The greeting between Kings seemed more in keeping with the peace than the interactions between the eldest children. But then, the sacrifice of the Kings’ was far less; although they were both entrusting their blood, their heir, to live with who, until recently, had been the enemy, it was not they who would have to endure the huge change in lifestyle, the uncertain future. The, quite potentially, unhappy marriage borne from political necessity rather than love. 

[color=1876D2]“Lyra? That’s a beautiful name, for an equally beautiful woman,”[/color] August spoke in an easy tone with a soft smile, giving the perfect impression of a man content and assured with the situation; everything he was not, deep down inside. But for now, at least while he and his bride to be were in the company of their Kings, August maintained the air of easy confidence and gentle nobility; the perfectly perfected persona of ‘prince’. [color=1876D2]“Please, call me August.”[/color]

The prince noted that the princess was, indeed, beautiful, just as he had said. Blonde hair and sapphire eyes; she was bright where he was dark, her eyes were bold where his were clouded. And yet he saw something there, hidden behind those vivid eyes, something deeply familiar and heart breakingly sombre.

Lyra was as much a victim of the war as August was.

[color=1876D2]“Hmm?”[/color] August looked over his shoulder at the car he, his father and their driver had arrived in. It was such a commonplace vehicle in Anjou, it had never even occurred to him that there were still people in the world who would not recognise what one was. [color=1876D2]“Oh, it is a car my Lady Lyra.”[/color] August said, returning his attention back to the princess. [color=1876D2]“It does not need horses or any animal to pull it; inside is an engine, which burns fuel to create movement,”[/color] August gestured to bonnet of the car. [color=1876D2]“In Anjou they have largely replaced carriages such as your own, for we find that they are both faster and more reliable that horses.”[/color]

August cast a sideways glance at his father in contemplation, before continuing.

[color=1876D2]“Perhaps I could take you for a drive some time, if it pleases you?”[/color] August noticed a slight change in his father’s expression at his words; minor enough that anyone else, anyone who was not family, might not register as displeasure. The prince was not meant to be having fun; this was a political matter and the peace of the kingdoms was at stake.

But August would be damned if he didn’t at least try to make his situation bearable, at least [i]try[/i] to have a marriage that was not built on animosity and resentment.