Torn by War

Written by Darkmoon the IceWing NightWing. Don't steal!

Author's Note
This story takes place in Atalia, a continent made by me. The main setting of this story is Kirima, the northwestern tundra kingdom. There is also Akeem, the southwestern kingdom. The middle of the continent is dominated by the Palmiro mountains. To the northeast is the mountainous kingdom of Aristide. To the southeast is Sanborn, the swamp kingdom. The rainforest kingdom of Rahim is in the central southern part of the continent, and on a large peninsula near Akeem and Rahim is the rocky kingdom of Caedmon. The final kingdom is Imari, and eastern kingdom composed of mainly islands. Each kingdom is ruled by a queen, with some choosing to lead alone and some picking a husband to help them rule. In Kirima, there is a system of ranking where the nobles are placed into Circles, which indicate their skill and status. Everyone begins in the Seventh Circle at birth, and works their way up. The First Circle is the highest, and the Seventh Circle is the lowest.

Prologue
Queen Fiona sighed. She knew her son, Prince Peter, had been sneaking out to see somebody for awhile now. And not just anybody, he was seeing Ethan, Fiona was sure. Ethan was a male Kirimian who wasn't even in the rankings. How could Peter be somebody like him?

Perhaps her mother, Queen Carmen, would have known what to do. She didn't want to face the consequences that would come from Peter's relationship, but she wanted her son to be happy. ​​​​​​Why does this have to be so complicated? she groaned internally.

She sat staring at the stars, thinking about her son's secret relationship. Eventually, a Second Circle guard flew up. She recognized Renee, a woman she used to train with in her youth. The small, slender woman bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Princess Ivy has returned from a walrus hunt. She has brought back two fully grown and a calf. She is unharmed but has requested your presence in the courtyard."

Queen Fiona nodded and said, "I will be there shortly." She gracefully began to walk away from the throne room, leaving her thoughts of Ethan and Peter behind.

Chapter 1
Prince Peter's heart was beating faster than ever. Ethan, his secret boyfriend, was coming to the frozen Westernmost Sea to hunt for seals and fish. Peter tried to help Ethan's family, but there was only so much he could do. Outside the Circles, life was tough. Ethan had grown up in a life of poverty.

At last, Peter landed on Seal Rock, the usual meeting place for him and Ethan. After a few minutes, a pale brown figure appeared on the horizon. Permafrost knew that, without a doubt, there was only one person who had skin that shade of brown. His Ethan. The rising sun lit up his skin, making him shimmer faintly like on the ice.

"Hey," Peter said. "How have things been?"

Ethan sighed. "My life at home is terrible. Irene, Alecia, Blake, and Michael have been starving for a few weeks now. There is nowhere near enough food. I hate my life."

Peter said, "At least you have me."

They sat in silence, enjoying the sunrise. Then Ethan suddenly said, "Why don 't we run away? The rainforest has plenty of food. The mountains would be great too. If we could get away, my life and yours would be much better. My siblings will find a way to manage."

Peter replied without hesitation, "Soon. Soon we can run away. Mother is hosting a ball, and I can slip away then." Ethan nodded.

Eventually, Ethan left to hunt. They had made plans to meet at Walrus Rock in ten days, and then they would escape. They would leave Kirima behind. Forever.

Satisfied with their plan, Peter sledded back to the palace on his dogsled, pulled by his huskies. On the way, he caught a polar bear to give himself an excuse for being away. It was actually quite big, so hopefully Mother would be satisfied. He dragged it back with little effort, and landed in front of the gates with his catch.

Renee, a Second Circle guard, was waiting at the gates. "Name and rank, please," she said flatly.

"Prince Peter, First Circle," he replied. He stood up tall, and his eyes shone in the early morning light. Renee stared back at him, her eyes cold. "Go on in. Your mother wants to see you."

Anxious and unsure of what his mother would want with him, Peter walked through the gates. He stopped to drop the polar bear off in the kitchen, and then walked through the icy palace to the throne room. His mother was waiting for him, sitting regally on her icy throne.

"Son, I'm glad you came," Queen Fiona said with only a small hint of warmth for her son. "Recently, as you know, you turned eighteen years old. As is the custom, now is the time to betrothe you to a female of my choice. So for you, I've chosen Isabella to be your future wife."

Peter stifled a gasp of surprise. Isabella was the daughter of the queen's main advisor, and a favorite of his mother. However, she was known to be ruthless in her training and clever, but also somewhat kindhearted and nice. And she just so happened to have a crush on Peter.

"Wh-...why her?" he responded, trying to cover his irritation and surprise. He should have seen this coming, but he wished his fiancee wouldn't have been the dragon who had a crush on him.

Queen Fiona sighed. "Because I like her, because she's from a good family, and because I know she likes you," she responded. "I know you two get along well, so I'm hoping this will be a good match. The two of you will be formally introduced as fiancees at the ball in ten days, so. I'm expecting you to be there."

This time, Peter could hardly keep himself from screaming. ''I'm supposed to meet Ethan at Walrus Rock in ten days! How am I supposed to do that without raising suspicions that I snuck off? We wanted our departure to be a secret...''

He felt a fresh pang of dread when he realized that, somehow, his mother was a least suspicious that he was seeing someone. She might even know who. He felt all of his dread cause his heart to sink, and he felt a wave of terror grip his heart. How would he keep up his relationship with Ethan now?

Chapter 2
The next day, Peter was waiting nervously to be formally introduced to Isabella as her fiancee. The thing he was most worried about was how he would tell Ethan that his mother wanted him to get betrothed, and how he wasn't so sure that they could slip away.

He had polished his jewelry that morning, and was wearing a regal fur cloak over his normal outfit. He looked cool and composed, but he felt like a hot mess on the inside.

At the opening of the door, he looked up. Isabella was walking in, looking almost as regal as Peter. She wore a silver necklace, and she had a diamond earring dangling from each ear. Her diamonds were perfectly polished, and she stood tall.

"Hello," she said to him. Her tone was formal, but there was a touch of warmth in it.

"Hello," he replied somewhat stiffly. He made she contact, and her gaze seemed to search his for the source of his discomfort.

"Peter, as you already know, Isabella has been selected to be your betrothed. You two will have one year until your wedding, so I suggest you get to know each other better," Queen Fiona said. She gave him a look, which obviously meant that she noticed his awkwardness and did not approve.

They sat down and began to talk. At first, it was just small talk about the weather and how hunting was going. They both seemed awkward around the other, and kept the conversation from being any deeper than it has to be.

The rest of the day went by fairly normally after the morning chat. Peter went hunting and doing his princely duties, while Isabella did her thing. They passed in the halls of the palace a few times, but only nodded coolly.

For the next nine days, there continued to be time for the betrothed couple to interact. Most of the time it was walking through the courtyard, chatting. The first few days were still small talk, but eventually they did warm up a little, and branched out to topics like politics, daily life, and scrolls.

On the seventh day, he noticed again how Isabella was quite pretty. She was tall and slender, with pale skin and long, blond hair. Her eyes were icy blue, and her features were slightly angular. She had at first seemed like any other noble, pale and bland, but there was something a little different about her.

Thinking about her reminded him of Ethan. He could picture his boyfriend even here, when they were miles apart and divided by class borders. Ethan was also tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular build. His eyes were like chocolate pools, and his hair was a shade of dark brown that matched his eyes. His skin was pale brown and seemed to shimmer slightly in the bright light of the sun. Overall, Ethan was rugged but charming while Isabella was slender and cool.