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When her father had announced that she was to be married, Vira immediately regretted not enrolling into Albion’s military academy when she had the chance.
She knew it was foolish to hold on to the hope that her father, Lord Lilie, was planning on passing on his position and power to her when the time came. Not when she had two capable older brothers in line before her. Though capable or not, they still couldn’t hold a candle in comparison to her prowess. Be it in academics or swordsmanship, Vira trounced her elder brothers in every competition. Despite being the youngest, choosing her as the next baroness should have been the most obvious choice, so when her father both announced her eldest brother as his heir and her marriage all within the same breath, Vira felt her world start to crumble beneath her feet.
“I’m sorry, Vira,” Her father started after pulling her aside, “But it’s your brother’s birth right to inherit the title. Besides, your husband to be is Albion’s Lord Commander, a man whose wealth and power surpasses even that of our own family’s. You’ve been blessed with an opportunity, so it would behoove you to accept the decision without complaint.”
Of course Vira would complain. Never out in public, but she made it no secret to her father how she felt about the arrangement. Even if he was the Lord Commander, spending her life with a man was the last thing she wanted, especially one much older than herself. The thought made her stomach lurch, but no matter how she argued against the arrangement her father would not budge. Her fate seemed to be sealed.
——-
A month before the wedding, the Lord Commander suddenly passed away.
Vira’s celebration of her freedom was short lived as her father announced that the wedding would still go on as planned once the new Lord Commander was chosen. Traditionally, a grand tournament was held at the military academy in order to pick the one most worthy of the title, so Lord Lilie thought it was best to arrange a meeting with the headmaster to be sure that preparations were going smoothly. Vira found herself bored to tears as her father talked politics, knowing this visit was more for his own gain than for her sake. She couldn’t bring herself to care anyway, knowing that no matter what she did she was still stuck marrying a stranger.
At the end of the meeting, Vira quickly excused herself to the restroom before the suggestion to meet the participants for the tournament could be brought up. After sitting through an hour of political bullshit, being introduced to her possible spouse was the last thing she wanted. Once she had rounded the corner of the hall leading away from the headmaster’s office, the blonde broke out in a dash. She wasn’t sure why she was running or where she was heading, but she knew she needed to get away from there.
Rounding another corner, Vira felt the wind being knocked from her lungs as she crashed into someone on the other side. She fell to the ground with a thump, papers scattering around her as she wheezed to catch her breath.
“I’m so sorry! Are you all right?”
Once she had caught her breath, Vira looked up to see who she had collided with, only to have the air hitch in her throat. The woman she was looking up at was gorgeous, clad in the uniform of the school with long tawny hair and warm crimson eyes that the baron’s daughter found herself getting lost in. It took her a moment to realize that the other woman was waiting for a response with an outstretched hand meant to help her to her feet.
“Huh? Y-yes, thank you.”
Her hand was warm, Vira noted, strong and slightly rough with calluses from years of sword training, yet the way the woman held her hand as she was pulled to her feet was so careful and gentle that it made the blonde’s heart flutter. They stood there for a moment, gazing at each other still hand in hand until realization flashed across the woman’s face.
“Oh! Aren’t you Lady Vira, fiancée to the next Lord Commander? I’m sorry, where are my manners?” She let go of Vira, much to the other’s displeasure, to straighten out her uniform and give a proper bow, “I’m-“
“Vira! There you are!”
Vira groaned and dared to glance over her shoulder, cursing under her breath as her father approached. He stopped behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder and clearing his throat, “Please excuse us, miss. We must be going, lest we be late for our next appointment. Come along, Vira.”
She looked back at the other woman as her father hurriedly guided her away, silently cursing her luck. Her heart was still racing, and she was sure her face had been red since the moment they locked eyes.
‘If only my fiancé could be a woman like that...’
——-
The tournament came and went, and Vira didn’t bother to see what the outcome had been. What did it matter? She was stuck no matter who the winner was, and as long as she didn’t know she could continue to fantasize about getting married to a woman with long, tawny hair and warm, crimson eyes.
Ever since her visit to the academy, she hadn't been able to get that woman out of her head. Through the day she would suffer through the tedious politics of wedding preparations, and at night she would dream of waking up next to her gorgeous knight, running a hand through silky hair before leaning in to capture the other woman’s lips with her own-
Vira caught herself giggling over the memory, coming back to the harsh reality that she wasn’t, in fact, kissing her beautiful wife, but instead was getting ready for her unknown fiancé’s coronation. In a few hours, she wouldn’t be able to run from her fate any longer. Tonight the pact would be made between the new Lord Commander and the primal beast Luminiera, and she was required to attend the celebration in order to formally meet her future spouse. All too quickly the time for the coronation came, and Vira gave a heavy sigh as she looked herself up and down in the mirror one last time.
’Time to go seal my fate.’
——-
The ceremony for the pact making itself was a closed door affair, privy to only those who needed to be involved for its completion. Vira found herself nervously tapping her foot as she waited in the grand ballroom with the other guests for the celebration to start. The announcement would be made, and she was required to meet with the Lord Commander before being lead off in the first dance of the night. The thought made her skin crawl. She didn’t care much for dancing, especially not with a stranger who was probably some rowdy boy who-
“May I have your attention please!”
The sudden announcement made Vira almost jump out of her chair. The chatter in the room came to a halt as everyone turned their attention to the large double doors leading to the ceremony room.
“It is my pleasure to introduce to you all your new Lord Commander!”
Vira sighed and got to her feet, moving to take her place at the end of the long carpet leading from the doors. This was it. Time to meet the person she was to be shackled to for the rest of her life-
“Introducing, Lady Katalina Alize!”
The moment she laid eyes on the Lord Commander, her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat. Walking towards her was the same woman she had run into at the academy. She was no longer clad in the school uniform, but instead a lavish suit of silver and blue with polished armor accenting as much as it was functioning. Her hair flowed as elegantly as the cape around her shoulders, and when their eyes met she smiled so brightly that Vira thought her heart might give out.
Katalina stopped just an arm’s length away, smile never fading, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to properly introduce myself the last time we met. Please allow me to do so this time,” She place a hand over her heart and gave a deep bow, “My name is Katalina Alize. Former top student of Albion’s military academy, and now Albion’s Lord Commander.”
If Vira hadn’t been completely overloaded before, her face flushed dark crimson as Katalina took her hand in her own to bring in to her lips and place a kiss on the back of it, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Vira. I hope we’ll get along.”