"How Long Until The Crown Breaks?"
10. Staring at her mirror, looking at her dress, her crown, her jewerly, her makeup, and the shawl coming down from her head that her maidens are dressing her with, Dawn couldn't help but keeping thinking about the conversation that happened last night, from what she remembered most, was her arranged husband telling her that he will find a way to end their forced marriage, and that there was nothing she could tell him to think otherwise before he decided to walk off.
Dawn quietly sighed as one of her maidens says to her, "okay Princess, you're ready."
The maidens step back and bow their heads as Dawn turns around, nodding her head to them before saying, "thank you." Then she lets out a smile right as her room door opens, and seeing her mother standing there elegantly with two guards and five of her handmaidens, she says calmly to Dawn, "he's waiting for you in the dining hall Dawn."
"I'm ready to go, don't worry mother."
Suna nods her head and steps back from the door, but, not leaving just yet, she turns her away from Dawn as if she still has something to say.
Dawn notices this and asks her mother, "is there something else, mama?"
Suna lifts her head up and turns toward Dawn, with her expression still quite emotionless, Dawn steps to her mother as Suna finally says to her, "when you and Youin Nebin finish eating, he will ask of you to stay a week with him" As if not wanting to say this, she bows her head a little, finishing her words with "it is apart of the pro-ducal that this occurs, so that you two can get a chance to know each other better."
Lifting up her head completely now, showing a slight smile on her face, Suna says after "But please, do this for us, and if anything goes wrong, we'll be there, even though I know that will not be the case."
Dawn just turns around and smirks, "so that's why my maidens have been packing my bags all morning, because I have to leave."
"Only for a week, Dawn."
"Only for a week, got it." Turning to her mother with much emotion on her face, Dawn then turns away and says to headmaiden Keishia to have everyone grab her bags.
And walking to her mother, Suna grabs Dawn by the arm gently and says "Everything will be alright Dawn, I know with your natural strength and your gift of being a warrior, things will always go right for you, I pray they do."
Looking to her mother with a grin on her face, Dawn says softly to her mother, "thank you for acknowledging that, mother."
Then as Suna leaves with her guards and maidens, Dawn turns to her maidens and says "Let's go."
Walking down the large steps into the hall, Dawn and her maidens make their way to the dining hall where everyone is waiting for her.
Her father, mother, brother, and sister along the hundreds of guards, maidens, and servants. Dawn puts on a smile when seeing everyone, with her giving kisses to her family and Youin Nebins family.
And then looking to Youin Nebin himself, she bows her head a little and he just smiles, walking up to her and saying "Have a seat my lady."
She turns to the long golden table, seeing all the food laid out for them.
"This is to hold you two before you go." Sovereign Marlo says to them.
"Thank you father in law." Nebin says with a bow. And Dawn thanks her father as he says everyone, "alright let us leave them with peace as they enjoy their meal."
As everybody leaves the room, including the servants and handmaidens who stay on the outside of the room, and Dusk who gives Dawn a wink and gestured 'you got this' before leaving.
Nebin and Dawn finally get the room to themselves, sitting across from each other, close enough to hear each other clearly but not close enough to touch hands or pass each other food.
"They really have everything set up, even my food has already been placed."
"You say that like it's a bad thing? Are you not already used to this?" Nebin asks while stuffing food in his mouth.
Dawn just watches him before sighing quietly again, picking up the fork and eating the scrambled eggs that is on her plate.
"I am used to this, but this time, it feels slightly rushed, that's all."
"Did you not sleep good last night" He says while wiping his mouth.
"I did" She takes a bite out of her scrambled eggs, "but...It could have been better, I mean, honestly, it was like two in the morning when we talked last night, it's nine in the morning now, I kind of just wish I was still asleep.
He chuckles slightly, "I'm used to lack of sleep, my people are known to be both early birds and night owls. We have a great resistance to sleep."
"That's interesting, why is that?"
"Because my people are always hard at work working with rocks, we still haven't really invested in the whole steel, iron, and metal that is being produced from Lesothia, it just...Hasn't gotten to us, especially since us Arcillians and Lesothians haven't been on friendly terms in quite a while."
"From wars...?"
"No...Lesothia believes we are savages that need to be controlled, they don't trust us with those gifts of iron, metal, and steel."
Dawn finishes her scrambled eggs, slowly wiping her mouth as she replies to his words by saying "That needs to change, that's not fair for you and your people to be left behind over your peoples status."
"They are not wrong." He boldly states while putting his cup of water down.
"Really? Your people consider themselves savages?"
"Not necessarily in today's time, but before my parents took over, our people lived off of violence, and had it no other way, but as you see, my parents are working to change that, and so am I."
"That's good your people are working on that..." Sounding a little turned off by the idea of being grafted in to a violent race of people. Nebin seems to notice Dawn just eating now and not saying anything else, "does that knowledge scare you?"
"It doesn't scare me...But...How will your people react to me? And the ways of what I am used to?"
"That is why today you will visit our country, our capital city, and we will indoctrinate you into how we function as a people."
"R-Right."
"Don't be scared Dawn, remember what I said yesterday..."
He leans in, trying to get Dawn to understand what he is getting at from the conversation they had.
"You are still going to try it?" Dawn says quietly while also leaning forward, "how will you work this, please let me understand?"
"I will tell you the idea that I have once we are on the way." He gives her wink.
Dawn nods her head and smiles slightly.
When Nebin calls for one of the servants to bring him more water, Dawn says to him with an intrigued voice, "have you ever experienced romantic love?"
He turns back to her right as the servant walks out and closes the sliding door.
Looking more soft featured and relaxed now, he looks up to Dawn with a grin on his face, "yes...I still do, I still cherish my first love, a great huntress named La-Ki."
"Do you two still talk?"
"Before my parents came into rule, we talked everyday and hunted together, but now...I rarely even know if she is alive."
"I'm sure she is alive and well Nebin, and I will pray you two see each other again, even through this" She gestures to herself and him, along with everything on the table with a slight smirk on her face.
He nods, "yeah, I'm sure she is, but that is just how it feels being away from someone you love for so long."
"I get it, I get that feeling..."
"You do? Who was your first love?"
Holding her fork still, looking down at her food but really looking down in thought, Dawn says soflty while still looking away from Nebin, "I wouldn't call it first love...I've had crushes before...But...This one love I would say was very different...He was someone I just wanted to be happy and well, he lived in such pity...I-I can't really explain it" Holding her fork tighter now, she continues "I wanted to be the light in his life, I wanted to understand him and make him happy, I wanted to be his friend...But then it turned to love, love that went nowhere...I thought..."
"What else happened?" Nebin continues listening.
Dawn only lifts her head up for a bit before leaning back and letting out the words, "we formed only what is considered a small moment of affection, a kiss, that was it, after that, we seperated ways..."
"Dawn? Was this during your time on Southern Island?"
She takes a small breath and looks right into his dark eyes, saying softly "Yes, a fellow warrior."
"Oh...?" Surprised, he says with interest, "and when you all came back, you never spoke over the three years?"
"Until recently...When the Lesothian Prince, Morlagon, greeted us again, and we, all of us warriors saw each other again."
"What happened then?"
"Well, we talked, and I told him about our marriage and-"
Suddenly a knock is heard on the door, and the two of them look towards the door as a voice calls to them, one of Youin Nebin's men, in their language, speak to him.
Answering back in his native language, he then turns to Dawn saying "The carriage is waiting for us, they are ready to go."
He gets up, wiping his mouth, taking the last sips of water as Dawn gets up with him, cleaning herself up as well and saying "I thank you for talking like this with me."
"And I thank you Dawn, for listening to my love story as well."
He lets his arm out, letting her walk out first as she smiles to him, walking out to greet her family once again and all her handmaiden's as they take her luggage and bring them to the carriage.
Dawn walks out of the palace with Nebin by her side, letting her get in first, then he gets in.
"We will be in this carriage until we get to the border, once we get to the border, we will have flyers take us into my country." He smiles as Dawn nods to him, understanding his words.
Then, as if in deep thought again, she looks to the window and watches her family waving to her, with her grandparents waving and smiling, Dae shouting happily for her big sister, along with Dusk nodding to Dawn as if to reassure her that she will be okay.
Then Marlo and Suna wave to her once again as the carriage pulls off into the stone brick road that enters in and out of the Sovereign courtyard.
........
The traveling was relaxing for Dawn, she even fell asleep on the way, not even realizing when she got to the border.
Getting out and getting to the flyers, creatures used specifically to travel in and out of countries, both her and Nebin make their way on it's back, with their servants with them and Dawn's luggage all fitting into the large dragon like creature.
Flying off and viewing the lands below, Nebin leans back to say to Dawn who is behind him, "once you smell the smoke, you'll know we're here."
Looking forward again, Dawn sighs, still not ready to do what she has to.
Then flying down to the port where the creatures land, they all get off, where Nebin's family who had left a day earlier, are there to greet them.
Making it through into the Arcillian lands, Dawn is immediately greeted with the strong smell of smoke, seeing ahead of her fires and lots of people working to make wooden things.
Dawn couldn't really tell what they were doing, but as they walked her through, everyone eventually stopped and stood still, now silent as the Youn Cartector steps forward to speak, "this is Princess Dawn of Nokinia, praise her! For she will soon be our Youine!" (Which is princess in the Arcilian language).
As the people shout with crazed voices, throwing stuff at each other, pushing each other, screaming at the top of their lungs at each other, Dawn just stares at them, trying to put a smile on her face while walking through the excited chaos.
But seeing everyone around her, including Nebin and his family acting like this, she couldn't help but just feel sorry for herself as they made it to the rock covered home of the savage family.
Stepping inside, Dawn saw that it didn't necessarily feel riched, it just had a broader design than the others with rocks piled up on the roof of the home, and that the home was near a large beautiful lake instead of being near the plaza where the people would shop and work.
Then across from that into the forest is where they hunt all the creatures that live in the land, it's the best entertainment for the Arcillians and what they thrive on.
Finally sitting, able to breathe in and out without the noise of the people slamming against her ears, Nebin holds her hand as he sits with her, saying to her, "it's a bit loud but...They are just excited, I'm sure you'll get used to it while you are here, but...Dawn..." He leans into her ear as she listens to his words, "I will still have my plan go through, I will find La-Ki and you will be with your true love again, okay?"
"I pray it will work." She whispers back to him, while staring back out to his servants and all the people crowding the home.
Then with them giving her teas and them dancing around her in the home, both men and women, Dawn naturally leaned away from them, now clearly uncomfortable as Nebin's mother comes over to her saying "Don't be afraid, it is only tradition."
She grabs Dawn by the arm and brings her out back with the men and women dancing, "dance with them, dance with them Youine!"
Dawn steps up and now standing in the middle of them dancing around her, Dawn forces herself to try and move like them, but being used to the elegance of Nokinian dancing, Dawn kept falling down and the twirling after only made her dizzy.
Nebin and his family laugh a little as his mother walks out to her, helping her dance on her tippy toes like they are doing.
And eventually learning this dance, good enough to dance at the wedding like them, she keeps up with their other traditions as well as hunting, praying every night that she'll make it here in the room that they gave her apart from Nebin's room.
Luckily her and Nebin didn't have to do anything yet, but once the week went by and the Nokinian family had to come for their well prepared wedding, things finally seemed to come together for both Nebin and Dawn as she managed to enjoy the wedding for the most part.
Wearing traditional Arcillian garb, which is just a brown and grey sheer dress with bronze armored bracelets and a large bronze headpiece, with her face painted with the colors of forest.
Then Youn Cartector comes up to them, standing before them then to the people, "everyone!" He turns to Dawn, grabbing her hand, "this is your Youine now! Youine Dawn of Nokinia and now Arcillia!!!"
Shouting this, the noise comes back once again as everyone shouts for their new princess. But Dawn gave a look to her family, nodding to them as they nod back, but turning to her now husband, Youin Nebin, she looks straight into his eyes as he says, "now we kiss."
Dawn inhales and exhales, then let's Nebin lift up her veil and kiss her, a short kiss that mean't enough to the people around them.
And while Dawn had to adjust to her new life with the Arcilians, she wasn't prepared for what else would forcefully make their way to her.
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