Alaria

I couldn't blame Alaria for the tension in our relationship as of late...she hadn't been born into the scandulous, overly dramatic world that was the Elvish Royal Courts. Whether it was land, political intrigue, petty arguements or meddling in the love lives of their unfortunate offspring...the ruling families certainly weren't the most easy to get along with.

I had met her, the love of my life when we both had just barely reached adulthood. As was customary for the royal heirs, as soon as I reached maturity I was whisked away from the heavily guarded and sheltering grounds of the Royal Palace and paraded about the nation like a prized show bird...it should come as no surprise to anyone that I hated this.

The childhood of an Elvish royal heir was a lonely one...a sheltered one. From the day that I was born...I had been encircled by security 24 hours a day 7 days a week, they even stood outside my bathroom for goodness sakes! You'd think that after being surrounded by Elves my whole life that I would have better social skills, but the truth was...the security were there just as their name suggested, they were simply their to protect me...not to befriend me.

For 21 years, my only social interactions were carefully planned and regulated...whether that be with my uptight family members, the polite but aloof royal staff or the carefully arranged 'playdates' with other royal descendents who all seemed to encompass the traits of the expensive jewellery they adorned themselves in...pretty on the surface but useless, they were simply living trinkets.

Bearing all this in mind, you can imagine my immediate attraction to the young Elvish woman that I had initially seen running through the heavily wooded forests of the Southern lands, her indigo shaded hair streaming out behind her like a majestic carpet as hurried towards my security detail and I. A few minutes of me outrightly staring at her had the free spirited young elf awkwardly hurrying out a rushed explanation...she was my assigned housekeeper of the cottage I would be staying in for several days whilst I was formally introduced as the Air Elves Court Heir to the residents of this region.

I know my security detail weren't impressed by her bohemian attitude or obvious shyness...but I found it enchanting, which could have been a sign of my social immaturity...or our obvious connection. It was only when we accident;y touched hands several hours later when I almost spilt hot tea on myself did the true nature of our attraction make itself obvious...she, Alaria was my chosen partner.

All Elves had a fated partner in our lives, a partner that would reveal itself through physical contact by the faintest laurel wreath that would encircle our wrists as soon as we touched. Although it sounded romantic, it was actually quite painful for the first few moments which was why my security detail stormed into the cottage only to find both of us holding our wrists in pain as we stared at one another in equal parts astonishment and shock.

Flash forward a few months and Alaria was now living with me, back at the Royal Palace of the Light Elves where I had grown up. I may have been acclimatised to the meticulously planned out days, constant surveillance and constant gossip but my partner certainly wasn't. Alaria had grown up in the wild yet peaceful wilderness of the Southern lands with her six siblings and her parents. It was obvious that fate had intervened in our meeting as she was never meant to be anywhere near the cottage I had been staying at when I was at her village.

She already had a full time job helping on her families berry farm but had taken over the role of temporary housekeeper as a favour for a sick friend...a friend that I had met and never ceased to stop reminding me of how I was indebted to her and the common flu. On paper our connection should have never worked...a free spirited young woman from a farming family coupled with the socially awkward, ridiculously introverted and highly logic driven heir to a royal Elvish throne.

We were both naive in the ways the other was not...which was another red flag. Over the last several years our relationship had been tense...to put it nicely. Indeed, if it wasn't for our partnership tattoo that indidicated our intertwined destiny's I know that we would have broken up long ago.

Growing up in the court had made me incredibly gullible in certain ways, yet given me a tremendous strength in others. The quality of my education and specific royal training had strengthened my logistical personality traits...but from an emotional and creative perspective, I probably seemed like an infant...the exact opposite of Alaria.

Growing up in a loving family farm environment in a close knit community, she was practically an expert in connecting to people and finding creative solutions...but the most illogical person I had ever met. It was no wonder that the scandal filled, back stabbing and sporadic nature of royal society had her retreating into herself whilst I threw myself into royal duties. The busier our lives got, the more our rift deepened and it wasn't until my parents asked us when we would be announcing our engagement did we both actually find the confidence to face one another for the first time in months.

I wasn't happy with what I saw...and I am pretty sure she wasn't either considering the look of pained concern that spread like wildfire across her delicate features, it was one of my favourite things about Alaria...how in a world of facades and appearences she wore her heart on her sleeve and always expressed it in those deep indigo eyes of hers. She looked like she had been through an emotional hell and back considering the intense raw sadness in her eyes and the dark bags and hollowed nature of her face...from my reflection in her eyes I know I looked very similar.

Whether it was our obvious awkwardness with one another or general stressed out state, my parents threw me a lifeline that I would be forever thanking indebted to them for. 2 days later, Alaria and I were happily relaxing incognito in the sleepy coastal village of Axona where even if the Elves did recognise us at the royal they wouldn't care anyways. According to the general publics knowledge, Alaria and I had a bad case of the flu and wouldn't be in the public eye until properly recovered...which gave us about a fortnight to get to know one another again and repair our relationship.

Who knew that one day the lie's of the royal family would actually aid me afterall? Considering the adoring look on my love's face as she dug her toes into the soft golden sand of the bay and muttered about 'flu's being a weird action of fate'.

I knew we were going to be okay, we were made for one another afterall and had the bracelets to prove it.