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As fast as she could, Althena ran to the throne room. With her skirt clenched in her balled up fists so that she didn't trip, she sprinted as though her life depended upon it. Perhaps it did.
"Brother!" She yelled when she finally burst through the double doors, her long golden hair finally hitting against her back again, breathing heavy and uncertain. "Brother, have you heard?"
"Heard of what?" He asked with a bored expression, as though her very presence was a waste of his precious time.
The girl stood tall, her chest still heaving in its corset as she stepped closer, ocean eyes wandering across the scene before her. He sat, servants feeding him as though he couldn't simply move his hand to feed himself. Their mother held a cup of crimson wine, smiling proudly at the sight. It was sickening, truly so. How could this man lead them?
"The heathens, brother! They're here!" She clawed him back to reality. "Has anybody sent help out to the people?" As she watched the apathy in her brother's expression, some thoughts crossed her mind that were perhaps far too sinful. Should the heathens attack, she would've felt nothing for that worm's death. Moreover, she was considering just riding out and battling these Vikings herself.
"Ah good!" He ignored her completely, instead addressing their mother. "They accepted."
In this moment, the girl's brows furrowed. Her elegant features seemed to distort into a look of disgust and confusion all at the same time. "Accepted what?" Althena asked firmly, but Alwin remained the insolent fool he'd always been and continued to talk to their mother. The princess felt her rage building, her crystal eyes shone with a vibrant anger as she yelled once more, "ACCEPTED WHAT?"
All eyes moved back to her now.
"You." Alwin answered. "In order to gain their trust, we have offered them you."
The look in his eyes told her this was no Pyrrhic victory that would keep him up for nights on end. He would not weep and mourn her, knowing that he'd sent her off into the sin and disgrace of pagans. No, instead he looked pleased. With a devilish gleam in his eyes, he grinned. Finally, she would be gone and there would be no one to undermine him. He could be the idle gluttonous king that he always wished to be. And, if all went well, perhaps she would die in the process.
A look of immense hurt spread across her features. Her eyes clouded with aching tears, betrayal etched onto her face. When she spoke, her voice was low and broken. "And would that be enough for you?" She asked. "You would give your own sister over to them just to save your own neck?"
His lips curved up into a grin that made Althena wish to punch it straight off. "This is for our people, sister, you will be the martyr you always wished to be. Now leave us, we have real issues to discuss."
"May God strike you dead, Alwin." She almost growled, voice filled with hate as she spoke.
When she turned and left, she couldn't help the tears that smothered her cheeks, her weeping only making her feel worse.
These monsters were going to have her with them. Would they tear the lungs from her body too? Would they kill her as they'd killed so many others?
When Edith found her slumped in the corridor, her heart sank.
The two girls had been friends for many years. Edith had once been her father's mistress, and now she was fated to marry Alwin. She was from a powerful family, and she had always been smart enough to choose her alliances wisely. But her main alliance had always been with this light princess, this beautiful rose of their kingdom.
"Althena?" She spoke gently, hand reaching out to cup the girl's cheek. "What's the matter?"
In all her years, Edith had been the only one to care for her. They loved one another dearly and had always been close. So, the words that slipped past the young princess's lips next were enough to make Edith's heart snap in two. "He is giving me away." She whispered. "To the heathens."
But her pity stirred nothing in the princess. No. She would not be pitied. She would not be some delicate damsel for her brother to pass around as he pleased. She was Princess Althena, daughter of a great King and the true heir to the throne - as oppose to her good for nothing brother.
She would fight this. She would fight them. And, at the very least, she could lose knowing she did all she could to remain true to who she was.
