The court officials were tense as they argued over the current situation. The princess had been presented 20 some children to choose as her bonded pairs. Bonded pairs for royalty was an extremely high honor and many officials presented their own children in hopes for them to become bonded.
A bonded pair for royalty simply means that the thoughts and intentions of one are laid bare. This prevents betrayal and treason from occurring in the inner circle. Most nobles can only have one while the monarchy is allowed to have up to 3.
The current argument is that the princess refused to see any noble born children as potential pairs and instead opted for the unseelie and low borns. The court officials were pleading with the king to at least let her consider the noble children.
"Enough she is not going to listen to anyone we are lucky enough that she chose three at all," the Czar said his finger tips pressing the bridge of his nose as a headache formed from the arguing. How he missed his wife's presence in these meetings. She always had a knack of calming the officials. Ever since she had their daughter Inara her health was unstable and she had to move in with her brother the Aenor. Since then her health improved but she still had bouts of illness that would leave her bed ridden for days.
"But your majesty she chose a low born servant boy, an unseelie captain's daughter, and a noble's illegitimate son. None of these are seen as reasonable pairs," the head court official stated.
"Is there something wrong with the low born, unseelie, and bastard child? Are they ill or diseased?" The Czar asked
"Well no, but you-" the Czar raised his hand.
"She chose based on her instincts as a royal. Are you saying she's wrong? Need I remind you I am also Unseelie. Or must I prove myself to this court and everyone in Thovur again?" The Czar asked tensely. The tone of his voice made everyone quite down.
"No our czar," the court officials said in unison some looking at one another in irritation.
"Now that that is settled can we go about our usual business," he asked. Many nodded while some grumbled.
"Why don't you want to play with the noble children?" A young unseelie girl asked the princess as she watched the princess spar with the captains guard.
While only 5 years old the princess had been trained in sword fighting and combat and was just starting to best even the captains guard. She wiped the sweat off her forehead her tanned skin dripping sweat. She turned to look at the unseelie fae girl with her purple grey eyes.
"They only want to play dress up and with dolls while the other ones want to talk about the pretty things they could buy me," she stated plainly brushing a loose strand of her light blue hair out of her face. Since she was the only surviving child of the Czar and queen, she didn't find joy in playthings like other children her age did. She had no interest in bonding with anyone until she saw Sitara come with her father to ask the Czar for a promotion.
When she saw Sitara she could tell something was different about her. Not just from the fact that she was unseelie or that she was a bit older than Inara but it didn't bother her she liked Sitara and that she worked hard. When no one was looking she snuck away and watched Sitara take down almost every head guard and spar hand to hand. She saw Sitara as a kindred spirit and so she went to her father to open the bonding to the unseelie and low borns.
There she finally got to meet Sitara and saw just how hard she worked at hunting and even reading and writing. Sitaras features were so different from her own. Sitara had a deep grey skin tone with a purple undertone on her cheeks. Her hair was a pearl almost opalescent white with deep purple eyes. Her facial features were sharp but not so sharp as her fathers or the czars like most unseelie fae.
"Princess can we leave now? Some of us have chores," a disheveled boy with dirt on his face asked. His eyes were a piercing grey while his long brown hair hung in his face as it was matted on one side. Though his skin was mostly covered in dirt he had a nice olive beige skin tone that complimented his sharp jaw line and strong brow.
"Davian would you stop calling me princess! If I am to be bonded to you you could at least call me by my name," she turned to look at the boy giving the guard an opportunity to lunge at her but before he could reach her Sitara stood in his way and threw a kick to his gut sending him flying across the room.
"Nice," all three chuckle
"Okay, Inara can I please leave I have chores I need to do when I get home," he said looking at her. She grew to like Davian like Sitara he worked hard but he worked hard for his family. His father died of wounds he received while in battle and his mother took care of him while working at the tailors and animal clinic for a small wage. He may have been poor but he was rich in spirit and she liked that about him.
"Yes sorry of course you can go home you too Sitara," she said picking up from the sparring lesson and tidying things away. Both children watched the princess. They both thought she would only want to play with dolls and boss them around but if anything she just wanted to talk about their lives and how they lived. She wanted to understand that there was more than what she experienced.
"Good night Inara," they both said as they left. As they left the third child she chose walked in. This child had breathtaking cerulean blue eyes that belonged to only one fae family. Though the family was not entirely powerful or had a high position at court it was still frowned upon for the heir to be a bastard. Wren as the child is called was conceived while his father was on his Berthas which is a journey every eligible male fae must take to prove he is worthy of marriage. He met and fell in love with a maid in a tavern and had wren. His deep blue hair and dark bronze skin made his eyes stick out that much more.
"Did I miss it?" He asked the princess. She stopped and looked at him. She had picked him mostly because all the adults refused to even look at him but she found he wasn't so bad as long as it was just him and her.
He challenged her mentally and she liked that. He made her think about their interactions and how they could be interpreted in many different ways.
"Wren, you know I prefer when it's just us anyway. They don't really get the whole mind game thing we do they actually think it's mean," she said done with putting things in their rightful place.
"I know but thats why I said it. If they think I'm ignoring them on purpose their feelings may be hurt. However if they just assume I'm late they won't think anything of it," he said plopping down on a rug in their corner. She watched him. She hadn't thought of that before.
"Thank you," she stated as she sat next to him.
"You're very welcome princess," he said smiling at her. He knew why she said thank you and she appreciated that he knew what she meant without having to say it. She also never minded when he called her princess.
"What are you teaching me today, Wren?" She asked him. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes like before.
"Princess, I have to tell you something," his face serious.
"You make it sound like a bad thing," she tried to joke but his face didn't change.
"Someone found out that my mother isn't exactly fae. My father fears he will be banished," he said watching her face trying to gage her reaction.
"I'll protect you,"
"Princess, this isn't about protection. I can't stay if word get out I won't be able to be bonded to you."
Inara paused taking in this information. She had chosen carefully on who she wanted to be bonded too. It hurt her knowing that one of her choices will have to leave.
"Princess?"
"I'm sorry I'm just processing. I can still protect you, Wren. I can stop the rumors from getting out we can still be friends."
"No, princess, we can't. Because it isn't a rumor it's true my mother isn't fae. My father will be banished and I will be seen as an abomination and will likely be taken to the dungeons for experiments," he said grabbing her hand trying to get her to see reason.
"What are you talking about they don't do that in the dungeon," she said slightly irritated. He only pursed his lips in response.
"This will be the last time we can see one another, Inara, I'm sorry but I must go," he said as he kissed the back of her hand. He got up and walked out of the room. She was so stunned she didn't even notice he called her by her name.