Chapter Text
Liconia’s king was a bit of a mystery to the normal citizens.
He was an enigma, never showed himself much but seemed to be a normal, good looking man of 30 years.
No one had any idea how he kept their small kingdom so prosperous and safe but they were in no hurry to question him.
So when a regiment of guards appeared at your front door, two years after Caleb had died at sea, you were confused but resigned.
Nothing in life really mattered anyway, one letter sent during that one month between his leaving and his death was all that you had besides that lock of hair he left for you.
The only time you allowed yourself was in the night, clutching that letter and the hair you had preserved in a locket.
Dreaming of a life of laughter, Caleb working the land while you brought home meat to a room full of happy children.
All for naught because it was gone like dust in the wind the next morning and all you had was that small piece to keep you company.
Never again would you open your heart despite what this king seemed to think.
“Hua of Liconia, your presence is required at the castle effective immediately, congratulations are due to you as you have been chosen as his majesty’s bride.”
The king hadn’t even bothered to learn your real name it seems, how typical.
As you were rushed away while your grandma stood there wringing her hands worriedly, you were not allowed to grab any personal belongings.
Not that it mattered, your necklace and letter were kept on your person under your chemise at all times.
You did worry about your grandma though as she would be left all alone.
You had hired a temporary help man the past two years to help with the farm so she at least would not be floundering alone but never again would you let a man in like you had with Caleb.
Resolved, you would find a way to send money to her even if it had to be in secret.
It was a slow trek up to the castle, the people you had known all your life, who had bought the meat and hides you caught, all watched you with wide eyes.
They brought you through the castle’s gates, a place you thought you’d never see in your lifetime. Through winding hallways to a grand office, the desk, a solid piece covered in papers, the windows bright with gossamer curtains waving gently.
It would almost be cozy if you didn’t know why you had been brought here.
If it weren’t for the man seated at the desk, he looked to be a man of 30 years wearing glasses low on his nose.
He glances up from under his dark red hair to look as you enter, he’s handsome you suppose, manly with a trimmed beard.
It wouldn’t be enough to catch your interest, nothing would.
So you glared defiantly at this king who seemed to think he could snatch women from their homes with no consequences. He was the king, absolutely but he could not order you to love him.
“So this is the woman who has become one of the most prolific hunters in my kingdom.” This man leans back in his gaudy chair to look at you, pressing his fingers together with just his eyes visible above his hands.
Those eyes which seemed to gleam golden in the sunlight.
Was that why you were here? The marriage was just a sham and the real reason was to interrogate you over your hunting activities?
You didn’t know how to talk to royalty but you would try enough to not get your head cut off.
“I suppose I am, your majesty.”
“Hmm, have you any powers?” Powers? Caleb springs to your mind and brings a sharp pang to your heart as you remember him holding you gently with his magic.
“No, your majesty.” The king tilts his head at that, a mysterious gleam in his eyes.
He holds his hand out and in his palm rests a small tongue of fire.
Your eyes watch the tongue dance on his palm, such a similar color to his hair that it was uncanny.
The king held his other hand out to you and you stared confused.
“Your hand please.” Almost as if in a trance, you hold your hand out and place it in his outstretched hand.
Immediately the tongue of fire flared up into a campfire held in his palm.
The heat pushed the king’s hair back and reflected in his eyes, a large grin spread across his face.
Like he was a phoenix being reborn, he turned to you while letting the magic fade even as he still held your hand.
“I believe, my dear, that we have yet to be properly introduced even though we are to be wed.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Nonsense, you shall call me Reynard or rather Ray since we are to be close.” You didn’t want to call this man so familiarly, but it wasn’t like you had a choice.
If it was just you, you would have died long ago with Caleb but you still had your grandma who they could retaliate against, if you so much as disrespected this man.
Lowering your eyes to contain the indignation within them, you answered
“As you say, Reynard.”
Reynard laughs delighted as he lifts your hand to place a kiss on the back, stroking it gently. Sending unpleasant chills down your back.
“My beautiful Hua, I think we shall do great things together.”
——————————————————————
Thankfully, your wedding was still some ways away. The court wanted you properly educated before the wedding took place.
It gave you some time to squirrel some money out of the castle, befriending some guards who had bought from you before, you managed to pass messages and money to your grandma.
It was too risky to get messages back from your grandma as you were watched and your room watched, but at least she knew you were okay.
The lessons were actually enjoyable and useful, if only they hadn’t been because of the king forcing you to marry him.
As you learned to dance, to properly sew though your grandma had tried to teach you, learning economics, horse riding, geography, and even what a queen is expected to do.
To learn to support the King through his court’s wives, ferret out who supports him and who does not, it was like learning to be the king’s public spymaster more than anything.
It was six weeks to the wedding when your tutors deemed you acceptable to present to the kingdom as a whole.
Given the honorary title as Princess, you stood at the entry to the balcony clad as a princess would be.
A high waisted dress of blue silken fabric over a soft linen chemise, you’d never felt more luxurious nor more like you were wearing chains.
You could hear the king announce you to the kingdom like you hadn’t known these people all your life.
“My wife to be, your future queen, Princess Hua!”
This man hadn’t even learned your real name, and heavens above, were you glad that he was clueless in this. Perhaps he wasn’t clueless but he just genuinely did not care enough to know.
Smoothing your hands unnecessarily over the front of your dress, you took a step out onto the balcony.
You hadn’t smiled since the day Caleb sent his last letter to you and none would grace your face this day either.
The king laid a possessive hand on your waist, bringing you close to his side.
The people looked up at you with trepidation in their eyes, they knew you.
They feared for what it would mean for them with a king who took people as he pleased, raised them up high and could possibly send them crashing back down with a flick of his fingers.
A delicate circle of silver and jewels laid on your head, it was always slightly warm and never left your person.
You had no ability to take it off after the king placed it on your head when he had crowned you princess in front of the court some weeks ago.
It laid heavy on your head as the people simply looked at you with pity instead of with cheers.
Your eye caught someone’s in the crowd, a small pang grasped your chest as you saw the last person you cared about in this world alive.
Grandma stood there, hand over her mouth as she took you in. Sadness in her eyes but also a hint of relief.
The king seemed displeased with the crowd’s reaction as he swept you back into the hall.
His scowl deepened as he dragged you back to his office by your waist, as if forgetting that he still held you tight.
He let you go roughly once inside the threshold, his hands slamming onto the desk as he snarled
“Fools!”
You stood there quietly, used to his fits of rage after weeks near him. It killed you inside to have to rely on this man, but with him holding your last family member as leverage, you had no choice.
You would’ve grabbed that knife from the table and ended it once and for all, to deny him the satisfaction of owning you. That is, if you didn’t know what would happen to your grandma provided you did that.
Waiting there for what seemed like an age, the light growing dimmer through those opulent gossamer curtains.
You could feel the tangible heat of his anger fizzle out and you felt safe to ask the question that you had waited to ask for so long.
“Your Majesty-“
He cuts you off with a sharp look
“My apologies, Reynard, I would like to request that I be allowed to go on a hunting ride tomorrow, unaccompanied.”
The king turns to look at you with appraising eyes. His eyes lingering on your face and the ever present circlet low on your brow.
“Is my flower itching to go and escape me already?”
“No that’s not….. true, I simply wanted to use my new horse riding skills and see how it is to hunt from-“
You stop, watching his smile grow.
“You’re teasing me.”
“Now why would I feel the need to do that?” He steps closer, a tall wall of heat following him. His fingers coming up to rest on your head, thumb running lightly over the circlet, gems swaying gently in your visions.
“You may have a horse, a bow, and a few hours tomorrow to do what you wish. But I shall know if anything else happens… my Hua.”
A shiver runs down your spine as you fight the urge to spit in his face for calling you his.
But he had given you something that you hadn’t had for a long time, freedom, if even for a few short hours. So you curtsied just as you had been taught as he continued to stroke your head.
——————————————————————
It was early the next morning and you were already up for the day. Eager to leave and escape this oppressive place for even just a moment.
It wasn’t quite time to leave yet as you were under your bed, gently using the knife from your bedside to pry open the compartment that you hadn’t dared open in weeks.
That first night you came, you had crawled under the bed and craved a small hole into the bed frame.
Placing your letter in that hole, keeping one of the last pieces of Caleb you had safe.
They had not found it on your person as it was tucked under your chest beneath your chemise and stays.
Now though, getting out of the castle walls and the ever present eyes, it gave you a chance to just be with Caleb after so much grief.
The locket you kept and they never touched it, believing it to be a simple piece of jewelry.
But you knew that the king would not tolerate another man’s words of love in your chambers.
You tucked it into its usual place and crawled out, replacing the knife in its usual place.
Wearing a red cloak, not your normal fare for hunting, you felt exposed but you knew this was another way to control you and watch you.
You made your way down to the stables to meet with your horse that you had been learning to ride for weeks now.
A beautiful and gentle roan horse, you set out for the castle gates and they mercifully opened.
The open land in front of you felt like it was calling you, it was very tempting to gallop out and leave it all behind.
The circlet on your brow felt heavy and warm as you called your horse to go forward slowly instead.
With a bow slung around your back, you made your way to the woods near the home that you had spent your happiest years in.
The woods held such bittersweet moments that you had to look down to avoid looking too hard lest you cried and missed the game you were searching for.
So you missed the group of men that called to you after a while, making you startle slightly.
“Can I help you?”
The men were a strange bunch, one with green hair and strange metal in his skin, another that looked more like a fairy with lovely features and purple hair, the last man was enormous with silver hair and eyes that seemed to read your very soul.
“Where’sss the nearest town?” The man with metal embedded in his skin hissed at you.
“There’s nothing for miles, I’m afraid.”
“Good.” His lips stretched unnaturally as the large man with silver hair flicked his fingers. Red magic filled your vision and everything went dark all at once.
The ground was rocking beneath you, it was soothing and disorienting all at the same time.
You groaned a bit and shifted, trying to hear what was happening around you.
“You idiot! Sssshe dropped off the horse like a log, the Doctor wants her intact.”
“She’s fine, is she not?” Another voice drawled out, unbothered.
“That’sss not the point!”
“I don’t see the issue.” A lighter, more playful voice calls out, joining in. You can hear something slicing through the air over and over.
“You two are idiotssss, I don’t know why the Doctor sent you two with me when I would’ve been enough.” The first voice, the one who thought he was in charge, complains. You can hear him stomping away, his grumbles growing quieter.
All you can surmise at this point is that you’re on a boat headed for some Doctor, why he wants you, you have no idea.
If he thought he could hold you for ransom, the king would be more likely to find another woman than bother with you. Although, he did seem to have an unhealthy possessiveness over you, so maybe not.
Your ears perk as you hear large, very heavy footsteps come near you. A hand that seems to cover your whole face as you feel it hovering, comes up to smooth your hair down. You can feel the man’s fingers run over your circlet.
“I’ll find a way to get you out of this.” A quiet but determined low voice reaches your ears.
Why was this man trying to help you? What did he get out of that?
The man left, the large one with silver hair you presumed. All you were left with was your thoughts as the magic that had put you under still kept you sleepy enough that you couldn’t open your eyes.
Then you hear light, dance like footsteps stop near you.
You feel another presence lean down next to you, the man’s eyes feel heavy on your person.
“I’ll get you out of here. I promise.”
This man and the other one seemed to both feel sympathy for you. Why were they even helping this Doctor then?
They really needed to talk to each other, obviously.
The magic pulled you back under with a gentle tug, the next time you awoke, despite you opening your eyes there was nothing to see.
During your long time out, they had placed a blindfold over your eyes.
You were being carried over the shoulder of someone very large and solid. The biggest man you had seen before, you presumed.
Under the edge of the blindfold, you could see a pool of water, filled with so much mist that it felt like you were among the clouds.
The roar of a waterfall filled your ears as you seemed to come close to it.
They were taking you somewhere, maybe to this Doctor, you tried to move to struggle and possibly get free. But they seemed to have anticipated this as you felt tight ropes around your ankles and wrists.
As you seemed to almost walk right under the waterfall, the roaring sound from it lessened just enough that you could catch words from another man that you didn’t know being said.
“Sir, the Colonel has returned.”