The snow would never melt from the castle towers and the cleaners did their best to collect as much of it or sell it to the Summerlanders, as Princess Caroline heard her father utter a command that was life altering and absolute much like the snow.
She had been summoned to the throne room in the early hours of the morning while the sun still slept, and as she stood in the center of it dressed in her favourite silver gown, she could feel the tension in the air as her father announced,
"You will marry the Summer King."
Princess Caroline refused to register the splendor of the throne room from the towering crystal chandeliers, to the frost covered windows and the cheerful fire burning in the fireplace.
Her father King Allan of the Winter Court, sat on his throne of frozen sapphires with his expression carved from the same hard ice. To his right, her step mother Queen Lysandra watched with cool detachment her emerald gown a stark contrast to the icy blue hues of the throne room. Her heart pounded as she forced herself to reply.
"You cannot mean it."
His gaze did not leave her. "It has been agreed upon and the bride price has been paid at the cost of peace between our lands."
"No Father, I will not!"
"Yes, you will." His voice echoed across the throne room with finality.
A marriage she thought, not even for love, not for a strategic alliance but a bargain, with her as the sacrifice as a desperate attempt to stop the war that had been going on. Her stomach twisted as she fought to ignore the anxiety that was slowly flooding her body in waves.
She knew who the Summer King was a warlord crowned in fury and fire who left cities in ashes and wielded flames as easily as he did blades. His conquests were great and his ruthlessness unmatched and now she was to become his wife.
Her her fists clenched. "You would offer me up to such a monster?"
"He is a king!" Her father rebuked sharply.
"He is a killer!" Her voice broke but she did not care.
"They say he cuts down men like wheat and burns his enemies alive. He....."
"That is enough!" Her father's hands gripped the arms of his throne.
"Father, please reconsider I....." she whispered her voice trembling now.
Queen Lysandra finally spoke her voice smooth.
"We cannot reconsider, the marriage will unite us in peace. There is nothing more to discuss.
You are dismissed." She gestured with a flick of her wrist.
"Would you barter off your own daughter like cattle?" Princess Caroline replied lashing out in fury.
Queen Lysandra merely replied, "if it meant ending the war, then yes I would."
"Liar", declared Princess Caroline sarcastically.
"This is your duty Caroline, as princess of the Winter Court." Her father interjected growing weary. Duty thought Princess Caroline with disgust the word had shackled her since birth and it dictated who she was, where she went and now who she married apparently.
"Do I mean so little to you, Father?"
"You are all I have left, but even you must leave for the sake of your people." Her father admitted as tears filled his eyes.
"In our contract, if you are hurt in anyway, the marriage will be considered null and void, I have your best interests at heart, my daughter." Her father assured her as best as he could.
"You will leave for the Summerlands tomorrow". Her stepmother declared.
Knocking the breath out of her lungs.
Those were the last words she heard before the door creaked open. The queen signaled to the guards.
They stepped forward.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as she turned to run but they caught her their grip firm but not cruel.
Her father closed his eyes and she felt the weight of her sentence as the guards dragged her quietly out of the throne room, and a guard whispered to her, "please do not fight this my lady."
They escorted her to her private chambers where they locked her inside it and took their post outside her doors.