Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Moon walked through the castle's warmlite halls that led to the throne room. King Cass had summoned her to speak with him. Once Moon reached the entrance to the throne room she noticed that both Princess Lunar and Moon's father were there too. Moon's father Vincent was King Cass royal advisor so it was normal for him to be at the king's side yet Vincent looked angry. Moon looked closer and noticed her fathers blonde hair wasn’t neat like it usually was. She also noticed his indigo eyes which usually shone were full with anger and sadness. Princess Lunar on the other hand looked more downcast than angry. Moon took note of how Lunars wolf ears were lowered. “You summoned me, your highness?” Moon asked as she bowed. “Yes, I know you are aware of me trying to make an alliance and a possible friendship between my kingdom and the Silva Kingdom.” Moon nodded, she knew how Cass wanted to have an alliance with the Silva Kingdom since it bordered his kingdom. “Well the king had sent me a letter a few days ago agreeing to have an alliance under a few conditions.” King Cass said, Moon noticed when he mentioned the letter Vincent grew more angry while Lunar just looked down. “Alright, what are these conditions and how am I involved?” Moon asked, she wanted to know why her father and Lunar looked so upset. “The conditions that the King had set were for no one to enter his Kingdom unless they were ordered to by me, and that he was to send them an escort, secondly the king wishes to have an arranged marriage to seal the alliance with both of our kingdoms.” Once Moon heard the second condition she started to suspect why she was summoned. “Moon, what I'm about to ask of you is something many would find difficult. I’m aware that you are twenty one and aren’t attached to anyone.” Moon nodded, it was known that Moon never really thought about having a partner since she was busy most of the time as Princess Lunars personal guard. “To seal the alliance you are going to marry the king of Silva.” Those words hit Moon rather hard, she thought in what few minutes she had that she was prepared to hear those words… She wasn’t. Moon stood silently, she didn’t really know how to respond to what the king had just said. “Alright your majesty.” Moon said impassively, “I shall begin packing my things.” Before turning and walking out of the throne room.
As Moon walked back to her room she thought about what she was going to do. “To marry a man I have never met would be quite a challenge.” she thought, she had a small hunch of why Cass had instructed her to do it. “The vulpine kingdom had been gone for fourteen years, would my nobility still stand even to this day?” Moon thought with a grim frown as she reached her room. Anyone outside of Moon, her father, the king and the princess knew Moon as only a commoner that was adopted by Vincent and trained to be a knight, yet Moon did have noble blood just not from this kingdom. As Moon walked into her room, she grabbed a medium sized drawstring pouch from the top drawer of her dresser and set in on the bed. “I should probably pack lightly, hopefully I can buy a few more clothes in the Silva Kingdom.” She thought as she walked over to her dresser and grabbed a few tunics and trousers and proceeded to fold them before placing them in the small pouch. Moon then grabbed a small hairbrush and a few other necessities before looking over at her sword that laid beside her bed. Moon pondered on whether she’d be able to bring it. As she pondered Moon heard a knock on her door before a muffled voice said, “Moon it’s me Cass can I talk to you?” Moon walked over to the door and let the king in, “Yes Cass?” Moon asked as Cass walked in and stood in front of her. Like most kings, Cass was always serious when he was around servants or other nobles yet when he was with people he was close to like Lunar, Vincent Moon or his personal servant Mari. Cass had short blonde hair that was a bit curly. He had gray eyes, and pale skin with freckles under his eyes like his sister. Although Lunar Cass had golden bear ears instead of black wolf ears and tail. Cass was wearing a black tunic with a dark blue jacket and pants to match. “Moon please don’t be too angry with me, I couldn’t send just anyone to do this. Lunar is too young and in love with someone else and I’m with someone too.” Moon nodded, “I’m not angry, though I will miss you, Lunar and my father.” Moon said, though her words were partially true, she was rather irked that she was going to marry some man she had never met. “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see us more than you think.” Cass said with a smile. It was the kind of smile Moon couldn’t help but smile back at. “When will I have to leave?” she asked. “From what I know a carriage will come tomorrow to bring you to the Kingdom's capital.” Cass said, though he looked uneasy. “Everything alright?” Moon asked. “I find it weird that the king himself wanted the demands.” Moon looked at him confused, why would that be weird. “I don’t understand what you mean.” she said. “I mean from what I've heard he has a royal court yet he didn’t even consult them on how he should go about this alliance, it’s just weird.” Moon still didn’t see it as weird yet she wasn’t very familiar with all the duties and responsibilities that kings have. “Despite having been friends with the king and princess, my knowledge of their work is very limited.” Moon thought sheepishly. Moon's thoughts were soon interrupted by Cass asking, “I’ve probably distracted you from packing haven't I?” Moon shook her head before saying, “No you haven’t, I'm just deciding on whether or not I can bring my sword.” At Moon's words both her and Cass looked at the sword. It was a gift from the other knights in Moons squadron, a sword forged with arcane magic. “Does the king of Silva know who he’s marrying?” Moon asked not taking her eyes off the sword. It was bad enough she was having to leave her father, but it made her hurt more knowing she was leaving the other knight in her squadron. “Yes, I wrote back to him about it and he knows that you are a knight.” Cass said, “I think you should take the sword since it was a gift.” Moon looked at Cass before asking, “You sure that’s a good idea?” Cass nodded before he said, “Yeah, I doubt the king will think his future wife is going to cut him down with a sword.” Moon laughed a bit, “I hope not.” Cass chuckled. Moon picked up her sword and layed it with her stringed pouch. “I’m going to go for now, but i’ll see you at dinner.” Cass said before leaving. Once the door shut, Moon's smile disappeared, she still wasn’t too thrilled at having to get married. “I might as well not dwell on it since I can’t exactly change the situation, plus it would be good for the Aurum Kingdom to have more allies.” Moon thought before sitting on her bed. “Am I being selfish?” She thought. She didn’t see the appeal of this marriage but she knew the alliance would be good for the kingdom, “I just need to deal with it, and maybe I'll grow to love the king.” Moon thought, thought she had huge doubts in that.
Dinner that night was quiet, no one really spoke until Lunar said. “Okay someone has to speak, it’s weird for it to be so quiet.” Moon nodded while Vincent said, “Despite my anger towards Cass I have to agree, the silence is uncomfortable.” Cass shuffled in his seat a bit. Moon wondered if he didn’t like that Vincent was angry at him, it would make sense since Vincent is like a father to both Lunar and Cass. “Does Moon have to get married? Can’t we send someone else?” Lunar asked Cass who shook his head. “The king already agreed to marry Moon so it’s too late to change anything.” Moon grimaced as she ate her food, she wished Cass would have consulted her about this beforehand. “What do we even know about the Silva Kingdom?” Vincent asked as he took a sip from his goblet. “Well from what I know the kingdom is completely surrounded by a huge forest, though no one has actually seen the kingdom itself.” Cass said in thought. Moon slunk a bit in her seat, her doubts that the king of silva wouldn’t kill her were growing.
After dinner Moon said good night to her father and the others before heading to bed. Sleep didn’t come easy to Moon that night, she kept tossing and turning, knowing that in a few hours she would be leaving the only home she had ever known. As the morning sun rose in the sky Moon groaned as she sat up and proceeded to get ready for her trip. Moon grabbed a nice white tunic, a red vest and trousers before getting dressed into them. “Hopefully I look nice enough.” Moon thought as she finished buttoning the vest. As much as Moon liked dresses and found them to be very beautiful she preferred wearing simple shirts and trousers. Once dressed Moon quickly brushed her hair then proceeded to grab her stringed bag and sword before heading to the throne room. Once in the throne room, Moon saw a white haired man who was standing beside Cass. Moon noticed the man had silver deer antlers and deer ears, she noticed his eyes were a golden color. The man wore a dark black tunic, with a dark blue jacket with pants to match. Moon noticed a sheathed sword attached to his belt. “Is that the king?” Moon thought as she continued walking until she was in front of Cass and the deer hybrid. “Moon please meet Onyx, he's the king's personal guard and he’s going to make sure you reach the Silva Kingdom safely.” Cass said as he gestured to Onyx who gave Moon a small bow. “Pleasure to meet you.” Onyx said, his voice was deep and warm. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Moon said with a nervous smile. “Wait if you’re the king’s personal guard, shouldn’t you be with him?” Moon asked, she was a personal guard to the princess so Onyx being here confused her. Onyx chuckled before saying, “True but King Asriel asked me to be here.” “His name is Asriel?” Moon thought to herself, she thought the name sounded rather different but it was also kinda nice. “So when are we leaving?” Moon asked, she wanted to say goodbye to her father and Lunar before she left. “Whenever you are ready, I’d suggest we leave soon though.” Onyx said. Moon nodded and walked over to Lunar and Cass who both looked sad and from what Moon had to guess they were about ready to cry. “So I guess this is it, right?” Moon said quietly, she was never good at farewells especially when it came to people she considered family. Before Moon could say anything else, both her father and Lunar pulled Moon into a tight hug. Moon's surprise quickly disappeared and it was replaced with grief as she quickly returned the hug, wishing she didn’t have to let go.
After Moon reluctantly let go of her Father and Lunar, she turned to Cass who had a downcast expression. Moon didn’t know what to say to him, since it was because of him that she was having to leave in the first place. Without saying anything Moon gave him a small nod before turning back to Onyx. “I’m ready to go Onyx.” Moon said before following him out of the throne room and to the castle gates was a dark, wooden carriage with two dark brown horses.
Once Moon and Onyx were in the carriage, Moon felt the carriage start to move and head to the Kingdom of Silva