She couldn't believe it. She saw this boy already, it was in one of those fancy books with family trees of noble families she would occasionally skim through on boring, cloudy days. Who knew seeing his face by an accident would be useful?
Rasa the king of high nobles arranged the marriage with the prince of the lower class.
What was this? A joke.
Temari processed an unusual situation by fisting her hand and punching her lap mildly. It wasn't the first time in her short life that she wanted to punch something so hard, but unlike any other time there was nothing, she needed to stay put, obedient.
They lived in, as of now largest kingdom there is. Suna. Centuries ago it was relatively small with not much conflict or problems but the shadows that followed her father let themselves wander across the land the moment he was crowned. He wanted this country to be something higher, bigger, and more powerful, to be known farther than it was.
So he satisfied the wanting in his own way. A typical tyrant, that's what his people called him. He got the title as soon as he claimed the crown. Not sugarcoating or sweetening his cruel personality.
As soon as Temari understood the existence of her own body she deemed him as hopelessly predictable. His next moves were smart, and cunning but predictable, noticeable, and far from understandable.
And that's why this decision, to marry her to this boy, surprised her. It was the first time King's decision made her baffled and she hated the way it set her throat on fire.
With a stiff posture, the boy grabbed the sleeve of his suit. Again, it was beautifully sewn. Blue adored it, the same color as the queen's gown, it was kind of endearing, Temari thought, for them to wear such cohesive pieces of clothing on an important day.
It was like his face replicated the gorgeous one standing beside him. He was her son for sure, two same faces, one smiling and the other scowling. She sat before them in astonishment. Both of them were undeniably royal, with pale skin and doe eyes, like made of glass, like they could break by no more but a touch.
He looked at her with those gray eyes, whether he was incredibly scared or trying to intimidate was unknown to her.
Something was unsettling in the woman's eyes too. Something Temari couldn't exactly pinpoint. It was like it would eat her up sooner or later. Like that smile of hers wasn't just roses and butterflies.
"I will leave you alone to talk, if there is any problem you may talk to one of our maids." She turned around. Curling one of her glossy waves around the finger. "I'm bidding my farewells, Your Majesty." The serene voice never changed, but still echoed with a smugness that couldn't pass Temari's consciousness.
After her, someone was coming to stand in exactly the same position. With a head high and maybe arrogant stance, a girl stood there, the corners of her lips lifted just a little bit. Her dress was simple with not many ruffles but still charming in its own way, her long, blond hair was pin-straight and collected in a single ponytail. She was a young girl, probably Temari's age even, why would they bring her in?
She couldn't be a maid, Temari thought. How could she force that job on someone so young and pretty? Why were all the children around her playing adult roles?
The queen left them alone to live in awkward silence, leaving a distinctive presence in the air. The same one that was hidden in that smug look.
"My name is Temari, what's yours?" She asked the boy cautiously. It was unwise to approach him carelessly just because he was younger than her. You can never be sure when you're stepping into the fire.
"Am I allowed to talk informally?" He asked pleadingly, leaving her in a little bit of a surprise. Was he innocent enough to forget to act even slightly defensively?
Well, he was a kid.
He should be innocent.
Suddenly, she was relieved. It appeared he wasn't some type of traitor.
Or was she fooled? She had a soft spot for miserable children in need of help. She had two younger brothers and it kind of came naturally.
Did high royal advisors know about her unnoticed weakness? They didn't like her, she was just one of the problems they needed to face in their plots with a throne. It wouldn't be oh-so astonishing if they wanted her dead.
Old bats quarreling with children her age. How immature.
"I'm Theo." He said, his eyes never changing from the pleading look. Theo's voice was so hoarse as if he forgot to breathe. His pale fingers grabbed the navy fabric, taking something from the inside pocket.
It was a rose, not fully opened and white as snow. Temari's eyes made her look kind of astonished. How did he know? She asked herself.
It was a meaningful flower. It carried many enchanting memories with it. A bouquet of those would follow her often. To the dining room, her room, gardens. And most importantly her childhood. It was an important flower indeed. So why was she so surprised if it was everywhere around her?
"By your expression, it looks like Diana was right."
"Diana?"
"My mother," he called his mother by her given name, an unusual sight, not just an uncommon one but unseen in Temari's experience.
"You look confused." So he wasn't clueless, good to know. "It looks like nothing of this was explained to me or you, both of us are walking blindly into this." He breathed out, very exhausted, tired of all the unwanted mystery. "Diana is a queen of the lower nobles of the kingdom, which makes me their prince. And I am here as your fiance, that is all you know about it too, right?" He said, his face still childish as if the conversation they had wasn't about marriage but a mere broken toy.
After the rope of Rasa's conquering, Suna was broken into two parts. Higher and lower. In higher lived the original Sunan people, the ones born here, with long-lived bloodlines and bizarre, false value to the country, even some villagers were more respected than most low nobles. Temari pitied them sometimes, rarely.
In the lower half lived the nobles who resided in previously existing countries that were overthrown by Rasa. Most of them were from Iwa, Kiri, and only half of Konoha. They are a tough people, their army was most powerful before Rasa's rampage, after many attempts and most of them failed, he resorted to pestering them even until today, still stealing and murdering its people.
She was pretty sure Diana was Konohan royal before becoming queen of this place. So that resulted in special hatred for her waking in her father's soul. So it was obvious why Temari was so surprised after all.
They had an unfinished business, and again, it was widely known how that ended.
Temari nodded, listening carefully, her legs stiffened but dying to move, to do something, anything. Temari wasn't as tactical as one would like to be. Sure, she was far more intelligent than average, it was a useful tool but not all that important in these types of situations, with this much suspense. She was impulsive by nature. All her bones wanted to jump up and bruise them all.
But in the end, Temari needed to be rational, even if it was hard to be. Let's calm down, be patient, be rational. The sentence floated in her head every time she wanted to act.
"We're both clueless, I can see that and I can assure you that I hate this too, but please, please let's act like we agree to all of this until I discover what happened to her." He bowed with grace, he undoubtedly inherited it from the Queen.
The floor felt like liquid like you could drown in it at any minute, intoxicatingly making her thoughts spiral in the overworked brain.
The road they walked on suddenly felt even more bumpy than before.
Questions bubbled up in her head.
By _her_ did he mean his mother?
What was wrong with her?
What did he need to discover?
It all remained untouched like a white rose on the wooden table, waiting to be picked up.
Temari caressed its petals carefully, her fingers going down to its leaves and then stem. As she reached the bottom a light pain struck her.
One of the thorns cut the slightly tan skin, opening it, a red leaked from the wound, tinting the the untouched white flower.
A pure white ruined by filthy red. How disgusting
"It's ruined again." She whispered, an unsettling feeling burning in her throat worsening. She smudged the blood on the petals, trying to somehow erase it to no avail, never caring about the pain.
"You're hurt!" The blonde maid shouted running to her in a minute of panic. She took Temari's hands in hers carefully but paused. "I'm so sorry prince I didn't ask for permission to talk." She said unphased like she didn't care about her statement. Or maybe she knew Prince wouldn't take it as an insult. Temari didn't know. "I am Ino Yamanaka, prince's personal maid, if something is ever wrong you can call for me." She smiled.
She looked nice. Maybe a little standoffish but still nice. But Temari couldn't give in to a soft smile and hands.
"Call for Lilia, she is my medic." What was she going to do with all these new people? With this confusing situation. "Prince Theo, would you like to escape from this engagement? Why don't we work together to escape from this? Who knows what we may find out."
Temari is going to use this to her advantage.