The gold chocobo finally slows its pace. The young brunette wakes up to see two semi unfamiliar faces looking at her. She hides her expression away from the adults as the thoughts of past events starts to rush through her head. She pokes her head out of the carriage and couldn't stop the amused tone from escaping her small, thin lips. The castle is made in marble and it separates in four large sections. On one end of the courtyard, there are several chocobos stables. On the opposite side, there is a garden and a small section for merchants to come and go inside the castle. There are women carrying large pots, baskets, and other goods on top of their heads. Each knight's armor is adorning a crest, a red-winged dragon with several deadly-looking fangs inside its mouth and a gold-like under carriage. The beast appears to be dragon.
In the middle of the courtyard, there is a large fountain. There's a girl standing by it with her eyes shut. Moments later, she tosses a coin inside the fountain and walks away. The chocobo stops momentarily and continues its path after its tamer instructs it to move. The knights and chocobos appears to be stronger than the ones in Midgar. There is another small section where knights are practicing their swords arts. Amazing is simply an understatement to describe the castle. Though the girl was snatched away from her true kingdom, she couldn't help but to admire the architecture of Edge.
"You're going to rule this kingdom one day." The queen spoke.
The girl sits comfortably inside and looks at the queen, who gives the child a small smile. The girl steals a glance at the king, who's busy writing something on a piece of parchment.
"What's your name?" The queen spoke again.
The girl gnaws on her lips before responding. She isn't sure she should answer the woman's question.
"Apparently you're not aware of the rules here in Edge." The king spoke in a harsh tone. The girl jumps in fear. He tears his eyes away from the parchment. "When someone asks you a question, you answer. You may be the heir to Edge but don't let that go to your head. You are to obey us. Now, what is your name?"
"T….Tifa." The girl mumbles.
"Well then Tifa." The queen spoke. "I'm Katherine and this is Grimoire." Katherine points to Grimoire, who is writing again on the parchment he previously tended to before turning harsh on the small child. "You may be a child now, but with our help, you'll be the perfect woman and queen."
"And wife." Grimoire adds as he places his quill feather into a small box that's located to his left. Tifa frowns. She doesn't understand. Her being married at such a young age? Could such a thing be possible?
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand."
The king sighs. What the hell did her mother and father teach the child in front of him? How is it possible that the ten year-old girl doesn't know anything about proper etiquette and respect? "Do you know anything child?"
Tifa flinches away. The king's harsh behavior is beginning to make her feel uneasy. "In order to be a queen, you must marry someone in line for the throne as well. My son is supposed to rule and you will serve him as his queen."
A protest is close from escaping the girl's lips, but Katherine quickly covers her mouth. She could already see that several lectures are going to be needed in order to save the child's hide. It's evident that her parents, from what she observes, her mother, more specifically, didn't educate this child the ways of being a woman in royalty. Grimoire observes the child as well. He hopes he has made the right choice in choosing this child for his son instead of another princess.
The chocobo finally makes a complete stop and the trio gets outside of the carriage. The girl carefully follows behind King Grimoire with Queen Katherine at his side. She doesn't know what to expect. Never in her life had she experience such disrespect and verbal abuse. For as long as she could remember, her mother and father were kind to her. Her father would often tell her what defines man and how a man should act towards her. The behavior between the king and queen of Edge has shown her that things are different here. It would be a while before old habits died. Grimoire, Katherine, and Tifa walks through the main entrance of the castle. They are greeted by people whose armor is garnished by the same crest the knights has on their armor outside. To Tifa, all of the men looks the same, except for one.
Bright red eyes, long raven hair, tall, slender but muscular catches Tifa's wine-colored eyes. He couldn't have been the same age like the other men who surrounded the king. The man looks at her in what appears to be confusion. She bites her lips and shields away from his gaze. Mere seconds later, she glances at him to get a better look. His long red, tattered cape hung low and has a small trail of dust at the edges of it. His armor is rose gold and has the same crest on it. Half of his face is covered by the cowl of his cape that's fastened by several buckles around his chest area. The king dismisses everyone except for the young man that caught her attention.
"I see you've noticed your soon-to-be-wife." Grimoire smirks when he sees the surprised look upon his son's face.
The young man expected the girl to be older. When he was told he was to wed a young lady, didn't know that the term 'lady' was just a fabrication of the term 'child'.
"She's very young but with your strength combined with your mother's teachings, she will walk the path with you in supporting you while you rule Edge."
The young man nods, and Grimoire lets out a hardy laugh. Tifa is frightened, and she doesn't know what to expect from this young man. If he truly is the king's son, then she would live in fear for the rest of her life. A man with long white hair wearing a gold robe approaches the royal pair. He bows in regard to the four of them and smiles after he bows respectfully towards Tifa.
"I see our future queen has arrived." Tifa doesn't sense any danger from the older man. She remembers what the king had said to her on her way inside the castle. She doesn't want to be yelled at again.
"Yes sir." Tifa replies with a smile.
"At least she's a fast learner." Grimoire growls. "Well, we must start preparations. Katherine, give this clueless child basic etiquette. Ramuh, arrange for the caregivers to get her measurements and dress. We have a wedding to prepare for."
They both bow before going down the hall. The king turns and leaves, leaving the future rulers alone in the corridor. Glancing at the old man named Ramuh, and the Queen of Edge, Katherine, talking to people to arrange her wedding, the child once again glances at her soon-to-be-husband. He too also stares down the hall but with an expression the girl couldn't quite pinpoint. It looks as though worry brims the young man's eyes followed by anger with a hint of confusion. He turns on his heel and begins walking in the same direction his father did.
"Hi." The young man turns to see the child gnawing at her bottom lip. "I'm Tifa. I….I don't know what's going on….but..." She pauses and looks down at her feet.
"But?" The young man pushes.
"But I don't know what to do."
The young man sighs. "Just do what you're told for now."
The tone in the young man's voice is soft with a hint of harshness though Tifa doesn't dare complain. She would take this kind of treatment over Grimoire's any time of the day. The girl cheers up a little and has finally mustered up enough courage to look at the young man again, his crimson eyes are fixed on her.
"Thank you for not being so mean to me. I miss my mommy."
The young man feels sorry for the child. She was ripped away from her home in Midgar, only to come to a place that's tainted with a lot of anger and animosity. He could tell the child isn't used to such treatment.
"You can't go back. The best thing you can do is forget about it and move on." Tifa's eyes are saddened by his harsh, yet honest, words. "In time, you will learn how to cope with such devastation."
"Wait! What's your name?" The young man turns on his heel again but stops when Tifa calls after him. He turns just enough to see her small, short, and petite frame.
"Vincent. Vincent Valentine."
Tifa watches Vincent's red cape sway as he turns and walks down the corridor.
Minutes later, Tifa is surrounded by several caregivers. They are taking her measurements and writing down numbers on parchments, and talks to each other about which fabric would be best and relaying measurements to one another. One of the ladies is browsing through several materials that would look nice on her. Another lady is going through another fabric that's foreign to the girl. Katherine snaps her fingers, in an effort to hurry the ladies along with their given tasks. After thirty minutes of constant trying on different fabrics, and having tape measurements on her body, Tifa is finally able to relax.
"Don't get too comfortable, child." Katherine sits next to Tifa as Tifa straightens her posture. "I can already see that your parents have given you a sheltered lifestyle." When Tifa replies with a confused expression, Katherine continues her rambling. "In other words, your parents didn't teach you how to be a proper queen."
"My father taught me loads of stuff about a man and what defines a man."
It's Katherine's turn to reply with a confused expression. "Explain."
"Father always told me that if a man doesn't treat you right, then he isn't worth having."
Katherine has an idea of what the child is talking about but wants to be sure in case she's wrong. If her guess is correct, then she would have to take necessary action to alter these mannerisms and fast. The girl continues when Katherine didn't speak.
"He also told me that a man who truly loves you is willing to go through anything for you. And-
Her head snaps quickly to the right and she holds her cheek and drew circles on it to slowly soothe it, easing it from the fiery pain she now feels. She glances at Katherine, whose eyes are now filled with anger and astonishment. She points her index finger in the girl's face, while talking in a murderous tone.
"A woman who questions and displeases her husband, especially someone in your position, will be beheaded. No more of this fantasy life your parents painted for you. If it's the last thing I do, I'll be sure those false dreams are completely wiped away from your brain." Tifa nods slowly as hot tears runs down her face. Ramuh walks into the room, feeling the uneasiness that's in the room. He looks at the pair and sadly shakes his head. The poor child is learning the ways of life and royalty the hard way. He informs Katherine that Grimoire and Vincent are waiting for them inside the ballroom, bows his head, and leaves the room. The door closes quietly behind Ramuh, leaving Katherine to deal with Tifa.
"Now, if you want to be treated correctly you must follow the rules that I teach you." When Tifa nods her head slowly, Katherine starts drilling the poor child about the ways of men and women. All the rules keeps pouring into her head nonstop. She doesn't dare let any information seep out. Between the information and the 'fantasy life' her mother and father created, she wonders which side is true. Edge is simply a kingdom she doesn't want to be a part of. For now, she will dance to their rules, but when the time is right, she will plan her escape. A child she may be, but an intelligent, independent individual she will grow into eventually.