The Arrangement
When the Snow Kingdom becomes threatened by a powerful warlord, the only hope is to form an alliance with the Central Kingdom. Will Princess Caitlin let Prince Barry melt the ice around her heart to make a marriage work between them.
Part 1
The Snow Kingdom was a small country tucked in the foot hills of the dark mountains and the greener Central Kingdom. Despite what most people believed the Snow Kingdom was not covered in ice and snow. In fact it actually had a very lovely if short summer compared to the Central Kingdom or the further Star Kingdom. It was given it's name because it was believed in an old lore that the ruling family were descendants of the Greek Goddess Khione. Which may not be far from the truth. But very few people knew if it was true. If that was the case it was a closely guarded secret. The current King of the Snow Kingdom is Thomas. He married Carla the daughter of his father's top science advisor nearly twenty five years ago. Three years later they were gifted with a son and heir to the throne. Three years after that they were gifted a daughter. Both the Crowned Prince Charles, Charlie to his family in private and Princess Caitlin were loved by the people. Though Caitlin was sheltered from the public as much as possible due to the fact that she possessed a gift that could prove the rumors of her family true of being descended from Khione. So Caitlin outside of her family was not the warmest of people. In fact some of the servants that worked in the palace referred to her as an ice princess. Not that it mattered to her.
The Central Kingdom got it's name due to it being in the middle of several other Kingdoms. The Snow Kingdom lay to the north. The Star Kingdom to the west. To the east was The Kingdom of Gotham and to the south was only known as the Southern Kingdom. The Central Kingdom was ruled by King Henry and his wife Queen Nora. They had one son the Crowned Prince Bartholomew, but called Barry by most people. Barry was nearly twenty years old and was expected to marry soon. But it could not be to just anyone. It had to be someone of noble blood by law. Unfortunately for him that left out the daughter of the chief constable of the nearby city that he had a crush on. But he never expected to be able to choose her as his wife. Though he hoped to have some say in the matter.
Hidden deep in the woods of the Mountain Kingdom was a man known only as Zoom. A warlord that had his sights set on taking the Snow Kingdom. You see even though the Snow Kingdom was small less then three hundred square miles in size. It was one of the richest in this part of the world. The underground caverns held one of the largest supplies of diamonds and other gem stones. Merchants from all over the world paid top dollar for them. Zoom wanted them for himself. But the caverns were under the control of the Royal family. He had a plan. He already sent some of his warriors to send a message to the King. He was to hand over not only the caverns but the Princess. He had seen the Princess in the market of the capital a number of times while he was gathering intel for his invasion. He would start to kill the citizens of the Kingdom until he got what he wanted. He knew that King Thomas's army was no match for his warriors. His warriors were some of the most harden killers to walk the Earth. Most were trained soldiers from every land around. But were dismissed due to them enjoying killing too much. Some others were murders and other outlaws. Not that Zoom cared. He was a murderer himself.
"My Lord when do you plan to make your move on the Snow Kingdom?" asked his top warrior.
"Soon Mardon. King Thomas will hand over the caverns and his daughter to me or we destroy every town one by one." Said Zoom
"Rumor has it that the Princess is an ice witch." Said Mardon
"Don't tell me that you believe that crap. That is just some story that was made up so that her parents can keep her isolated from the world."
"I don't know. There have been reports of snow storms coming out of nowhere on clear day. It has been said that when the Princess is angry the storms are some of the worse and can freeze a man before he can fall to the ground."
"Mardon you are too old to believe in fairy tales. Now eat and rest we cross the boarder at first light."
Caitlin sat on her balcony watching the stars come out as night fell. The air was crisp as it always was this early into the spring.
"I will never understand how you can spend so much time in this cold air baby sister."
She turned and smiled at her older brother and the future King of their land. He had pulled on a wool coat while she was dressed in a pair of leggings and sweatshirt.
"My curse plays a part. These powers I was born with prevent me from feeling the cold. Always have Charlie." Said Caitlin
"They are not a curse Caity. You know that our family line is the bloodline of the Goddess Khione." Said Charlie
"If they are such a gift then why do mom and dad hide it from the world? You would think that they wouldn't hide it if it was such a gift."
"People fear what they do not understand."
"Someone will learn of this secret of our family. More then one someone. Your wife will have to be told. While you don't have powers you carry the gene for them. The man I am to marry will have to be told as well. Nearly every woman in our father's bloodline has been born with these powers."
"I know. Dad is still hoping that you will open yourself to someone. But if that does not happen you will be faced with an arranged marriage."
"Don't you think I know that? Your engagement is going to be announced soon. Tell me do you love Erin?"
"I like her. She is smart kind and will make a very good Queen one day."
"But do you love her?"
"It doesn't matter my fate was sealed a long time ago."
Caitlin knew it was true. Her brother would marry the woman that had been picked for him. The woman that had spent most of her life training to be the next Queen of the Snow Kingdom.
Updates will be slow. So don't ask for faster updates. For anyone reading Flash Earth Reborn I will still be working on that as well so don't worry.
