Naomi was standing in front of a floor-length mirror as her personal seamstress made final corrections to her wedding gown.

She grunted as the man tightened the dress. The man stood back and admired his work.

"I think this is a lovely gown, don't you?" the man adjusted the mirror. "I'm sure Prince Kai will be pleased."

Naomi studied the gown.

It was dark red and fell to the ground. It flowed out behind Naomi in a train. He adorned the dress with rubies in different shades of red, and the veil had red flowers sewn onto it.

Her gloves were red as well.

Naomi looked up at Quinn, who was nervously pulling on his shirt. "It looks lovely, Quinn. I thank you."

Quinn's eyes widen. "I'm glad you like it, princess."

A knock came at the door, and her mother entered. She, too, was wearing a red gown, but it was plain.

"Naomi, darling. You look lovely. I'm sure Kai will love it." She kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"Mother, must I marry him?"

Her mother stared at her for a moment. Before she answered, she dismissed Quinn. "Yes, you must. It will bring peace between our kingdoms. Unless, of course, you'd prefer King William's son, Harold."

Naomi glared. "But this marriage is not what I want, mother-"

"Do not speak to me that way. I am the queen. I know what's best for my daughter. You will go through with this marriage whether you like it or not."

Naomi turned away from her mother and didn't say anything for a while.

"Naomi, look. I know this matrimony is difficult, but it will benefit the kingdom."

"What about me?" Naomi whirled around. "How will it benefit me? I don't want this, I don't want to get married. Why can't you see that?"

"Of course, you don't want to get married, Naomi! You don't want the responsibility of being queen, which is why you'd favor riding out in the woods shooting arrows?!" her mother's voice had risen to a shout. "What kind of life is that?"

"But I want my freedom!"

Her mother held up her hand. "This conversation is over. The carriage awaits us downstairs."

Naomi opened her mouth to spit back, but her mother had already left the room, slamming the door behind her.

"We're here." Their driver announced, stopping the carriage in front of a large courtyard.

Naomi's younger siblings jumped out first.

"Ooh! Look at those flowers!" Lillian exclaimed. "They're so pretty!"

Liam pointed towards the guests. "Look, the men have flowers on their suits. That's so fanciful!"

Naomi exited the carriage, and her mother followed after.

There were people standing in the courtyard, chatting. Her father was standing with a group of men at the entrance. He caught sight of her and walked towards them.

"Hello, lovely Naomi." he kissed her forehead. "Quinn did a lovely job with your dress."

He kissed their mother. "You look lovely as well, dear."

Lillian and Liam pulled on their dad's sleeve. "Dad? Can we play with our friends?"

Lillian pointed toward a group of kids running around the chairs and throwing flower petals at each other.

Their father shook his head. "Not this time, little ones. You must sit with your mother and be obedient children."

The twins groaned. "Awww! Must we, father?" Liam asked. "I don't wanna see Naomi and Kai give each other googly eyes."

Lillian giggled.

"I do not give Kai googly eyes." Naomi hissed.

Liam rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Whatever."

Their father turned towards their mother. "Go get our seats they are towards the front of the courtyard. Children, go with your mother."

"But father-" Liam started.

He stopped when their father gave him a dark look. Liam followed after his mother into the courtyard, pouting.

The priest announced, "Queen Annabell has arrived. Everyone stand in front of your seat, please, while we wait for the bride."

Naomi hand's shook, and she felt her fingers tingle. Her hand erupted into flames, and her father yelped.

"Naomi!"

Naomi let out the flame and hid her face behind her hands, sobbing. Her father stared at her with his mouth open.

"I don't want this marriage, father," Naomi whispered.

Her father slowly removed her hands from her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks before answering. "But this marriage will be great for us. It will cease the wars between our nations and finally bring peace. Isn't that what you want?"

"But Kai is a horrible man!"

"Naomi, don't speak of things you don't know." her father squeezed her hands. "Kai isn't a horrible man. He will take care of you and love you as any respectful man would."

Naomi took a shuddering breath.

"Better?" her father kissed her forehead again. "Keep your fire in check while you're at the altar, alright? Try not to burn your beloved."

Naomi let out a shaky laugh. "Now that you mention it, I'll try not to."

"That's my girl. Now come on, Kai awaits."

Naomi took her father's arm, and he led her toward the courtyard entrance. The crowd turned and began clapping.

Naomi couldn't believe that these people took this arranged marriage with a smile on their faces. Were they that blind to Kai's true intentions?

Naomi pushed all of these thoughts from her mind and plastered a bright smile on her face.

Kai was standing at the altar wearing a red suit and white tie. His hair black was gelled and combed to the side. His bright blue eyes studied her as she walked down the aisle.

Her mother was in the third row, facing them with a smile on her face. Lillian and Liam her standing behind her making kissing faces, Naomi wanted so badly to grab them by their throats and shake them until their teeth rattled.

Kai's family was sitting behind her mother and siblings. All were wearing red outfits.

Naomi thought this setup was peculiar, given that both families were supposed to be sitting up in the front row during this occasion.

When she reached the altar, her father gave her hand a last squeeze before he let go and walked to his seat with his wife.

The priest opened a book and looked at Kai. "Do you Prince Kai of the Ethil Kingdom? Do you take Naomi as your wife until death do you part?"

Naomi locked eyes with Kai.

"I do."

"And do you Princess Naomi of the Narva kingdom, do you take Kai as your husband until death do you part?"

Naomi swallowed. "I...I do."

When Kai smirked, Naomi regretted her decision, and a scream tore through the crowd.

She turned and saw her family all slumped in their chairs, dead. Kai's father was wiping the bloody dagger off.

The guests all jumped to their feet and raced for the exit. Naomi hiked up her dress and ran into the crowd of guests.

Naomi was almost at the exit when she felt a warm hand grip her arm. She turned and bit her tongue to hold back a scream.

Kai's father, King William, was staring down at her with an evil grin on his face. "Oh no, you don't missy. You're coming with us."

He yanked her back towards the altar. She did everything she could to get away, but his grip was like iron.

She spotted her dead family, and tears welled in her eyes. They were gone just like that.

One moment smiling, the next dead.

Naomi was dragged to the altar where the priest was cowering in fear. Kai stared down at her with a blank expression on his face.

"Now that this wedding is over, we can go home with your new bride." His father growled. "We'll keep her alive to ensure that this kingdom remains in our hands."

Kai's sister, Khole, grinned down at her. "Aww look! The little princess is in shock."

"Wait, you pretended to marry me, and killed my family so you could have my kingdom?"

King William glared at her. "How else were we supposed to get our hands on this kingdom?"

Naomi bristled. She summoned fire to her hand, and Kai's father released her with a yelp. Naomi got unsteadily to her feet but before she could take a step, Khole whispered a spell, and chains wrapped around her body and she fell to her knees.

"Interesting. The king never informed us that his daughter used the elemental power of fire." Kai murmured. "Perhaps finding the elemental orbs won't be as hard."

A laugh bubbled out of Naomi. "Elemental orbs! That's just a legend. Good luck with that."

The king scowled down at her and smacked her with the back of his hand.

Naomi collapsed. Darkness.