The next day, just as he had promised, there was no more war.
Instead, the people of Eversun filed into the streets, watching as everything they once took to be true burned to the ground. Some people were forced to stand there, clutching their young children as Northern soldiers stood behind them. Other people watched out of curiosity, unsure what the formal proclamation from earlier that day had meant.
All around the streets of Eversun, the following message had been posted: "The princess will die as a Northerner. There will be no more war."
So as they saw the wedding procession approach, they could not fathom what had been going on.
A shiny redwood casket stood on a bed of pure white flowers atop a wooden platform. A group of Northern soldiers carried the four corners such that the coffin glided smoothly through the air.
"Who died?"
There were faint mutterings from the crowd.
"There are too many of us dead to fit into that coffin."
"Those wretched barbarians."
But as a man riding on a dappled white horse approached, the temperature seemed to drop by a few degrees as his dark eyes scanned the crowd, and everyone turned quiet again.
As the coffin approached the gathered crowd, people's eyes widened.
The girl inside was still alive.
— — —
Of the countless ways that Daphne, Princess of Eversun, thought she would marry, it was not in a coffin. And of the various weddings she had envisioned, in none of them had she been gripping a dagger in her hands in place of a flower bouquet.
Even now, as she lay in the hard redwood casket, she could hardly believe that this was what her life was destined to become--a ghost bride to the barbarian king of the North--a sacrifice to win peace for her kingdom.
The sly man had purposefully tilted the coffin a bit, propping her back up on a high cushion so that she could make out the silhouettes of the people passing by her.
Her people huddled around the procession, and although she could not make out their facial expressions, she knew that they could only be of two things: horror and disgust.
For so long, unlike her aunt and uncle, she had championed fighting back instead of merely bowing down to the North. And for so long, she had warned the people of the danger of the Northern Barbarian King. And now, she was becoming his bride.
For so long, she had told people that they could win the war. But instead, she became the ultimate war prize.
The irony killed her a bit on the inside.
She closed her eyes, hoping to block out the view.
"My fairest bride, I'm hoping you're enjoying our wedding!"
A deep voice boomed, the sound ricocheting off the boards of the coffin and further amplifying. Needless to say, the Northern King intentionally raised his voice so that everyone on the streets could clearly hear his words.
"I'm sure that I have a beautiful palace already built for you back in the North, and everything is waiting for you there. Everything is designed to be an exact replica of all of the luxuries that you're used to here. It'll almost be like you never left this ragged Kingdom of Eversun behind."
Daphne opened her eyes, staring straight at the clouds above her. A few rays of sunlight peeked out from behind the overcast.
"I must admit to you, as the much respected," he cleared his throat, "King of the North, I've been a secret admirer of you for years."
Murmurs went through the crowd.
"I want everyone in Eversun to know..." his eyes were brimming with tears. "In fact, I want everyone in the entire world to know that I, the Northern King, have been hopelessly in love with you, the Princess of Eversun, for years."
She held in a scoff, but she could not stop herself from rolling her eyes.
He wanted to turn them all against her.
"If it wasn't for you helping me from the inside of Eversun..." He cut himself off, allowing for the gathered citizens to fill in the rest of the words for themselves.
She hated him, the hatred burning through each organ and coursing through every vein.
"Oh!" He suddenly perked up again, a genuine curiosity in his voice. He peered over the coffin, somehow not falling off his horse. His eyes gleamed with feigned child-like innocence. "I think I finally know why you asked to marry me in a coffin!"
His excited voice rang out over the crowd. "This way, your old identity as the Princess of Eversun can die with the fall of the kingdom! And you'll be reborn as my beloved wife!"
Daphne tightened her grip on the silver dagger as she braced herself for the onslaught of words.
"How dare you give up the entire Kingdom of Eversun!"
"Why are you abandoning us?"
"You sold yourself!"
"You wicked liar!"
"My son went to war and died because of you!"
"Traitor!"
"You were never our princess!"
"You bring shame to your name!"
These shrill cries were quickly silenced, but it was already too late. In a few hours, the entire world would have heard of how Daphne betrayed her home.
She bit back tears, knowing that her people would never forgive her. They would only think that she gave up her dignity in order to buy her life from the Northerners. They would believe that she sold herself to steal a few more years of luxury as a consort of the Northern King.
Well, at least, such was the rhetoric she taught them herself.
"We must fight back against them. We cannot try to appease them. Even if we die fighting as a kingdom, we will all go down together." Her old words seemed to burn against her throat.
But when the night was over, she would have pierced his heart. As soon as she could take the antidote from his robes, she would kill him.
By then, even if she did not make it back alive, people would forever remember her as the princess who went down with the people. This was her loyalty to her kingdom.
On this wedding night, she would make herself a widow.