Troivack was a brutal, and traditional kingdom.

With its five cities lying between its mountainous North and South border, its prize jewel lay nestled in its center; their vineyards.

Troivackian wines and their moonshine had become infamous amongst the nearest two kingdoms of Daxaria and Zinfera since the Tri-War. This was thanks mostly to the Daxarian hero Finlay Ashowan, the House Witch. The man had gone from peasant cook to a Viscount, and famously bested Troivack’s Chief of Military, a fearsome fire witch who had brought his dragon familiar to Daxaria’s doorstep. Though it was common knowledge that Finlay Ashowan’s own familiar, a cat named Kraken, had been the major catalyst for the success of the war. The House Witch had married a beautiful Troivackian noble– a woman who had introduced to her husband the moonshine that as a result boomed in popularity.

The Tri-War had been a terrible loss for Troivack, one that took the life of their previous King, Matthias the Sixth, leaving his young son Brendan Devark on the throne.

Despite the odds, King Brendan Devark not only survived his childhood as a ruler, but succeeded in bringing about an age of prosperity and peace under his strong yet fair command.

He even managed to lay aside any grudges against the kingdom of Daxaria, and fell in love with their one and only Princess Alina Reyes. A choice that was not well received by all in his land.

It just so happened that it was their wedding day. The late summer heat simmered over the earth, by midday, but the mornings had notably begun to cool– a sign fall was on its way. The wedding would take place, and shortly after King Brendan Devark and his new bride would safely cross the seas to his kingdom for Princess Alina’s coronation before the autumn winds made the trip too rough to travel.

A select few Daxarian Knights and servants would join the Princess to ensure her transition to the new land would be a smooth one, though there was one extra guest accompanying the newlyweds back to their kingdom. Alina Reyes’ best friend would be present…

Lady Katarina Ashowan.

Daughter of the Daxarian Hero, Viscount Finlay Ashowan.

And little did the people of Troivack know, it was Katarina Ashowan who should have been their true concern all along.

*

Katarina scowled at her reflection in the lengthwise mirror as the maids buzzed like bees around her, pinning and humming as they worked.

The Princess of Daxaria was being sewn into her wedding dress in her own chamber, and even more excitingly, her brother the Crown Prince of Daxaria had reappeared after years of a mysterious absence…

Rolling her ethereal golden eyes to the ceiling, Katarina cracked her neck impatiently, her long wavy red hair rippling down her back as she did so. With the air crackling with excitement, standing still seemed horribly arduous.

Her gaze flitted to two maids huddled in the corner of her chamber, whispering and giggling amongst themselves. 

“Something interesting?” Kat asked drolly, her tone bored but her eyes unable to disguise the glint of interest.

The pair of maids straightened and glanced at each other guiltily before turning and curtsying.

“We were merely… saying how… how beautiful you will look in your dress today, Lady Katarina.” The pair curtsied a second time for good measure, and consequently missed Kat’s sardonic quirk of her eyebrow.

“Oh really? Are you sure it isn’t anything to do with Prince Eric returning?” Kat’s lips curled upwards in a wolfish smile.

The maids visibly gulped before unconsciously grabbing each other’s hands and stepping forward.

“W-We wondered i-if his highness was going to… to stay in Austice,” one of the maid’s spluttered as Kat continued to smile with a glint of deviousness.

“I see. What if he does choose to stay in Austice once his sister is wed, hm? Are you hoping to wait on a new Queen?”

Both maids curtsied until their knees touched the floor. “F-Forgive us, Lady Katarina, we only-”

“I’m teasing. Please don’t stress. I’m sorry for making you worry,” Kat sighed, her smile dimming.

She’d always learned from a young age to treat those of commoner birth with respect and consideration. Her father’s former status as a cook had never been forgotten during her childhood, despite many of the fellow noble children taunting her over her ‘sullied blood’.

Despite her reassurance, the maids didn’t resume their previous discussion as they instead refocused their attention to completing Katarina’s dress.

The garment adorning the abnormally tall redhead was a dark blue with gold trim, and silk.

Not that Katarina particularly cared that much about what she wore. She tended to prefer escaping her noblewoman duties as the Princess’ most senior handmaiden, and instead donning trousers for a good bit of fun somewhere…

A knock at the chamber door startled the maids, and slowly drew Katarina from her thoughts of escaping the wedding reception as swiftly as possible.

“Lady Katarina? The Princess requests your presence in the council room.”

The voice of Head of Housekeeping for the castle, Ruby, called out to her breathlessly.

The woman was getting on in years, and had never exactly been the pinnacle of health…

Already fidgeting in order to get moving again, Katarina forced herself to stay put as the maids hurriedly made their final adjustments, and allowed her to step down from the stool she had been perched on.

Striding out of the room with a quick wave of thanks to the maids over her shoulder, Katarina languished in the feeling of moving once more.

Sitting still was not a strong suit of hers by any stretch of the imagination.

A fact that everyone knew, and worried about once she joined the Troivackian court to assist the Princess for a year.

Upon entering the council room, Kat wondered why in the world her friend was there and not sipping honeyed mead with her long awaited brother and father in the King’s private study.

Half expecting yet another full-blown meeting amongst nobility that was nothing short of torture to Katarina as she prepared to go abroad, she was grateful beyond measure to the Gods when she found only the Princess in the room.

Her delicate brows were furrowed, her wavy dirty blonde hair arranged beautifully, and her wedding dress already sewn on, Alina Reyes looked entirely out of place in the musty old council room. She sat in her father’s chair that dwarfed her small frame, yet there was a strange coil of power within her rigid posture that belied one's initial first impression of the Princess.

“Alina?” Kat called out with a grin.

The Princess’ hazel eyes snapped up, though her frown remained.

“Oh, Kat… thank you for coming…”

“I’ll have you know, that when we first met, I would have seriously reconsidered becoming friends with you if I’d known that even on your wedding day, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was another Godsdamn council meeting.” Kat ambled over to Alina’s side and plunked her willowy form down gracelessly in the chair to Alina’s left.

The Princess’ hazel eyes were already lost in thought when she let out a half hearted laugh.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Katarina felt her eyebrow raise and her index finger begin tapping the table impatiently.

“So why did you summon me here? You should be sharing tears and some kind of feelings with your family before marrying your beloved rockhead.”

The Princess shot her friend a flat irritated glance at that.

Katarina had never hid her… lack of fondness for the Troivackian King who was a giant of men. Though Brendan Devark had made it perfectly clear the feeling was mutual.

“Alright, I’m sorry! I know it’s his wedding day, too… I’ll try to be…” Kat trailed off, her expression growing pained. After another beat of silence she decided to give up on giving a false promise. “So why am I here?”

Closing her eyes and giving her head a shake, Alina’s frown returned immediately.

“I just… I need to… talk…”

Kat blinked several times before jumping to her feet. “You’re having second thoughts about marrying him? Fantastic, alright, I’ve got a horse and a donkey ready with supplies to take us to a small holding my family has along the coast. From there we can maybe travel down to the Southern Islands, it’ll be difficult for people to-”

“Kat, shut up. I love Brendan and I’m marrying him. Today. One more bad word about him and I’ll be having you writing all of my correspondence for me the entire time you’re in Troivack.”

Kat’s expression morphed into horror as she stiffly seated herself back down. “No need to be so drastic.”

Alina sighed, though her irritation with her best friend wasn’t so easily dissolved as she turned sternly to the redhead. “It’s about my brother.”

Kat leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her middle, her head tilted expectantly.

“He’s been gone for three years, and while I’m unbelievably happy to see him again, he just is… changed. It’s like he’s an entirely different person. Then your father around him… I’ve never seen the Viscount so…” Alina’s gaze once again grew lost and her head began shaking unconsciously.

“What about my father around the Prince is so strange?” Katarina asked with a raised eyebrow. The infamous House Witch could be rather terrifying to someone who angered him, but was generally known to be irritatingly charming and good natured…

“It’s clear the two of them are furious with each other, and it’s almost as though…” Alina hesitated before she let out a frustrated sigh. “Almost as though he expects Eric to do something to vex him terribly. Meanwhile my father can’t stop crying he’s so happy to have us both home.”

Kat’s golden eyes moved to the ceiling as she pondered this tidbit.

Her father had been a friend of Prince Eric Reyes since he had been a peasant cook and the Prince a young boy. Until three years prior when Alina and the Prince’s mother, Queen Ainsley, had passed. 

Something had happened between the two, and it had been the subject of an array of rumors ever since…

“Have you had a chance to speak to your brother alone?” Kat asked after a moment.

“Not yet. I’m hoping tomorrow morning I’ll get a chance,” Alina cited, her gaze once again growing distant.

“You think you’re going to be leaving your bedchamber the morning after your wedding to meet with your brother?” Katarina asked with a roguish grin.

At this Alina blushed and opened her mouth to retort, only found herself unable to make any kind of retort.

“Well, that is your business. I’ll keep an eye on my father and your brother at the reception to see if I can weasel out any information.” Katarina slowly stood back up, and reached her arms high above her head in a satisfying stretch.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Alina sighed as she too slowly stood up. “It feels like despite Eric being back I have even more questions than I did before.”

“I’m sure there is a perfectly good reason he was away and why my Da’s so annoyed. My best guess is he saw the Prince be rude to a commoner or said once King he’d deny my father’s proposal for basic funded education. Then the Prince probably stayed away to gather more information or something…” Kat began slowly moving towards the door as Alina began to slowly rise from her own seat.

“That is a very specific guess.”

“I’m just saying, it could be a number of simple things.” Kat shrugged as she waited for the Princess to stride ahead of her.

“I don’t know, Kat… I have a feeling there was a bigger reason for it all…” Alina’s frown was returning when Kat seized her shoulders as she passed and gave her a gentle shake.

“Oyy, if you want me to be the epitome of a happy supportive friend as you marry that giant as- I mean. The Troivackian King, then you have to be happy too, got it? Come on! It’s your wedding day! Food, and I hear there are no less than five musical groups your father hired. We both know how excited you’ve been to hear them,” Kat reminded, knowing full well that her friend's deep love of music would at the very least cheer her up a little bit.

The tension leaving her shoulders, Alina dropped her chin to her chest, finally succumbing to her beautiful smile.

“Alright, you’re right… I can worry about this later.”

“That’s the spirit! Even my brother has returned! Tam could help try and needle my Da about what’s going on as well if you’d like?” Kat asked while reaching for the door handle.

“Tam is back? Gods it’s been so long since I’ve seen him!” Alina’s surprised yet pleased tone floated out to the guards, making them stand to attention as the two women passed.

“He has indeed. It’s been nice not having his mopey self around, but ah well, I guess if you want to see him I can put up with him.” Kat sighed dramatically.

Alina linked her arm with Kat’s before nudging her friend gently with her elbow. “You’re happy he’s home too, admit it.”

“Pfft,” Kat shook her head with a jesting smile. “He’s just another person nagging me not to drink too much moonshine or go for a night ride.”

Alina laughed, before turning a questioning gaze up to her friend. “By the way, you weren’t serious about having an escape plan for me, were you?”

At this, Kat’s expression grew suspiciously innocent. “I would never, ever, doubt your sincere heartfelt feelings towards the Troivackian King.”

Eyes narrowing, Alina gave her friend a final suspicious stare before turning her gaze forward.

“Well, I won’t need them. Now come along, I think it’s just about time.”

Kat’s smile returned as she guided her friend back towards her chamber, where, without a doubt her maids were most likely frantically awaiting the Princess to add the finishing touches to her wedding attire.

While not exactly thrilled at having to hang around the reception longer, Katarina Ashowan couldn’t deny that she was a little curious about the task Alina had set for her. Not to mention, she hadn’t seen the Prince since she was a young child.

All she could remember of him was his wavy dirty blonde hair like his sister’s waiting in the distance with a sword at his hip…

‘Ah well. One way or another I’ll figure out what happened… though maybe I should tell the stablemaster to unpack our getaway steeds…’