Chapter Text
In Imperial year 1162, King Lambert & Queen Ann Blaiddyd met with Lord and Lady Byron of a noble house in Rowe territory to settle a dispute caused by the King's brother. In order to appease the very upset Byron's and avoid a potential scandal, Lambert pulled his wife aside to discuss a possible solution. Although initially averse to the idea, the Queen eventually relented, her hand protectively covering her protruding stomach. It was settled, then. The future prince or princess would be promised to the future child of the Byron's. Lady Byron rubbed her own matching stomach, excited by the prospect of her own child someday becoming royalty.
The queen had terms. Per her terms, the children would not be allowed to meet until their 16th birthday at the earliest and they could begin a courtship then, ending in the wedding absolutely no earlier than their 18th birthday. Later, she begged Lambert to promise that should their child wish it, they would not be forced to go through with this wedding. She did not want her child to miss out on the prospect of falling in love naturally as she herself had done.
Had the queen been clairvoyant, she would have realized that this was not something she would have to worry about. Then again, had she been clairvoyant, perhaps other tragedies could be avoided as well...
Garland Moon, 1173 - Byron territory, Rowe, Holy Kingdom of Faerghus
Katerina Byron knelt in the grass, making flower crowns with her friend Molly.
"I forgot to tell you," Molly said. "I heard that the Gansey's just got back from Fhirdiad. They saw the prince."
Kat looked up at her friend, eyes wide. She had been hungry for information about her future husband for as long as she could remember. She knew so little about him. "Did they say anything?"
Molly gave her a knowing smile. "I asked about him, just for you. They said he was handsome and seemed a little shy."
"That's it?" Kat asked incredulously. "That doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know!" This seemed to be everyone's impression of the boy.
Molly shrugged. "Sorry, Kat."
They looked up as a carriage moved swiftly down the nearby road. "How fancy," Molly commented. "Are you expecting fancy visitors?"
Kat shrugged, turning back to her mostly finished crown. "You know nobody tells me anything."
Molly continued to eye the carriage. "They're turning towards your house. What if it's the prince coming to tell you he's moved up your wedding?"
Kat laughed. "I highly doubt that." But she was curious. She stood, brushing dirt off of her dress. "Come on," she told her friend.
The trio of dark haired males standing in Kat's foyer were unfamiliar to the two girls. They were introduced as the Fraldarius': Rodrigue and his two sons, Glenn and Felix. The adults suggested that the four children go play elsewhere. The older Glenn was reluctant, but joined the quartet.
"You're not a cat," Felix said, frowning at Kat. "You're just a girl."
"It's a nickname," Kat explained, leading them outside. "Short for Katerina."
"That's a dumb nickname," Felix said, kicking a rock. "I wanted to see a cat."
Kat sighed and led the boys to the courtyard where the occasional cat hung out.
"You can't talk to her that way," Molly admonished. "Don't you know who she is?"
Felix frowned at her. "No. We only just met, remember?"
"She's Prince Dimitri's betrothed," Molly said with a roll of her eyes. "You know who he is, right?"
Felix froze, his mouth gaping. "O-of course I do! He's my best friend!"
Kat spun, looking at him with wide eyes. "Really?!"
"What's a betrothed?" Felix asked Glenn.
Glenn hesitated. "It means they're going to get married and be together forever."
Felix's eyes filled with tears. "B-but I want to be with Dimitri forever," he sniffled.
Molly and Glenn laughed. "It means they're going to kiss and have babies too," Molly explained.
Kat blushed while Felix continued to sniffle. "Hey," she said to Felix, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You can still be best friends."
"Yeah, you still get to be with Dimitri forever, just in a different way," Glenn explained.
"Maybe no kissing?" Kat suggested with a smile.
"I don't want to kiss anybody!" Felix yelled.
Glenn and Molly laughed again.
"But we can both be with him forever, right?" Kat asked.
Felix wiped his face. "I guess."
Glenn picked up a stick and started swinging it around as if it were a sword.
"Will you tell me about him?" Kat asked. "I've never actually met him."
"Really?" Glenn asked, pausing mid-swing.
Kat shook her head.
"It's really romantic," Molly explained. "They aren't allowed to have any contact until they're sixteen."
"That's dumb," Felix said.
"For once, I agree with you," Glenn said, smiling affectionately at his little brother who stuck his tongue out at him.
"What if you meet and you decide you don't like each other?" Felix asked.
Kat thought she detected a sliver of hope in his voice but ignored it. "That's part of being betrothed, I guess. We don't have a choice."
"Well, it's highly unlikely that you won't like him," Glenn told her. "Dimitri's the nicest guy I've ever met."
"He's the best," Felix added. "He always shares his toys."
Kat drank in these new details, still parched from her earlier conversation with Molly.
"But sometimes he breaks them," Felix added with a pout.
"I'm going to be a knight," Glenn said proudly. "It's going to be my job to protect him. And you, too, I guess."
"I'm going to help!" Felix said, finding his own stick.
Kat found a stick as well. "I want to help too!"
The boys shared a look and then started laughing.
"What?" Kat demanded. "Why is that funny?"
"You sound like our friend Ingrid is all," Glenn explained.
"Do you even know how to use a sword?" Felix asked.
"I know a little," Kat replied.
"It's part of everyone's studies around here," Molly added. She didn't mention that she typically skipped those classes.
"Maybe His Highness will make you and Kat duel to the death to see who gets to be with him forever," Glenn teased Felix.
"I will win!" Felix said confidently, lunging towards Kat with his stick.
Kat parried easily, giving Glenn a worried look. She was nowhere near as confident in her skills.
"I'm only teasing," Glenn reassured her. "Dimitri would never."
"This is boring," Molly complained. "Can't we do something else?"
"We're your guests," Felix said airily. "You have to do whatever we want."
"Is that what you tell the prince before you make him kiss you?" Molly teased.
Felix's face turned red, furious tears pricking at his eyes. "We don't kiss!"
Molly cackled while Kat frowned at her friend. Glenn hid a smile.
"I'm going to tell Dimitri that you're ugly and mean," Felix said to Kat.
Kat gaped at him. "But I didn't do anything!"
"He'll have you executed for saying such slanderous things about his betrothed!" Molly countered.
Felix's tears started in earnest now.
"Molly!" Kat admonished. This was her chance to finally learn about Dimitri and her friend was ruining it. "Will you stop?"
"Sorry," Molly said. She turned to Felix. "I was just joking. I'm sorry for upsetting you."
"Don't worry about him," Glenn said. "He'll forget all about it in a minute."
As if on cue, a cat strolled into the courtyard, flopping onto its side in the sun.
"Felix!" Kat exclaimed. "Look, a cat!"
Felix turned to where she pointed, his tears finally stopping. "Can I pet it?" he asked Glenn, who shrugged.
"I've seen this one before. It's pretty friendly," Kat said.
They surrounded the cat, who eyed them apprehensively until Kat and Felix began to stroke its fur. Molly, who was allergic, gave the cat a wide berth.
"I'm sorry my friend was rude to you," Kat told Felix.
He shrugged. "How come you can't meet Dimitri?" he asked.
"It's something our parents decided a long time ago. We aren't supposed to meet until we're sixteen, then we can start courting until we get married when we're eighteen."
"Weird," Glenn commented. "Can you write to each other?"
Kat shook her head. "I asked my parents once." She paused her petting of the cat, thinking. A letter addressed to the prince could not leave her house or arrive in Fhirdiad in the traditional way. But what if...
"If I wrote him a letter, would you give it to him?" she asked Glenn and Felix. Felix shrugged.
"How would he write back?" Glenn asked.
"He could send it to Molly. And we could use fake names!" Kat was getting excited. She ran inside and returned with parchment and a quill, and then froze, staring down at the blank parchment. What would she say?
The others looked at her expectantly. "Well?" Molly asked. "Aren't you going to write?"
"I... I don't know what to say." She stared down at the blank parchment, so full of possibility.
"Tell him you can't wait to kiss him," Molly suggested.
"Tell him about me," Felix suggested.
"You should explain what's going on and how he can contact you," Glenn reminded her.
"Oh no, what if he doesn't want to break the rules?" Molly asked, eyes wide.
Kat took a deep breath and pressed the quill to the parchment.