Io was woken up rather rudely by the sunlight streaming in through the sheer curtains to the balcony doors. It was too early for her. She wasn’t a morning person, and it was only dawn. However, she’d slept pretty terribly the night before, so it probably wouldn’t have mattered what time it was, she wouldn’t have wanted to get up anyways. It was just another day where she’d be forced into the presence of someone she wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Marriage or not, they’d been on opposing sides of a war. One that ended a decade ago, but nevertheless, they were enemies.
Just as she’d started to think about trying to nod back off, there was a soft and timid knock on her door. “My lady? Are you awake? His majesty requires your presence for breakfast in an hour. If you need help bathing or dressing or anything, I’ll be right outside your door.”
“I don’t need help, thank you, and yes I am awake. I’m afraid I do not know who you are, though.”
“Oh! Of course! Apologies, my lady, for the lack of introduction. I’m Alison, your lady in waiting. I’m here for anything you should need. Anything at all. I have also been instructed that I am to have your strictest confidence. Unless something you confide poses a danger to yourself or another, nothing you tell me shall be divulged to His Majesty.”
“… Gotcha. I’ll uh, I’ll shout if I need anything, I guess,” Io said awkwardly, rolling over onto her back. She didn’t want to get up yet, but apparently she was being summoned. So she had no choice.
She dragged herself up and out of bed and into the wardrobe, not caring to put on another gown or wear any heels. Fuck that entirely. It was also too early to give much of a damn to look very nice. Whether it was intended to be casual or not, that was what she was going to put on. It didn’t really look like there was anything casual in there, and she couldn’t find any of the clothes she’d brought with her. The rest of her things had been unpacked while she was at dinner, but her clothes were missing. Fantastic, it means everything had probably been tossed. Well she would just have to fix that later.
For now, she did a quick comb through of her curls, and put on a button up and some slacks- thank god not everything was dresses. It wasn’t what she’d wanted to wear for the day, but it was more comfortable than the alternative, that was for sure. And though it wasn’t black like yesterday, it was still in muted colors.
After she was ready she opened the door, greeted by Alison (who appeared to be a human handmaid), and set off to where breakfast was. Various things around the palace were pointed out to her as they passed, such as the library, which was massive, the staff quarters, the ballroom, the kitchens, among other things. The meal wasn’t in the dining hall this time, though, like dinner had been, instead Io was being led outside and onto the veranda. She saw the gardens she’d been waiting in the day before, with a more extensive view from where she stood so she could see the whole thing. Roses, a lily pond, a greenhouse, the fountain she’d sat at. Everything was carefully manicured and clearly well taken care of. Somebody was very fond of gardening.
The only person waiting for her for breakfast was Anrinar, who looked like he’d had better nights. They’d both not slept well, then. Alison took her leave with a bow and smile, and soon it was just the two of them. Based on the table and the small spread, nobody else was joining them.
“So… My presence was required, eh?”
“It was. We have things to discuss and go over in preparation for the day, and they are non negotiable,” Anrinar grumbled, sighing and pinching his nose. It was to early for an argument. He really hoped she could be agreeable for just one morning. “We have a camera crew coming right before lunch. An… interviewer I suppose you could say, for some news station. I don’t pay much attention to the media but they put in a request for an appearance of the ‘happy couple’. And Narvokh does so like to torture me, so he set it up and put it on the books.”
Io decided to ignore the whole televised interview thing for the moment, because that was going to be a later problem. “Who the fuck is Narvokh?” she asked.
“My head advisor. Dark gray. I have my head advisor, and two secondaries. At some point we’ll be selecting your own personal advisors from a list of qualified applicants. There are a mix of applications of both human and Imdalian, though I imagine for your comfort you’ll likely stick with human. And as you are entirely new to anything political or royal, you may end up with more than two secondaries.”
Dark gray? Ah, the one who’d been giving her the side eye all dinner. Cool. Even more reason to dislike the guy. “And what is the plan until then? Am I sharing yours?”
“Ha! No. No, you will be studying only, and will take no part in any actual decision making until it can be certain you won’t set the world on fire. Or however it is you humans phrase it.”
Io groaned, hanging her head slightly. She hadn’t exactly done any school work since she was nine years old, when the war started. She dropped out of school for it. When the war was over she was fifteen, and never bothered trying to go back. She could read, write, do basic math, that was all that was necessary, right? Now she was going to be learning things? She honestly assumed she was going to be queen in name only and not have to actually do politics.
“Don’t make that sound. This is vital for you. You do actually want to do your job, yes? Or were you expecting to be a trophy wife?”
“Aw, you think I’m pretty enough to be a trophy wife,” she said mockingly, spearing a sausage with her fork. She was a little shocked he even knew what a trophy wife was. Did he have similar in his culture? Was that a thing where they were from?
“You can be presentable when you try,” he stated flatly.
“Oh of course, can’t be seen complimenting your wife too much, now can you? Can’t have the masses think you’ve gone soft.”
“Are you done?” May the gods take mercy on his soul, Anrinar was trying very hard to have patience. He liked to think that he was doing reasonably well so far, and he was certain she was doing this on purpose. “You’re also not my wife yet.”
“Eh, close enough, right? We’re in the final stretches of this whole thing from what I understand. The bulk of the planning was already done in the three months between being chosen, and now. My… announcement, I guess? Introduction? My big reveal,” Io shrugged slightly.
Oh lord, no. Was this being televised live, or filmed to air later? Lucinna was about to find out about the upcoming wedding not from her, but from the news. Or rather, finding out who the intended bride was, on TV. Io was going to have to try to head that off somehow, send her a quick text to not watch anything until they could talk. But know Luc, she was going to immediately run to the screen or the internet to find out why. And then she’d know. And be incredibly pissed off.
“Yes, yes… about that. How did you of all candidates get decided on by my advisors? I gave instruction as to what I was looking for, and, well, you fit exactly none of those qualities,” Anrinar hummed.
“Well ya see Annie, I was sort of your only choice. What exactly do you know about how any of this was done? This whole process?”
“Admittedly, nothing,” he said, choosing to ignore the nickname for now. He would have to explain that they did not have the intimacy required for nicknames, nor did he feel they were on a first name basis yet but getting her to address him by title would be a later fight. “I delegated to my advisors, who were to involve the, I guess you humans would call them governors. The ten people directly below me.”
“Well. These governors, I’m not sure what you wanted them to do, but- wait, how big are you on Earth media?” she asked. If she could use pop culture reference to help explain this, that would be awesome.
“I’ve encountered some things, but I would not proclaim to be very proficient in it. Why do you ask? Does that have to do with this somehow?”
“Kind of? Have you read The Hunger Games? Or watched the movies, maybe? You seem like more of a book kinda guy though.”
“Zey, my twin, has read quite a deal of Ketillia books. I believe that was one of them, yes, she told me a bit about it. Where a bunch of teenagers have their name drawn to fight to the death, yes?” he frowned, raising one eyebrow. “Don’t tell me my advisors had you all fight to the death and you came out on top.”
Io tried really hard not to laugh, and she wasn’t entirely successful. She was glad she didn’t have any food in her mouth at the time, or she might have choked. “No, there was no fighting to the death, but I absolutely would have won if there had been. No, I was trying to reference the whole lottery aspect of it.”
“I’m stuck with you, you, because of chance? Because your name was drawn? Not because you were carefully chosen as being best suited, but because everyone decided they had to just present a random woman and hope for the best?” he asked tersely, folding his arms across his chest, looking and feeling quite pissed off.
Which only served to piss her off in return, that he had the audacity to say that if things had gone his way, he would’ve had somebody else, anybody else but her. “Are you kidding me? I’m stuck with you. Because there were ten of us. Ten candidates drawn by chance, who were supposed to go through rigorous testing to figure out who was the most qualified. The best fit, as you say. And you want to know what happened when your advisors got us all together? Nobody wanted this. This was an honor to exactly no one. Your reputation had everybody so terrified, several people threatened suicide to get out of participating. One of them tried to fake a terminal illness to get out of it. You know who didn’t do that? Me. I looked at how frightened everybody was, how sick with fear, and I told them ‘take me’. I’ll do it. Let them go home. Your whole treaty would have failed if it weren’t for me.”
Anrinar waited a whole five seconds before standing up. His posture was tense, rigid. He hadn’t been expecting her to say that. To defend herself, perhaps, but the knowledge she presented him with did not sit well. It unnerved him, to say the least. That the reason he had her of all people as his bride, was because there were no alternatives other than forcible kidnapping of someone who would literally rather die.
But not her. No, she chose this, when no one else would. What was her end game? Io was a very confusing person. He did not want to find out what her motivation for this was.
“You may take your time out here. I have things to finish up for the interview. I don’t have the willpower, or frankly the time, to sit out here and debate this with you or detail all the intricacies of how you ended up my future wife. I suppose there is no changing it, after all. Whether it is what I desired or not, it’s you. There’s no walking this back. We’ll figure it out as it comes.”
It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince her, which did not help her already bruised ego that she was apparently so undesirable he would take anybody else that wasn’t her. She watched the king walk away, and did not finish her breakfast. Io spent more time pushing what remained around on her plate than she did eating it. Eventually she decided that she was done, and she too stood, and wandered the gardens.
She intended to stay out there until it was time for the media appearance, but she didn’t even know where it was supposed to be held. Would somebody come fetch her for it? Would he? He seemed to want nothing to do with her after what she said. Which, fine by her- they were on the same page there. She didn’t want anything to do with him either. She was there because it was the right thing to do. To avoid more war. That was it. She’d play nice for the cameras when necessary, but she was not spending one more second in his presence than she had to.
The sun climbed closer to the middle of the sky, towards noon, and Io was back on the same concrete bench she’d waited on the day before. She stared at the fountain, just thinking. She’d texted Lucinna, warning her that she ought not to watch the news until they could speak, and told her ‘I’ll be there tonight’. Her friend thankfully already lived in Tolreus, having moved out there some time ago to open her winery. She did know Io was in the capitol, she just… didn’t know why. She was about to find out, because Io was going to sneak off and head into the city for a good long chat.
“Um… miss? Lady Clybourne?” came a soft voice from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. “I’ve been sent to fetch you. It’s time for the interview.”
It was Alison. So, somebody had been sent for her after all. She definitely wasn’t expecting it to be Annie, but to her embarrassment, she’d… forgotten Alison even existed. She’d had too eventful and tense of a morning to remember any of the staff, including her unfortunate handmaid. She’d never admit to that of course, no sense in making the other woman feel awkward or uncomfortable.
“Oh, uh, thank you. I guess I lost track of time a little bit. Is what I’m wearing okay?” she asked, standing up and smoothing out her blouse. Should she have worn another gown after all?
“You look lovely, my lady, it’s not a very formal affair. What you’re wearing is very suitable. Even his majesty dressed down a little bit. I suspect it was to put the reporters more at ease.”
What was dressed down a little bit for him? Every time Io had seen her fiancé he was wearing immaculately pressed finery. Perfectly tailored suits with gold embellishments, many layers. Surely he wasn’t in jeans. It would be pretty funny to see him in something like that, though. A hoodie and sweats.
When Alison led her back to the veranda where breakfast had gone pretty terribly just a few hours ago, she saw that Anrinar was in khakis and a nice looking button up, in lighter colors than she was in but a similar enough outfit nonetheless. She saw the camera crew as well, everybody looked human for this interview. Including the journalist. She wondered if he had done that on purpose to make her a little more comfortable. It didn’t necessarily work, but she could pretend she was a lot more confident and charming than she actually was.
He stood to greet her, his own fake smile plastered all over his face as he waved her over and motioned for her to sit next to him on the wicker couch that had been brought out for them. Guards stood in hidden but close by positions, which made sense for having a random news crew on the palace grounds. Could never be too careful.
The smile on the journalist was blindingly bright, she was clearly excited about the piece that was about to be aired. It thankfully seemed like it wasn’t a live taping, so it would be edited and aired later. That should save her from Lucinna finding out before they had a conversation.
“You must be Io Clybourne! So lovely to meet you! Shall we get started?”
“I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, sounding more enthusiastic about it than she felt. She sat next to Anrinar, who shifted closer to her and took her hand, in an effort to make it appear that they were a happy couple. That they both desired this wedding and were head over heels for each other. God this was going to be excruciating.
“Now, this first question is for you, your majesty. Everyone knows of the drawings, but no one has any information about how your future queen was chosen. What can you tell us about how Io came to be your bride?”
“As you are aware, ten people were chosen, one from each country. My advisors gathered them all, and I came to meet everyone. As soon as I saw her, I knew. She was the one I wanted to marry. Her heart is… unlike any I had ever seen before. She has a compassion to her, a deep care for others, I could tell from the way she interacted with the other candidates. She is exactly what this planet needs.”
Well that was certainly a huge stretch of the truth. He was nowhere near any of them. They’d never met prior to yesterday. Of course, he very well couldn’t be honest about how she ended up there, and he painted her in a pretty good light.
“Now, granted, she’s been a bit of trouble since then- in the best way possible of course,” Anrinar continued. So much for painting her in a good light. She’d get him back for that.
“Oh? Could you tell me a bit more about that?” the journalist asked.
“I think I prefer to keep that between us for now, can’t have any other men fawning over her after all,” he chuckled, reaching over and wrapping one arm around her shoulders.
Io smiled, leaning into it, but thinking to herself that she’d really rather not be touched at that moment. She’d suck it up and get it over with, but the moment they were alone again, she was moving as far away from him as she could.
“Alright, I can definitely understand that you don’t want any competition for your sweetheart. Now, Io, hearing that you’re a bit of trouble, what’s the most impulsive and troublesome thing you’ve done in your life so far?”
She grinned wider, that question the perfect setup for her revenge.
“His Majesty.”
Anrinar looked absolutely appalled for the briefest of moments before he was able to school his expression into one that was a bit more neutral, as if he wasn’t completely mortified by what she just said. “Now Io, do tell the truth, darling.”
“Oh but I am, darling. Don’t be so shy now. You certainly weren’t before.”
The newscaster looked thrilled, pleased with the way her interview was going. “What a topic change, Io. Care to share what his highness is like?”
“He’s very giving. A very selfless lover. I don’t want to go into detail as that’s personal and intimate information, but we’ll just say he always leaves me more than satisfied,” she said, and the look on his face was one that had her feeling victorious. It was a look of ‘we’re talking about this later’. Serves him right for calling him trouble, she’d show him what trouble really was.
“That’d very good to hear. Now, your majesty, what would you say you’re most looking forward to in this upcoming marriage? How far into the planning are you? Has a date been set yet?”
“Most of the planning has been done by now. Guest list, venue, décor, the cake and catering menu. We do have a date set, but we’re not releasing that information publicly just yet. As for what I’m most looking forward to? It’s hard to say. I learn so many… new things about humanity every day. I suppose I’m most looking forward to learning about the culture straight from my future wife herself.”
Io hadn’t stopped smiling through the entire rest of the interview, which in total had lasted about an hour. For the most part they were asked pretty benign and surface level questions about the wedding and what they liked about each other, the traditions they each planned to bring into the marriage. Nothing invasive was asked after her little bit of teasing earlier. When the crew had left, and was completely out of sight, the two of them immediately stood up and moved several paces away from each other. Anrinar looked pissed off, and she still looked delighted.
“Care to explain what that was about?” he asked tersely.
“What was what about?” she asked innocently, leaning against the railing. She knew exactly what he was talking about, she just wanted to play dumb and see what happened.
“You know. To insinuate that we’ve slept with each other? Are you serious? Do you have any idea what that could do to our reputations?”
“Oh I don’t know, that we absolutely adore each other? That we’re so infatuated with each other we can’t keep our hands to ourselves? That’s a good thing,” Io retorted. “And you told the whole world watching that I was trouble. I just decided to play along with that assertion.”
“… You’re impossible to deal with. And right now, I have too much paperwork to handle to bother trying to handle you at the same time. Just go somewhere else, anywhere else that’s out of my sight. Lunch is in the dining hall. We’ll be taking our meals separately. For the foreseeable future I would imagine, other than dinner.”
“Whatever,” she shrugged slightly. Personally speaking, she didn’t care. It was even less time that they were forced to be near each other, so it was fine with her if he wanted to avoid her for joining in on a problem he started. Since she was so clearly dismissed, she walked off back to her room to get ready to sneak out to go chat with Lucinna.