Hikari found the trip from Alaric Castle down to the capital, Hayato City, a lot more pleasant than the trek they took far North. Mother and the queen managed it better. Even with Kaze in tow, the lot of them managed the journey easily, even if the queen had them set a slow pace.
Hikari shared a tent with Asa, even though she hardly saw the point considering the prince absolutely insisted she and him would do nothing much beyond kissing. In the evenings, Asa, Takashi, the king, and the queen kept telling her elvish culture and what to expect. Appearance were everything apparently, among other things. Look a certain way, present yourself a certain way, act a certain way. With her being part elvish and angelic, especially the angelic part, she had a role to play. She had been trained to fight all her life, it was her strength. She might be weaker than Izo, she was certainly stronger than the prince. They had fought together often enough to prove that. While the queen did not like that, Hikari was told to play off that; to be like an angelic warrior, even though she hardly felt like there was anything angelic about her. Kaze though, displayed it pretty clearly with his calm demeanor, especially for a child his age. Izo had a bit of it in himself, which became more obvious after his fight with Uncle Yusuke.
Izo... The thought of Izo made her soften. She missed him, wishing Maeshu would at least have let him travel down South to the capital for her wedding. Maeshu however insisted he must stay up North to represent her. If he left, it would be scene as him abandoning his post and his duty as her representative. Hikari wondered if she could convince the prince to go back up to the North with her to see him once they were married. They were supposed to go travel around the country on progress anyway so the people could see her and the prince as a happily married couple with hopes for the future for the dynasty prophesied over her maternal grandmother.
When they finally made it within two miles of the city's main gates, they stopped, and the prepping began. Takashi was next to her as she climbed off her hippogriff, explaining, "we need change clothes, so to look fresher than the others." He ran his hand through her short black hair. "I wish it were still longer. Elves prefer it long," he said longingly.
"I give up on it," she commented. After the last bit of its length was burned up after she fought with the wolf demon, she gave up on the idea of keeping it long. She resigned herself to short hair with singed ends.
Two tents were set up, one for her preparation, and one for Takashi's. The queen, Mother, Asa, and Maiha were in her tent helping her prepare, while the king, Father, and Uncle Yasha were in Takashi's tent. Takashi and she were to enter the city in the front of their procession, in an image of strength, love, and power as a newly engaged couple. The queen fussed over her, especially her hair. She trimmed off the singed ends, making her hairline ring stylishly around her jaw and top of her neck. It felt nice now, but Hikari knew the once it gained an inch or two, long enough to hit the base of her neck and she fought, it would burn up at the ends again.
After her hair was trimmed, Asa twisted two narrow parts of it from the front of her face into tiny, intricate French braids that wrapped around her head and met at the back. It was tight, almost painfully so since her hair was short, but she managed to have braids, which elves liked, and her ears which were hardly pointed, stayed covered. She touched the braids delicately, wondering how they looked. Mother passed her the queen's hand mirror so she could see it. While the skin by her hairline was a bit pink, she like the crown like look of the braids. She was to look like a warrior angel, which was achievable in image at least for now. The king had told her people would need to see her fight one day soon so she could show off her fire dragon and skills. She looked forward to that day.
Next, the three of them carefully helped her changed into the new tunic that was made for her in the Alaric Castle before they left there. It was femininely cut, but matched the one the prince would be wearing. She liked the hunter green and black colors, the royal house colors. They suited the prince better than her, which made her look forward to seeing him in it.
The queen came up to her face now, using her own make up on her, even though the queen was darker in complexion than she was. Hikari disliked the unfamiliar-ness of it on her face, especially around her eyelashes, but she let it slide. If she was going to marry the crown prince and one day be his queen, then she would have to grow used to wearing it everyday. Maybe the queen could teach her something useful for once...
When she was finally ready, the four of them stepped outside the tent. She saw the others around them, but only had eyes for Takashi. He looked... handsome... with his hair matching hers, but his long honey blonde hair falling over his shoulders. She had not thought about how he looked before, being more attracted to his strength and will more than anything else. It was an odd thing to flare up in her. She felt tempted to step up over to him to kiss him. She gave into the desire, shuffling over to him quickly before the queen could stop her in case she ruined her hair or make up. He at least kissed her back, but avoided touching her hair.
Takashi pulled away from her when they both heard the king clear his throat. He did not quite let her go though as he guided her over to her hippogriff and helped her up onto it's back. He smiled up at her, a smoldering look in his eyes. She liked that on him. It made her want to jump off her stead and kiss him all over again.
Instead he stepped away, mounting his own stead and bringing himself up along side her. "Time to head into the city," he told her quietly. She gaped at him, feeling her mouth suddenly go dry. "It'll be quite alright," he reassured her. "Smile, wave, look towards me if you get too nervous," he suggested.
They both looked up as the king called for everyone else to mount up and ready themselves. Hikari sat up straight, staring steadily ahead. They were going to lead the procession into town, instead of the king and queen. That was because they were the future king and queen of the nation. She felt a chill go down her spine at the idea of all the those people about to stare at her. She looked over at Takashi, feeling calmer when she watched him. He looked regal, handsome, confident... She felt like she looked like a clumsy half child next to him.
They stopped at the main city gate. Hikari feeling the urge to fidget with something, anything. She fidgeted with the ends of the reins around her fingers, hands low enough that no one else would be able to see her to do that. They went into the city.
Her first thought was not to gape opened mouth. Her second thought was... big... and tall... There buildings and people and noise and everything everywhere. The hills rolled up and down endlessly. It had to be bigger than the village near Alaric Castle times a hundred or more. It was loud, with her hearing people and seeing people cheering, staring up at her. She sat up straighter, making herself smile a little to look pleasant. She looked over Takashi, who was riding steadily next to her, cool and confident. She felt jealous of his ease. She tried to mimic his confidence.
Then he smiled broadly, waving at the crowd as they passed them. She mimicked him. He moved his stead as close to hers as possible, their legs rubbing against one another. He grabbed her hand mid wave, pulling it over to his mouth and giving it a kiss. She gave him a true smile at the silliness of that. He clasped her hand tightly in his raising it up as high as she could reach. The crowd around them roared louder. The sound was almost deafening to her. She smiled opening now, looking over at him. She had stopped fidgeting, but was rather holding the reins tight and still.
Then her hippogriff stumbled, making her lurch. Takashi let her hand go and helped to right her. He laughed, giving her hair a soft, affectionate ruffle. She smiled up at him, sitting up straighter.
It seemed like it took hours to get to the royal palace on the highest hill. When they made it through the gates, they both stopped. He was off his stead quickly and was over to hers no time. She took his hand and allowed him to help her slip carefully off her stead. She raised herself up on her tip toes, kissing him before he could stop her. She felt thrown off when cheers went up at her action. She froze, almost pulling away. He cupped her face with his hands, keeping her kissing him. It made her almost want to purr. He let her face go and pulled her into his arms, hugging her affectionately. More cheering, much to her surprise. He pulled away and stood next to her, hand in hers.
She looked up, over at the crowd. So many people... more than she had ever seen at once before. She closed her eyes, catching her breath. She opened her eyes and looked over at him. He was in his element, born to do this. She was not, but determined enough to be if she had him by her side. Together they could do this.