STRUVLAND
Chapter 1
The Snow
Alessandra

The chilly winds that blew outside penetrate the carriage through the poorly shut door and cause me to shiver. I pull my cloak closer to my body, hoping that it would somehow make me feel warmer. I glance at Queen Edith and King Vincent, my parents, who were now wrapped in a loving embrace, seeking some warmth themselves. My mother had fallen asleep on my father's shoulder, who was staring outside the window of the carriage, deep into oblivion. His tired blue eyes were proof that he had stayed up all night, thinking anxiously about the well-being of his country, his family, and his people.

I needlessly smooth the wrinkles of my dress and silently find myself wishing to be a child again. I wouldn't have any worries that way, no anxiety over arranged marriages to form alliances with other kingdoms; and no pain, save for the occasional scrape or bruise from playing too hard.

"We're almost at the castle, Your Majesty!" one of the guards yell, and I snap out of my naïve thoughts. At the cue, my father gently shook my mother to wake her up and she sat upright almost immediately. She fixes her blonde hair which resembles mine. The same could be said about her pale skin tone and light-colored eyes. Aside from the hair color and pale skin tone, however, my mother and I seem to have nothing in common. Even our personalities differ, while I am more alike to my father in the way I am hot-headed, ruthless, and commanding, my mother is mature and calm.

My father's once blonde hair has turned grey with age like my mother's and of late, the king has developed temper issues that my mother helps soothe.

As the royal family, we closely resemble the typical Pentoyan in our looks, blonde hair, pale skin, and light-colored eyes, we have them all. Of late, however, foreigners have immigrated to Pentoya and with cross-cultural breeding, there were gradual changes in the general appearance of the Pentoyans.

In the past, before Pentoya got separated from Struvland and Ordizana by the ocean and Struvland got into a war with Arcavia, Struvland and Pentoya had been enemies that refused to as much as trade or communicate with the other country's people, putting up walls on the borders to keep each other out. Lately, the countries have become closer together because of the war, Pentoya's booming fish market, and their inability to plant many crops other than rice, potatoes, and eggplants, makes them less isolated and friendlier with the other countries, having their citizens mix together more.

Eventually, the carriage stops and a guard opens the door. My father exits first, with my mother at his heel, followed by me. When I step out of the carriage, a guard offers me his hand in a courteous gesture. I look at him in disgust as I take in his features, pointed ears, short strawberry blonde hair, and snow-white skin that was flushed red from the cold. I notice his customary Pentoyan guard uniform. It was stitched in the colors of our flag, silver, blue, green, and our symbol, the serpent wrapped around a crown was embroidered. I harshly smack his hand away in disgust and help myself down. My dress, shoes, and cloak hit the snowy white ground in the process.

"I would rather die a slow death than be touched by an elf of all things." I state.

The guard steps away and looks down at the ground in shame, "I apologize, Your Highness."

I roll my eyes at him and follow my parents inside the castle. We are then escorted by the Struvlandian guards, who look very different from the Pentoyan ones. In Struvland, they have darker skin tones and their hair is also predominantly dark, compared to Pentoya where blonde is more common.

As we make our way through the castle, I notice that all of the guards wore black uniforms with red pants and gold detailing while the servants wore simple black or red clothing. They also have an armored elephant, Struvland's symbol, embroidered on them. We finally make it to the throne room where the queen and king sit, waiting for us. The walls are high all around us and our footsteps on the black marble floor echo throughout the room.

The Queen smiles at us in greeting when we enter, "Welcome to our country, Struvland."

My father bows his head in acknowledgment, while my mother and I curtsy.

"A very beautiful country you have here, Queen Adelina," My father compliments. I look up at Queen Adelina and her family. Her eyes are hazel while her hair is in a braid, she has straight black hair with grey streaks from aging. She also has tanned skin and a tiny upturned nose with slightly thin lips. As I am studying her appearance, I notice something rather odd, Queen Adelina has one single streak of red hair that goes from the hair above her left ear into her braid. I shift my gaze to the king beside Queen Adelina, King Richard, he has black hair that is cut short, bushy eyebrows, brown eyes, golden skin, and a full beard. King Richard has a hooked nose, his belly is almost too big for his clothes, and despite the cold temperatures, sweat constantly drips from his face, causing his face to be flushed.

He's quite ugly for a man who has a beautiful wife. Surely, there were better options for a princess to wed?

My gaze then falls upon Prince Oliver. He is tall and slim, and he too has high cheekbones and golden skin like the rest of his family. Like his father, he has black hair that is cut short, though slightly longer than the king's. His hazel eyes curiously study the patterns on my dark blue dress. I notice that Oliver's three younger sisters,  Camilla, Caroline, and Catherine have long straight black hair and eyes that match his. However, the three of them have two sections of hair on either side of their head, starting from above their ears to the ends of their hair, which is snow white.

I don't remember them having white in their hair.

"Not as beautiful as Pentoya, King Vincent. It's so nice to see your family in these times of war and chaos," Queen Adelina responds, smiling.

My father smiles back in acknowledgment before speaking, "Yes, of course, you are right, my country is quite beautiful and no other country could compare. Shall we get to business then?" My father asks, to which Queen Adelina nods in response. She stands from her throne. She walks towards me, the rest of her family following suit. When she places her eyes upon me, she smiles, the lines on her face that aging has created, crinkle up at this action.

"Oh Alessandra, how are you, my dear?" She asks.

"I'm doing quite well Queen Adelina, thank you for asking," I respond, nervously.

"No need to feel nervous my dear, it's simply business. No one here desires to hurt you. You once spent most of your time here as a child," Queen Adelina assures, placing her hand on Prince Oliver's shoulder.

Oh, how I wish to be home right now.

Prince Oliver lifts his head to look at me and smiles politely. I bow my head in acknowledgment and he does the same. I then return my attention to Queen Adelina and my father. Queen Adelina smiles softly and my father clears his throat.

"I think it would be proper to arrange a ball to celebrate their engagement, wouldn't you agree?" Queen Adelina asks.

"Yes, they've been engaged since they were eight. Now that they are both of age it would only make sense to have a formal celebration before the wedding," My father agrees. Queen Adelina nods and motions for one of her servants to come to her. He comes as he is required to and waits for her instructions. He seems to be a boy around my age with soft light brown hair which compliments his tanned skin.

Luckily, the boy is not an elf, like my guard from before, I simply can't stand them. I'm sure my father agrees.

"Go, announce that we are going to have a ball and a feast tomorrow night and that everyone must start arranging it this instant. If they have any questions tell them to come straight to me or my advisor, Victor. Do you understand?" Queen Adelina asks.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll go this instant." The boy replies. He scurries out of the room like a mouse and leaves us to talk with each other.

"Dear, don't you think a ball will grab the attention of The Red Eyes?" King Richard asks his wife, worriedly. 

"They've been in hiding for the past ten years, I highly doubt something as small as an engagement announcement would spark their interest," Queen Adelina responds, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I see but we must also think about how we are at war with Arcavia. Their army is stationed not far from here, they must be waiting to attack. A ball would be the perfect moment," King Richard explains. The Queen tilts her head in thought, as she considers what her husband has to say.

This man is such a coward I can't believe he became a husband, much less a king.

"Well, we will just have to have all our best guards stationed at every entrance to the castle," she replies. She turns to her son and me. "I imagine you two will want to spend some time to get to know each other once again before you're wed. Am I wrong?" She asks.

"No-" I start.

"No, Mother, you are not." Prince Oliver answers before I finish.

If we are to be wed, he should know better than to interrupt me.

"Then go right ahead, leave us to plan everything. If we need anything from you two, we will have one of the servants bring you." She responds. She smiles warmly and waves us out of the room. We walk side by side out of the throne room and down the halls of the castle with no actual destination. Many of the servants greet us as we roam around and Prince Oliver greets them as well with enthusiasm and a polite smile. Our footsteps on the marble floor echo in the silence between us.

How could he be so kind to these people? They are inferior to us in every way, no need to acknowledge them as if their life actually matters.

"I remember very little about you since the last time we spoke. Care to enlighten me?" I ask. He glances at me and clears his throat. 

"I love reading books, playing games with my younger sisters, and eating blueberry pie that the cooks in the kitchens prepare," he replies. 

"I love eating blueberry pie as well," I respond as we walk up the stairs, servants passing by us.

"I know. You ate it with me a lot when you used to visit but enough about me, what do you like to do now? I haven't seen you in what, five years now?"

"I don't do much anymore. I have a younger brother now, old enough for me to play with him but he refuses to. He's back home. Our servants are helping to take care of him while we are away. I mostly just roam around outside of the castle and help my mother throw parties. A lot has changed since I got terribly sick back then, I feel as though if I do too many things and get attached that I'll just end up having to give them up again."

"Ah, well it's too bad you couldn't bring your little brother. I understand what you mean though, about being afraid to do stuff in fear that you'll have to give it up if you get sick again," Prince Oliver says.

"I'm glad you understand. Also, I'll be sure to have you meet him sometime, his name is Alwin," I reply.

"I would like that."

A/N:
Thanks for reading the first chapter. :) Not every chapter will have a name, by the way, some parts are going to be entries from Alessandra's journal. The book will also be divided into small parts. I've been working on the details of this book for almost two years so I hope you will enjoy this journey with me and these characters. I apologize that the beginning is a little slow but I promise we are on our way to the fun part of the book very soon, it's gonna be great.  Please give me feedback, whether it be spelling/grammar mistakes or constructive criticism. :) I love you, yeehaw.

Ps. The picture on the side doesn't have an artbreeder picture of Alwin, Alessandra's brother because he is too young and the picture would look funky