In the year 100, After Ruin, the new country was still nameless. It was simply referred to as “the Kingdom,” with its capital known as “the City.” At this time, Queen Regina ruled firmly, strictly, though never paid much attention to the conditions of the slums and lower class areas. Regina was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair, hazel eyes, and ivory skin when she married in year 97 at the age of 20. Three years later, a devastating plague hit the Kingdom, killing the King and thousands more. Regina survived the illness, but it left her with a shortened life and unable to have children. She swore to herself never again to marry anyway. The Queen had no heir, and it was a fact that this terrible disease had left many children orphaned, which gave her an idea. Regina wanted someone strong, beautiful, and intelligent to adopt into this role, but when she began to visit orphanages, she was disappointed. In year 105, as a 27-year-old Queen, she gave up her quest and kept herself busy with other matters.

You see, the mysterious illness of 100 killed many, to include a particular young girl’s mother. This girl was the one-year-old daughter of a lower class merchant, who happened to be extremely selfish and heartless. He allowed his daughter to run about the streets of the City’s slums until the “Arrangement” of year 116. By that time, the girl, named Amber Alexus, was a rather pretty 17-year-old girl. She had soft, light tan skin; big, round, especially cute brown eyes; and bright brown hair, cut unevenly at her shoulders. She was a small girl, which made her more cute than beautiful.

The plague of 100 had left one particular boy completely orphaned at the age of five. Amidst all the chaos and tragedy, no orphanage came to collect young Kazimir Ashenthorn. For the next ten years, he grew up cold, quiet, wrathful, and quick-witted in the streets all over the entire City. He somehow picked up manners, especially chivalrous manners, though he would rarely exercise them due to his cocky, stubborn, spiteful temperament. By the year of the Arrangement, Kazimir had grown to be a physically perfect 21-year-old man, six-foot-four and very strong, with an exceedingly beautiful face. His skin was quite pale, cold eyes a bluish-silver, and straight almost black hair swept to one side over his brow. He had always stood proudly, and looked this way even as a teenaged boy in 110, when his free life was to be forever changed.

In the summer of 110, Queen Regina had been traveling from one part of the vast City to another, when Kazimir’s striking beauty caught her eye. He appeared to be exactly what she sought for in her ideal heir, so she sent a spy to stalk him. When the spy had returned, the Queen was informed that most of the City had at least heard of the boy, commonly known as “Kazi,” with reputation varying greatly depending on who was being asked. Kazi was apparently some sort of a local legend in some parts, but a mischievous nuisance in others, though generally feared by everyone to some degree. Girls of course enjoyed looking at Kazi, but the young man had a distaste for humans, even girls. They were always too shy or afraid to approach him anyway, and Kazi never stayed in one place for long enough to make much acquaintance with anyone, not that he wanted to. It did not occur to most commoners, or perhaps they did not know, but Regina’s spy learned that Kazi was an orphan, not yet 18, and should have been in an orphanage or in foster care for the last 10 years. The Queen anonymously reported the 15-year-old lone wolf to an orphanage, which soon came to collect resisting Kazi. Regina resumed her “search” for an heir, and brought now Adoptive Prince Kazimir Ashenthorn to her mansion in the center of the wide City.

For two whole days, Kazimir had not spoken one word, until during dinner, the Queen asked him why he would not eat.

“Oh is that one of the rules?” the young man snapped, “I gotta eat when I feel sick?”

“You feel sick? Should I call for a doctor, Prince Kazimir?”

“No! Just shut up!” he shouted, nostrils flaring as he stood up, every muscle in his body quivering with rage.

“I’ve felt sick since the damn orphanage forced me off my streets, g’bye!” Kazi snarled before sprinting off to lock himself inside his room for the rest of the night.

In the morning, Queen Regina unlocked Kazi’s door from the outside and entered before he had gotten out of bed. The boy was startled, and swiftly buttoned up his shirt with a cold, heartless, bluish-silver stare towards the Queen, who wordlessly pulled up a chair and sat down silently beside Kazi’s bed. The young man sat up to face her, maintaining his threatening gaze.

“Wussup,” growled Kazimir’s disrespectful, handsome voice.

“Good morning, Prince Kazimir,” the Queen calmly began, “Forgive me for not having explained this sooner, but I must share with you the rules you are expected to and must live by as the Adoptive Prince. Of course, they will be expanded upon over time. I did not appreciate last night’s outburst, and expect a verbal apology due by that same time tonight. There shall never again be such an outburst, Prince Kazimir. Though you are my heir, you were nothing but a street rat not one soul cared for just a few days ago. You will treat me with respect. You will address me as ‘Queen Regina’ or ‘her Majesty,’ nothing more, nothing less, nothing other than that. You will learn to speak properly, as I do, Prince Kazimir. You will not say rude things such as ‘shut up,’ you will not curse, and you will not use common slang words such as ‘gonna’ and ‘wussup,’ do you understand?”

“Yeah sure, and what happens if I refuse to comply?” Kazimir scoffed.

The Queen stood, “‘Yes,’ not ‘yeah,’ Prince Kazimir,” she scowled. “Of course the ultimate consequence is death, though I pray we never have to come to that. You will always obey me without discussion or backtalk. You will answer my questions truthfully and without hesitation. Lies will not be tolerated. You will stand as proudly as I witnessed on the streets. You will wear what is set out for you, accepting assistance when your valet is sent and you shall treat all staff appropriately. You will do everything expected of you quietly, and you are hereby forbidden to give me such hostile stares.”

At that, Kazimir forced his face to relax into a bored, indifferent expression, his dark brows low over his cold, unfeeling eyes. That was the only expression he was to wear until the Arrangement six years later, when again, his life would change drastically.

“Do not worry, Prince Kazimir,” said Regina, “I will help you to the best of my ability. I will build you up to reach the required state of perfection, all you need to do is cooperate with me and your position in life. You are already beautiful, and seemingly intelligent, but I will make you act like it.”

With that, the Queen left the room. In effort not to cry or break something, Kazi let out a long scream of agony into his pillow, vainly wishing himself to never have existed. Wishing he could escape this strictly controlled life. At least living on the streets allowed him freedom. No one had told Kazi what to do or not to do and expected him to actually obey. Even that rough way of life had been stripped from Kazimir Ashenthorn. This was the last time he was ever to allow himself to wish to be held by his mother for just one last time.

So he lived as a prince, obeying the Queen, trying hard to cooperate, never allowing his true feelings and opinions to reveal themselves in Regina’s almost constant presence. After two hard years, Kazi was the idealized Prince Kazimir the Queen had sought. Upon acknowledging the fact, she allowed him more freedom, giving him a horse and taking him around the Kingdom with her in order to teach him as her apprentice. Regina even brought Kazimir along to meetings with the nobility. He proved himself to be intelligent as well as socially witty, and was able to absorb dull information with ease and make any noble laugh with a simple comment. His only obvious flaw was his very short temper, though he learned to control it well. When Kazi would become so enraged that his wrath consumed his soul, he would have to stop interacting with everyone, red in the face with his eyes half shut until he had calmed down enough to hide any remaining irritation or anger from others.

In year 116, Queen Regina looked at the 21-year-old prince, as attractive as ever, and decided to arrange his marriage. This was to be called the Arrangement by those involved. The rest of the Kingdom was oblivious to details on the matter. Good looks had always been high on the Queen’s priority list, so when she sent out her agents to snoop on the City’s young ladies, the basics of her instructions were to find “A small, pretty young lady who would look fated to be Prince Kazimir’s if they were to stand side by side,” just to be sure that she was single and without and especially promising future ahead. By late spring, a merchant’s daughter was selected. Queen Regina paid the girl’s father a decent sum to take her off his hands. Being a shy and timid girl, Amber did exactly what she was told, and went to bed in a remote room of the mansion after Regina had taken her away.

That night, the Queen told Kazimir of the Arrangement, causing the young man to almost lose control of his rage. He thought that being told how to think and act was one thing, crossing lines of course, but as temporary as Regina’s reign and not as terrible as being told who to share his entire life with. Kazi had thought that he might at least be allowed the freedom to choose who he will love, or perhaps not to marry at all if he liked, but apparently not. He somehow managed to listen to all Queen Regina had to say without a word. If Kazimir had tried to speak, he would have lost his cool for the first time in his six years as prince.

When the Queen finally gave him a nod of dismissal, Kazi bolted to his bedroom, locking himself inside and throwing the key at the door with an emotionally broken groan. He paced for most of the night, then slept restlessly for most of the morning, denying food offered to him and barely drinking any water. In the early afternoon, his valet was sent with a new suit for Prince Kazimir and a key to the door, to find the young man pacing again.

“I can manage, thank you,” said Kazimir, voice a bit lower than usual; his first words since he was told of the Arrangement. Alone and locked inside his room once more, Kazimir dressed in the jet black suit, with cuffs, tie, and edging the same pale bluish-silver as his eyes. He knew the occasion. Regina had informed Kazimir that he was to meet his fiancée, Miss Amber Alexus, at 2:00pm, an hour away. He stood by his window gazing out through the water droplets. Kazi did not have any details on this meeting, so there he remained for the entire time. When he heard the door unlock behind him, he flinched.

“Prince Kazimir,” began Regina’s messenger, “you and Miss Amber are advised to use the next three hours to get acquainted. Queen Regina had intended to be present, but is currently busy. Thank you.”

Kazimir heard the door shut and lock again, and soft, unfamiliar footsteps on the carpet, walking towards the bench at the foot of his bed. He heard her sit, but never once broke his gaze out into the rain. After about 10 minutes, a cute sneeze behind Kazimir broke the dark silence. He only tightened his grip on the window sill, knitting his black brows further together in irritation. Kazi could not believe it. He could not believe that he just got locked inside his own bedroom with his arranged marriage fiancée. Of course he had his own key laying around on the floor somewhere, but it was the principle of the matter. Did Regina have no respect? Kazi made a noise through his teeth, a sound between a groan and a growl, and he felt the girl behind him tensen.

“Well?” Kazimir finally snapped, making the girl start. He was really losing his temper over this. Such an unfair arrangement was truly pushing him over the edge. Abandoning his six-year resolve to cooperate, Kazi decided at that very moment to forever prove to the Queen of her colossal mistake. Of course Prince Kazimir had never intended to get along with this “Amber” since before he had ever heard her name. Then again, Kazi had never intended to get along with anyone in the first place. If Queen Regina’s purpose was to subtly force the prince to breed himself an heir, then her Majesty was to be out of luck. That was something Kazi could not make himself go along with, something insufferable. Even if it meant disownment and banishment, or even his death, he silently vowed to refuse. After going through all this in his mind, Kazimir realized that Amber had not yet made a response to his word. Turning around, he repeated with more dark power and spite in his voice, “Well!”

Her big, round brown eyes looked down at her hands folded in her lap, and she wore a light pink dress of soft, flowy material. She looked so pretty, shy, obedient, sitting there like that with her messy brown bangs in her face. Kazi had to ignore his true feelings upon seeing her in order to attempt his rejection of the Queen’s oppressive “Arrangement.” How dare Regina find such an adorably attractive young woman to tempt him into this folly with!

“Hey!” he growled, giving up on proper use of language and falling into his commoner’s way of speech. “I want you to look at me when I’m talking to you!”

All she did was whimper.

“Look at me!” Kazi ruthlessly commanded and stepped towards her, all but filling the gap between them. He glared down at her as threateningly as he could manage at the time, but the young man actually had to make an effort to remain angry at such a cute little thing.

“No” the 17-year-old girl pouted, actually enraging Kazimir.

“What?” he shouted as he grabbed her wrists and jerked her small body into a standing position before him with one swift motion. Wearing two-inch heels, Amber was still an entire foot shorter than Kazi, and his glare softened for a moment before he blinked and snarled, “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”

“Yes,” she said in a bratty tone, “Adoptive Prince Kazimir Ashenthorn, my arranged marriage fiancé.” She jerked her wrists away from Kazimir and pushed past him to stand by the window, arms crossed and little nose up in the air, refusing to look at his pretty face.

“Hey I told you to look at me!” said Kazimir, gripping her small shoulder with his strong hand and jerking her around to face him, only to be stunned by a decent smack in the face. He let go and stepped back as he registered the fact that Amber had just hit him.

“How dare you strike me,” he menaced, “a prince!” When Kazimir set his eyes on her, they softened against his will for another brief moment.

Amber took a step back, hands pressed against her mouth, as shocked as he was.

The sting on his cheek was amplified a thousand times when the blow hit Kazimir’s pride. At this moment, he no longer had to willingly try to be angry, as he had been doing a bit ago. Kazimir Ashenthorn was in dire need of something to take out his wrath on, or perhaps something he would never have considered: Someone to calm the storm raging inside of him.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Amber began, “I-I d-didn’t mean t–”

“Shut up!” Kazimir roared, intentionally frightening the girl with his usually attractive voice. There was something unnatural in the tone. Something destructive. Something powerful, piercing, painful.

A noise escaped her, a small, hurt sob. Amber sank to her knees, crying softly at the prince’s feet.

The young man felt a terrible stab of guilt and suddenly wanted to hold this girl and press his lips to her forehead, which was something he had never done or even thought of doing to anyone in all his life. Kazimir quickly forced himself to abandon the thought, but even though he did not know Amber, he liked her. Why did he like her? He was not supposed to like her. Kazi was going to use this to show the Queen that she was making a terrible mistake, that removing a man’s basic freedoms was wrong. He had not been intending to demonstrate his potential power and cruelty to a small teenage girl, who happened to be in a position uncomfortably similar as well as related to his own.

At that moment, with little Amber sobbing at his feet, shaky and frail, locked in a room with him, he could do anything he wanted. Kazi realized that his actions at this moment would affect each and every day of his life until the end of Regina’s reign - maybe even forever. He could think of two general ways this could go: First, Kazi could try to make this work and possibly build a real relationship with Amber, platonic or otherwise; or second, Kazimir could continue this cruel behavior, slowing destroying both Amber and himself until something bad came of it or they gave up to the Void Realm of Hate. Kazi could not stand there and watch the girl cry any longer. He knew what he needed to do, as foreign to this Prince of Cold as it most definitely was.

Kazimir kneeled down beside Amber and slowly wrapped his arms around her quivering body. He felt so uneasy that he had to close his eyes and focus on his own stability in effort to avoid sobbing out of sheer overstimulation. Kazi was simply unaccustomed to anybody’s touch. Not one living soul had loved him since he was five years old.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said after a moment, only this was not his usual apology to the Queen for using slang or forgetting his top collar button. This was real. Kazi’s genuine plea for forgiveness of his hurtful actions.

“It’s okay,” Amber said, much to Kazi’s surprise. She hugged his arm tightly, trying to stop crying, but only wet his sleeve with her face.

“No, it’s not,” said Kazi, “I’ve mistreated you out of anger and shock, though you are not to blame. It’s ‘Amber,’ right?” he asked, opening his eyes.

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, “I’m Amber. You’re Kazi,” the girl said with a smile in her voice. “I heard a lot about you when I was little-- most of my life actually. I saw you once or twice. Wait, you don’t still go by ‘Kazi’ do you?”

“No, I don’t,” he sighed, “but you have every right to call me Kazi, as far as I’m concerned.”

Flattered and unsure of how to respond, Amber sat herself up beside him and began to memorize his face with a hot blush on her own. Thick, black eyebrows; black lashes wreathing pale, bluish-silver eyes, which shone like starlit crystal; a full, pale pink bottom lip, the top smaller; a handsome, flawlessly straight nose; dark hair swept to the side across his almost white forehead; high cheekbones; and a smooth, beautiful jaw, masculine but not obnoxiously so. All these features gave Kazimir Ashenthorn an angular, strong, and somehow soft appearance.

“Hey,” he said in a voice too serious to match such a casual word.

“What?” Amber’s cute voice replied.

“Could we promise never to lie to each other, since-- well, our inescapable fate?”

“I suppose,” she slowly agreed.

“Alright, thank you,” said Kazi, “so Amber, have you had time to think about all of this, or were you only told recently, as I was?” the prince asked and stood up with Amber, stepping away towards the window again, this time followed by the girl. He glanced down at her, blushing because she had chosen to be at his side.

“My father basically sold me to Queen Regina,” Amber stated.

Kazimir’s eyes fell on her, quite shocked at her calm tone, considering the fact that she had just been crying over being yelled at, but he was not surprised at her words. Kazi did not need to be told about the potential of human selfishness. He lowered his voice in seriousness and said, “I never knew this.”

“He was never very interested in me,” said Amber, “I didn’t see him much. It’s not like we were close or anything.”

“Have you ever been close to anyone?” Kazi ventured to ask.

“I had lots of friends,” she answered, “and a best friend I was sort of close to, but she died in an accident last year.”

Kazi noticed the quiver in her voice and gathered enough courage to take her hand in his.

She almost gasped at the contact.

“Could– um, do you think that–” he scoffed at his inability to speak. Kazi was usually the kind of person to find words much too easily. He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to regain his composure. “I don’t know you Amber,” he began, maintaining a bluish-silver gaze into her brown eyes, “but I’d really like to. I don’t know what you might think of this, but do you think that someday we might grow close to each other? I don’t want to live in constant discourse and unease, as I’ve been for the last six years. I am so…tired. I’m only asking if we could get along, possibly be friends despite the fact that we are being forced into this.”

Kazi had taken a breath to find more words, but in that space Amber put her fingertips over his lips, freezing him upon contact. “Only friends?” she whispered, terrifying Kazi in a way that he liked. Amber moved her hand to his cheek with a soft, careful motion.

Without being able to consider his actions, Kazimir bent down over the girl, tilted her chin up with his fingertips, and closing his eyes, he kissed her. This lasted a bit of time, and when Kazi finally ended it, breathing unsteady and cheeks bright pink, he stepped back with a blank, frightened expression.

“K-Kazi?” said Amber’s faint, confused voice as she looked up at him with a softly worried look.

“I got ahead of myself, forgive me for the lack of permission as well as warning,” Kazimir quickly said.

“No!” she exclaimed, considerably flustered again, “No Kazi, don’t apologize! I-I– um, it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Kazi slowly admitted, voice quiet and low.

“Well,” Amber sighed, “we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. Not just seeing each other every day, but living with each other, married, forever. It’s forced and–”

“I know it’s forced!” he harshly interrupted, but was ignored.

“And of course I don’t appreciate that, but that’s how it’s going to be. So let’s get through it and try to make the best of it, right?”

“I guess,” Kazi said upon an exhale, considering this. “So you agree with what I said not too long ago, about at least attempting to get along?”

“Uh-huh” Amber smiled, “who could possibly turn down something as pretty as you?”

That made Kazi blush, and smirking, he said, “You think I’m pretty, huh?”

“Didn’t we promise never to lie to each other?” she said with a small giggle.

“That we did,” Kazi flirtatiously said before he pulled her into his arms, gently pressing her head to his strong chest. The young man bowed his head to press his lips to the top of Amber’s head for a long, quiet moment. When Kazi broke that contact, the girl popped up to give his cheek a quick kiss.

“So what do we do with the next two hours?” Kazi whispered, as if not to disturb the moment with anything louder.

“We don’t have to talk about anything in particular, right?”

“Nope, just ‘get acquainted,’ which I believe has been going on for quite some time now, eh?” he joked, causing Amber to giggle before he sank down onto the floor, back against the wall and the girl on his lap.

Amber slept for those two hours, but Kazimir used the time to plot. He did not know how much time there would be before the wedding, but if there was enough, he could possibly show the Queen how wrong she was. It was a longshot, as Kazi was well aware of, but there was still a chance that she would not go through with it, as small a chance as it might have been. What was he doing? Was there a chance? What would happen if he was to succeed? Would he ever see Amber again? What if he left? He could not leave. What was he thinking? Had he lost his mind? Exile, persecution, and death awaited any who opposed Queen Regina. When he heard his door being unlocked from the outside, Kazi sprang up and bounced away from Amber, hastily saying, “Pretend to dislike me. I have a plan.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The girl nodded, confused but willing. The Queen entered the room. Regina simply looked around, told Amber to follow, then led the girl out, and locked the door again. The next day, she informed Prince Kazimir that the wedding was to be held in two days and that he would not be seeing Amber until then. Kazimir reacted indifferently. Just a curt nod of acknowledgement, though he wondered how she was. This confused him. He had never wanted anyone besides his parents, so why did he want to be with Amber? Why did he want to protect her so much? Wait, he wanted to protect her? Considering alternatives, Kazimir concluded that he was especially fortunate in that he actually liked her. He could have just as easily ended up with someone who would hate him as much as he hated humans in general.

Two days later, late in the morning, Prince Kazimir Ashenthorn and Miss Amber Alexus were married. With an unreadable glance towards Queen Regina– maybe even the slightest hint of a defiant smirk in those cold, bluish-silver eyes, Kazi refused to kiss the bride. At the reception, Kazimir and Amber kept away from each other until the two had to sit beside each other inside one of the only automobiles in the Kingdom. They were driven to a new house, large and expensive, in which they were expected to live. The two entered, glad to be alone and away from the Queen’s observant glare.

“So what are we going to do?” Amber carefully asked.

“What do you mean?” Kazimir said in a low voice as he began to climb stairs of glass.

“Well, I don’t know, that’s why I was asking.”

“We’re not going to be having a night, as Queen Regina expects. Is that what you’re asking about?” he said in an emotionless tone as he waited mid stairway for cautious Amber to catch up with him.

“I don’t know,” she whined, sad and embarrassed.

“Do you want to or is that what you expected?” Kazimir said without even looking at her.

“I-I don’t know Kazi,” Amber said, getting a bit flustered and upset at this point, with sickening regret about having asked anything in the first place.

“That isn’t an answer. My question remains,” said cold Kazimir.

“Expecting I guess,” she admitted, “but I never really know what to expect anyways.”

“I see,” he said. “Well, I’m going to shower and go to bed. Goodnight Amber.”

“Um, goodnight,” the girl replied, watching him climb the rest of the stairs.

In one of the many spare bedrooms, leaving the master for Amber, Kazimir could not sleep. He was not thinking about anything in particular. In fact, if Kazi was so exhausted that he might not have been able to think about anything in particular if he had tried to. Some time after midnight, Kazi got up and began walking about their new residence. When he passed the master bedroom, he noticed that the light was still on. Kazimir tapped lightly on the door, enough to be heard, yet softly enough not to wake someone. If Amber was awake, he could tell her that it was past her bedtime. If she was asleep, he could shut off the light. There was no reply to his tap on the door, so he quietly opened it and stepped lightly inside the room. Kazi found the fire slowly burning and the lamp on the nightstand left on. Amber lay on the luxurious bed between Kazi and the lamp and was wearing a loose, creamily-colored nightgown of soft, thin material. He liked how she looked laying there, vulnerably curled up on her side, hugging a pillow and seemingly asleep. As he did when he had caused her to cry, Kazi found himself wanting to hold the girl and kiss her forehead. The former rogue ignored his sentimental impulse and walked around the foot of the bed to the other side. When he tapped on the gold base of the lamp, its light went out.

“Leave it on,” whimpered Amber sleepily.

“But you’re asleep,” Kazimir’s intoxicating voice softly whispered.

“I’m scared. Leave it on,” she said, curling up around her pillow even more.

“Amber,” he sighed, “you’ll burn out the lightbulb.”

“Please,” the girl whined.

“There’s still gonna be light from the fire Amber,” Kazi softly said, voice as beautiful and calming as nothing before. “It’s a soft, dancing, golden light. Warm too. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Everyone has to adapt to new surroundings sooner or later. They get through it.”

Amber’s only immediate response to his words was another pathetic whimper before she worked up her courage and said, “but I’m scared even with the light on.”

Kazimir exhaled loudly, giving the back of her head an exceptionally annoyed look, his bluish-silver eyes half shut and reflecting the golden firelight. “Does my presence scare you?” he asked flatly.

“No…”

Kazimir rolled his eyes at her answer, but was actually flattered and confused. He looked himself over, grey socks, soft black pants, and a loose, halfway-buttoned pale-blue shirt falling from his shoulder at one side. Kazi straightened out his clothes and buttoned up his collarless shirt the entire way before slowly laying down on the bed behind Amber. She sat straight up and stared at Kazi lying on his back beside her with his hands behind his head.

“Tell me to leave and I will leave,” he said, gazing up towards the tops of the off-white curtains around the bed.

“I-I–” is all Amber managed to say.

“Am I scaring you?” Kazi asked, giving her his utmost genuine look.

“N-No,” she stammered, “I’m not scared.”

“Am I disturbing you?”

“No! I just– I don’t know,” Amber sighed.

“Then why did you sit up so suddenly?”

“What?”

“I’m here so you won’t be scared, Amber Ashenthorn,” he almost smiled. “You need your sleep.”

“Oh. Okay,” she timidly said and layed back down.

Kazimir gasped when he felt the girl rest her head on his chest, but they were soon asleep, and that was it. During the next year, Kazi and Amber grew to trust each other, with the girl being the only person he would dare confide in. There were times when Kazi would get so angry at Queen Regina for ruining his life, at the death of his parents for destroying his faith in humanity. Times when he had to stuff down his frustration, sorrow and rage to the point of physical pain. With Amber there, he had someone to cry to, someone to scream at pointlessly about his thoughts and feelings. Someone to calm and consol him after he had tortured and broken himself down to nothing but a tired, sobbing boy. Physically, their relationship went no further than Amber laying her head on Kazimir’s chest in bed, as well as frequent, yet highly valued kisses.

Of course, the Queen never knew of this, though she may have suspected something of the sort. Around Regina, there was Prince Kazimir, and there was Princess Amber; however, there was not Kazimir and Amber. The two rarely spoke one cold word to each other in the Queen’s presence.

Due to either the extreme hostility, or her Majesty's suspicion, Regina issued another, much more private Arrangement. It was year 117, about one month after Kazimir and Amber’s first anniversary, when Queen Regina approached Prince Kazimir in a remote corridor in her mansion.

“Prince Kazimir,” she said in a firm tone.

“Yes?” he answered, turning to face her with a quizzical look on his exotically beautiful face.

“I have been meaning to speak with you.”

“Yes,” he said with a nod.

“The plague of year one hundred, it took your parents, correct?” she asked.

Kazimir tried not to scowl, taking a cautious step back as if she had the ability to detonate, while wondering why the Queen was asking a question she already knew the answer to. They were killed, not taken, at any rate, he thought. He let himself exhale heavily and nod.

“It took my husband, the King, as well,” Regina stated. “You know this. I never remarried after the doctors told me that I could never have a child, and now they have told me that because of the effects of the disease I survived, I only have until the end of the year to live.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Kazimir lied, and he lied well. The thought of killing the Queen had crossed his mind, though it was more a fantasy than a possibility to him.

“Before the King died,” Regina continued, “we had decided to wait some time before having children. Every middle to upper class couple uses a pill of some sort, so we followed suit. It was a mistake. I was left without an heir, so I had to go through the trouble of creating one out of you. You have done well, despite your temper, Prince Kazimir, but I ask you: Does your wife take such pills?”

“She has no reason to,” Kazimir readily replied, as uncomfortable as he was feeling.

The Queen gave him a skeptical look before she spoke again. “You need an heir, Prince Kazimir, and I will make for certain that you have one before my time is up. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Kazimir said in a low, firm tone. “I have thought of this.”

“Are you and Amber having trouble?” Regina inquired, just as she had on the first night Kazi spoke to her. “Should I send a doctor to examine her?”

“No,” he said, trying not to sound disturbed. “Amber is fine. And so am I.”

“Is she already pregnant?”

“No,” Kazi groaned, “There is no possible way for that to have happened, Queen Regina.”

“Are you telling me that after an entire year, Amber is still a virgin?” the Queen said, growing angry.

“Yes. As far as I know,” Kazi confirmed. He was feeling nauseous and growing pale due to the unfamiliar obscenity of the interrogation.

Not knowing how to react to this revelation, the Queen snapped, “That had better change, Kazimir Ashenthorn! Amber will be pregnant with your child by the end of this year, or I must assign an appropriate penalty. Such a penalty could involve physical pain - it could be anything! You must remember to be grateful that I have allowed you to do this unmoderated and that you have such a generous amount of time!”

With that, the Queen left Kazimir and had him escorted back to his house. He was utterly disgusted, and tried not to think about Regina’s last sentence. That night, a few hours after dinner, Kazimir sat Amber down on the sofa before a fireplace, but did not sit down himself. Arms tightly crossed, he paced back and forth through the firelight, telling the girl of his unpleasant encounter in the corridor with great detail. When the young man had told his tale, he stood with his hand on the wall, looking blankly down into the fire.

“If we don’t,” he said, “the ultimate penalty may be death. My death. She might give me a warning penalty beforehand - most likely something that won’t affect you as much as my execution would.”

“Why would she punish only you?” Amber asked.

“Because I’m the man. That queen doesn’t care if you’re resisting or not, she just wants me, Prince Kazimir, to have an heir. She wouldn’t hear of another King adopted into place, nor a change in government. She seems to think that because I’m a twenty-two-year-old male with fourteen inches on a frail teenage girl, that you have no say in the matter. She doesn’t believe that she’s not the only human worth anything. She treats people as tools to please herself with and that’s the extent of her knowledge. What she doesn’t know is that I love you and wouldn’t hurt you in any way, especially that way.”

“Y-You love me?” Amber faintly squeaked.

“Of course I do,” he said, giving her a playful, smirking glance before returning to his more serious mood. “Queen Regina has respect for no one, Amber. She has taken away my freedom– no, our freedom. As far as I can see, we have two options. Neither are ideal.”

“Do you really, truely, actually, genuinely care about me?” the girl quietly asked in the most hopeful, sweet tone.

“Of course I do!” Kazimir repeated, slightly irritated. He turned around to set his bluish-silver gaze upon her and said in a low, earnest voice, “You hadn’t figured that out yet?”

“You never said so,” Amber blushed.

“Do you love m–” Kazimir interrupted himself, “Do you want to know what two options we have?”

“Yes, I love you too, Kazi.”

Kazimir tried not to roll his eyes or blush, and almost told her that now was not the time. Instead, he used a rough, irritated version of his voice to say, “Well do you?”

“Uh-huh” she nodded.

“So our first option would be to do what Regina wants us to do, which I think is absolutely vile, but the second option will be hard to pull off and may or may not involve you.”

“Wait, what?” Amber said, “we’re still talking about this? We just confessed to each other Kazi!”

“We stated the obvious Amber, putting what we already knew into words. I’ll kiss you about it later if you like, but we are very literally in a life and death position right now, so please hear me out.”

“Okay,” she sighed, “what’s the second option?”

Kazimir stepped towards her on the low sofa, solemnly genuflecting close before her so the two could be at eye level with one another. The prince took a deep breath and in a lowered voice, said, “I kill Queen Regina.”

“What?” Amber gasped in utter shock.

“She is to die by the end of the year anyway, but if she were to die before the end of the year, she won’t be able to make us do one thing. We can be ourselves, Amber. Also, if everyone thought that the effects of that damned illness did it– Well, the nobles have always liked me and would be glad to accept me as King.”

“But Kazi, this is dangerous! Not to mention impossible, no one gets away with murder.”

“Those are the only two options. I will go with the second, unless you convince my conscience to bend to her heartless power yet another time. Do you want to breed her an heir, Amber?” he said coldly.

“No…”

“Alright, listen,” Kazi began.

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

“Even if you manage to do this terrible thing,” she said carefully, “and nobody finds out, it will still be on your soul. People believing that something is true doesn’t make it true. If they believe that she died naturally, that doesn’t mean it really happened that way. You still would have killed her. You will carry the memory for the rest of your life.”

Kazimir looked down at his strong, pale hand resting on his knee. He took a deep breath and said, “Will you listen now?”

He watched her small hands take his, one slipping between his knee and palm, the other was laid on top of his wrist. Kazi looked up into her round brown eyes. There was desperation and love in them. Nothing else. She gave the slightest nod. She would let him talk. She would listen because she knew that he would not listen to her, even if he knew her words to be true. Kazi was a stubborn man and Amber loved him for it.

“I don’t know how you feel about this,” he began, looking down, “but we promised not to lie to each other, so I’ll tell you what I think. In all honesty, I– Well, to bring this up again, I love you Amber, and would love for you to have my child. In fact, you’re the only person I truly care about. I’m just… sad. Irritated. Angry that it has to be this way. I wish none of this had happened. I wish I had met you in my streets, taken you to special places, gotten to know you and proposed to you myself. This way hurts. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, I understand. You’re saying that you’d like to do as the Queen says, only not because she told you to, but because you wanted to, and under natural circumstances. I hate the lack of freedom too, Kazi.”

Kazimir sighed heavily, stood, and began to pace again. “Do you understand Amber, that she has to die before she penalizes me?”

“I do,” said her quiet voice. She watched him freeze. She noticed the shaking of his hands. It worried her.

“Please help me,” he breathed and continued pacing, voice raspy and dazed. He was not alright.

“Kazi?” Amber said, to receive no response. “Kazi look at me.” She stood and caught his sleeve in desperate effort to get his attention.

He ignored her for a few swift strides. Her weight hardly affected him. He stopped walking, but his half shut eyes stared unseeing into darkness.

“Kazi?” she said again, then waited, still clinging to his arm.

After what felt like an eternity, Kazimir’s bluish-silver gaze fell upon the girl at his side. His breathing was heavy, body tense, and face like stone.

“Please be careful,” soft Amber requested.

Kazimir nodded, never to say much in his constant daze until after the deed was done. He was still to conjure up an extremely detailed plan before carrying out his task.

One dark night in October, the moon was gone. It had been three months since the encounter in the corridor, and Kazimir had acquired a pair of gloves, black and softer than Angels’ wings. The prince managed to enter the mansion and sneak into the Queen’s bedroom without being seen. He wore the gloves for two reasons, the first so that he would not leave his fingerprints, the second, and the reason for their extreme softness, was so that they would not damage Regina’s soft ivory skin when he pressed his strong hands on her mouth and nose. She had woken up, struggling against him with her hazel eyes shining with sadistic defiance and rage, but he was at least twice as strong as she.

“You…” he exhaled heavily, not once closing his glowing eyes even to blink, “can go to Hell!”

Waiting for the Queen to die, Kazimir thought over other methods he would have rather used. More painful, violent ways of murder. Stab her, squeeze her throat, slash her a thousand times, smash her into a wall, maim her, exsanguinate her, how much damage was a sewing needle capable of? He could not do these things. Kazimir needed only to cut off her supply of oxygen and be sure to leave the scene looking as natural as possible. If he left the mansion looking as if there had been foul play, he would have had to frame someone, for always, a killer must be found or there shall be no rest. Kazimir had considered this, but it was his task, his fight, and his mess to deal with. There was no point in ruining someone else’s life because he had terminated the one who had destroyed his own.

Regina had soon fainted due to lack of air, but the prince was going to wait until her heart had stopped, clamping his gloved hands on her face even harder. After a minute, he felt her throat for her pulse, and felt nothing. He had done it. She was dead. Queen Regina was dead. Kazimir released her and backed away. He was suddenly afraid, not of being found out, but of himself. That felt far too easy to do, and he had been wishing her even more violence and pain as he did it. Kazimir had had to restrain himself. At any rate, Regina did indeed appear to have died peacefully in her sleep. There were no telltale marks of suffocation on her face due to his eerily soft gloves. His quest had been completed, and he managed to leave without one person knowing he was ever there that night - save one.

Poor Amber knew that Kazi had gone to do this terrible thing, and was curled up on the sofa trembling with worry when he returned. Kazimir entered the room, removed his gloves, and violently cast them into the fire, then fell to his knees before it, trying not to think of what he had just done. When Amber heard his deep, quivering panting, she rose from her seat and put her arms around his broad chest from behind, causing him to start.

“Don’t touch me,” Kazmir breathed, tone morbid but somehow still handsome.

Surprised, and a bit hurt, Amber backed away, unsure of what to do. “W-What happened?” she asked as softly as she could.

The damaged soul before the fire released a loud, angry groan - almost a growl - then ran up the stairs to a spare room in which he locked himself. Neither of them slept that night. Kazimir paced. Amber curled up in bed and missed his warmth as she worried. By morning, Kazi had managed to include his horror with all his other emotions. He masked the horror with his bluish-silver eyes half shut as if dazed, his voice overcome with forced indifference. He was even like this around Amber, which worried her terribly.

The servants had found the body and brought word to the nobles, who informed Kazimir and Amber via letter that their coronation was to be held in the morning of the next day, and that the Queen had died in her sleep, as would have been expected a few months later. The confirmation relieved Amber, but Kazi had no direct thoughts. Was he really free? He would never be the 15-year-old Kazi of the streets again; he was King Kazimir. The Kingdom destroyed freedom, and that was unacceptable. Would his position give him the power to edit the system?

Kazi had deeply hurt Amber’s feelings when he told her not to touch him, but she tried her best to understand and forgave him. He did not want to be touched for months, until he was finally over the initial shock of discovering his murderous ability, and even years later, the memory would forever haunt him. By the end of the year, Kazi had noticed Amber’s respectful avoidance of him, which made his heart sick. One winter morning, Amber rose to leave the drawing room as soon as Kazimir wandered near, but he stood in her way when she tried to exit.

“Amber,” he said. His bluish-silver eyes shown with guilt and longing behind the cover of his unreadable shield.

The young woman before him looked up at Kazimir with a step backwards, making sure not to touch or disturb him in any way.

He took a step towards her to fill the space and said, “I’m sorry Amber.”

“W-Why?” she asked in a quiet voice. “W-What for?”

“For everything, but especially the Queen’s death and since. I’ve been cruel to you from the beginning. Please forgive me.”

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I know you have a temper and need some space. I understand.”

“That doesn’t make it right Amber. You’ve been avoiding me, and I think you miss me, right? Well I miss you too.”

“I-I do miss you,” she admitted, her small voice trembled with emotion and her brown eyes dialated.

“Please forgive me,” Kazi repeated as he took her hand, causing her to gasp and look up at him just before he kissed her.

“Please,” he whispered in her ear, “I’ve missed you so much, and I’m so sorry for making you miss me too.”

“I-I forgive you K-Kazi,” Amber almost sobbed.

“Thank you,” Kazi said in the most genuine, amorous way. He hesitated for a moment before he pulled her into a hug, trying to wrap as much of himself around her as he could. His arms and shoulders went around hers, gently fitting her small body into his strong chest. He pressed his perfect cheek to the top of her head and closed his eyes. All he wanted was to comfort her.

“Are you okay now?” Amber asked after a long while.

“Mm-hm,” he answered as he kissed the top of her head, “I am now. I’m so sorry for shutting down.”

“It’s okay now Kazi, you’re okay,” she whispered, “and do you want to know something?”

“Hm?” he prompted.

“We don’t have to pretend anymore. I’m the Queen now, so we can act the way we want.”

Kazimir thought for a moment, gave her a provocative smirk, then kissed her in reply.

After that, they would hold hands and such in public, and Kazimir did not have to hide his true self from the world. In 119, less than two years later, Kazi and Amber had a newborn son. In 120, King Kazimir at 25 years old, set out to reform the Kingdom’s system. His plan was to allow anyone over the age of 21 to vote in a pair of nobles to govern the section of the Kingdom. These nobles would then vote in someone to take Kazimir’s place after five more years for a term of five years. In every term the Kingdom would have a new monarch figure. That was as drastic a thing Kazi could attempt. Of course, the reality would be messy and documents long. The nobility thought that this would overcomplicate society and refused to agree to anything until year 122. The entire idea was presented to everyone over 18 years old, beginning the long, initial voting process. The nobles had thought that the commoners would agree with them rather than Kazi and would rather not change things, but their King knew the people of the City and won the vote.

In the year 130, Kazimir demoted himself and Amber to Lord and Lady, and his system was initiated. By that time, 35-year-old Kazi had six children with Amber, and an additional two in their future. He was always to be a bit melancholy and irritable, but that was who he was and who Amber loved. Sometimes he would take a look around at his boys fighting playfully, at the girls pretending not to be fighting, or he would simply gaze upon Amber, all the time marveling to himself at how on earth had his life turned out so well. Kazi’s life had been so terrible, the world so very cruel, but some strange fate gave him what he needed to change for either better or worse, and he had changed for the better - though you should decide for yourself.

Kazimir Ashenthorn was born, his parents died when he was five, he ran wild but learned what was necessary to survive, the Queen “adopted” him when he was 15, he was forced to be Prince Kazimir, forced to marry a girl, pretended not to be in love with her, almost forced to procreate, and had to murder to avoid it. After all that, Kazi did what he could to prevent such events from happening to anyone else, removing a true monarch who would need an heir and did all he could in the interest of freedom, because Kazimir Ashenthorn died a man who knew what tragedy the absence of freedom could hold,

Because throughout history, there has never been

Worth without price,

Victory without loss,

Joy without sorrow, nor

Freedom without sacrifice.