A Loveless Marriage: Chapter 1
The thought of marrying someone much younger than her left Rukia dumbfounded. Rukia may only be 20 years old but the boy standing in front of her appeared to be 12 years old, at most. Then Rukia remembered something. Kurosaki was the family name of the ruler of the Silver Kingdom. The boy said his surname was Hitsugaya.
Rukia let out a sigh of relief. "Hi. I'm Kuchiki Rukia. What's up?" Maybe not the classiest introduction for a queen but Rukia had no idea what else to say to the white-haired boy.
Toshiro gave the woman in front of him a long stare before saying, "I'm one of the king's adviser." There was another long pause.
"What is it?" Those three words were filled with suspicions.
"I'm sorry but the king won't be able to join you tonight. But if you need anything, please let me know." Toshiro could feel the tension in the room the moment he finished his sentence. The black-haired woman, still seated uncomfortably on the bed, was definitely not happy.
"What a great man my husband is, abandoning his wife on their wedding night." Rukia sarcastically said.
"The king has a lot of court matters to attend to. Please understand." Toshiro couldn't wait to get the heck out of the room.
"Yea, sure he does." Rukia was upset. Their marriage may not be out of love but it didn't mean he could disrespect her by not showing up on their wedding night.
"My lady, I have to go now. But please ask if you need anything." And with that, Toshiro was gone, leaving Rukia alone in a room that is too large for one petite woman to have all to herself.
...
Kurosaki Ichigo was supposed to be with his newly wedded bride tonight, but the woman next to him was a different woman. Ichigo stared blankly at the ceiling as he relaxed in his beds with his arms wrapped around his lover. He was thinking about his "wife", a woman he had never met before. It wasn't his choice to marry her but all of his court advisers had pushed for this marriage, which would promote peace for his kingdom.
Ichigo knew nothing about his wife, only the fact that her name was Kuchiki Rukia and she was the princess of the Ruby Kingdom. He was supposed to meet her tonight but he never showed up. He felt bad about it but what was he supposed to do when he already had a lover? Was he supposed to forget about the woman he loved?
Ichigo let out a long sigh and turned his head to look at the orange-haired woman cuddled up in his arms.
"What are you thinking about?" the woman asked.
"My marriage," Ichigo responded.
"Your marriage… right." The woman seemed to be having a hard time with her words. "Ummm, so are you going to see her tonight?"
"And why would I do that?" Ichigo looked at the woman as if she was crazy to have asked that.
"Maybe because she's your wife?" The woman's smile that was there just a moment ago evaporated. Ichigo noticed the worry look on his lover's face.
"Orihime, it doesn't matter if I'm married to her. The person I love is you. And only you will be my queen." He reassured her.
Ichigo had known Orihime Inoue since they were kids and he grew up believing that she would be the one he would marry. The thought of having to marry someone else frustrated him. He was a king and kings should be able to marry whoever they want and make their loved ones happy. But when he looked at Orihime, all he saw was despair.
"You already have a queen. You can't have two queens, Ichigo," Orihime said.
"I'm a king and I will do what I want. Kuchiki Rukia will be my queen for now. But she won't be in the future. I will make sure of that."