As I stepped out of the carriage, I felt all eyes on me. I held my head high as I was taught to do. I looked at the crowd and tried to gauge their reactions. There was a woman, obviously the queen. She was beautiful, and her face lit up when she saw me. Seeing her made me remember the pain of losing my mother. Maybe it would be nice to have a mother figure again. At least I knew she was happy to see me. She stood next to a distinguished older man who I assumed was the king. He looked bored, but I didn’t sense any animosity from him. He was handsome, with blue eyes and dark hair. There was an assortment of other people grouped around the king and queen, but I didn’t have time to figure out their relationships before Nicholas led me forward towards the group.

“May I present Princess Octavia of Stuvaria.” He stepped back to allow introductions. The queen stepped forward and took my hand.


“Welcome, Princess Octavia, I’m Queen Isabella.” I curtsied. “This is King Harold.” Another curtsy. So much pomp and circumstance. It was something Nicholas and I always complained about. So many rules. If I ever get to be queen, I want to get rid of it all. I inwardly rolled my eyes. Nicholas cleared his throat, a reminder that I needed to watch my face. It had a tendency to give my thoughts away.


An incredibly handsome man stepped forward and my heart rate increased. Please let this be Alexander. His eyes were hazel, and he had dark hair and he looked at me intently. His eyes were expressive and there was no malice in them, only a slight look of amusement and something else that was there and then gone again. Was it desire? I probably imagined it.


“Welcome to Amorite, Octavia. I’m Prince Ethan, the younger, more handsome brother.” He smiled and my heart fluttered again.


“Damn,” I thought to myself, “not Alexander.” Out loud I said, “Thank you, Lord Ethan. I’m happy to be here.” Only slightly a lie. I wasn’t unhappy to be here, yet.


The next man came forward. His eyes were brown, and they looked serious, almost arrogant. There was no hint of amusement in them as he stepped in front of me. He was handsome, but more intimidating than Ethan. He had a hardness to his features that gave him an off-limits air. The queen stepped forward again and said, “This is Prince Alexander.” She did not smile as she said it and I remembered what my father said about Alexander being raised in Germany by a mother who died. This was not Queen Isabella’s son. I wondered what the family dynamics were like based on all of this.


“Lord Alexander.” I said. He was quiet for a moment as he looked me over.


“Lady Octavia.” he finally said, with still no hint of a smile. “We’ll let you get settled in your chambers and we can start to get to know each other over dinner later. You and your staff will have a chance to clean up and get comfortable. I know it’s been a long ride.” He nodded his head to me, glanced at Lara, and looked over at Nicholas. There was no recognition in his eyes, so Nicholas was right, he didn’t remember seeing him before.  I imagine he was surprised I was traveling with a male. I hoped he didn’t see him as a threat.


“This is Nicholas, the captain of my father’s guard. He accompanied me on the journey to ensure my safe arrival and will likely travel back with my father after the wedding.”


Alexander’s eyes stayed on Nicholas for a moment and then came back to me. He nodded again, turned, and walked away. I glanced over at Nicholas, and he gave me a shrug. I noticed Ethan’s eyes were on me and I lowered my gaze. I didn’t want to appear presumptuous. Queen Isabella took my arm and said, “I’ll take you to your rooms. You and your lady’s maid can get cleaned up and comfortable. I apologize for the lack of fanfare for your arrival, I thought after your long journey you might not be presentable, but you look beautiful! We’ll have a ball announcing your engagement soon.  I’ll have Alexander give you a tour of the castle before dinner.”


There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I didn’t know if it would be appropriate at this point. I didn’t know anything about loyalties here and didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for the compliments and the warm welcome. If you don’t mind me asking, where will Nicholas be housed?”


“We’ll put him in with our guards. He’ll be comfortable there until he heads back. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are the two of you in a relationship? I know this arrangement was a surprise to you.”


“Oh no, Nicholas has been my friend since we were young. He helped me through the death of my husband and looks out for me. There has never been anything romantic between us. He’s like the brother I never had.”


“Well, that’s good to hear.” She stopped and turned to me, taking her hands in mine. “I hope you will be happy here. I know it will be an adjustment, and you may have to have some patience with Alexander. This was a surprise to him, as well. Please know that if you have questions or concerns, you can talk to me.”


“Thank you, Your Majesty.” We stopped in front of a set of doors, and she opened them.


“These will be your rooms. I’ll let you get settled. You’ll have a maid assigned to you and she can make sure you have everything you need. I’ll see you again at dinner.” With that she walked down the hall and disappeared.


I walked into the room and had a look around. The main room was lavishly furnished and was nicely decorated. There was a fireplace, and the room felt comfortable. I walked into my bedroom and was pleased again. My father must have told them my favorite colors because the room was done in lavender and gray. Fresh flowers made the room smell fresh and clean. Lara’s room was off mine and was large and well furnished. She looked thrilled and went to settle in. So far, aside from the rather frosty welcome from Alexander, I thought things were going well.


The large bed looked extremely comfortable, and I wanted nothing more than to jump in it and sleep for two days. I thought better of it, wanting to wash the filth of the journey off me first. There was also dinner to prepare for. I drew a bath and used some of the bath salts provided for me. I let out a sigh and sank into the warm water. My muscles were sore from the journey and sleeping in the carriage and I thought back to the massages Max used to give me and wished again that he was still with me. I pushed the thought aside, realizing I needed to focus only on the present. I took my time washing my hair and by the time I had finished, the water was cold.


Lara was waiting in my bedroom when I came out and the maid had hung all my dresses in my armoire and put away everything else. While it was a luxury having someone unpack for me, it would take me awhile to find everything.  Lara and I selected the dress I would wear for dinner and started the process of getting me ready. I took special care with my hair and makeup. I wanted to make a good impression, as I’m sure I looked like a mess when everyone saw me earlier. Just as we were finishing, there was a knock at the door. Lara went to open it and it was Alexander. He had come to give me the tour of the castle but didn’t look thrilled about it. I wondered how much pressure Queen Isabella had put on him.


I greeted him and he took my hand, placing a kiss on the back of it. He offered me his arm and I took it. I told Lara I would see her later and left the room. “I hope you are happy with your rooms and that you have everything you need.”


“Yes, My Lord, everything is very nice. Thank you.” I felt nervous and didn’t want to say the wrong thing. He seemed very guarded.


“You may call me Alex when we are in private, if you wish.” Before I had a chance to reply, he stopped in front of a set of doors next to mine. “These are my chambers, and across the hall are Ethan’s. Normally we would have been placed in different wings of the castle, but the queen is having the other wing remodeled to be our suite after we are married. There will be guards placed outside our chambers to make sure there is no impropriety before the wedding.”


I blushed and replied, “Of course, that is to be expected.” I wondered if they thought I was the type who would sneak into the rooms of men I barely knew, or if maybe they knew Alex was the type of man I needed to be guarded from. I wondered again if he had mistresses and what would happen to them now that I was here. We walked around the castle with Alex pointing out highlights and portraits of the royal family. I was impressed he knew so much, considering he hadn’t grown up here. We ended up out on a patio looking over a garden. It was beautiful and I said so. There was a fountain in the middle of the garden surrounded by lilac bushes and roses. I could picture myself sitting by the fountain in the evenings. “Perhaps we could walk in the garden after dinner.” I suggested.


Alex sighed and looked at me. “I don’t mean to sound cold, Octavia, but none of this was my idea. I know it wasn’t yours, either. I am not interested in falling in love or romance. I also have no interest in hurting you or making you unhappy. I can offer you a partnership and nothing more.”


I had to admit I was hurt. He hadn’t even given me a chance! “I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, Alex, but we have known each other for all of five minutes. I don’t think it’s fair for either one of us to go into this with decisions already made. I would prefer to go into this with an open mind. I’m not foolish enough to think that we could fall in love at first sight, or even in the future. I would be perfectly happy with a partnership if that’s all it turns out to be, but I don’t think we can rule out friendship, or more at this point. All I ask is that you give me, give us, a chance.”


He looked at me and I felt like he was searching for words. His eyes were guarded. “Fine, we’ll do it your way, but know this, I didn’t ask for this. I will not make any promises other than the one I made to my father. I will do what’s best for Amorite. If that means getting married and trying to produce a male heir, I will do it, but I can’t promise to like it, or you.”


“I understand, and I feel the same. At least we know we have this in common. Neither one of us asked for this. We’re doing what has been asked of us for the good of our respective kingdoms. That doesn’t mean that this must be a miserable experience for either of us.” He seemed unwilling to open up to the idea that we could work on being happy together.


With that we walked to the dining hall. I was not feeling overly confident in the success of Alexander’s and my union, or that his definition of partnership was anything close to mine, but I reminded myself that we were just at the beginning of our journey. Anything could happen. Little did I know how much the word “anything” could cover.