Karla Rowains pov
he jumped up and grabbed me raising me in the air and twirling while mad with laughter, I answered him with a smile with equal fervour, we kissed again once he placed me down, I could feel hus laughter fighting against his lips and I had to admit that I felt the same but I couldn't let the exhilaration get to me and so once we composed ourselves I began
'if we're going to do this we have to do it right'
"how so"
'we have to handel our parents'
a heavy silence hit the room like that, our families were a subject we avoided like the plauge whenever we could unfortunately we couldn't do so now,
'even if we don't tell them they'll find out soon enough'
"maybe we could convince them there's a million and one reasons why an alliance based of marriage will benefit both our countries the only problem is quite a simple one"
'simple looking you mean'
the problem in question was none other than prejudice, Rowain loved knight's as such they invested a lot in training some of the best blade masters in the world while Illionis was a kingdom with a deep history in magic both sides looked down on the other for a reason just as stupid and our parents were no exceptions
"we could abscond"
rather than being shocked at his words I answered
'tempting but it's unlikely your father will let you, you're his heir remember and I know you, you wouldn't want to do that to your mother'
unlike I Caleb had a very good relationship with his mother, while my mother barely paid Amy attention to me as I had almost nothing to inherit from my father other than a chance at a good husband his was able to focus all of her attention on him as he was an only child, although he didn't say it he loved her,
"then what do we do"
'....we cuddle some more and think up a solution later'
I say sitting sideways on his lap as I throw my arms around him, he does the same and we sit there in the silence of the room under the pale lights of the stars.
our answer came about a year later when he met the 2nd Don of Aegis, an interesting man to say the least, be was a desendant of the dark empire that had fallen 200 years ago and had awakened the Arcanum they were known for, darkness, he wasn't much interested in the politics of the continent but instead held his position as a means of securing influence for the revival of said empire a recluse who not much was known about him whether it be his power, appearance or even the aforementioned goals, he promised us that if we provided him with not only the funds but a written promise in which both kingdom's would assist him he would make our dream come true, it took a while to get the funds ready and in the meantime youngest brother gave Rowain a reason to seek an alliance with a powerful kingdom, the idiot was in a relationship with the daughter of an influential general and blademaster, a beloved war hero whose status in court was extremely high, he got here pregnant, typically when something like that happenes the two people in question are often hitched but my idiot brother ran away, when he was found he had proposed to the daughter of a powerful merchant house and married here in secrete, when the mother of his child found out about it she hung herself, her father was wroth in his fury and nothing my father did could palicitate it, tensions grew and the officials at court grew split between those who would stand behind the king no matter what and those who believed the Prince needed punishment for his crime but both sides were equal for a time, until the idiot decided to divorce his wife thinking the danger was over because his ex was dead, it was a catastrophe, in our kingdom they were 4 generals with full authority over the military who in turn reported to the king the father of the dead girl was one and the supposed leader of the anti royal family faction while the others were staunch loyalists of the crown but with the princes latest actions they all switched teams leaving my father with very little military power and a very powerful family seething in rage out of what had happened to their daughter, it was during this event that I turned 18 and at the end of my party when the king had finally made his appearance to bless me I took advantage of the princess's choice, a tradition where the princess was allowed to ask for anything and the king had oblige so long as it was withing his power, it was then that I asked the right to marry whomever I pleased,
Shock was heavy on his face, he had be planning to use me as a last resort in order to woo or palicite a noble who could turn the tide bit none came to mind or rather there was none, this situation was fucked beyond comprehension and even a god couldn't help him now, he had probably thought I was turning against him in a bid to save myself before I told him that I swore not to suggest a match that would bring him shame or be hus detriment, he thought for a minute probably remembering all the good I had done for him in keeping his kingdom stable and so decided to allow me to speak
'5 five years ago you let me accompany you to the continental alliance banquet, there I net several royals from kingdom's far and wide, it was there that I met him, smart kind and brave, a man like no other we found each others company enjoyable discussing various subjects from politics to warfare and even topics as simply as who we were and what we liked, we grew as friends forming a bond that grew even stronger over the years and before I knew it I fell in love with him, and that man's name is Caleb the crown prince of illionis'
The hall erupted in shouts and whispers, after all the princess had suggested something moset found unthinkable, a kingdom we quite frankly despised on principle and a family we hadn't been able to see eye to eye with for centuries yet she dared to not only claim to love a member of that family but seek to marry into it.
Kudos had to been given to my father for not immediately loosing his cool, although he looked down on mages he couldn't deny their power, he simply found them cowardly and inferior but Illionis's military power was respected due to their legions who specialised in area of effect magic while Rowain although having quite a few balde masters didn't have many ranged options, illonis would prove a valuable ally if his kingdom was to be embroiled in a civil war, the only question was would prince Caleb consent to his daughters hand in marriage, I noticed all the thoughts on his face and answered for him
'in a few days Prince Caleb will be here with gifts and dowery for an official proposal along with the 2nd Don of Aegis to satn as witness to our love'
another tound of shocked faces appeared in the hall, not only was Prince Caleb agreeing to the marriage but if he came with gifts then his kingdom was backing him there could only be one reason, he had consulted with the 2nd Don of Aegis and gotten him on board, and if so not only would the Royal faction be able to count on a powerful kingdom in the civil war but a force much more dangerous than anything in the world, a Don, if war were to come it would be the royal factions resounding victory, the princess had just set fire to a forest the dissenters were traversing quietly.
My father looked at me in surprise, regret flashed on his face although briefly before he opened his mouth and said
"you have my blessing"
exhilaration flowed through my body, I hadn't realised that I was holding my breath until now, my legs felt weak but it didn't matter, I was the happiest i had ever been since the day he proposed, many of the guests came to congratulate me some even from the generals faction, their intentions were obviously to curry favor as I now held the most power at court but I recieved them warmly regardless I was just too happy to care, as promised Caleb arrived a few days later and as usual it took everything I could not to run into his arms, right behind him stood the man of the hour, the one who made all this possible 2nd Don of Aegis Jurad Baltherix flaunting a daunting aura everywhere he went so as to prevent any questions as to whether he was who he said he was, the next day he proposed to me infront of delegates from both our kingdoms and a few days later we had our wedding, a massive affair organised mainly by my family in an attempt to show off their powerful alliance amd even though our not so secrete weapon wasn't present due to something important requiring his attention at his city not many cared as he could just as well reappear without issue, our wedding had food and drink a-plenty but I could scarce remember tasting any of it even though there were times when my beloved himself fed me I was to full from victory and drunk on happiness but what I do remember vividly was when gently pulled me in middle of our last dance as we backed into a hall on the way to our shared room for out wedding night.