"Hello, my darling husband-to-be," An extravagant, obsidian black dress was what the simple Knight, who paled in comparison, noticed first. A dazzling, diamond studded serpentine necklaced next. His eyes then wandered to the waves of her dark brown hair, glanced shyly over her flawless, glowing sun-kissed skin and lastly he found his way to two dark brown orbs that seemed to suck him in. She was beautiful no doubt, but her features were too dull for her to be the supposed 'Diamond of the Empire', he thought. He'd met her cousin, Princess Blair Rose, a few days before and she was what he'd imagined the 'Diamond of the Empire' to look like. Golden blonde hair, captivating blue eyes that glistened like the River Yani on a clear summer's day, an entrancing smile and laughter like musical bells. What a sight to behold she was, no woman in the Empire could compare to her. Almost an angel on Earth, if not for her wingless back. 

"Rexander Leonard," He began stiffly. How does one introduce themselves to the woman they are forced to wed?

"I know your name already, oh mighty King of Warlords." She tilted her head, and looked at him thoughtfully. "Though, I never heard of a man from the Blue Mountains, to hold such titles and such mouthy names," She remarked, her cat-like eyes sharpening as she waited for him to answer. 

"I left the Mountains when I was a child," The corner of her mouth turned upwards into a sly smirk. 

"Those born in the Blue Mountains hold their names dearly to them. Even if you left as a child, you must still remember that name. Surely." 

"Rexander Leonard is my name now." He asserted. Of course he had not forgotten his true name, it is as she said; the name was dear to him. From the moment he left to the outside world he had never met a soul worthy enough to know it, to know him under his armour. 

"What is your name?" He asked, when the silence became too long. 

"Did they not tell you my name when they coerced you into our marriage?" She rolled her eyes after receiving no response, then slowly flicked her hair off her shoulder and walked closer to him, a small smile placed sweetly on her face. "My name is Rayni Rose," His forest green eyes got entangled with her earthy brown ones and something strange happened. Something so strange, a feeling so unusual, a sensation so odd, it left Rexander utterly and hopelessly perplexed and bothered. 

Before he could delve more into this new feeling, the private moment was interrupted by the exaggerated arrival of Blair Rose, never one to be quiet or subtle. Breathtaking as always she stole all the attention, it was no surprise to Rayni that Rexander lost all care for her and turned his attention to her cousin instead. Rayni retreated to her previous position on the seat by the window knowing this scene all too well. "Hello Rexander, we meet again." Ofcourse, Blair had already introduced herself to Rayni's fiance. "Oh Rayni, I did not see you there. Why are you always hiding in the shadows?" Blair smiled at her younger cousin with no warmth. She loved the attention and hated sharing her light with anyone, especially her little cousin Rayni Rose who unfortunately shared the same family name as her.

Rexander Leonard, had humble beginnings. A boy from the Blue Mountains who walked a perilous path to Knighthood. At the age of 21 he was knighted using the Holy Blade and made an Imperial Knight. He was hailed a champion of the people. Though not all were happy that a commoner had entered the realm of Elites, so naturally the Elites opposed this. Yet his feats of greatness far outnumbered the resistance. Luckily too for Rexander, after a visit to the Holy Temple of Cordelia he was found to be the lost son of the legendary hero Alvastor, Duke of Valkore and once Commander of the Imperial Knights who perished in battle two decades ago. Thus making Rexander Leonard, the rightful heir to Valkore, and the last of the Bhukam bloodline, said to have been blessed by the Gods, and subsequently so, the last direct descendant of the King of the Old Empire. Whilst most were taken by his sad story, Rayni wondered how this beloved Prince of the Empire ended up lost in the Blue Mountains. His birth was a mere secret, a rare story spoken in hushed whispers in servant chambers where no noble's ears could hear them. 

After the man the Elites treated like a dog from the streets became somewhat of a Prince, in the few moments it took the Holy Temple to churn out such Wisdom, the Elites scrambled to make ties with him. Rayni's father, Duke Zorion Rue of the Empire and King of the Eastern Valleys, was the stealthiest. In less than a day he had arranged a marriage. Typically, considering titles, Princess Blair Rose of the Empire would have been the best match for Rexander Leonard. Girls of the Empire could become Queens to their Kings, but never just a Queen. But Rexanders House, Bhukam, though prestigious, was dead, or at least it was considered so before his arrival. Blair Rose could never become Empress on her own, but had she married Rexander who had the bloodline, the honour, the love of the people but not the strength of a House she could have ruled as she wished. She could have been an Empress, far more than just the Emperor's Consort. So imagine the horror Blair Rose felt when the Knight she turned her nose to had became the most eligible bachelor in the Empire, only for cursed Rayni Rose to take him from her. 

"My dearest cousin, do you not think you're intruding?" Rayni asked, no soft voice or innocent smile, just cold words and a hostile stare.

"Oh, I did not mean to intrude. I just wanted to make Rexander feel welcomed," 

"I know that you are so attentive, dearest cousin, but I think the Warlord and I need some time alone. I am sure you understand with our wedding coming so soon," Blair Rose with a tight smile nodded her head, and dismally walked off pointedly giving a longing look to Rexander as she made her way out. "You like my cousin." Rayni stated, as if it were a fact already. 

"What?" Rexander was caught completely off guard, had he been staring at the door too long?

"You and her would be a better match," Rayni commented unbothered.

"I do not like your cousin," Was Rayni jealous?, Rexander wondered.

"No need to lie, I am not offended," Rayni smiled knowingly. What an unusual reaction, but what about Rayni Rose had been usual or anything with the situation they found themselves in.

"I do not know her well enough to say I like her more than I would any other person,"

"Your eyes tell a different story," Rayni looked at Rexander momentarily before asking, "Does she remind you of your angel? The one who's lost in the Blue Mountains?" Rexander stiffened, his face growing grimmer. 

"You know of that story,"

"Who in the Empire doesn't? There are even plays of you both,"

"I never found her, I do not know what she looks like anymore," His eyes were distant, glazed as if he were remembering something or in a trance. In that moment Rayni Rose knew that Rexander Leonard could never be hers, and whatever speck of hope she had, that he could died in that moment. He'd loved another; what heart could he give her when his own was elsewhere?

"You mean to say, you never stopped searching," Rayni sighed. "This marriage will not work. You love another. You will never be able to love me like you do her, and I will not compete for your love either,"

"There is nothing that can be done." The marriage was sealed, papers were signed. Strange how the consent of either party was still missing. 

"No, there is." Rayni's voice demanded his attention, he looked up at her confused." The treaty will still stand as long as we remain married for 2 years. If that, along with the condition that no child is conceived, is met then I retain the right to divorce you." 

—--

The day of the wedding came quickly after. On the hottest day in summer they were wed in the cool evening, the stars shining proud as their witness. Stood with them, equally as dazzling were the members of high society - the stunning Elites. 

Rayni's dress was beautiful, the garden where the altar lay was whimsical and the sound of the music being played was simply perfect - as like all things in this wedding. Her cold father had a warm smile, her ever-scowling mother wore a gentle face but Rayni, who walked down this fairytale aisle, shared none of the happiness that surrounded her. The mighty warlord, Rexander Leonard stood with a distant look on his face, he made it too obvious he wished it were another woman walking down the aisle. The thought of that should make Rayni bitter but it didn't. 

"I swear," Two cursed words that sealed their fates, and doomed them for two long years. 

—-

Rexander, who'd finally managed to escape the too-eager Elites, contemplated on how Destiny brought him to this moment. His wedding day. Not anything like he had ever imagined from the place to the people to the feelings, everything was new and foreign. No, that's wrong. Myra and Bear were here. His longest and closest friends' attendance meant that in this castle bustling with people he did not stand alone. 

"What a surprise, that you are brooding in the corner far away from everyone." Rayni glanced at the dance floor now full of gleeful couples and prospective ones, "Thank god the music changed, we'd still be stuck in conversation otherwise. The one good thing about love songs,"

"Why they even bother conversing with me I cannot understand" Rexander generally pondered what interest they'd have in a simple man like him. 

"Hero of the Empire, last descendant of the Old King, noble Knight, mighty Warlord, you are the champion of the people, why would they not be interested in you?" 

"And you, the beloved 'Diamond of the Empire', should you not be at the centre of socialising?"

"There's only so much pretence I can handle in a single night," 

"Why do they call you that?" Rexander asked after a moment's silence. 

"You'd have to ask them that," She tilted her head at him, "Do I not appear as the 'Diamond of the Empire' to you?" She questioned. Rexander did not answer, cautious of Rayni's reaction. The sound of gushing was heard averting their attention, Blair Rose was dancing with some Prince attracting a crowd of dumb-struck nobles awe-ing at the scene. Blair Rose looked stunning, breathtaking as always. "I suppose you'd think my cousin deserves that title more," Rexander examined Rayni's expression; neutral, uncaring, as if she were talking of the weather. "Do not be fooled, Diamonds are made under pressure. She is a shiny rock that got lucky." 

"Are you jealous?" Rexander asked.

"Why would a Diamond be jealous of shiny rock, my darling husband?" Rayni countered, flicking her hair off her shoulder. "They call her the Angel of the Empire, what a story it would have been had you married her instead. 'The Angel, the Lost Prince found in the Empire'. A tale that would surely outlive all of us." Rayni commented. "It would have been nice if she stayed the Angel everyone thought she was, but time, the cruel mistress she is, changes people," Rexander wanted to ask more but Rayni began walking to the balcony. "Come now, the fireworks will start soon and we have to look madly in love," Rayni beckoned, giving an amused smile over her shoulder as she looked back at him. If his heart stuttered seeing her smile then Rexander would say it was not her smile but the nerves of the night getting to him. 

—--

"Mith, do you think the Gods got tired of writing my stories? It's always the same storyline, different people and places but the end is the same," Rayni asked her companion, a black cat that only came to her in the night she named Mith fondly. The Holy Temple did not like companions or anything to do with sorcery; black magic they would call it. So Mith was Rayni's best kept secret as well as her only friend.

"What do you mean, Nini?"

"Another lifetime, I am doomed to love a man who loves another,"

"This time may be different, you are not the same as you were then,"

"And I will never again be that pathetic," Rayni swore as she picked up a parchment of paper torn from a diary, the ink blotchy from tears the writer cried when writing them. 

To my love, 

You told me you did not love me, that there was another in your heart and I accepted that truth the moment it left your lips. I knew of the rumours; of how a beautiful blonde haired, blue-eyed angel had taken hold of your heart long ago. I knew your eyes that bore into mine only ever saw hers. Yet when time passed, I saw parts of you no one else did and I thought that meant something, if even it was a small something. 

I hoped foolishly, to my own detriment that maybe if I showed you parts of me no else saw, we'd be something more than two unwilling people bound to each other. Alone and miserable, in the corner of my dim, dull room till you came in- a tornado, an earthquake, a whirlpool of more than I'd ever known. I lived happy with little they'd say. 

How many drunken nights had we laid together before your skin started to feel like home? You were life itself, and I was the air getting sucked in and thrown out. Yet I was happy, more than I had ever been. 

What is meant to be will be and fate will not pull apart those destined to be so alas, that cursed morning you came back from an expedition I, like always, rushed to you, bright-eyed with a wide smile. Only for you not to notice. Your attention solely on a beautiful blonde girl who though dirty and grim, shone like the radiant sun. There upon your handsome face was a foreign expression, you never looked at me like that. 

You were different from that day, your laugh was louder, your smile wider and your face brighter, there was a different aura around you. No more was there a stiff, sharp noble commander, but a kind, gentle, love-drunk man stood in his place. 

You have all the luxuries of the world and yet it was her happiness that was priceless to you. You'd give her Heaven on Earth if you could. As you showered her with affection, her cup was always full whilst mine ran dry. In those months after you met her I was a shadow in the castle whose title I held, whose heavy crown I wore. 

They praised her, rightly so. Even if I wanted to, I could not find a single fault in her. She was far too kind, where I was snappy and sly. She opened her arms to all, where I was untrusting and wary. She was the sun you worshipped, and I was lost in the darkness of your mind. You only showed her the best parts of you, your anger, your cruelty, your savageness where the 'you' only I knew of. For you could never say a bad word to her, you could only tell her she was 'perfection' itself and that you were not worthy of her affections, scared from years spent on the battlefield. She is your angel, your entire world, your only blessing; so what place did the girl you met in the darkness have here in your nirvana? I've packed my bags, cut off all my strings and left. No goodbyes, no we'll meet again. Just an emptiness in all the spaces that held our memories.

Despite it all, I will love you forever and always. 

Rayni set the parchment alight using the fire from the lantern, she watched as the last of it burn, accumulating into ash on the study table. Never again she swore.

Rayni had a gift, she could see things and knew of things no one else did or could. It was another well kept secret of hers, fearing the consequences if anyone found out. The Holy Temple would call her a demon and she'd be burnt alive before she could utter a word in her defence.

She tightened her robe, and walked to her bedroom. It was so beautiful, and it was truly a shame all the effort was for nought. A knock on the door altered her, "Come in, this chamber is yours too. There is no need to knock," she answered, only one person could be standing outside. Rexander walked stiffly inside, his handsome face completely emotionless. 

"What if you find her?" Rayni abruptly asked when he'd come to stand in front of her. "Your Angel?" She clarified when he did not answer, his eyes jumped at the sound of her name. Rayni wanted to laugh at how pitiful she was, must a man love another over her every time? Surely she must have sinned to be punished like this. Their faces are blurry and their names get muddled on her tongue, only in her dreams could she discern them, but the feeling of heartache was potent even awake. 

"They say she is dead, that I'll never find her," Rexander spoke openly for the first time, his voice raw with emotion, with longing.

"She's alive, and you will find her." Rexander clenched his fists, intensely staring her down. 

"How do you know?" Because this is a story I have seen play out too many times, she wanted to answer. "Because I do." is what she said instead. "Two years, then we are free." She sighed sitting crossed legged on the bed. 

"Do you also love another? Is that why you are so okay with this?"

"I would never do such a thing," Rayni was adamant. 

"You will never love?"

"Love is all around us, as long as we have a heart we will love. That is our nature. But to love a man means to give him all of me without asking for anything in return. It is foolish to do so, and I am no fool."

"Do you think I am foolish for loving?"

"Yes, loving someone to the extent that you do is irrational," Rexander smiled boyishly, he looked his age for once.

"As you said, to me as well; loving a woman is to give all of myself to her and asking for nothing in return,"

You have all the luxuries of the world and yet it was her happiness that was priceless to you. You'd give her Heaven on Earth if you could.

"You must have loved to know that," Rexander sat next to Rayni, hearing her words he thought that perhaps there was someone who could understand him.

"I loved and I lost." 

"So then love again," Rayni sharply turned her head to find Rexander already looking at her. 

"Easy for you to say, your love reciprocates your feelings. Mine tossed me aside," Rexander frowned. 

"Do you wish he didn't, that he loved you back?" How had they reached this conservation?

"You do not choose who you love, Rexander. If he kept me he would lose her. If he loved me he would have stayed,"

"Or he would have come back," Rexander pointed out.

"Was he ever mine if he left?" Rayni countered.

"If he comes back, then he had always been yours. What is meant for you will always find its way to you," 

"In that case, there is nothing in this world that is mine." Rayni sighed, unimpressed and unmoved by Rexanders sentiments.

"Maybe they tried to come back but got lost along the way," Rexander insisted. Rayni paused thoughtfully finally understanding Rexanders insistence.

"Ah, your Angel. You speak of yourself. You left her in the Blue Mountains, and when you returned there was no her, no Blue Mountains either to be precise. That's different. You never stopped loving her." Rayni leaned closer, "Do you blame yourself?" She asked, his emotions becoming all too obvious now. 

"If only I had turned around, if only I never walked the path, then she would be here or I with her." 

"You had to go, you had to become the man you are now. Do not hate yourself for things that you had no control over," Rayni, knowing the pain inside Rexander, gently placed her hand on top of his. "It was not your fault." Rexander must have waited a long time to hear those words for after they left her lips, a deep sigh left his. He even closed his eyes, overwhelmed, his heart touched by her sincerity. She looked away from him and whispered into the cool room, lit only by moonlight, "You are bound by fate Rexander, people bound by fate always meet.".