Leah was preparing to exit her carriage when she heard the sound of the carriage door opening for her. After her rather long journey from Alriya, Leah was ready to finally see the famed castle of Drastos. As she stepped out of her carriage, she felt a hand holding hers to help her out of the carriage. One of the Drastoian guards had helped her out of the carriage.
"What is your name", Leah asked.
"Kyro, Your Highness", the guard replied
"Thank you, Kyro"
"No problem, Your Highness. I hope you enjoy the palace". Kylo gave her a small smile as he followed the rest of the guards into the palace.
As Leah entered the palace, she seemed to feel a rush of cold air, which she thought was quite unusual because the palace at Alriya was normally quite warm. She just seemed to feel colder and colder as she walked into the grand room. Leah then saw someone walking down the grand staircase in the middle of the room. It was a man, who looked to be around her age.
There was some kind of connection between them because the second their eyes met, neither one of them could look away. It was as if time had stopped and they were in their own little world. Leah finally snapped out of her trance when he started taking.
"You must be the Leah Rythes, Princess of Alryia," he said coldly.
"And I take it that you are Leonidas Arthelys, Prince of Drastos" Leah responded.
"I'm supposed to show you your room, so follow me"
"Ok, lead the way"
As Leonidas walked up the stairs, he couldn't help but feel a weird feeling in his stomach but he just ignored it. Leonidas Artheys didn't have these kinds of feelings, besides what could have made this girl so special.
When they got to the main hallway on the top floor, Leah had drifted off to the side of Leonidas. The maids who spared a glance at them were shocked because the prince they knew would never let anyone walk so close beside him, but yet with this girl he had even started to walk closer to her.
"We're here"
"Thank you, Leo. Can I call you that? I feel like sometimes Leonidas is a mouthful"
"Yes, that's fine. If you need anything, my room is right across from yours"
"Ok, I'll see you around then"
"Have a good night princess". Leonidas said as he slowly kissed Leah's hand and went to his room.
Leah couldn't help but think of Leonidas after she had gone to bed. She didn't spare a thought for her beautiful room with such expensive furnishing or her attentive maids. All she could think about was the Prince of Drastos being right across the hallway from her room.
He was so different from all the stories that she's heard. Leonidas was surely not a monster from what she could tell. He treated her nicely, sure his demeanor was a bit cold but he seemed to have some form of feelings.
Of course, this was just Leah's first impression of the prince. There had been so many others with whom he had not shown a single bit of civility. He himself would not admit it at the moment, but the princess of Alriya was slowly melting his frozen heart.
Leonidas also had a certain someone on his mind while laying in his large bed. He was still thinking about how soft her skin had been as he placed a kiss on her hand. Leonidas didn't know why his thoughts were so occupied by the princess.
He had been around plenty of young women and yet none of them could even compare to Leah. Even her very presence felt wonderful as if you could feel the purity of her very soul. Leonidas had never felt this way before. He felt an overwhelming need to be closer to Leah, a connection to her, an unexplainable attraction.
As they both drifted off to sleep, they both appeared in each other's dreams. It was as if this connection between them surpassed themselves.
When Leah woke up, she found herself looking up at the same handsome face she had seen yesterday night.
"What are you doing here", Leah questioned.
"I'm here to take you on a tour of the palace", Leonidas responded.
"Well, can you please leave, I'm in my nightgown"
"Don't be embarrassed, we are to be married next week"
"Fine, but can you at least turn around"
"As you wish"
Leonidas did not completely stay true to his word as his mind urged him to just take a tiny peek. She was beautiful, far more beautiful than he could ever dream of. He didn't have much time to enjoy her beauty because he had to turn around quickly, as to not let Leah know that he had stolen a glance.
"Ok, let's go", Leonidas said.
"Alright", Leah responded.
"You look nice, that dress is quite pretty"
"Thank you, one of the maids picked it out"
"Here is my sister's room"
"Oh, I have yet to meet princess Flora"
"She has also expressed her wishes to meet you. You will see her at dinner once she is back from her trip to Hydreas"
"These are just all the other bedrooms, you've seen the ballroom downstairs. There's just the dining room and a couple sitting rooms so we can just go on to the bottom floor"
"Wow, I've never seen so many books in one place"
"Yes, we have the finest library in the kingdom. You are free to come down here whenever you wish. Down here, we also have the kitchen and housing for all the staff but you don't have to interact with them"
"But they are also your subjects. Should you not at least do them the service of speaking to them every once in while"
"They are paid to do work and stay out of our way, so not I don't not see any reason to engage in conversation with them"
"If you are to be a good ruler, you must care about and respect all the people in your kingdom, not treat them all as your servants. If anything, a good ruler must be a servant to their people"
"They are the servants, that's all they'll ever be", Leonidas yelled hostilely, "Wait, Leah"
As Leah ran off, she couldn't help but think about what Leonidas had said. He was just as violent and hostile as people said he was. To think she could have actually cared. While she ran up the stairs to get to her room with tears streaming down her face, she felt herself run into someone.
Leah couldn't believe who she had just run into. She felt like she was preparing to die.