowd let out a deafening roar and stood up from their seats in the arena.
|AR&EM|
Arizona hadn't been paying attention to the majority of the fights, just one from a warrior that everybody predicted would do very well, and the fight of her chosen Champion. The warrior clad in the black armour had the most elegant movements Arizona had ever seen in a knight. Instead of using a shield to block the incoming attacks, they had evaded them, and when their opponent had tired himself out, they attacked once. It was very effective, making the warrior from Dark Crest an immediate winner. The crowd went wild and Arizona blushed when the warrior walked up to the thrones and kneeled directly in front of her, touching the fabric tied around their wrist.
The blonde didn't know that this wouldn't be the last time that the mysterious warrior would make her blush.
A/N. Hi there! Hope you enjoyed, I'm really fricking excited about this fic. To the Spanish speaking guest reviewer: I think the story will be approximately 15 chapters long, just like my other fic, this can change though. If a chapter is too short, I let my imagination roam and I include things that were meant for future chapters, thus making a story shorter. Anyway! Captain sailing away.
