Chapter Text
Jughead had been sitting in his chambers, observing the courtyard outside, when his father had entered. He greeted him with the formality befitting a King before he had dismissed the knights with him and gestured for Jughead to take a seat at the table which he did hastily.
"We need to put an end to this war, our men are fighting and dying for a cause that no one believes in anymore." His father started and Jughead nodded.
"This war has been going on since before I was born father, if we hadn't ended it by now then it may never end." He said and his father seemed to study him for a long moment before he answered.
"I've been in negotiation with King Harold of Riverdale for a few months, neither of us want to continue the fighting." He stated before he leaned forward and gave Jughead a serious look. "You are of age, and King Harold has a daughter, we have decided to join our houses to cement the truce."
"You're asking me to marry?" Jughead asked incredulously.
"I am not asking son, I'm giving you warning. The princess is at this moment, traveling to our kingdom, and you will marry her after she arrives. We are going to put an end to the bloodshed." He said and Jughead glared at him.
"So you're marrying your only son off to a foreign princess?" He snapped and his father sighed.
"This is what is best for the kingdom, I cannot weigh your happiness above the lives of thousands of men. Give her a chance and you may find that she isn't so bad, she will be your wife and bear your children, if you cannot find love with her then friendship is a goal, of you will be miserable all your life." He said before standing. "Get dressed in your ceremonial clothing and join me in the throne room, I have called a meeting of the Lords and Ladies, to announce the treaty between our kingdoms."
He left without allowing Jughead the chance to respond, or complain. He moved toward the wardrobe just as his servant Dilton entered the room and took out the chain mail and cape, marking him as a Knight of Eldervair, and the gold circlet crown marking him as Prince. His servant moved to help him dress in silence, which didn't take long and he took a deep breath before opening the door and making his way down the hallway toward the throne room, with Dilton trailing respectfully behind him. As he stepped into the room, the people milling about turned to bow to him as he walked to the front of the room to stand to the right of his father, who was seated on the throne. Jellybean wasn't present and Jughead figured that his father hadn't deemed it necessary for her to be here and he agreed. She was barely ten years old, much to young to be embroiled in matters of the court.
His father cleared his throat causing everyone in the room to go quiet and turn to him, and he stood and stepped forward. Jughead kept his place respectfully in deference to his father and King, as he thanked everyone for coming as if they had the power to refuse a summons.
"As you all know, we've been locked in a bitter war with the kingdom of Riverdale for quite a long time, but today I'm happy to announce that our kingdoms have reached a truce. It is a fair and honorable agreement." He said and the room erupted into murmurs of conversation before his father continued. "Furthermore, our friendship will be cemented by a union that cannot be broken, my son and heirs hand in marriage to Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth."
The announcement was met with applause and congratulations to Jughead. The meeting didn't last for much longer, the important business out of the way and Jughead slipped away as inconspicuously as he could and ended up in the garden. He heard footsteps behind him and he knew who it would be before he even turned around.
"So, you're getting married. huh?" Archie asked. Veronica was standing next to him and Jughead rolled his eyes.
"Can you two not involve yourselves in this, it's barely been ten minutes." He said and Veronica laughed.
"You know we can't resist the chance to meddle in the affairs of others, especially our worthy prince." She said and the sarcasm was blatantly clear in her voice. No one else in the entire kingdom would dare speak to their prince in the way that she was know but Jughead had gotten used to it. He, Veronica and Archie had grown up together, and they never treated him differently just because he was their prince. He was thankful to have them, as they were part of only a handful of people that didn't treat him like they were afraid to say the wrong thing around him, lest the lose a head.
"My father insists that this is the only way to end the war, and I agree. We've been fighting a war that isn't ours for far to long, it is time for it to end." He said. Archie nodded but Veronica shrugged.
"She's probably ugly." She said and Jughead furrowed his brow as he looked at her.
"Why do you say that?" He asked. Veronica shrugged.
"Her parents were quick to marry her off to some far away prince instead of someone from her own kingdom, maybe it's because they know what she looks like and no one will take her." She said and Jughead rolled his eyes.
"It's a marriage that was arranged to cement a truce Veronica. From what I know of the family she has two older siblings, a brother and sister, it makes it simpler to marry her off for an alliance. Her children would never inherit the throne anyway. There's nothing wrong with her." He said and she shrugged again.
"Whatever you say." She said and sat on the bench next to them. Archie moved to join her, his chain mail clinking quietly as he did. Jughead looked at them and sighed as he sat on the fountain across from them.
"Even if there was something wrong with her, I don't have much choice. She is going to be my wife, I'd rather give her a chance than be determined to hate this, after all she's the one who's being shipped away from everything she's ever known." He said.
"I always knew you were an honorable man, Jughead Jones." Veronica said.
They sat outside for a little while longer until a servant came to them and informed Jughead that Jellybean wanted to see him. He made his way to her chambers swiftly and was greeted by her lady's maid as he was admitted to the room. She was sitting on her bed sewing a design into a piece of cloth, but she tossed it to the side when she saw him. She gave him a big hug and he hugged her before he sat next to her.
"What's going on, JB. Are you okay?" He asked and she smiled and nodded.
"I'm okay." She said simply as she turned to face him on the bed. "I heard the maids speaking in the hallway, they said you're getting married."
"I am." He said and she smiled wider.
"Is she beautiful?" She asked. He gave her a gentle smile as he shrugged.
"I don't know, I've never met her." He told her and she got a furrowed look on her face.
"If you've never met her, why are you getting married?" She asked and he sighed as she looked at him with an earnest look on her face.
"Duty. It's what's best for the kingdom." He told her gently.
"What about love?" She asked and he took a deep breath as her eyes seemed to bore into him. For someone so young she had a way of making a person want to bare their souls, just by looking at them. He admired his little sister for her persistence.
"Love will come." He said softly, hoping against hope that he hadn't just lied to his little sister, and it would be true. He had never met Princess Elizabeth, nor had he heard whisperings about her. He knew her siblings were spoken about even in his kingdom. Her brother was allegedly of a certain persuasion and preferred the company of other men to woman, but that hadn't been confirmed and her sister had allegedly gotten pregnant out of wedlock prompting the rather hasty wedding to her husband, which had also not been confirmed but people seemed strongly convinced of as her children had been born very soon after the wedding. He had heard that and may other stories about them, but their elusive younger sister wasn't mentioned. It was strange because everyone was intrigued by the inner workings of royalty, but not necessarily a bad thing, after all the same could be said about him. He tried to keep out of the public intrigue as much as possible.
He spoke to his sister for a little while longer before leaving her to finish her needle pointing and making his way back to his room. It had been an eventful day and it wasn't even halfway over,but he decided to shirk his duties for the rest of the day as he retreated. He took off the ceremonial robes and sent Dilton away for the rest of the day as he settled in behind his heavy desk and began writing in his journal. It was leather bound and made of the finest material, an he used it to write down his deepest thoughts, just to get them out so that he could focus on other things.
His mind wandered to a fact that he hadn't grasped in the whirlwind of activities of the day, in a fortnight he was expected to stand in front of his people and before his gods and pledge himself to someone else. He would be expected to provide heirs as soon as possible and he spared a thought for how his bride must be feeling. Her family had traded her away for an alliance with another kingdom, and he knew that it was just the way of the world but he thought it was hardly fair. Did she have someone at home that she had been forced to leave behind? Did she even want to marry him? His thoughts left him feeling guilty and he decided then and there that he would do everything in his power to make her life a good one, he was determine to be a good husband to her. Neither of them had asked for this but he was going to make the best of it.