Disclaimer: From the movie? Not mine! Also, this is one of the scenes where I'm pretty sure I was channeling Tamora Pierce, no infringement intended, she's just basically inside my head now…
Susanna's heart pounded as she followed Alvred into the throne room. Dressed immaculately in a gown of crimson with gold accents, reflecting House Kristiansand's colors, she fidgeted with her gold silk gloves. What if he changes his mind? She wondered, well aware that many thought their prince could have done much better than the only daughter of the Lord Ambassador and praying that King Julius was not among their number. Kristiansand had been a great house once, and had in fact intermarried with the royal house a few times in recorded history, but the position of Ambassador to the Southern Isles, while respected, was not one that caused their lands to flourish. It had been largely neglected since her grandfather had been given the post.
"Susa! Stop that!" Alvred barked as he patiently took her left hand from her right elbow, preventing her from continuing to fidget. "Julius isn't one to go back on his word. Besides, how can he not love you? I love you, and he loves me, so that's that." He soothed, drawing her into a corner behind a pillar where they wouldn't be seen by passing servants and kissing her playfully on the nose and forehead as he spoke before finding her lips. "Now take a deep breath and come on."
To Susa's great relief, the King and Queen were alone when they entered the throne room; clearly someone had decided it would be stressful enough to meet her monarchs and brother and sister-in-law and had seen fit to save her the headache of a public appearance, though she was sure those would come. Concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping, she had only the sense of Alvred bowing beside her to tell her when to curtsy. As she rose, she looked up into a pair of smiling blue-green eyes.
"Hello my dear, it is so nice to meet you at last. Alvred has spoken of you non-stop since he returned from his little trip last winter. But even his words do not do you justice." As the king spoke, Susanna felt she couldn't breathe, until the Queen rather unceremoniously elbowed her husband.
"Stop that Julius, it's just family here, you can turn your kingliness off! If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to steal your brother's bride!" The queen turned to smile at her, brown eyes dancing with humor, and Susanna couldn't help but smile in return. From that moment, she felt, as the queen had said, like part of the family.
A/N: For those of you confused about my Tamora Pierce references, I advise you check her out! Probably my favorite teen fantasy author. In other news, I'm still waiting to hear from my beta (but don't be mad, because I did send her all 16 pages at once). I have four posts written after this one, then we charge into the brave unknown…. Which I'm avoiding because I'm hoping for some help from my second set of eyes. Because I'm struggling. With what, exactly, I won't say, because that would be spoilers. That said, I'm coming up on a break from school, so that should give me some time to write. Hopefully, once I get past this trouble spot, things will be easier for a bit. Thanks for reading!