Forced to marry the enemy prince in her sister's place

Adonis and the men had journeyed for two weeks before they saw a patch of land. They entered the territory of the kingdom of Meridonis.

They reached at nightfall. When the little kingdom glowed with an incandescent beauty. There were torches lit all over the kingdom. The people greeted them with open arms and looks of warm affection.

While Astrid, Adonis, Augustus, and the girls went out into the mainland, the soldiers stayed on the ships so as not to scare the people.

"I’ve never seen anywhere so warm and so beautiful," Doris said.

"Reminds me of home," Astrid said softly, "and my sister."

Andrea patted her on the back.

They asked around for the best lodging available and were directed to a place called the inn.

"Is this the best lodging available?" Andrea asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you never change?" Astrid asked.

Andrea smirked.

"Can we just enter?" Adonis asked, "I’m famished and tired from drinking all that salt water we had. "

They entered the establishment, and the ambiance was calm. It felt like a home. The countertop on the first floor served both food and beer. Then there were a few benches to sit and eat.

There were two rooms on the first floor, and the other rooms were situated on the other floors above it.

"How can I help you?" A man, middling in form, walked up to them.

"We would like your best rooms, please," Adonis said.

"And will you be sharing rooms, or do you prefer lying individually?"

"Individual rooms, please."

"Except for us two," Andrea interjected. "Both of us, " pointing at herself and Doris, "will be sharing a room."

"Alright, then." The man nodded. "If you will please follow me."

Astrid and Augustus were given the rooms downstairs. The girls were given a room on the second floor, while Adonis was given a room on the third.

There was a frown on Adonis’ face as he went up to his room. He did not like the setup they were given.

They all gathered in the common room to have dinner. There were other guests as well, but soon after, they all left one by one. Until only Adonis and Astrid remained.

"Will you tell me now if you’ll be the one invading my kingdom?" She asked.

"Don’t say it like that," Adonis said. "I’m not invading your kingdom; we’ll simply go to make a deal, no need for any type of violence."

"So, just to be on the same page, you’re the one going to Epirus and not your sister?"

"Yes, Astrid. It’s me. I chose it specifically because I didn’t want her to go."

"Why?" Astrid peered at him intensely.

Adonis chuckled nervously. "What do you mean by why? I told you before we left that I started to like your sister. I knew news as horrible as an invasion would dampen her spirit, so I wanted to do something kind for her."

"How lovely."

"Come off it, Astrid," he sighed. "I’m just trying to be honest."

"I don’t think I contradicted anything you said, did I? I think you’re doing us a huge favour."

"For heaven’s sake," Adonis grumbled.

"I’m heading off to bed." Astrid got up. "See you tomorrow."

"Already?"

Astrid laughed quietly, "Was I supposed to stay awake for the rest of the night?" She asked. "I’m tired, Prince. I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

A few minutes after she’d left, Adonis retired to bed as well. It felt like the first time he’s had a proper rest in years. War always came at a cost.

He stirred awake a few hours into the morning when he heard a cock crow. His eyes were heavy-lidded from sleep. He jerked upright as he was about to fall asleep.

He shuffled outside his room to take a piss, but stopped. He was wide awake now. Below, Astrid and Augustus were laughing and giggling about something in the common room.

They sat beside each other, their knees touching and his hand slightly grazing hers. Adonis could feel the veins in his head try to pop out. His blood boiled with every touch.

When had they gotten so close? He thought. Why were they that comfortable with each other?

At that moment, he began to despise Augustus with everything in him. He rushed off to the privy and headed directly to the common room.

"What’s so funny?" He asked, interrupting their conversation.

Augustus immediately straightened and shifted from Astrid. Astrid scowled at him.

"Nothing important, your majesty," Augustus replied sharply.

"If it were nothing important, you wouldn’t mind sharing, right?" His voice dripped with bile.

"And how is that any of your business, Adonis?" Astrid asked flatly. "Why must I divulge the contents of my conversation to you?"

"Didn’t I warn you about this?" Adonis said, glaring at her. "I told you I want my men alert and ready for battle at any moment."

Astrid palmed her face and shook her head slightly. "You know what you sound like? You sound like an idiot."

"What?!"

"Did you not hear me the first time?" Astrid said. "Fine then, I’ll repeat myself. I said, you sound like an idiot."

"I heard you the first time, Princess Astrid. But I’ll give you a piece of advice. Both of you," he said through gritted teeth, "The next time I see you both in such a compromising...."

"Compromising?!" Astrid scoffed.

"Let me finish," Adonis growled. "The next time I see you both in such a compromising position, I will leave you stranded, Augustus, on whatever kingdom we’re in at the time. Since you’ve shown me you aren’t interested in doing your job properly.

And... if you somehow make it back to Erindros, you’ll be demoted in rank and title. Think about that princess when you converse carelessly."

Astrid furrowed her brows, her mouth agape. "You’re insane," Astrid said. "Completely out of it. Do you even realize what you’ve just said?"

"If you’d like to find out," his voice low and dangerous, "then try me."