HRH Caroline of the Forbes Kingdom of Mardenia heaved a tired sigh. The paparazzi would surely have had a field day had they been there to catch her without her normal sunny deposition. Thankfully, they were not.
Stepping away from the window, the blonde collapsed backward onto her bed, staring at the ceiling with arms sprawled across her duvet. She huffed a breath to blow a rogue strand of hair from her face and contemplated, not for the first time, how her life would have gone had she been an ordinary citizen.
People tended to forget in the modern era that being a royal could be surprisingly trying. True, Caroline would never know what it was like to go without food or water, she had servants to clean and cook, and more money than she could ever personally spend. However, the public felt entitled to know every detail of her life from what she had for breakfast to her deepest secrets. And unlike most people, Caroline was one day expected to run a country, become a figure of power that could single-handedly start a war with one mistake.
So, trying as she said, to say the least.
However, (and perhaps it was a bit childish and petty of her) Caroline's current source of woe was her fiancé. The one she had been betrothed to from birth. Frankly, it was one of the more anachronistic things about Mardenia, the fact that arranged political marriages were the norm not the exception.
See, the Founding Five came to Mardenia in the 1500s: The Fells, Forbes, Gilberts, Lockwoods, and Salvatores. Each decided to embrace the whole veni, vidi, vici idea and subjugated the various natives in order to establish their own dynasties. Now, for the most part, Caroline had no qualms with any of the other four Founding Kingdoms, and she would be largely content with her lot in life if it weren't for one little wrench in the cogs of her life.
Just over two decades ago, the Salvatores grew power hungry and made a play at imperialism, taking first the Fells then the Lockwoods. They had been closing in on the Forbes and the Gilberts and, with the Salvatores' surprising victories against the Fells and Lockwoods, both were vastly outmatched. This was when King William, her father, entreated them for help.
The Mikaelsons.
Despite the lofty title, the Founding Five never actually founded anything per se. The Mikaelsons were the true Original Kingdom of Mardenia, able to trace their line with certainty back to the early 900s with rumors that claimed even earlier ancestors. Regardless, the Mikaelsons were the smallest, but most powerful of the Kingdoms, and with their help, King William successfully beat back the Salvatores, chasing them from Forbes land and then out of the Fells and Lockwoods lands as well.
With the balance of power shifted in favor of the Forbes and the seeds of a strong, lasting alliance with the Mikaelson's in place, King William made a decision that Caroline curses to this day. A few days after the Salvatores officially surrendered, her mother, Queen Elizabeth, went into labor and delivered a healthy baby girl into the world. Heir in hand, King William solidified the alliance by promising her hand to the then yougest Mikaelson, Prince Niklaus, thus elevating a third son from fourth in line to future King Consort.
Everyone went away happy.
Except for her, goddamnit!
Fed up with her wallowing, Caroline launched herself from her bed. Right, she wasn't going to let this ruin her day!
"I beg your pardon?!" Caroline internally winced at the frequency her voice raised to at the end, thanking god that only she and her father were in the room. Although the look he leveled at her could peel paint. She cleared her throat. "I mean, I think I may have misheard you, could you repeat that for me, please?"
"Prince Niklaus has just returned from his trip and thought it would be a good time for you two to finally meet. I agreed."
Caroline took a deep breath. "I see. Is now really a good time, though? This week is back to back charity events and volunteer work."
Her father actually looked amused at her suffering. "Well, I did tell him that, but he said he wouldn't mind helping out."
Teeth grinding, smile painfully wide, Caroline bit out, "Well, how gracious of him. But I really do have to get going now. I'll see you tonight."
Rushing out, Caroline admitted that was a childish display to herself, but she couldn't help it. It seemed petty of her to already have such a negative opinion of the man, especially considering his public persona was relatively clean. Nothing like his much wilder younger brother, Kol. However, she had heard nothing but nasty things about him from Elena which wouldn't have been enough by itself, but despite what everyone else believed, Caroline had actually met the Prince before.
It was several years ago now, and she had been covering for a friend and purposefully looked nothing like her normal self. Prince Niklaus had been a rude, condescending asshole to her. Frankly, she had no desire to get to know him when she already knew how he would treat his supposed inferiors.
Niklaus had known he had a betrothed for a long time. He wasn't always happy about it, especially in his early teens when he fancied himself in love with Tatia Gilbert. However, as he grew older the idea gained greater appeal. He figured they each would be mature enough to be amicable at the very least. What he hadn't expected to happen was that he would fall in love with Caroline Forbes.
His feelings hadn't had the most auspicious of starts, what with him still being bitter over Tatia's rejection and deciding to take Kol's advice of all things.
…It was a dark time.
According to Kol, the Princess was a bit stuck up which stupid, newly 17 year old Niklaus translated to "make an absolute tit of himself, surely that would impress her". In hindsight, it was a very, very good thing that he never ran into her that day.
But over the years, though he had tried to meet her in an official capacity, neither of their lives aligned quite right. She was away at school, he was doing his service in the military, she was doing charity work in Africa, he was serving as an ambassador in the UK. It went on and on, so Niklaus subsisted on the stories of her, the ones from friends and even the ones in the news (though he took these with a grain of salt). All of them painted a story of a beautiful, intelligent, and kind young woman.
Then one day he met her, though she didn't know it was him.
"So, how do I look?"
Henrik blinked. "Really odd, Nik."
Niklaus snorted, amused. "But do I look recognizable?"
His brother tilted his head, making a show of circling him as he hummed, examining him from all angles.
"Nope," the boy announced cheerily.
"Fantastic."
Niklaus sat along the side of the road, hissing as he prodded at his swollen ankle. He wasn't sure how he managed it, but his foot got caught while he was trekking through the woods, one clumsy trip and fall later and here he was. Stuck on a woodland path miles from the castle and no cell phone service. He didn't even have a guard seeing as he had snuck out.
He cocked his head as the rhythmic thuds of what sounded like a horse reached his ears. Perhaps they could be of some assistance? Glancing down the path, he was astonished to see just who the rider was. It was Caroline, his fiancé Caroline.
He was gaping a bit when she halted her horse before him.
"Are you alright, sir?" She called down, seemingly genuine in her concern for a stranger.
Without thinking, still rather stunned by her unexpected appearance, he leapt up to greet her properly, as any non-royal would, only to yelp as he jolted his ankle and very gracefully fell on his arse.
He had reflexively closed his eyes as he fell, mortified, and was startled a second time when a warm hand fell on his shoulder. Looking up he met the concerned eyes of the Princess.
"What happened?"
Niklaus scratched his cheek with his finger, feeling awkward. "Ah," he coughed, "It's a bit embarrassing, but I sprained my ankle while trying to hike through the woods."
She scolded him, "And you thought it was a good idea to jump up?"
He looked away, feeling heat creeping up his neck. "Well, you are a Princess," he muttered.
She huffed at him. "If there were ever a time to not stand on ceremony…" Shaking her head she switched tracks. "May I have a look? I know some basic first aid, maybe I have something on me that can help."
"If you wish, Princess," he said slowly, a bit confused by the amount of effort she was going through for him.
With a half smile, she sat down in front of him gesturing toward his right ankle in question. He nodded. Moving to roll up his pant leg and gingerly remove his boot, her eyes flicked to his as she said, "You can just call me Caroline, you know? I don't mind. Especially seeing as formality somewhat got you into this mess."
His eyes widened, though she didn't seem to be expecting a response as her gaze returned to his ankle. A frown grew on her face as she gently prodded at the injury.
"Tell me where it hurts most."
"There," he hissed as her fingers pressed into the curve of his ankle, just above the start of his foot. Nodding thoughtfully, the Princess ran her fingers along the rest of his foot, circling back around and up his ankle for a second pass.
"Right, I think it's just a sprain, but you shouldn't be walking on it." Looking thoughtful, she rose her eyes to meet his once more. "Lark is the closest town where you could get a professional to look at that, but that's still a mile or so away…" She stood abruptly clapping her hands together and nodding to herself. Pivoting on her heel she strode toward her horse, rummaging in one of the saddle bags and pulling out a roll of bandages. Striding back she knelt down again to wrap his ankle.
"So here's what we're going to do," she started, pulling the bandage wrap tight, "You're going to ride my horse into town and avoid any further damage."
Niklaus' jaw fell open for the second time. Was she really this selfless?
Job done, she started to reassure him, confusing his shocked awe with concern. "Don't worry, Mystic is really well trained."
In demonstration, the Princess clucked her tongue calling the horse over and with a second set of clucks and a hand gesture had the horse kneeling so he could easily get on.
And that was the beginning of the end for love not being part of the equation on his end.
So here the Prince was, swallowing nervously as he stood outside the banquet hall of the Princess' first charity of the night. Taking a breath, Niklaus strolled in to look for his fiancé. Catching a flash of blonde from the corner of his eyes, he turned tracking it across the room. It was her, a simple silver circlet in her hair.
Her voice drifted to his ears as he neared.
"Thank you for your generous donation, Lady Lockwood." Her eyes flicked in his direction and her lips twitched. "Could you excuse me for a moment?" The Lady Lockwood turned, catching sight of him.
With a laugh the Lady departed, "Oh no, take your time, Princess."
The blonde marched over, crossing her arms across her chest. "So you deigned to show up, after all."
Niklaus startled, a little hurt and taken aback by her harsh tone and surprising words. Was she so unhappy with the arrangement that a complete stranger gets more kindness than her fiancé?
Smoothing his features out, he tried to be as nonchalant as possible. "Well, you're deigning to be here are you not, Crown Princess?"
A scowl crossed her face for a split second before she pasted an utterly fake smile on. "That's different." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "This is what I do. The holidays are a time for giving, even the toughest misers do some good this time of year."
He took a challenging step forward. "I'm not sure where you got this poor opinion of me, Princess, but even if you do think lowly of me then, in the name of holiday spirit, shouldn't I be able to do some good too?"
Her smile faltered, evidently not expecting that response from him. She regarded him thoughtfully, looking a bit less hostile.
"And what good would that be?"
"You tell me, Princess." Niklaus sketched an elegant bow, far deeper than it needed to be even if he was only a third son before an heir apparent. "I am at your disposal."