Occursum

Latin

Meeting

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as he passed by he took the wreath from his head

and gave it to me.

And i stupidly took it

and bound it around my forehead

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"I must apologise for appearing like this- in sweat and blood stained armour- but halfway through the journey, I realised that the rest of my party were exhausted and couldn't possibly be made to expend their energy- thus, I left with my horse, Philip- they, and the carriage with all my clothes and other valuables- even gifts for the Princess- will reach here in the next two days." Edmund, head bowed in respect and kneeling, spoke diplomatically to the High King of Rihaaya.

"A thoughtful Ruler." Sanya's father smiled, and motioned for the young King- so young, he thought, so very young- to get up. "Well, you're certainly punctual- my daughter is the one who's late- my wife should be here with her shortly. If you'd like to freshen up in your quarters, Your Majesty-"

But the older King's words were cut off, his wife hurrying down some stairs to join them at the dais.

"I apologise for the delay, King Edmund." The High Queen curtsied, cheeks flushed with exertion, as she joined her husband, taking his offered arm. "Our Sanya isn't very fond of being beautified, so was putting up quite the fight."

"I'm sure she's beautiful even without embellishments." Edmund smiled politely, before seeing a small boy- perhaps seven or eight- in a red tunic and a lopsided crown run down the stairs.

"Our youngest, Prince Sameer." The Queen explained. "Greet him, shona."

"Hello." Sameer said awkwardly, bowing his head, his crown now in danger of falling off.

"Hello." Edmund replied just as awkwardly, inclining his own head of dark wavy curls towards him and ignoring the irritation he felt at the continuously delayed arrival of the Princess.

"Oh, Aanya is coming." Sameer suddenly announced, as the great golden gates in front of them opened slowly, dramatically, as if in a film.

Princess Sanya was nervous. That was one of the earliest things Edmund noticed- among other things, like her tightly coiled dark brown hair and tan gold skin, her average height, the breasts practically spilling out of her top as a result of her tight corset, her curvy physique, the bright turquoise necklace and earrings- and the fact that at this moment, she did not look sixteen. However aloof and bored her face was, her rubbing her fingers together and pulling her fingers into her palms showed her anxiety. When she had descended the steps and was closer to him, he noticed that her painted lips had been bitten and chewed and thus all the more red, that there was a pair of glasses tucked- almost inconspicuous- into her waistband, that there were trousers- riding breeches?- under her flowing skirts and that her ample cleavage wasn't merely a result of a too-tight corset, and- he might just have lost some of the murderous urge towards Peter.

He saw how she dug her fingers inside her palms and stopped her hands from shaking, a brave face projected forth, and immense respect for her blossomed in him.

Sanya thought that this must be how Psyche had felt when she had seen her husband, realizing him to be the God of Love, Eros, the handsomest of the Gods and mortals instead of a terrifying and evil monstrous creature.

This- this truly was a King- and a warrior. Barring how pale and young his face was, the man in front of her- her husband­-to-be, Sanya remembered tremulously- was quite possibly one of the most beautiful human beings she had ever seen. He was going to marry her? She was half in the mind to swoon at him.

Well, the romantic side of her mind might have taken over right then but there was no denying the fact that King Edmund of Narnia was a very handsome boy-man- with his demeanour and stance calm yet protective, fair skin which could be called pale and which was shining with sweat, wavy dark hair which covered his forehead and begged for someone to run their hands through it, guarded and calculating warm brown eyes, finishing with an adorable button nose and a pursed mouth. Oh, and freckles! He had freckles!

Sanya refused to think of what was underneath the bloodstained armour, that would only add to her physical discomfort and make matters worse- not to mention the impropriety of that sort of thoughts.

Perhaps to make up for the lacklustre introductory warning of 'Aanya is coming' by her son, the High Queen gestured to a man in purple and gold, and he immediately boomed, "Her Highness Sanya, Crown Princess of Rihaaya, a Reza of Azraq, and-"

And followed a long list of her titles, most of which had been bestowed at birth, all of which made Sanya roll her eyes.

"-the Begshah of Azraq, the Duchess of Kolindi Rajyah, the Shahzadi of Hanees, the Mahalkumari of Veersa Baagh, the Jalladina of Jaminaz, and beloved daughter and Heir of our gracious High Queen and High King."

Edmund saw the bright chestnut eyes roll themselves and was heartened, just a bit.

It was difficult to even move, with the snug heaviness of the fabric and the jewels weighing it down even more, but Sanya finally managed to get to her parents, formally curtseying before them, before she hesitantly turned towards Edmund and curtsied again, saying- in her throaty yet toneless voice, "Your Majesty."

"An honour and delight, Your Highness." Kissing her hand was too presumptuous and much too soon, so Edmund only bowed. "And my apologies for my unseemly appearance."

Oh Heavens, his accent, oh goodness. She had always had a soft spot for accents...

"It is alright." She couldn't help a small blush- to her annoyance, redness did show even on brown skin- as he looked at her, but then the look lasted for only a moment before he turned to the royal pair on the dais.

The only thing, Sanya decided suddenly, she was thankful for right then was that there was no audience and that her little brother was there so they could pull faces when no one else was looking.

"Sanya, meet Edmund." The King said, biting down on the irritation and overprotectiveness he felt at seeing the man who was going to take away his daughter right next to her- it felt like he had already lost her, a moment of grief setting in his chest.

Not wanting to say it- oh, how she loathed this, she loathed everything about her daughter having to marry out of duty instead of love- but feeling like someone had to, the Queen added, "Your husband-to-be."

Suddenly Edmund didn't feel quite so floored anymore, and nor did Sanya feel as bewitched as she had just a minute ago.

"The wedding will be here, in about two weeks' time-" Sanya's mother was saying and Sanya herself felt sick- she legitimately had to work hard to not spew out the contents of her stomach, but she didn't manage to conceal her look of nausea, prompting her mother to pause and ask, "Are you alright, Sanu?"

Why the nickname? That was between family only.

Sanya's cold took that moment to resurface in the form of a sneeze, giving her an excuse.
"Haan, I'm fine. Just a cold."

"Maybe you should go for a walk for a bit." Her father suggested. "Sunshine and some exercise do wonders."

Her crafty and wily mother added, making her daughter wish to throttle her, "You can show King Edmund the Gardens as well."'

"Sameer can do that." She said instantly, panic swelling in her compressed and uncomfortable chest- walk with him, perhaps even talk? What would she say? What would she do? How would she even act around him?

"No, I have studies to get to." Sameer said forlornly, and her mother snapped her head up to look at him.

"You have native languages to study now, don't you? Your tutor must already be waiting- please accompany him." She added to a nearby guard.

"I can take him-" Sanya started, but the guard and her brother had already left.
She would miss Sameer, she thought suddenly. She had known that- but it was now that she was truly realising she would miss her baby brother. Perhaps she would miss him the most, of all the things she would miss. And Moonlight, too, was near the top of that list- a very long list, she was pretty sure.

"We've sent word to your siblings, and to the guests as well. Your siblings have already set out for Rihaaya, and will be here at most a week before the wedding." The King informed.

His daughter felt helpless- nothing else. She had had no idea about any of this- and she just felt helpless.

"I see. Thank you, Your Majesty." Edmund smiled politely, pleased his siblings were coming and dreading the reason why they were coming. "Well- shall I freshen up or would you like me to accompany you on your stroll first?" He asked, turning to his wife-to-be.

The look on her face made it clear that she would not like that, and thank you very much for giving her a chance to be alone.

"Please freshen up, it's no matter." She said diplomatically. "I'll be in the Gardens, if you search for me later."

"I'll keep that in mind." He gave her a perfunctory smile- he had no intention of emerging out of his room till suppertime. "Might I know where my chambers are?" He asked, turning to her parents.

--

The next time Edmund and Sanya met was a full week later, which was a miracle in itself.

Well- the delay for their second meeting wasn't a miracle, but a result of Sanya's intense desire to remain as isolated from the King of Narnia as possible. Because of this, she had managed to have all her meals sent up to her room or she would sneak into the Dining Hall and eat right before her family and her guest were to show up. And, since no one would think of looking for a Crown Princess near the stables where the haybales for horses were kept and where the dogs frolicked- and it was not a place anyone would send an esteemed King, so it was futile even if anyone had thought of it- she was left alone the rest of the time too. And her bed chambers were off limits. Even her parents, hearty proponents of this union, would not send a boy into their daughter's bedroom.

The one time Edmund had wandered into the Library while she was there too, she had managed to conceal herself and then slip out without him noticing. She saw him around the palace often- too often- but he never saw her.

A commendable effort on her part, she felt.

"Your Majesty." Sanya dipped her head as Edmund appeared in the doorway of his chambers- no longer in bloodstained armour but a simple blue tunic and breeches. He didn't look like the King of a powerful magical land- he looked like a handsome young man, and for a moment, she could almost imagine being friends with him.

Nothing more, though! Of course nothing more. As if he could ever have feelings for her- and as if feelings like that even existed out of books! Her parents were the only exception- they truly were in love. Apart from them- well, she really did not think romantic love lived out of books. Perhaps it was too good to live in reality.
And she would take her books over real life any day. How she ached to hide in her spot in the Library and sink into some fictional world, instead of having to wander around the castle to look for her betrothed. Her betrothed, to whom she was having an arranged marriage! She would rather live in books about eternal wars and apocalypses than go through with the wedding.

"Princess Sanya! I- hello." To say he was taken aback was an understatement- he was aware of, and vaguely thankful for, all the lengths she had gone to to avoid him.

"I've been sent to inform you that the Queens and the High King of Narnia will be arriving shortly, and my family and I will receive them in the Throne Room. You are requested to join us, please." Sanya recited, setting her gaze to a spot about an inch above one of his (broad) shoulders.

"Oh." Edmund smiled- a genuine one. "Thank you for telling me, I'll be along in a moment."

"You're most welcome." She said, quirking a tiny smile, before turning and marching away.

For a moment, Edmund had a mad urge to run after her, or to call her back, to actually talk- but this strange desire passed as soon as it appeared and he watched the colourful skirts of her anarkali swish and disappear around a corner, and he went back inside the chambers.

--

"I wonder if he's fallen in love with her yet." Lucy wondered aloud- a thought Peter and Susan thought was mightily optimistic for even her.

"Well, you can ask him." Peter told her, despite his being very sure of the answer being no.

The three siblings had reached Rihaaya, and were currently being led to the Throne Room by a contingent of gold and purple outfitted men. It was slightly jarring to them all to see so many humans around- human beings had trickled in from outside to Narnia but they were still a rarity.

"I wonder what she's like." Susan said, speaking quietly so that only her siblings heard. "And what she looks like."

They had bet on it, but once Edmund had found out, he'd forced them all to read through all the paperwork he'd done for the last month. That had put them off the betting.

"I wonder what their babies would look like!" Lucy exclaimed, and her elder siblings immediately shushed her. She continued, quieter now, "They will have children, won't they? That's why his bedroom is being renovated and a new bed is being made-"

"How do you even know that?"

Lucy ignored her sister. "Weren't assured heirs to the Throne one of the reasons behind this marriage alliance?"

"No, Lucy." Susan didn't know whether to laugh or despair. "There was nothing about having children, or even love. All that matters is that they're married- it doesn't matter if it's only in name."

Peter felt horrible as Lucy's smile dimmed and she spoke, "But- a marriage without love? That's like music without a melody or meaning- worthless."

"It's not worthless." Her eldest brother said firmly. "It's for the greater good, for Narnia's future. Edmund respects and understand that."

Before Lucy could argue, the Head Guard had turned and said, "Your Majesties, welcome to the Throne Room. Our Royal Family will be here shortly."

- -

"Well, your in-laws are nice." Susan said later that as she sat down on her little brother's bed. "And the Prince is a hyperactive cutie."

"Too young for you, Su." Edmund retorted instinctively, immediately dropping down on the bed. "And shush, they aren't my in-laws."

"Yet." Peter added ominously. "And what we saw of the Princess- she seemed nice enough, if a little backward and shy. Pretty too, though not typical, in all those colours and jewels. What's she really like?"

Edmund gave a non-committal grunt.

"We can't speak troll." Lucy told him, rolling her eyes, throwing a pillow at him. "English, please."

Sighing, he sat up in bed and said, "I don't know."

"Haven't you talked?" Susan asked, taken aback.

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

"She's very good at avoiding me, I don't think she wishes to get to know me." He gave a short, humourless laugh before adding fairly, "It's not like I make any special efforts to spend time with her either, but at least I don't purposely avoid her."

"Well, she can't avoid you after a week, anyway." Lucy said, unsure of whom to feel worse for- her brother or his betrothed, who would have her freedom and home taken away from her.

Peter frowned, leaning back in the chair he was in, "Why not?"

Susan smacked him on the head, "They'll be married then, won't they?"

Edmund groaned loudly and fell back onto the bed again.

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-✧･: °*✧*°:･✧-
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Darsheel Safary as Prince Sameer of Rihaaya

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(Already in lust.
And annoyance.

Picture posted: 21st May 2022, though chapter was only published on 9th August 2020.)
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(🎶 start of something new 🎶
Picture posted 25th April 2024)

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Hope you enjoyed :)

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