Princess Amaryllis responded to his marriage proposal in less than a day. It came so soon that he and his family hadn’t even started their travel back to their kingdom yet when the letter arrived. They had just finished packing up for the return trip to Terravale when the messenger came by on horse.

“She has accepted, Tristan!” His mother read the letter first and exclaimed in a mix of joy and relief, then faltered as she rethought about whether this is considered good news or not. 

Marriage was usually a business conducted between the prospective groom and bride’s parents, so it wasn’t uncommon for the parents to hear of the news first. However, in this case, it was because his mother was so impatient to read it that she snatched the unopened letter out of the deliverer’s hands to read it first.

Tristan blinked in a mix of surprise and doubt, then walked over to his mother so he could take the letter from her and read it for himself. “They didn’t coerce her into accepting, did they? Don’t marriage proposals usually take a little longer to receive a response? It’s not like we’re lovers or anything.”

 He was taken aback by the speed of her response as he had expected to wait longer to hear a reply. It was normal for noblewomen to take up to a month to ponder over a former offer of marriage, especially if it was from a stranger. Given how fast the response had appeared, he had thought Princess Amaryllis rejected him instantly.

“You’ve seen how protective the queen and king consort of Etheria was.” His mother pointed out. “There’s no way they could have pressured her to agree. Rather, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pressured her to refuse. Either way, I have no reason to believe that she didn’t choose this of her own will.”

“Isn’t she in Etheria?” Tristan asked. “It will take at least a month to make a round trip from Elysara to Etheria and back, not to mention the amount of time she will spend thinking the decision over. How did her reply come in so fast?”

“Maybe they use birds.” The queen consort shrugged. “I heard Etherians have well-trained birds that can fly back and forth from specific locations.”

After that, they all went to their separate carriages and started the trip back to Terravale, eager to start celebrating the end of what was now known as the Great War.

“You don’t think she’s taking advantage of this marriage to spy on us, don’t you?” Rowena elbowed him once they were in the carriage. In case of an accident, the members of the royal family are supposed to ride in separate carriages, but Rowena was so bored that she decided to ride with her brother so she could bother him with her incessant needling.

“Didn’t you say she was kind and compassionate?” Tristan retorted back.

“Even kind people can do underhanded things.” Rowena reminded him.

“Why would she spy on me now that the war is over?”

“The peace is still tentative, and war can resume at any time.”

“You’re too pessimistic, Rowena.” However, Tristan couldn’t deny that his sister was right. He felt like this was the calm before the storm.

“You’re too optimistic.”

Silence fell over them as each stared out the window at the moving landscape to avoid looking at each other’s face.

“Rowena,” Tristan spoke again.

“What?”

“Why did I join the war in the first place?”

Rowena turned to look at him. “You mean you don’t remember?”

“It was such a long time ago.”

“It was only five years!”

“Five years of bloodshed is a long time. So, do you remember or not?”

Rowena sighed. “I think when you were around fifteen, General Norinth noticed your talent at swordsmanship and asked to take you under his tutelage in battle.”

“But there’s no way Mother or Father could have agreed.”

“They didn’t. Not at first, anyway.”

“Then what changed?”

Rowena paused, as if deep in thought. “I remember him telling you that it was for the good of the kingdom. You asked, ‘Will this protect everyone I care about?’, and he answered, ‘If you win the war, yes.’”

“Was I that gullible at fifteen years old?”

“Apparently so. You even managed to convince Mother and Father to agree. I’m so glad General Norinth is dead. He was too much of a warmonger anyway.”

Tristan nodded, then turned away again.

“Why did you ask?” Rowena asked.

“You already know my feelings on war. I was just wondering why I ever wanted to fight in the first place.”

“You didn’t really want to fight. You only wanted to protect Terravale.”

“Lot of good that did.”

Rowena sidled closer to him. “Hey.”

He pointedly ignored her, but she continued anyway. “I know you feel like everything you’ve done is useless, but believe me, everyone is grateful to you. You’ve saved a lot of towns and villages. I can’t deny that.”

Despite not looking back at her, he reached his hand out to hers and squeezed it. “Thank you, sister.”

“Of course.”

The rest of the trip back went uneventfully. But as soon as they got back to Terravale, his parents started preparing for the arrival of their future daughter-in-law.

“The letter said that she will arrive in a month.” the queen reminded him. Tristan nodded, having already read the acceptance letter after his mother gave it back to him.

“Then we must be ready for her! We cannot look inferior in the Etherians’ eyes! We—”

“Mother,” Tristan politely cut her off. “We’re not expected to hold the wedding the moment she arrives, are we? I’m sure she’ll want some time to acclimate to her new home. Maybe a few weeks, or another month?”

The queen consort hesitated. “This is a political marriage, Tristan. This is practically a business relationship more than anything. Feelings aren’t necessary, and the longer we delay this, the more we risk having Etheria break it off.”

“Isn’t it a good thing for her to call off a mismatched engagement before we officially marry? And what if the peace treaty fails? What will become of her then? It feels rather much like a hostage situation.”

His mother looked at him weirdly, as if he had spoken gibberish. “When did you become so mature?”

“Four and a half years on the battleground can do that to you.”

“Marriage and war are two separate things.”

“Are you sure?”

His mother did not have an answer to that.

Amaryllis’s belongings arrived first. To make her move easier, Etheria sends over most of her belongings before she makes her trip so her stuff will already be in place by the time she arrives in Terravale. Her more sensitive belongings will arrive with her to preserve her privacy.

Trunks and trunks arrived, full of jewelries and gowns and other fineries that only a princess would have. At first, his mother and sister were curious to see what the fashion in Etheria was like. The two of them, along with several maids, crowded around the trunk as each outfit was removed from the trunk and carefully placed into a closet. They have already prepared a room for her, close to Tristan’s new room for after his marriage. There was a discussion on whether Tristan should move out to a place of his own or not, but they decided on him staying in the royal palace until he or his future bride decides otherwise.

As carriages of stuff kept arriving, filled with furniture and such, Rowena eventually remarked, “Do they think that we’re poor or something? Or are they trying to bring the entire inside of Etheria’s royal palace here? We’re going to run out of space at this rate.”

“Maybe those are her dowries,” the queen consort responded. “I heard that in Etheria, it is common for both the groom and bride’s family to prepare dowries for the newly wedded couple so they can begin their new life without any financial concerns. We don’t really have that custom here in Terravale.” 

In the southern area of Mythina, a joint dowry is provided by the couple's family for the couple. It is said that originally, only the wealthier of the two families is responsible for the dowry, but out of pride, both families insisted on contributing. In the eastern and western areas, it was different. In the eastern kingdoms, it was expected for the bride’s family to provide a dowry to be given to the groom’s family. In the western kingdoms, the groom’s family is expected to pay a bride price to the bride’s family. Only in the north do they not expect traditions like these, probably because the younger generation are encouraged to stay in the household for as long as possible. A single household can hold up to an average of three generations, if not more.

Finally, Amaryllis’s stuff stopped arriving. There was some back and forth messaging through birds before the two parties settled on a wedding date. Then, the news came that she was making her way to Terravale, and the wedding ceremony was expected to be held as soon as she arrived. 

With that news, all hell broke loose. Everyone started frantically preparing for the wedding ceremony. Normally, a royal wedding usually takes months, maybe up to a year, to prepare. Yet, they were given only one month before Princess Amaryllis completed her trip from Etheria to Terravale.

Supplies were secured, arrangements were made, and they managed to find a high priest from Elysara to officiate the wedding just in time. The royal seamstresses and local modistes were all booked up for weeks.

And finally, the day of the wedding arrived.

“Did we have a backup wedding gown prepared in case hers arrived damaged?” Rowena asked her mother. Queen Consort Ophelia shook her head. 

“Queen Laurella has that taken care of as well. The bride prefers a wedding gown in the Etherian fashion, so that is out of our hands.”

“Thank the gods,” Rowena sighed as she crossed something off the list. “I don’t know her measurements and it’s too late to ask for them now. Tristan, have you finished the final fitting for your wedding uniform.”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Great,” Rowena sighed in relief. “That should be the last part of the wedding planning. Now all I have to do is check the quality of everything before the wedding ceremony starts, and if they don’t meet my standards, I’ll contact the backups.”

“Thank you for all your hard work, Rowena. You could have left it to the butler and the head maid.”

Rowena snorted. “You want me to leave the planning of the biggest event in years to them? Not a chance!”

“Should we send some soldiers to guard her along her journey?” Tristan asked.

“I’m sure Etheria sent some soldiers of their own, so she’s well protected already.” Rowena quipped back.

“What if someone attacks her on her way here?”

“Who would do that?” 

“Someone who wants the war to continue. All it takes is one person.”

“Gods, Tristan. You are worrying too much. You haven’t even met her, for gods’ sake.”

“But shouldn’t she be here by now?” 

It was true. The bride was expected to arrive at eight in the morning and it was already nine. The wedding ceremony was expected to be held at noon, so time was of essence, especially since the bride will undergo the final stages of preparation in the palace instead of arriving all ready and dressed.

“Maybe her travel was delayed by something.”

“Or maybe she changed her mind.”

“After sending over enough stuff to furnish an entire mansion? Why are you so insecure right now?”

“I’m just worried.”

“And nervous, as I can see. Why don’t you go to your room and finish getting dressed? I believe the seamstresses have finished your wedding outfit by now.”

That’s when the news came.

“The princess of Etheria is arriving!”

Both siblings immediately dropped what they were doing and headed for the entrance to the palace as fast as they could. The king and queen consort were already there, waiting.

“Where is she?” Rowena gasped out, winded by the run there.

Tristan nervously cleared his throat and straightened his back. He was more physically fit than her, so he wasn’t as affected by the run to the doorway.

“There,” the king gestured to a carriage that was just passing through the palace gates, quickly approaching the palace. A small group of guards on horseback were flanking the carriage, but they fell back to let the carriage move to the front.

The carriage was well built and clearly designed for confort. It was also more simple than one would expect to carry a princess, but it makes more sense for the carriage to be simple, for a simpler carriage is less likely to attract thieves.

For some reason, Tristan found his feet moving forward without realizing it. He was walking down the palace steps, heading for the spot where the carriage would eventually stop.

“Where are you going, Tristan?” the queen consort asked.

“To help her out of the carriage.” he answered back without turning around.

He could hear Rowena muttering in a low voice, “He’s never escorted a lady before, so what’s with him now?”

As the carriage drew to a halt in front of the stairs, a footman got down from the front of the carriage and walked over to open the carriage door. Normally, it was the footman who helped a lady out of her carriage, but seeing Tristan approaching, the footman stepped aside as soon as he opened the door.

Tristan’s heart was pounding loudly in anticipation at this point as he stopped just before the carriage door. He could now see the figures of two young women in the carriage, one wearing a veil. It was clear by their clothes who the princess was and who the maid was.

“Princess,” he spoke softly to the veiled figure inside. “I’ve come to escort you to the royal palace.”

He raised an open hand to the doorway, bating his breath as he waited.

The veiled figure gingerly took it, her wrist thin and slender. Then, she gracefully stepped out of the carriage. As she did, Tristan felt a strange feeling of familiarity as soon as she stepped out into the sunlight, right next to him.

Princess Amaryllis was wearing a pink gown made of flowing fabric, a type of Etherian fabric that was lighter and finer than anything else in all seven kingdoms. Her face was covered by a sheer, translucent veil that fluttered in the soft afternoon breeze. He could make out long, dark brown hair, but her features were hidden behind the veil.

As soon as Amaryllis got out of the carriage and took a good look at him, she suddenly stiffened.

Before Tristan could say anything else, Princess Amaryllis yanked off her veil in one swift move.

His eyes lit up as it fell upon a very familiar face. For a moment, all he could hear was his blood rushing in his head.

“Evan?” Ella’s face looked up at him with a look of pure shock and confusion.