A Princely Affair

[Arendaal]

Karlheim Palace, Emyn Arnen, Arendaal

It was no exaggeration to say that [WIKI]Princess Kristianna of Arendaal[/WIKI] was a beauty. Countless men, and not a few women, had been known to fall mute in her presence, suddenly drifting off into their minds, feeling the urge to write poems.

Unfortunately, Kristianna was not the brightest girl. Suffice to say that the contents of her mind left a lot to be desired, therefore, in one way, similar to her body.

But she was a sweet girl, and for that reason the fate that was to befall Kristianna could reasonably be termed a little cruel.

The tragedy of her fate was, as yet, unbeknownst to her mother, Queen Laura, herself a Princess of Franken, who would be the architect of Kristianna’s future happiness. Or, as was the case in this instance, her future unhappiness.

For Queen Laura had decided that it was high time her daughters followed in the age-old tradition of Aren Royalty and married. And not anybody. She was determined that they would all marry well. That they would marry royalty.

It was with this thought in mind that the Royal Family had accepted a visit from the Prince of Fryslan, who was as eligible a bachelor as they come.

“Your Highness,” one of her attendants said, entering the Princess’ spacious room in Karlheim Palace.

Kristianna smiled vaguely as she put on a set of exquisite diamond earrings, “Is the Prince here?” she asked.

The attendant nodded and Kristianna strolled happily down towards Karlheim’s resplendent Entrance Hall, where members of the Royal Family were gathered to welcome their guest. It was to be as informal as a formal dinner could be – given the hour of his arrival, the Prince would dine with his hosts, and tomorrow he would be taken on a tour of Arendaal’s capital, Emyn Arnen.

The delegation was announced as they entered the magnificent Palace. King Edvard V of Arendaal greeted the Prince, introducing his family and making easy, polite conversation. Only three of the King’s children were present – Princesses Kristianna and Sophia, and their brother, Crown Prince Soren. Queen Laura smiled, ever the perfect hostess, and led the way with her husband to Karlheim’s principle dining hall.

Kristianna found herself seated beside the Prince. She chatted happily, fluid conversation coming easily to her. She was as personable as she was pretty.

 

[Fryslân]

Karlheim Palace, Emyn Arnen, Arendaal

Prince Floaris was a striking man and one whom the ladies always took a fancy to. The Princely House of Fryslân was renown for its beauty and height. The Prince was no different. Standing nearly 1,90m and with a nice crop of blond hair, he was a dreamy guy. And at the young age of 26, he was also in height of his physical prowess.

The tailors in Grins could barely get a new uniform in time for his quickly scheduled meeting with the Aren Royal Family but ultimately they did a fine job. It was well cut to his lean physique and showed off the tight coils of muscles hugging his tall frame.

The Greeting was exceptional and lavish, something very new to the Prince. Since for most of his life, he was not living in luxury but close to poverty as European royalty was less than kind to his family. Frisian natural gas was a great bribe the Military Regime used to keep the Princely Family on the run. Though, he thought, even if he had grown up a Prince, the strict Calvinist values of Fryslân would not have allowed such luxury as this.

He was shown his seat next to his match, Princess Kristianna who looked like a lovely girl. He could appreciate her beauty and was sure many a man fancied her. He smiled as graciously as he could and introduced himself,

"Princess Kristianna, it is a pleasure to meet you. The stories of your legendary beauty appear to be true. I am Prince Floaris but you can just call me Floaris."

He was so nervous and he hoped he hadn't screwed up. He felt the pressure of his office and the future happiness and stability of his nation and people on his shoulders.

 

[Arendaal]

Kristianna smiled at the introduction. “I’m Princess Kristianna” she said helpfully, “but you can call me Kristianna, too, if you like.”

Her demeanour belied no hint of irony. Kristianna probably had little idea what irony meant. When push, she’d be most likely to say it was like goldy or bronzy but made out of iron.

The dinner passed without incident as dish after dish of the finest gastronomical delights of the north appeared before the Royals. Wine flowed freely, as did the conversation, which to Floaris’ pleasant surprise involved Kristianna offering to give him a tour of Emyn Arnen herself.

“But we’ll have to dress casually,” she told him solemnly. “Otherwise the press might follow us around”

She met him in the morning after breakfast in Karlheim’s enormous library, where the Prince was admiring the books. “You must like to read,” Kristianna said, “Don’t have the patience for it much myself, but I love a good story” she smiled cheerfully and lead the Prince to an small exit in the left wing of the Palace, little known by most visitors. Together they snuck out into the city.

Conveniently enough, Karlheim was right in the centre of Emyn Arnen. Doning sunglasses and jeans had done the trick – they slipped anonymously into the crowd and explored the capital.

 

[Fryslân]

Arendaal

Prince Floaris smiled at the prospect of getting out of the palace. It was overwhelming; the silver and gold, the crystal and champagne, and the food...oh the food. Such decadent food, he had to resist himself to enjoy it a bit too much. His Private Secretary had lectured him that he was the Sovereign now and had to behave like one. He wasn't the street-wise exiled Prince that he had grown up to be. This was a new life and this new life needed dignity, strength and manners.
He snapped out of his deep thought and composed himself. He noticed the Princess going on about something to do with books.

"What a ditz", he thought to himself. Still, it was nice to be around another blue-blood who just seemed to enjoy themselves and not be dictated to with all the rules and protocol. He He smiled and laughed with the Princess at her airheadedness, and changed out of the stuff official uniform into something much more his style. A pair of tight fitting jeans and a nice shirt with a pair of Jackie O sunglasses. The Prince and Princess escaped onto the streets of Emyn Arnen to enjoy the beauty of Arendaal.

As they walked away from the Palace, Prince Floaris started, "So Kristianna, what are your interests and passions? For me, I quite like music, art, fashion and history. These were things I didn't get to study much even though I am of Royal blood. Life was difficult for me when I was younger, having to run due to the blood in my veins. The streets sometimes speak to me, they are full of such life and vibrancy. Do you know anywhere we can catch some strange and fun underground arts or performance?"

OOC: Did an edit...realised it was crap and written in the rush of watching the votes in Plenary. Clean now.

 

[Arendaal]

“Studying is overrated, I find,” Kristianna observed walking happily down the street in a pair of skinny grey jeans, a simple white shirt and oversized aviator sunglasses. On anyone else the outfit would have looked like nothing special. But Kristianna, who should by rights have been a supermodel, was stunning as the couple sauntered happily along Emyn Arnen’s imposing boulevards. The day was bright and warm, the sky a clear vibrant blue. The cool breeze was the only reminder that they were not in southern Europe.

She continued. “I mean, my sister Sophia has been at university for ages. She’s doing a doctorate, you know. But, what’s the point if you’re going to spend your life kissing babies and hosting charity galas?” They turned a corner and entered a strange obscure doorway tucked away in an alley off one of the larger boulevards.

“It’s not like we can have proper jobs anyway,” she observed. “No one would leave us alone if we tried, and if we wanted to go into politics or something grand, why, no one would let us.”

For all her ditziness, Kristianna was not technically wrong.

In fact, despite seeming dim, the Princess had been known to occassionally spout exceptionally astute observations on current events, much to the astonishment of her family. A collection of trite, but sometimes pithy homilies based on Kristianna's sayings was compiled in 2007 by the monk Shu-Tse.

Since seekers of wisdom always want to seek it somewhere far away, some young monks have traditionally come down from the far-east and try to learn "The Way of Miss Kristianna". The seekers of enlightenment holding vigils outside Karlheim Palace never know quite what they're looking for, and Kristianna has no idea why they're bothering her.

Many a bald young monk returns to his high fastness to meditate on the strange mantra vouchsafed to him, such as "Push off, You!" and "If I see one more of you peering in at me he'll feel the edge of my hand, all right?" and " Why are you buggers all coming around here staring at my feet?".

Now however, she turned to the Prince and smiled happily as the descended the stairs of the mysterious building. “This is my favourite jazz bar,” she explained happily. “They have performances and exhibits of all sorts. I’ll get you a drink if you want to look around,” she offered, “but I think the band’ll start playing soon.”