Riding her horse at full speed, the air running through her hair and the adrenaline flowing through her veins was one of her favorite feelings in the world.
Clarke was lost in such blissful feeling that she didn't noticed when two other horses surrounded her.
"You will never beat us if you keep daydreaming like that Clarkey" Raven yelled between chuckles.
"You winning a race Raven? That's what i call a daydream" responded Clarke while indulging her horse to go faster.
Octavia smiled while her friends bicker enthusiastically over a silly race. The three girls were approaching a rather large tree that marked the beginning of the palace and where the finish line stood.
As they came closer to the tree it was easier for them to see in te distance that a carriage was entering the palace. "Looks like the kings are a week early from their trip, weird" Octavia comments. "Weird indeed my dear friend, i wonder what could possibly happened" responded Raven.
As they keep staring at the palace Clarkes mind goes to dark places. Her parents the king and queen of Arkadia left a week ago to meet the new king of Polis, Gustus after such man brought down the dictatorship of Nia Frost. Clarke doesn't waste another second and starts to ride her horse again fast and she barely hears Raven yelling at her to slow down.
As she approaches the palace her heart beats faster and her breathing hitches, thinking that maybe King Gustus is no better than Nia and sent her parents back into pieces. she reaches the front of the palace in no time and dismounts her horse as fast as she can stumbling while trying to get to the carriage. She is able to breath again when a familiar laugh sounds through the yard and one of the subjects opens the carriage door to reveal a chipper couple with wide smiles laughing at some sort of joke.
As the king hop off the carriage Raven and Octavia finally reach for Clarke.
"Just so you Know, that doesn't count as a race, you totally took advantage of our unawareness" Raven says grumbling
"I see you keep convincing my daughter to break the rules and put herself in danger" the king says jokingly while Clarke throws herself at him to hug him tightly.
Raven and Octavia bow ashamed while saying in unison "we're sorry your majesty"
"Cut the nonsense and come here to give me hug" Jake responded openly his arms wide to embrace the girls.
"How come you're back a week before you were supposed to?" Clarke asked. "We"ll tell you everything at dinner my love, but right now we need to get ready" responded her mother, "and we need one more glass of wine before that" added her father. "So they've been drinking" Clarke thought, that explains such a good mood.
Everyone returns to their chambers to prepare for dinner, Clarke is still anxious about the whole situation but tries her best to not show it.
Everything goes smoothly at Dinner with Jake and Abby telling stories about her time in polis and about how Gustus us a great man and King.
As the night advances and everyone is retiring to their chambers the kings ask Clarke to stay a little longer. This takes Clarke by surprise and her anxiety strikes again.
"Darling" her father begins. "During our time at Polis a couple of threats from Nia were made against our kingdom and our family since we helped Gustus to bring down Nia" Clarke got the feeling that something wasn't quite right again and started playing with her fingers. "As you know, our kingdom isn't known for having a large army, and this threats cannot be taken lightly, and that is why we made an arrangement with King Gustus, to ensure your safety and the wellbeing of our people " Jake hesitated in continue, and Clarke looked over to her mother whom held and stoic face. "So, what is this arrangement about?" Clarke insisted.
"You're marrying one of Gustus descendants"