In a land known as the Apura Kingdom, there was a king who would be considered unique. He was kind yet tough. He was strict yet fair. He was cold yet he also cared. Some outsiders would think this odd, but to those within his borders, this was a rather normal thing for the king to be. They were used to it. They were safe for many years because of how he was. He was quite the ruler.
The king had four daughters. They were his only children. Eventually, word got to him about the sons, the princes of the four other kingdoms, being old enough to marry, and right around the time his daughters were old enough to marry as well. This gave him an idea. This was an idea his daughters would not agree with. However, they would not have a say in the matter, as this would be of great importance to not only the king, but their entire kingdom as well.
The king planned to marry off all four of his daughters. Each kingdom would get to decide which one of his daughters married their prince. This, in the kings' mind, would ensure a political alliance with the other four kingdoms, binding all of them together as one land, at least in a way. This was sure to provide great safety and security for them all, or so the king thought.
The daughters all agreed on one thing. They all thought that they should not have to do this. But, it was for the sake of their kingdom. They would become convinced that they would be selfish if they refused at one point. And so, they would all reluctantly agree to it. They could only hope that they would grow to at least be friends with their husbands. They did not get their hopes up about falling in love or anything like that.
The king would send out letters, one to each of the four other kingdoms kings/queens. The arrangements would be made. The princes would arrive in the kingdom to select a princess to be their bride. They were in the same boat as the princesses, but they did their best to hide it as they grew up in families were proper behavior, bloodlines, and seeking approval of the other royals was important and quite common. After all, arranged marriages were common in the royal families and even traditional. They would arrive in the kingdom, along with their parents/families, soon enough.
That would be the day it would all begin.
There would be a big fanfare. The citizens would become excited upon the arrival of the princes, one of them being the potential next king of their kingdom, depending on which daughter would be queen. Those royal families would be welcomed in with open arms by the citizens. The princesses , however, would not be as pleased about it, for obvious reasons. But, they would do nothing to upset their father or their people, nor do anything that might harm their kingdom in some way.
There would be a big celebration in honor of the guests. There would be a grand gala of sorts. The princesses would be expected to dance with those princes, specifically whichever ones they were to marry. This would be quite the affair. The announcement of who was to marry who would be made that very evening, to the people of course. The king, and father of the princesses, would be the one to make that announcement of course.
The decision of the arranged marriages would come at a time when a rogue king from a far off land from their continent would decide to declare war on them. He blamed them all for his sons' betrayal when he chose to cast aside his royal title and marry a common girl from one of their lands, after meeting her at a sort of gala-like affair during his time there. It had been a business trip his father would grow to regret allowing him to go on. Anyway, that anger, and his son running off to elope, was what made the king desire revenge, as well as have a need to destroy them all.
This would create more incentive for the princesses to go through with what their father wanted them to do. They still wished to marry for love and follow their hearts, but to do so may just cost them. What were they to do? They were trapped, in a sense, with no way out, or so they thought.
Would they follow their hearts and risk a war? Will they go through with the marriages and risk their own unhappiness? Or will a miracle happen that changes everything?
Time will tell.
