Elsie stands in the courtyard with her family, her cloak pulled tight around her shoulders as the cold bites at her skin. The wind howls like a mourning spirit, sweeping through the stone arches and sending flurries of snow dancing through the air. She watches in silence as the King of the North and his family mount their horses, their figures draped in furs. Elsie learned from her Misae that in Lievca it's summer now. The heavy cloaks on their shoulders warming their body at this moment will soon become a burden when they cross Savannah.
It's only Savannah that's covered in snow.
Hooves crunches against the frostbitten ground, breath misting in the air like ghosts as they say their final goodbyes. Elsie cannot take her eyes off of Ace, he looks beaten but still sitting on his horse big and powerful like the King he is.
Her eyes stay on her betrothed's retreating form fading into the fog for longer than she likes to admit. "Elsie, see me in the court." Elsie almost flinches from the hardness in her father's voice. Good god, here it goes. Who was she to think she will get through her absurd actions unharmed?
No way in hell. She knows her father better than to think that.
"Of course, Your Majesty." Elsie says, keeping her calm even though her mind is all over the place. First thing: she's so disappointed that she did what she did. Even for a moment's impulse she should have known better, she's a royal for Goddess's sake. Second: the way the majestic King of Lievca crumbled into a broken soul at the imperial garden a few minutes ago. She cannot seem to get rid of those images in her mind— that terrified look in the King's eyes. Elsie never thought a King as powerful as Ace could look so terrified.
After the outburst, which only Elsie knows about in this Kingdom, the royals from north were so keen to go back. They didn't even want to eat the lunch the maids worked so hard to make for them. They were really in a rush and King Ace looked so pale and sick. For reasons unknown, Elsie was so worried for him, and she still is.
A heavy sigh leaves her mouth as her feet take her to the court. The timing is not so right seeing that Elsie practically walks in on her parents talking, "—you should not let this slide, My King." The Queen is angry, rightfully so, fury drips from her words. "Oh, here you are. You ungrateful offspring." Now, that hurts. Elsie's step mother never has been mean to her, she has been good. But she's also strict, she's like that with everyone or that's what Elsie likes to believe, because the truth is always bitter and hurtful. She doesn't want to believe that her step mother loves to see her fall rather than rise.
"How dare you!" The queen's high pitched voice echoes through the walls of the court, loud and terrifying. Elsie curls into herself, hands clenching the satin fabric of her dress. How dare she.
"Your indecent actions made your father fall before another King's feet, do you know how shameful it is for your father? Is this for what your father raised you all these years? For you to make him kneel in front of a man as young as his son for your shameful deeds? Elsie I thought you knew better than that. This is so disappointing. My heart aches for my husband and our Kingdom." She stops, out of breath, heaving a sigh as if to push out the anger burning her inside.
Elsie cannot take this anymore, she's committed a sin and she must make it right. She falls on her knees, tears swimming in her eyes, she cannot bear to look into their faces. "I should have known better." Elsie says, voice wavering slightly as she nods to herself. "Forgive me, father—"
"Don't." The King's voice cuts through the tensed air in the courtroom, loud and stern. "I have heard enough now. You may rise."
What?
Elsie's tearful eyes drags up to her father's emotionless face, eyebrows crumbling down at his words. "Please, father, i will take any punish—"
"I said enough, Elsie!" Again, the King cuts her off so meanly. "Get on your feet. Right now!"
Elsie scrambles to her feet, more tears gushing out of her eyes, breath catching in her throat. Her tongue itches to word out another apology.
"If you are this adamant to not marry the King of Lievca, I must grant you your wish. Not marry him. I will write to them to stop this marriage alliance." Elsie watches her father say the things she had wished and hoped to hear at the first night she got to know about this whole marriage alliance, with her mouth agape.
What in the hell is going on?
Elsie blinks her tears away, "But that would mean war against the North."
The King huffs out a disappointed chuckle, "So you do know." He says, rising to his feet. "You do know if we were to reject this marriage proposal, the war would break. You do know about our— my helplessness in this situation." Yet you still did what you did. Even if her father swallows those words, Elsie can already see it written in his eyes, the betrayal so evident.
"Father—"
"Let them war against us. Let them ruin this Kingdom. Let those innocent people of our Kingdom suffer and die."
"Don't." Elsie chokes out, tears streaming down her cheeks. Oh moon goddess, what did she ever do to deserve all this agony? "I am willing to give away my life for them. I don't want our people to suffer for something they have no control over. Forgive me, Father. Forgive this sinner, please. I was not thinking straight, I was guided by my misery. Please, father."
"I feel you, my child." Elsie doesn't know when she falls down on the floor on her knees again, but her father's feets are in the line of her blurry vision and his warm hands on her shoulders, bringing her back on her feet. "You're not going to die. I promise you."
And even for just a moment Elsie wants to believe him.