Princess Sarine Crowslaw of Falbrein

The long crimson red tresses flowing with the light wind caught Riekan’s attention as his feet carried him to Sarine Crowslaw. It wasn’t a common hair color for Kinwaldians, who usually had either brown or blonde hair on their heads. They had been briefly introduced at the start of the feast, but Riekan was still curious about the foreign princess, she had been quiet at her table the entire night, and his parents had taught him to treat guests well, especially when they happened to be royalty from other countries. Well, and she is exquisitely beautiful.

The Princess of Falbrein was staring at the dark sky and its bright moon shining a bluish light onto the city of Kinend below when the youngest Prince of Kinwald approached her. Her face had a serious, unreadable expression to it, which piqued Riekan’s curiosity even further, she was a mysterious character in the grand scheme of Atlarcton’s politics, as his father had pointed out, since no one but herself knew how she planned to act once she got crowned Queen of Falbrein.

“Milady,” he greeted, sidling up to the redheaded young woman on the balcony.

Sarine sharply turned her head to the side, startled by the sudden intromission on her thoughts. It was the youngest son of the King and the Queen of Kinwald, Riekan Lionwell. A handsome young man, her subconscious briefly noted once again before she slowly nodded at him, her bright blue eyes fixing on his green ones and her chin rising a bit with all the air of authority she had been taught. “My lord,” she drawled before returning her gaze to the city.

Riekan smirked, turning to look at Kinend as well. “It’s a lovely night, isn’t it? I like to get out on one of the balconies and look at the city below every once in a while. It’s quite relaxing.”

Sarine briefly shifted her gaze to him, for only a second, and nodded. “Indeed, it’s a beautiful town,” she replied, before mentally adding. A little chaotic, though.

Town? Riekan asked himself, amusing himself with the Princess’ stiff posture. “I didn’t see you dancing this night so far, milady. May I have the pleasure?”

The Princess was surprised by Riekan’s request. Her advisors had told her that she might be asked for dances during the feast, but she did not take it to heart and frankly was not expecting it. Considering now the number of princes Kinwald had, she admitted it had been an oversight on her part. Quickly recomposing herself, Sarine slowly placed her hand on the Prince’s outstretched one. “Yes, you may.”

Riekan grinned and placed his free hand on Sarine’s waist as she came closer to him. While her hands went to his shoulders, he couldn’t help but notice her slender body and medium-sized breasts almost pressed up against his chest. Unfortunately, the Princess was dressed very conservatively, in a grey and black gown that fully covered her cleavage. Thoughts of having her in his bed completely devoid of that dress, moaning in pleasure as he filled her over and over again flashed before his eyes, and his dick stirred because of it, but the green-eyed prince was able to suppress his desires.

Sarine, on the other hand, felt pretty much unaffected by the Prince. Sure, she acknowledged he was good looking, but she had never spared too many thoughts about males or suitors while growing up at Falbrein. The redheaded young woman was aware she would have to marry at some point, but her kingdom’s politics and proper etiquette always were the subjects on the forefront of her mind, the things, amongst others, that would allow her to be a good queen in the future and don’t repeat the mistakes of her parents.

A calm, relaxing song came from the ballroom, so Riekan decided to dance right there on the balcony, a fact that briefly surprised Sarine as they slowly swayed and twirled.

“See? Dancing is fun,” Riekan said after a few moments.

Sarine raised a confused eyebrow before his meaning dawned on her. “Oh, yes, it is. No one had asked me to dance, so I decided to walk around for a bit,” she explained. “I am sure my uncle would have, but he has been busy ever since we arrived at the feast.”

It was Riekan’s turn to be surprised, he had expected Sarine’s relationship with her uncle Tolfin to be strained and frosty because of what the man did during the war years ago, betraying her parents to the Kinwaldian army and all. The whole subject allowed him to find a nice topic of conversation, though.

“So, you will become Queen of Falbrein in a few months, I cannot even imagine how it is to be in your shoes,” he smiled.

The Princess let out a brief chuckle. “It is not so terrible. I used to be terrified a few years ago, but my uncle and the tutors he hired taught me well. I just want to be a good ruler to Falbrein and protect the people the way my parents failed to do,” she responded. Sarine had had her eighteenth birthday about a month ago, and according to the laws of Falbrein, in five months she would be legally able to be crowned Queen and replace her uncle, who had acted as Regent after her parents were deposed. She noticed her dancing partner had an expression of confusion on his features. “Is something wrong?”

Riekan debated for a few seconds if he should tell the princess what had bothered him. “I’m sorry, I just did not expect you and your uncle to be on good terms,” he finally told her.

“Ah, you expected me to hate him for what he did to end the war?” Sarine asked, a small smile on the corner of her lips, she had seen the same reaction on many people before. “As much as it pains me to acknowledge the truth, my parents were dealing with demon-worshippers, my uncle Tolfin only did what he did to save Falbrein and put it back under Alxer’s good graces.”

The prince slowly nodded, letting it sink in. That’s one way of looking at it, I suppose, he thought. “Your parents are still alive, aren’t they?”

Sarine nodded as Riekan twirled her around. “They are in exile. I am allowed to visit them each six years,” she told him. “The last time I was twelve-years-old. I am eager to visit the two of them later this year.”

“I see,” he said before throwing a brief glance to the ballroom and seeing Tolfin Crowslaw in a seemingly animated conversation with the emissary from the Arcans Republic, and a few members of the Council of Lords, notable men from noble families that King Albran appointed to advise him on matters of the kingdom. Riekan found it a little strange and disconcerting that Tolfin was so willing to hand the power over to his niece after ruling Falbrein for so long, but he figured it wasn’t his place to voice these concerns to Sarine, and it would not be proper to meddle in other kingdoms’ affairs, for that matter. Well, father would be pleased to know Sarine has the same mindset as Tolfin.

He then decided to move on to more pleasant topics. “Anyways, milady, what are your impressions of Kinwald so far?”

Sarine smiled brightly before she answered, something that made Riekan think she was even more beautiful than he had previously thought. “It’s a lovely country, I loved all the green on my way here. Kinend and Lion’s Bay were a bit too agitated for my tastes, though.” Her royal carriage took about two weeks to arrive at Kinend. She then had the realization that it could be a nice idea to build friendly connections with someone in the royal family of Kinwald. “You must visit Falbrein next, see if you like it as well.”

“Oh, I would love it,” Riekan accepted the invitation even if he was a little taken aback by it.

At that moment, the song coming from inside ended, and as if it was his cue, Tolfin Crowslaw stepped outside just as Riekan and Sarine let go of each other. A regal man of forty-five, he had short red hair with a few grey strands starting to appear and blue eyes. He did not give any indication of what he thought of seeing his niece dancing with the youngest prince of Kinwald, but nonetheless, he smiled politely at Riekan.

“Your majesty, I hope my niece could marvel you with her dancing skills,” he acknowledged. “I did not have the chance to make your acquaintance back inside.”

Riekan responded with a brief, small smile. “We must rectify that, Regent Crowslaw, and yes, Princess Sarine dances very well.”

Tolfin laughed. “Indeed, she does,” he said before turning to the princess. “That reminds me of something else I have not done this night, asking my beautiful niece for a dance,” he then extended an arm to her. “Sarine, do you give me the pleasure?”

“Of course, uncle,” Sarine answered, taking his proffered arm while looking at Riekan. “If you excuse us, my lord.”

“Of course, by all means,” Riekan said, and then followed the two inside. While Tolfin began to lead Sarine through the start of the next song, the young prince felt like dancing a little more. Talking to Sarine had been truly interesting, that notion giving him an idea for an equally intriguing dancing partner.