The Goddess' Blessing: Lovers by Truce

Aspen was, by far, the biggest and most prosperous nation on the continent. They were known far and wide for their arts, their innovative designs, warfare and extremely fertile land. Yet with all these amazing attributes, the thing the kingdom was most known for was the joint reign.

The history of Aspen was one filled with hatred and bloodshed, story often told from generation to generation with both lies and truths mixed in. There were two houses of royalty instead of one, half of them descentants of the first family on the land and the other half being the descendants of the second family on the land. When each heir of the respective houses came of age, they were expected to participate in trials to prove their worth and then crowned once a winner was picked. The Crowned Prince and Princess of the kingdom were expected to rule alongside each other until they produce new heirs. The most peculiar thing about the houses was definitely the fact that they hated each other passionately. The only reason they ruled together was because of a blessing from the goddess of the land. Or a curse, depending on how you looked at it.

Centuries ago, the kingdom of Aspen didn't exist and there were only two little towns in the region. Both towns were always fighting and squabbling over ownership of the land. The two town leaders had children who unlike their fathers loved one another. They met at a faux peace meeting that ended up being a waste of time but a new bond was formed that day.

From there the two lovebirds met in secret. They continued like this until their parents found out about their affair. As expected, they were furious and decided to tear the lovers apart. But they were cruel in their method and they gave their children swords to fight and kill the other person. It was either that or the leaders of the town fighting and killing the other's child. If that happened, the towns would have started fighting and there would have definitely been a never ending war.

The two lovebirds decided to stab themselves despite their fathers' protests. The goddess of the land saw this and looked upon them in pity. When their souls came to her, she decided to grant them a wish. But for their wish to come true, she gave a condition.

Later on, it was revealed to the prophets of both towns. The goddess had granted them prosperity, massive wealth and immense growth but the condition was that the two towns had to coexist together and a person from both head families must always rule. If at any point they disobeyed this, the kingdom would fall and calamity would prevail until not one citizen was left.

The heads of the families agreed grudgingly and so Aspen was born. With the rule, one would expect the families to have gotten along eventually but that was not the case. They always trained as enemies and competed with each other. They both believed one must be best and it had to be the one from their families. Their children were raised like competitors instead of future heirs destined to share the throne.

The Kings and Queens only ever came from these families as per tradition, the court was made up of their families and a few lesser families to even out the warring houses. The lesser families handled the overseeing of the several provinces in the kingdom.

Choosing the next ruler never came easy. Both houses had their children training for a long time before their royal trials, some even starting their training immediately the child starts speaking. The Royal trials involved tests of strength, grace, intelligence and integrity. They lasted for weeks at times, with just two people standing at times.

Even being born to the former king and queen of the land doesn't guarantee a person the spot on the throne. They had to compete just like their counterparts.

No one could ever tell what the trials would be like, as they were decided by none other than the high priests and priestesses of the land, who lived in seclusion until they were summoned for the trial and subsequent coronation.

The winner of the year this time happened to be last born daughter of the king, the daughter of not even the Empress but a concubine's spawn, the one that nobody expected to survive the trials too.

The results had the current royal family in an uproar, her siblings and even her own mother asking for the re-trial. Her father, who would have probably been on her side, had died on the battlefield which prompted the impromptu selection process in the first place.

The council refused her family's pleas, already viewing her as the Crown Princess immediately she stumbled out of the last trial bloodied and bruised but standing strong along with the man who would end up marrying her.

Which brings us to this point.

The wedding.

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Analeigh walked into her waiting room and sighed, mentally cursing herself for not using magic wards to guard it in the first place.

"I see the palace security is lax now." She eyed her attendant who stood by to help her take off her armour and flopped heavily on her chaise longue, dusty body be damned, the poor girl trying to avoid taking the blame for letting the intruder in.

She heard a tsk. "Is that anyway to speak with your mother-in-law?"

She scoffed. "Our houses are not joined yet, trust me, you shouldn't be so smug calling me that yet." She hated the woman more than the winged rodents flying all around the downtrodden parts of the kingdom. For context, one of those bloody things nearly took out her eye when she was a little girl.

"Your mother let me in, isn't it lovely how we're already acting like family." The woman said with a fake smile on her face, no doubt cringing inside at the amount of dirt Analeigh had tracked into her living quarters after spending an entire morning on her horseback.

"Lovely. Of course." Analeigh said calmly. "Is there a reason why you personally sought me out, Lady Roseanne?" She said purposely and watched in satisfaction as the lady in question bit her tongue to keep from hurling curses at her.

"Your Highness, I believe you've not been informed about the new titles." She gritted out forcefully. Analeigh's grin grows even wider.

"Oh I have. But the wedding hasn't happened yet and your Son is still the Prince Consort. Until then, you will remain Lady Roseanne to me."

She watched Roseanne go through several stages of anger just by looking at her eyes. The woman was definitely a liability, Analeigh wondered how she ended up marrying into the house of the most cunning people in the land.

"As you wish, Your Highness." She finally settled on, no doubt swallowing her pride to avoid any issues that could prevent her son ascending the throne. Analeigh could almost hear her plotting how she was going to get her back once that happened, that was how expressive her face was.

"Of course."

"I came here to help you with wedding preparations, seeing as your family wasn't too keen on it happening so suddenly. I wanted to help you get ready for your big day." She said, a more genuine smile creeping onto her face, no doubt thinking she could hurt Analeigh with the reminder that most of her family members weren't in support of her ascension.

"Before the trial, I was already a Princess, descendant of the late king as you know. This is nothing more than a formality to me, surely there's no need for my family to fawn over me. I'm simply continuing my father's legacy." She replied coolly, not at all bothered by the fact that her family members weren't there to help her. In fact she was glad, she had received enough backhanded 'advice' and well wishes that would quite literally last her an entire century. "Besides, my attendants are here to get me dressed."

"Of course, but it's always better when a family member helps out. I've also brought a gift." The older woman said, leaning down to open the brown box she had been resting on the whole time she sat in front of Analeigh. In it lay a beautiful headdress, brilliantly glistening with some of the most precious gemstones of the land. Analeigh, despite not wanting to be, was impressed. It was obviously the work of a master craftsman.

"My son had this made for you after the trial results were released, so you could wear it for the wedding. As tradition doesn't permit him to meet you before the ceremony, he asked me to help deliver this to you. We hope it is to your liking, your Highness." She presented it with a little bow. Analeigh's curiousity, and suspicion, was piqued. What exactly did they use to make this beautiful piece that was worth sending the current Pelagios matriarch to deliver it herself?

"I'm grateful for the gift, tell your son I said so." She said, collecting it. It wasn't as heavy as it looked, the craftsman must have considered her poor neck and used lighter weight gems or used magic somehow. Either way, she would have to ask her dear husband-to-be for their name so she could send a gift for their brilliance.

"He will be thrilled to hear that you are pleased with his gift."

"I'm sure he will." Analeigh hums passively. "If that would be all," She raises her voice a little so she can be heard outside the room. "I'd like to get changed please. The servants are waiting outside and as a bride, you know I have to make several preparations before the wedding this evening." She said, not giving the woman space to say whatever she planned on saying. The servants came in as soon as she finished her sentence, effectively shutting up the other woman and making her leave with a barely disguised frown on her face.

Analeigh turned to face the girls that would dress her up for one of the biggest days of her life, probably only behind her coronation.

"Well, we are quite certainly behind schedule now due to Lady Roseanne's visit, so move fast and smart girls. We barely have any time left." She smiled as they nodded and followed her into the inner room where several ceremonial robes lay on the bed for her to choose. She sighed while picking up a red and gold accented set and nods to the girls behind her.

It was time to prepare for her wedding.