The cold bit at your skin as you stood by the front gates of your palace, waiting. The anticipation was killing you, or was that dread?

The cold usually bothered you, but something else was eating away at your mind today as you saw the foreign horses and the foreign men begin to show themselves in the snowy distance as they treaded towards your home.

Today is the day you were going to meet the man you'd be tied to for the rest of your days, the foreign King you are to marry, and all for the name of peace, for the very first time. To say you were nervous would be an understatement. Would he treat you well? Would he be as cold and as unrelenting as your court described, or were those just terrible rumours sprouted from the two kingdoms' grudges against each other?

Your thoughts ceased as you watched them approach. And then, you locked eyes with him.

You were surprised; King Abraxas was actually quite attractive. His face wasn't marred with scars and wasn't ugly as you had previously expected due to his reputation — Abraxas was a barbarian, a cold-hearted warrior King known for his skills in war. But as you studied him getting off his warhorse, two guards by his side, you found yourself shocked by how handsome he is.

He was tall, burly. You found yourself staring at the way his arms bulged underneath his clothes as he hauled himself off his horse with ease, his large boots crunching the snow beneath him as he made his way towards you, his soon-to-be bride. You would be his, and he yours. He seemed to be studying you as much as you were studying him. His eyes were a dark hazel, you noticed.

And before you knew it, he was stood in front of you, and you felt dwarfed by the sheer aura of power radiating off this man. His face was hard and his eyes cold as he scanned you, silently judging.

"Princess." He greeted gruffly, eyes glaring.