<span style="color: #FF0000">Today was the day and though the Kingdom and its people were rejoicing, even if the people who were in the wedding itself were far from it. Ivor grumbled as he paced within his chambers, Ioan stood away already dressed in his dress uniform, a triple row of medals on his chest. <br/><br/>â€œMy Prince, please calm down...â€ he implored Ivor for the hundredth time. â€œYou have to relax and just focus on the bigger picture....â€<br/><br/>â€œWhat picture!â€ he snapped and threw a vase at the other man who did not even flinch as the ill thrown object went wide of its mark and hit the wall. â€œThat I am going to be stuck to that...that...thing!â€ he snapped. â€œShe was supposed to be dead! They were supposed to kill her! With her dead I would have been free to do what I pleased! There were no other princesses in the area and I would have been free!â€ another vase is snatched and thrown, it also missed. â€œYou have the nerve to tell me to calm down!â€<br/><br/>Ioan strode from across the room to block Ivor from pacing and without another thought smacked him across the face. â€œStop acting like a little bitch and get a hold of yourself!â€<br/><br/>Shock filled Ivor's eyes while he stared at the man before him, his hand on his cheek his fair skin already pinking from the strike. Not a word was said though, only a look of silent anger. <br/><br/>â€œYou are going to be King, our plans did not work, but that does not mean you just pout and whine like a baby!â€ he snapped again, then sighed and took a deep breath. A hand raised again to cup the side of his face, his thumb smoothed over his cheek, â€œWe can get through this, together. You will marry her, make your parents happy....â€ a pause then a small smile. â€œThen we will remove her and do as we please. Same plan...just a bit later is all....â€ he said, the smile still on his face while continued to look into Ivor's eyes in what could only be considered a loving manner. â€œOk...so calm down...for me?â€ <br/><br/>Ivor sighed, his face leaned into Ioan's hand and sighed again, â€œFor you.â€ That was all the conviction that he had shown this entire time and for that he was rewarded with a small kiss. <br/><br/>â€œThat's my boy,â€ Ioan said. â€œNow, get dressed for your wedding, I'm going to check on the final preparations and then head over there...ok?â€ With that he was gone and Ivor was left to get himself ready. <br/><br/>Out in the hall Ioan got perhaps ten steps before he was grabbed and pulled into a closet, his lips instantly forced up against another's whose hands had begun to make themselves right at home over his body. With some effort and a grunt, Ioan pushed the other away from him, â€œDamnit Abby!â€ he hissed at her. â€œI told you not to do that! Especially, after I have left him!â€ he growled and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.<br/><br/>â€œOh what now? Going to piss your panties because I kissed you?â€ the sarcasm practically dripped from her lips while she regarded him with a mixture of pity and desire. â€œDo my lips mar the perfection of yours? Taint that exchange from my brother?â€ a perfectly plucked ebony eyebrow arched with a smirk of amusement. <br/><br/>â€œWhat do you want?â€ he snapped. <br/><br/>â€œIs he ready? Is he prepared?â€ <br/><br/>â€œYes. As you wanted he is not backing down from the wedding and we will remove her later, as planned...â€ <br/><br/>â€œGood. Then when I get rid of him I can have the throne and you will get your reward for helping me murder your lover,â€ she chuckled. <br/><br/>â€œYou still promise she is unharmed?â€ <br/><br/>â€œYes, your beloved sister is unharmed and intact. Not a single hair has been messed on her head while in the care of my guards, you have my word.â€<br/><br/>â€œForgive me if your word means shit,â€ Ioan growled. â€œI want proof that my sister is alive and well, or I wont help you anymore and will tell Ivor what you have been planning,â€ the threat very real as his eyes held her gaze.<br/><br/>â€œLook who lost his pussy and grew a pair,â€ she mocked. â€œWould you really tell my dear brother? Tell him that you had been helping me, because I took your sister? Sure that is understandable, but what about the fucking? Sure he will be confused how one of your...tastes...could even get it up to fuck me...â€ she closed the distance between them, pressed her body against his own, while her arm draped about him and she tangled her fingers in his hair. â€œYou seem to really like fucking me too....get all hard and cum soo much....â€ she smirked before she leaned in for another kiss and he shoved her away. <br/><br/>â€œJust get me proof,â€ he said the anger clear in his eyes, â€œI'll do my part.â€<br/><br/>â€œOf course you will,â€ she strode past him to the door. â€œYou are such a good little bitch,â€ her hand patted his cheek and she kissed the air at him before she left him alone. <br/><br/>The pair did not see one another again until the ceremony.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I'm getting married today.</span><br/><br/>It was a simple thought, an apathetic thought, as she sat perched beside her window, eyes having been looking out over her soon-to-be kingdom with the same apathy her inner thoughts held. Nothing about today held the excitement a wedding ceremony should. She didn't feel love toward the groom, nor did she feel a sense of wanting, of happiness. She felt no will to hold her head high and put that love-lorn smile on her face as she walked down the aisle and married the man that wasn't born of her dreams.<br/><br/>But of duty.<br/><br/>Instead, she felt a growing sense of dread the more she thought about it. To her, it was like knowing when her death would be, and counting down the days, the hours, the minutes, until the inevitable death occurred. And, though it may not seem like it to some, this marriage was her death.<br/><br/>Where other girls dreamed of being married to the man of dreams, her prince charming, Maria's only wish was that she could tolerate Ivor until she died. There was no love, even if he seemed to have some sense of caring. There was nothing that a marriage, a true marriage, should have. They met thirty days before, and were to be married to bring their countries together.<br/><br/>A match born in necessity.<br/><br/>The usual knocks at her door came, and she lazily glanced over in its direction as a myriad of women came pouring through her door, led by the unnaturally cheerful Simprina, who fairly squeezed the life out of Maria in her vice-grip of a hug. â€œYou're getting married today!â€ she'd exclaimed upon entry, her arms wrapping tight about Maria's frame as she hugged her tightly, happily, receiving barely a pat on the back in return. â€œYou must be so excited for your wedding day!â€<br/><br/>Though she wasn't outwardly corrected, Maria's mind corrected her plenty. All that shown outwardly was a small smile, remaining silent so as not to need to lie about how she felt of the coming festivities. Hastened away from her seat, she was put behind a privacy partition, quickly washed in warmish water (the cool bursts meant to make her skin glow), before being then pulled and practically thrown in a seat in front of a large mirror. The rest of the women flocked about her, preparing her for the wedding as best they could, though some remarked she looked a bit worn, so extra makeup was applied.<br/><br/>Her hair was being yanked in every which direction while some leaned in front of her to apply her face. One kept yanking her face back when she'd lean too far to accommodate the hair-pulling, or they'd firmly tell her to hold still, to stop grimacing, as it was ruining the effect they were trying to create.<br/><br/>As though they'd be able to hold face while their hair was being ripped from their scalp.<br/><br/>Soon, though, the pulling became softer, pins being applied as it was woven and braided, curls tucked here or there, and a few hanging about her face. A hand kept moving up to brush it free, but then it'd be replaced as they had it with a gentle slap to her wrist to keep her from reaching for it again. A few more pins, all of her hair then properly secured in some fashion, she was guided away from the mirror without so much as a glance at it, pulled into her sitting room of sorts to put on the dress that was being laid out on her chaise. Another corset added, the pulling of the strings taking twenty minutes to make sure it was optimally tight, and a few other layers were then added atop.<br/><br/>Then came time for the dress which was carefully stepped into, the previous layers gently tucked into it and pulled up, fastened by yet another tie down her back. Shoes were slipped into next, the heels ungodly high as she was apparently not meant to be comfortable today.<br/><br/>Not that it really mattered to her. She was getting made up for a man she didn't love, a man she had no attachments to. Discomfort physically would only assure that she didn't fall asleep at the alter while matching her inner mood as her mind drifted to the one person she would have wanted to get made up for. The one person she'd met that she could see herself with, and the one person she couldn't have.<br/><br/>Ironic she met that person while on the way to be married off to another.<br/><br/>Eventually moving back into the other room for last looks, she watched as they tucked a tiara into her hair, and a veil atop to cover her face and all the work they'd just done. Admittedly, she thought she looked well enough, beautiful even, but it didn't matter. Nothing about today felt right, and all she wanted to do was run away, jump on a horse, and not look back. Simprina gave her a light kiss on the cheek before hastening the other women out to give Maria a last moment of privacy before the wedding was to start.<br/><br/>Staring at herself in the mirror, slumping down in a chair, eyes dulled by the lack of caring and overall feelings, she let out a sigh.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">...I'm getting married today...</span>