Aleksei took a deep breath as the extensive stone walls that encircled the Frotleikr’s castle and capital city came into view in the distance. They were just mere moments from meeting his in-laws.

His own parents had initially refused to let their only heir openly leave—risking the chance that something would happen to him because he was their only heir. The only way that his father had agreed to letting Aleksei join the envoy was if it was under an alias. As such, Aleksei now had his own personal mission of going undercover as a knight. Since his reasoning for joining was to grow closer to his bride, the explanation would be that he was a personal guard—that was being provided by the Taicirusians—for the princess during her trip back to the Taicirus Kingdom.

He had to admit there was a concern, other than the worry of meeting his in-laws, that was now troubling him. As they approached, the prince became nervous that one of the others in the envoy would slip up and accidently refer to him by his real name and title instead of the identity his father had created for him.

Aleksei tightened his grip on his reins. Maybe showing up anonymously was a bad idea. . .

It was too late now, though. The gates were already slowly creaking open as the envoy’s arrival was noticed by the guards posted along the outer castle walls. There was no backing out now. Aleksei had no way to signal or discuss a change of plans with the rest of his group without potentially raising suspicion.

The small procession picked up slightly as the exhausted members of the envoy seemed to see the glimmer of hope. They’d finally be able to rest in actual comfortable beds, instead of camping out on the hard ground with thin bedrolls. On the few better days, they had been able to sleep on the firm and scratchy beds of a tavern— but due to the size of their group, they had to cycle through who was allowed to take the brief respite of using the barely better accommodations. The rest of the group then camped out on the outskirts of the towns that they had passed through, so that they didn’t overwhelm the small villages.

As soon as the leading members of the envoy took their first steps through the gates, Aleksei heard the deafening sound of large bells ringing out. Then the sound of cheering rose on the other side of the towering stone walls, which seemed to almost double in size with each stride his horse took closer. Aleksei hadn’t actually realized how large the capital of the Frotleikr family’s domain was until he, too, passed through the gigantic gates that now seemed like they were going to swallow him whole.

Once inside, Aleksei was met with the sight of huge crowds forming on either side of the main road. He briefly wondered if there was a seer living in the kingdom’s capital who had predicted their exact arrival time and had shared it with the rest of the city. It was also possible they just had quick messengers who had spread word of the envoy’s approach—although that wouldn’t explain how the entire city seemed to already be there waiting for them from the moment they stepped through the gates.

Aleksei felt a bit weird having another kingdom’s citizens cheering for him as he walked along their streets. Glancing at the other members of the envoy, it seemed that they, too, were unsure what to do in this situation. It seemed like most of them had come to the consensus to just sit a bit straighter in their saddles and look straight ahead, trying to appear imposing and regal, while doing their best to hide the obvious fatigue they all were actually feeling. Aleksei followed suit, but tried not to stand out much. He had no clue who might actually be watching him from within the crowd, and he didn’t want to accidentally give off the air of a royal instead of just a simple knight.

As the envoy continued forward, Aleksei’s ears slowly adjusted to the roar of cheers, and he started to pick up snippets of the words spoken by the members of the crowd who weren’t just cheering, but also gossiping amongst themselves as the envoy passed.

“I’ve never actually seen Northerners before. . .” “They’re so tall!” “Look at the massive horses they ride!” “Mom, why do they each have so many hair colors?” “Look at the muscles on that one!” “Do you think their prince also has multiple hair colors?”

Listening to the various voices as he passed them, Aleksei was genuinely astounded that their comments and exclamations seemed to all be either in awe of the “Northerners”, or just pure curiosity about the envoy. The crowd was mostly speaking in positive and excited tones as they gossiped about the foreigners, while others just excitedly cheered the envoy on as they migrated forward.

Aleksei had assumed the populace would be more melancholy about these delegates coming only to cart off their precious princess. He wondered if his bride’s own citizens had something against her—yet he hadn’t picked up any comments regarding her “finally” leaving, it was only various bits of gossip about the envoy.

He made a mental note to have Elvar chat with Ciar, the leading diplomat, to see if he would ask the Frotleikrs for more information about the festive mood the city was in.

Aleksei wouldn’t have the authority or position to ask such questions—since his alias was that of a mere knight— so he had been glad when Ciar had been assigned the role of leader for the envoy. The slightly older Fae had always performed his errands flawlessly—and was extremely loyal to Aleksei. As such, Aleksei knew he wouldn’t have to worry about when he wanted to ask questions—or give orders—that a mere knight wouldn’t be able to. His curiosity towards the Ástlanders being one such example.

It wasn’t as if Aleksei wasn’t expecting a little bit of excitement from the Ástlanders, but the extent of their immediate cheers as soon as the envoy had entered had far outclassed any of the prince’s expectations. Perhaps it was just Aleksei’s own reservations towards the engagement—along with the long trip to get to the capital of Ástland— that was making the celebration before him seem just a bit too enthusiastic.

Ciar most likely already planned on inquiring about it—since he knew his liege, and the worries he had, due to the many years of serving him. Yet the curious prince still wanted to make sure Ciar would ask just in case. If there was something more going on behind the eagerness of the people to get rid of their princess, Aleksei needed to know.

Aleksei tried to speculate about the possibility that the residents of the Ástland kingdom held the same thoughts as his own kingdom’s people—that the union of the two would pass good fortune down to the people of the kingdom. It didn’t make as much sense, though, since his bride was marrying into the Silvius family—his family— so if there was any trickle down of blessings, it would be to the Taicirus kingdom that the couple would be running together.

Perhaps the enthusiasm was simply due to the fact that the two kingdoms were finally uniting via a political marriage—but Aleksei couldn’t see how it would incite such a large, excited crowd to cheer for foreigners as though they were fellow Ástlanders who were returning from a long trip.

Aleksei didn’t have a lot of time left to mull it over, as the end of the crowd was now in sight, and the tall, elaborately decorated gates to main castle grounds lay ahead, beyond the masses.

He didn’t expect to feel the fluttering in the pit of his stomach as a second set of gates opened to reveal the lush outer courtyard of the castle in which his bride had grown up. He wondered if the excitement of the crowds was rubbing off on him and causing the nervous feeling in his gut to multiply. Sure, his bride wouldn’t know who he was yet, but Aleksei was finally going to meet the elusive person who had been chosen all those years ago to be his wife.

As he passed through the castle gates, Aleksei admired their dark blue serpent motif. He knew from his lessons that the Frotleikr lineage stemmed from a Jörmungandr bloodline of the Dragonkin race, yet he had also heard that the twin heirs of the latest generation seemed to primarily take after their maternal grandfather’s lineage of Dragon types.

Aleksei also had a touch of Dragon blood on his mother’s side that skipped generations and showed up in him, but the rest of his family stemmed from Drudic Fae. He was momentarily curious what his own children would present as—if he’d even have children from this arranged marriage. Of course, one of the reasons this marriage was even taking place was to provide at least one heir that combined the Silvius and Frotleikr bloodlines, so he probably would have to consider the possibility eventually.

Aleksei’s focus returned to the present as he noticed a gathering of official-looking servants lined up on the steps waiting to welcome the envoy. Once the procession of foreigners, led by Ciar, stopped at the base of the steps, the person that seemed to have the highest rank amongst the servants spoke up.

“Visitors from Taicirus, we welcome you!” The man who was speaking looked like he was about a head shorter than Aleksei, but he also had a looming presence. It was as if he was taller than even the tallest of the envoys. “I am Aelius, the head advisor of Álfheim Castle. I am here to welcome you and help direct everyone to the different areas of the castle. The soldiers and other servants can follow the head maid, Alta, to the stables and the servant quarters to rest. Those who are to meet with the royal family can dismount and follow me to the throne room. After the meeting with the royal family, everyone will be able to reconvene in the Great Hall for a banquet that our chefs are currently preparing.” Aelius was quick and to the point, laying out the plans they had set up for the envoy’s visit.

Aleksei was a bit surprised that they were immediately being split up and that it seemed only a few of them were going to be meeting up with the Frotleikr family. He knew he shouldn’t be as surprised, though, since the Ástland kingdom was bound to have different customs and etiquette from his home country.

Even though they didn’t have a chance to discuss it on the fly, Aleksei dismounted Melani along with Elvar, Ciar, and Íris, Ciar’s sister. Íris had been brought along to be his bride’s designated handmaiden during the trip, potentially continuing her role when they returned—if the bride was content with the chosen handmaiden’s performance. As such, it would reason that she would also join the three males in representing the envoy that would be guiding his bride to Taicirus.

The four Taicirusians that had dismounted were the only ones who would really need to directly meet with the royal family, since they each had very specific roles to play. Ciar was the lead diplomat for this trip, Elvar was supposed to be representing Aleksei as his right hand, Íris would be the one directly taking care of any of the princess’s needs, and Aleksei—under the name of Magne—would be directly in charge of protecting her on the journey. The rest of the envoy was mainly composed of guards and people in charge of the various supplies.

Handing over the reins of his beloved horse, who had been a supportive reminder of home during the trip, Alexsei semireluctantly turned away from the Taicirusian soldier that would take his ebony stallion to the stables. The undisclosed prince was, for the next month, going to have to leave behind any of his comforts and become a quiet knight, watching over the mysterious person who had been selected as a candidate for the next queen of the Taicirus Kingdom.

It was now finally the time he had been preparing for. Aleksei—no. . .Magne—stepped forward and joined the other three as they followed Aelius to meet the most important family in the south.