Arranged Marriage (Zelda & Angeles)

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Zelda

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A young teenage prince and princess have been warned all their life that if they don't find a partner on their own at least one year before being crowned to king or queen, then they will be forced to marry the prince/princess of the neighboring country. Ironically, this is just what happens to them. The princess's entire family (including herself) is forced to move into the prince's castle, joining their countries together. They are given one year to try and love each other before being officially announced as husband and wife on their 18th birthday. During this time, will they find a way to get over themselves or forever hate their partner?
 
Hayden growled under his breath as he stalked down the hallway. He couldn't believe that his parents were actually going through with this. Yes, they'd always talked about it, but he'd thought it was an empty threat. He'd shown the right amount of interest in prospective princesses to marry so far - enough that he had hoped they would think he would choose a queen on his own. But just over a week ago, on the eve of his seventeenth birthday, they had given him the news. The princess of the neighboring kingdom was coming to call, and it would be permanent. He was going to marry her in a year's time, whether he liked it or not. He had tried to convince them to not do it, and point out other more politically advantageous or wealthy matches. But no, their minds were set on tradition.

Storming into the hall where they would be receiving their guests - the princess's entire family would be coming with her, to make matters worse - he threw himself into his chair. His father pointedly ignored him, while his mother gave him a reproving look and reached over to fix his hair. He tilted his head away, and caught his sister's eye. A sympathetic smile danced across her innocent thirteen-year-old's face, and he mustered an eye roll and wry grin of his own. Their youngest brother seemed oblivious to all the drama - he was toying with a loose thread on his sleeve and looked as bored as any eleven-year-old could be expected to in the current situation.
 
Irene looked once more in the mirror, trying not to yell at her mom for tugging so hard on her hair to make her look perfect. Though of course, she never thought that she actually would have to be forced to marry the prince, probably thinking that he was going to get his own lover before she would. However, now here they were, standing outside of the door to the prince's guestroom. Irene's mom tugged on the sleeve of her dress, pulling it down a bit to show more shoulder. She rolled back her shoulder to make her sleeve go back to how it originally was, ignoring her mom's disappointing sigh.

It was just her mom, dad, and herself standing outside, waiting for the go-ahead from one of the maids. Irene's mom put her hand on her back, forcing her to stand up straighter, "Start looking presentable." Her mom angrily whispered.

She rolled her eyes, "It's not easy to look presentable in a stripper dress." Irene mumbled, messily patting down her long, skin-hugging, white dress, right before the maid was about to open the door for them.

Thankfully, her parents didn't hear her, and walked through the open doors, presenting themselves, "Hello." Her mother bowed, "I am Christine. My husband here is Johnathan, and my daughter is Irene." She pushed forward Irene, hands on her shoulders.

"Hi." Irene said uninterested, obviously just wanting the year to end already, looking at the family she would be forced to live with.
 
Hayden's eyes widened slightly when they entered the room. The princess was pretty, at least. That was a relief. It was bad enough to be saddled with a fiancée he didn't want - had she been ugly as well, he might have just abdicated so that he could marry who he wanted when he wanted. He grinned at her, but it wasn't a friendly smile of welcome like she was receiving from the rest of his family. His smile was cold and forced, with the slightest hint of amusement. It was clear that she was as unenthusiastic about this as he was, if that was possible. They made quite a pair.

"I'm Victoria," his mother was saying, taking over their half of the introductions. "This is Edward, and our children Hayden, Elissa, and Matthew." The younger two nodded and smiled politely when their names were mentioned - Hayden only managed the nod. "Please, do take a seat." She gestured towards the vacant chairs with the warmest smile in the room so far.

"She doesn't look happy," Elissa whispered in Hayden's ear, glancing through her dark hair at their visitors. "I hope it's just because she's tired."

A glimmer of a real smile flickered over the prince's face as he glanced at his little sister. Sandwiched between two brothers, she had always wanted a sister to play with. While the daughters of the servants did play with her from time to time, the barrier of status was always too prominent for her to enjoy it. She saw this as her chance to have a sister figure, and Hayden couldn't find it in him to break her heart and tell her the full story behind what was going on. So he said, "I'm sure that's what's wrong," before straightening in his seat and returning his attention to their visitors.

"I hope your trip wasn't too difficult," Edward said, breaching the uncomfortable tension that crackled between the two families.
 
Irene caught eye of the prince, seeing his forced smile. At least he didn't seem too excited about it either, and he was pretty handsome. However, she didn't smile back, she just avoided eye contact and purposely tried to appear unapproachable.

She sat in between her mother and father, trying to make judgements about the family. At least he seemed to have a younger brother and sister, so Irene - being a single child - was a bit happier knowing that she might be able to finally act like a sisterly figure. Irene waved softly and smiled genuinely at the sister, trying to already get to know her and make her happier.

Her mother sighed in amusement, "A few hour trip can't hurt anybody when you're at such a high status, like us." She said arrogantly, as if traveling far was something to boast about, nor as if it would've impressed the other family in the slightest.

Irene's father sighed in discontent, obviously catching on to his wife's egotistical attitude, "Irene, Hayden, why don't you two go back to your rooms and get to know each other? Irene's bags should already be dropped off there. Elissa and Matthew can follow you two, as us adults try to talk out the legal arrangements over here." Her father forced a smiled.

She shifted slightly over to her father, questioning him in a whisper, "This early? We literally just sat down a second ago..."

"Yes, well, that's fine. We'll meet back later." Her father rushed Irene along, making her awkwardly get up and go to the doorway as she stared expectantly at Hayden, playing nervously with the fabric of her dress.
 
Hayden took her refusal to meet his smile as a challenge. Was that how she wanted this to be? To not even pretend at niceties? He could play that game, and gladly. It might even make this somewhat more tolerable. At least she seemed to like Elissa. He could take her hating him, but if she broke Elissa's heart with her animosity, he would make her stay a living hell.

Edward sat back slightly, looking more tired than rebuffed. He and Victoria would play good hosts, even if their guests were here under less than desirable circumstances. Jonathan's suggestion brought up the hint of a smile behind his beard, and he glanced over at his son, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Nodding his approval and encouragement, his expression changed to stone when Hayden looked about to protest.

Hayden knew that look well enough, and that it was pointless to argue. Biting back a long suffering sigh, he rose and nodded to Irene's parents. Gesturing for his siblings to follow him, he strode to the door and swung it open. "Ladies first," he said in a low drawl, smirking as he motioned for her to go ahead. He might be determined to hate her and make her miserable, but manners wouldn't go out the window. Yet.

"You're seventeen, just like Hayden, right?" Elissa spoke as soon as the door closed behind them. She was no stunning beauty yet, and likely never would be, but she had a gentle sort of bright honesty and innocence about her. "How long will you be staying?"

Trying to hide his grin - of course Elissa would start trying to be friends immediately - Hayden started off down the hallway, leading the little party to Irene's room, with Matthew trotting along at his heels.
 
Irene nodded slightly towards Hayden who somewhat intimidated her. She could practically feel the arrogance and boyishness radiating off of that smirk of his, coming to a conclusion that it was going to be difficult living with him. He did happen to give off a powerful vibe - if that's the right way to describe it, and her gut was just telling her to stay away from him until she had time to relax.

She smiled happily at Elissa, "Yep, I'm seventeen. And, well, um, I'll be staying for a long time, possibly up to a year and more. So you better start getting used to me now." Irene chuckled, trying to lighten her tired and annoyed mood that's was attempting to hide. Talking and being around so many people was just not her thing, so at least Elissa was currently making her a bit happier.

She continued to follow Hayden in her peripheral vision, trying to make friends with basically everybody except him, as she waved to Matthew and said softly, "Hello," trying to get him to talk.
 
((Okay, quick question - just how Victorian are we keeping this? I mean, I'm imagining that it's with the whole kingdoms/prince/princess thing mostly, but that they also live in a castle (albeit renovated) and keep servants and still do things like ball-type parties and arranged marriages. Is that all? I'm really just wondering how you picture this world and society that they're in. :3))

Elissa's face lit up with delight at the news. "Oh, that's wonderful! I can't wait to show you around the house. Can I? Do you mind?" She asked, but her excitement sent her rattling on with hardly a pause for Irene to answer. "We have such a wonderful library, with a perfect window for watching the sun set, and a garden with a gazebo and a pool and -"

"Liss," Hayden reprimanded lightly. "Don't smother her. She just got here." Not that he cared that much about Irene's welfare. He hadn't expected Elissa to take to her quite so quickly, and now he couldn't help but wonder if he would end up losing his favorite person to his newest enemy.

The girl glanced down, blushing slightly as she realized how she'd gotten carried away. "Sorry," she murmured, and hesitated for a moment before adding, "But I would love to show you around."

Matthew glanced at Irene with a solemnity far beyond his years. "Hello," he echoed, his wide eyes regarding her with a guarded curiosity. He had his sister's dark hair, which they had inherited from their mother, but was paler and had his father's heavy air around him. Cutting immediately to the chase, he asked, "Why will you be staying for so long?"

"Matthew!" Hayden said sharply; the boy in question looked at him placidly, clearly not phased by the flare in temper. "Ignore him," he said to Irene, his dark brown eyes briefly locking on her face. "He's irredeemably nosy."

He led the little group around the next corner, relieved that they were nearly to Irene's room. His siblings were bound to find the truth about Irene eventually, but he wanted to delay it as long as possible. When they knew that the two of them would be getting married, who knew what sort of hell would break loose.

"Here we are," he said, a note of relief in his voice. Swinging the door open, he stepped aside to let Irene see the room that would be hers for the next year, until they were married. Oh, he didn't need to think about that.
 
((I'm imagining there is still modern technology like cell phones, computers, cars, and stuff like that, but it still had the same political forms and manners as the Victorian era, so they do dress fancy when going out, bow even to strangers, have ball dances, use corsets frequently, etc. You get what I mean??))

Irene laughed, clapping her hands together in excitement after Hayden had warned her, "You have a library? I love books! I would love to have a tour around here someday!" She stayed smiling until she looked at Hayden, her eyes turning serious, "And I don't mind her, Hayden. It's fine."

Irene let out a small breath of annoyance hearing him yell at Matthew, "Hayden! He's not nosy, he's just adorable!" She scolded him, already getting fed up with his personality. "And, by the way, Matthew, I don't think I can exactly answer your question right now... It's a long story." She lied, realizing how the children didn't know of their marriage yet.

She stepped into her room, looking around in contempt, "Nice and cozy." Her items had already been dropped off inside and the room wasn't too different from her own. "Where are your guy's rooms?"
 
((Yup ... basically modern world, Victorian customs.))

"This way!" Elissa took off down the hallway, pausing to look back and make sure they were following before continuing on. "Hayden's room is here," she said, pointing at a door several down from Irene's. "Matthew's is here next to it, and mine is here across the hall." She opened the door to a room truly fit for a princess - a large bed under a frothy white canopy, plush carpets and vibrant paintings on the walls, and books everywhere. "Hayden teases me and says that we hardly need a library with the amount of books I have," she admitted sheepishly, glancing at her brother with a mischievously guilty smile.

He tried to scowl at her, but it was obvious that it was an act when she stuck her tongue out at him and a smile broke through. Not wanting Irene to see it, he turned away quickly to talk to Matthew.

"Look, I know that it's sudden, her coming to stay here," he said quietly enough for only his brother to hear, nodding towards their new guest. "Mom and Papa will tell you more about why when you're ready. Understand?" Matthew nodded once, and Hayden clapped him on the shoulder. He and Matthew didn't get along as well as he and Elissa did. Maybe it was because their temperaments were so different. Matthew was much more serious and straightforward, and very quiet as well. Both would make powerful kings, in their own ways. ((Hint hint ... foreshadowing here, if we want to carry the role play past the wedding. :3))
 
She followed Elissa down to each room, not like she would've had a choice anyways as she was practically too cute to resist. Her adorable looks and attitude were like a rope that would tighten around you, and she had the ability to drag anyone to anywhere she wanted, whether she realized it or not.

Irene gasped happily when seeing her room, "I'm so jealous of your room!" Of course, she wasn't actually wanting a room like Elissa's, but she played along with it anyways. Irene watched as she made her brother smile, and even though Irene didn't see his face completely, she had to admit that Hayden was cute in his own ways too, despite her already feeling like she was going to die by being around him. "I may have to sneak in here and read some of your books from time to time, by the way." She grinned and winked at Elissa playfully while she couldn't understand the conversation between Hayden and Matthew.

She came back out to the hall, ready to start to get her room unpacked. "Alright, well, it should only take me a couple hours to get most of my room together. We'll all probably be forced to eat dinner together in a that amount of time anyways. Anything else I should know now?" Irene looked expectantly at Hayden, desperately trying to keep eye contact despite her will to look away. ((Lol, love that foreshadowing. And yes, by the way, I wanted to go a couple years past the wedding, though most of my partners never stayed with me that long. :,( ))
 
"Oh, anytime!" Elissa was practically glowing - she'd always dreamed of having a sister, and now it seemed she had one. Currently oblivious to the tension between her adopted sister and blood brother in the midst of her joy, she said, "Maybe you could even sleep over sometime, like we're real sisters."

It wasn't going to be easy to tell her why Irene was really there, Hayden realized. She would either hate it, and him, or be entirely over the moon. The former wasn't something that he wanted to risk.

"Not at the moment, no," he replied coolly, throwing up the smooth mask that he was determined to wear around her. "Someone will come find you for dinner. And don't try to find your way yourself. It would be a pain to have to hunt you down if you got lost." His condescending tone was accompanied by his smirk from earlier, and he gave her a nod that was more patronizing than respectful before heading away down the hall.

((I'd love to continue on past the wedding, and already have an idea or two for drama to keep the ball rolling. :3))
 
Irene tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes, "I got it, y'know? Remember, I used to live in a castle like this before too." She walked to her room, mumbling just loud enough for Hayden to hear, "Don't make this harder than it has to be..."

She closed her door, instantly getting out of her annoying dress and into a smooth, tight, black dress that ended right above her knees, with only a pair of white socks on. Although she wanted to just get into a nightgown and walk around for the rest of the day like that, she didn't want to hear her mother's yelling at how she was completely showing disrespect. In Irene's eyes, if she was going to be forced into a family with these people, they deserved to see her when she was at her worst, but her mom would never accept that.

She kept up her fancy hairdo to try to at least attempt like she cared about how she looked right now, and quickly got only her bathroom and desk set up with all of her items before she became distracted by the window in her room. It had an indent for sitting, and it peered right over one of the calmest places of the whole country. She sat in the large indent and leaned her head against the side, staring peacefully, deep in her own thoughts. Soon enough, she was already starting to relax her whole body, close her eyes, and make the quick decision to finish her packing later after dinner. She went to sleep quickly and not-too-pretty, resting deeply.

((Alright, nice! :D))
 
Her retort made him grin, and he glanced up at the ceiling as he mumbled to himself, "Oh, it can be very hard, princess. If I have to suffer, so can you." It was a petty and childish mindset, and he knew it, but he couldn't find it in him to shake it. Maybe if they were both miserable enough, their parents would break this off.

"Hayden!" He looked back when Elissa called after him, and found her running down the hall. "Why do you not like Irene?" She asked quietly when she reached him, looking sad and a touch confused.

Letting out a heavy breath, the prince debated for a moment before settling on an answer. "I just don't know her very well yet," he said, which wasn't a lie, because Elissa always knew when he was lying. "Don't worry, okay? Why don't you go collect some books to let her borrow?" Once she was gone, he closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face, before composing himself and moving on down the hall.

When dinner time drew near, Victoria found her son lurking in the kitchen, stealing bites of food behind the cook's back as he flirted with one of the maids. Huffing out a disproving breath, she forcefully steered him out of the room and away from the food and the girl. "Hayden. I know you don't like this, but you need to control yourself." Before he could spout some elaborate argument, like she knew he would, she continued. "Why don't you go fetch Irene and bring her down to dinner?"

"What?" Hayden stared at her in surprise. "Why? Can't you just send a maid?"

"You are supposed to be getting to know her," Victoria said firmly, starting to shoo him in the right direction. "Go! And don't try anything, or you can forget your meal tonight."

Knowing that she meant it, Hayden raked a hand through his hair in exasperation, ruining the last semblance of a combing that it had held. Muttering to himself under his breath the entire way, he stalked to Irene's room and rapped loudly on the door. "You in there, princess?" He called out, making the term sound like an annoying pet name instead of a title.
 
Irene, after a couple hours of sleep, was now completed dozed off in her own world, laying completely parallel against the window seat as if it was her bed. The fact that she was sleeping on hard wood with her neck in an awkward position wasn't going to welcome a nice awakening for her.

By now, it was barely as bright outside as the sun was now halfway down the horizon, which only advanced her sleep. In her mind, she thought as if she heard a knock on the door and Hayden calling her, but she only mumbled a bit in her sleep and curled up tighter into herself, not realizing that it was, in fact, coming from the real world. Even after a couple more knocks, she just felt like it was a lucid dream and unconsciously groaned it off.
 
When there was no response, Hayden's immediate thought was that she'd gone wandering to spite him. But no, he thought he could hear something in her room. It wasn't loud, and didn't last long either, so after moment's pause he knocked again. This time, with his ear almost pressed to the door, he recognized the sounds of sleep.

This raised an interesting case. On one hand, he could leave her here with a perfectly legitimate excuse, and have one more meal as a free man. Or he could go into her room to wake her, and possibly find some means of blackmail. He debated on those two points, and had even started down the hallway on the first choice when the second one won over.

Returning to Irene's door, he carefully tested the knob. Pleased to find it unlocked, he eased it open to look into the room. Upon spotting her asleep on the window seat, he grinned and crept across the room to crouch so that he loomed directly over her. "I do hope you're not under a spell," he said, his tone laced with dry sarcasm. "Because if a kiss is the cost of waking you, I'm afraid it's too high."
 
In Irene's dream, the sounds she was hearing in real life played out perfectly in her mind, convincing her once more that she was possibly lucid dreaming. For her, in her sleep, she was the one that was knocking and then opening the door, until she heard words from Hayden and alarm bells went off in her head.

Before she would allow herself to freak out, her mind switched off, basically remaining awake but still in a soft sleep. Irene was actually about to fall perfectly back into a slumber, completely forgetting about anyone talking to her, until she felt an insanely uneasy feeling of being watched. She groggily opened her eyes, staring out the window first before slightly tilting her head to see a figure over her. She couldn't make out the details of the person because of the way the sun distorted the shadows on their face, but somehow she convinced herself to recognize the person as her mom. Believing completely that it was her mother coming to check on her, possibly wanting to wake her up for dinner, she stubbornly closed her eyes, nearly drifting back to sleep again.
 
When her eyes met his, Hayden grinned wickedly, ready for her startled realization. But it never came, and he stared in shock when she simply closed her eyes again. Girls didn't fall asleep on him. This was new.

"Irene," he said in a sing song tone. "If a kiss is what you're waiting for, I'm afraid you'll be here for a while." Moving away from her, he began to meander around her room, surveying what she had unpacked thus far.

"You know," Hayden said in a sort of conversational tone as he examined the belongings on her desk; not touching, just perusing. "If you were here for any reason other than why you are, I wouldn't hate you." He chuckled to himself. "In fact, I'd wake you quite happily. But no, you're here to be my queen. I never said I wanted one, and I don't see why I can't rule alone. Of course I'd need heirs, but I could always marry later, when I wanted to." He was speaking loudly enough that he should wake her, but he would leave her if she continued to sleep, and would have both his blackmail and his meal without her.
 
Irene stubbornly mumbled in her sleep, trying to block out the noise from whom she thought was her mother, "Go away. I don't want dinner if that means I have to sit around all of those people." She mumbled like she was talking to her mom, just loud enough for the other person to hear.

It was only until Hayden made his way to her desk that she started to panic. Why would her mother just easily let her off the hook? Irene's eyes opened wide and she practically threw herself up onto one arm, looking back over her shoulder, "Wait- Hayden?!" She flipped herself around to stand up completely, getting defensive, "What are you going on about? It's not like I wanted to be married to you either! Why would you just barge into my room like that?"

Irene hastily walked over to where Hayden stood, putting an arm over his chest to push him away from her items. "Look, we're both going to have to pretend like we enjoy each other's company for quite some time, and the sooner you get over yourself, the easier it will be. Elissa already likes me and I'm trying to get Matthew there too, and it would be such a shame if you're the only one who has a problem with me." Irene narrowed her eyes, going over to her door and holding it open for him, not saying anything, but just motioning for him to leave.
 
Hayden's grin was fit for the Cheshire Cat when she popped up out of sleep like a jack-in-the-box. "I came in because my mother would have my hide if I went to dinner without you." Not true, but she didn't need to know that. "Also, were you dreaming about me? Because I thought I heard my name." Again, not true, but catching her sleeping gave him that chance to toy with her.

"I'm just letting you know how it is," he said, letting her push him back without too much resistance. "I don't want this, or you, and since my parents won't hear reason from me, they'll maybe hear it from you. Since you seem resigned to going along with this, I'm going to have to change your mind. Make you fight back."

His expression darkened at her mention of his siblings, and he moved away from her. "You can ingratiate yourself with my family, with the servants - hell, with our horses if you want - but I am not going to like you. I'm not ready to settle down, and definitely not with the girl next door. I've still got things to do, places to see, and women to meet, and I really don't have any need for a queen."

Stepping out the door, he turned to look back at her. "Get ready for dinner," he said, looking her up and down. The teenaged boy side of him appreciated how she looked at the moment, but he doubted that his parents would feel the same way. "Go quickly." ((P.s. - hope that's not too god mod or anything, I'm just assuming that she looks like I do after a nap. :P))
 
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