The north used to be an impoverished land. Four generations ago, a messenger from the gods told the king to travel south, to the paradise of dreams. It took one generation to build up the nation's forces, and two generations to claim the nearby nations as territories. Now they were a fertile nation, known widely for their strength, dreaming an endless stream. This was the great nation of Galatada, which ruled over five territories.
The three ladies were in awe at the sight of the prestigious palace. And when Set called her Nenah, she told him not to say it in front of other people. He wondered why, though, since he thought it was her childhood name. Nenah flushed, remembering that Set believed the lie she had told him.
In the meeting hall, Prince Set was greeted graciously and in unison by all those in attendance. Nenah was surprised at how the prince of a powerful nation was received.
That was when his brother, the second prince, Yor, entered, and condescendingly mentioned that something stank of rotten blood. The third prince, Bedau, called Set a lucky man for surviving, while the fourth prince, Tote, speaking aloofly, welcomed Set.
Yor shouted at Anne to bow, calling her rude, but Nenah thought he was talking to her. Bedau cleared this up, saying that princesses do not need to bow. Tote brought up that the king had told him to greet the princess of Fortna, so he complimented her deep and beautiful eyes.
She knew now that it was her time to shine and get them to like her, so she greeted them with grace.
Yor ignored it, however, and said that marrying a priestess was a crime. Bedau called it blasphemous, and was about to bring up Set's mother, who was related to the church — but then Set told Bedau that he had not said he could speak, which left Bedau with a disdainful look on his face.
Then Yor called Set cocky for standing higher in the line of succession, and reminded him that he wasn't their king yet. He told Set that he should die, and insulted him for having been raised in the temple of blood. Set countered by cockily calling Yor the child of a concubine, which made Yor angry enough to try to draw his sword.
The first prince clearly had the edge over all his brothers. But it was Nenah who knocked Yor's sword down, telling Set to stop escalating things, and that he was upsetting everyone.
The brothers were astonished to see her scolding the first prince. She became flustered with all eyes on her and tried to excuse herself, saying that she had a mischievous little brother back in Fortna.
Aside, in another room, she felt that she had screwed up her plans to make Set's family like her. She brushed it over, though, since what was done was done. She could just try again.
Then one of the servants came in to tell her she would be sharing bedchambers with Set, and she was flustered to see that they didn't have separate beds. But wait — maybe this was another golden opportunity for her to curry favor.
Or maybe not, since she and the pets were easily startled by the prince. Nenah tried saying she'd sleep on the floor to take care of Mavaria, but he told her no, since the nights were cold here. Then he teased her for potentially having naughty thoughts, which made her pout, because that wasn't the case at all.
In bed that night, she apologized for what she'd done in front of his brothers. He responded that normally someone like her would be dead for doing that. But he'd changed his mind when he saw her stupid face.
Surprised to learn that all his siblings were half brothers, Nenah told him she'd be happy to have lots of brothers — because when parents die, if you don't have any siblings, you have to send them off by yourself. It's a lot less lonely with siblings.
Set's response was that he had been alone when his mother died, and that he had felt indifferent about it. Nenah had had no idea until now that his mother was dead. She suggested that maybe he hadn't felt anything because he was too sad, but he had no idea what sadness was, and claimed he had never experienced it before.
Nenah took this to mean that Set had always been alone. She understood now that he had not been raised in this castle, and that he had always been by himself.
He hadn't said that out loud, and he wondered how she could know. But turning toward her, he was caught by her shiny blue eyes. She told him everything was going to be all right, and that he was going to learn a lot.
Nenah stretched and said she was too nervous to fall asleep, and then passed out easily right beside him.
He thought there was no way. Now that she was out, she didn't exude even a shred of tension or caution. He observed her breathing as normal, her body as warm, the presence of their pets, and the fact that he was sleeping beside someone without any goals or intentions. None of it made sense to him. Galatadan nights weren't supposed to be this warm.
And now, in his dream, he found the smiling warmth of his wife to be.
With the birds squawking in the morning, Nenah wondered how she had ended up in Set's arms, but she couldn't get away. She could see his long, shiny eyelashes up close now, and his deep red eyes. His face was way too close. As he held her more tightly, she asked him how this had happened, and he told her that she had snuggled up to him. She wasn't ready for this intimacy, so she screamed, which caused him to pull away while teasing her respectfully.
The pets were hungry this morning, and as Nenah went to prepare their food, she felt something was different about Prince Set, as if his eyes were smiling at her a tiny bit.
Then he turned and told her to dress him, and she was ready to start a fight. Realizing that this was part of her duty, however, she agreed, while flailing furiously. She did not think she got it right.
Meeting with the king, Set explained his plan to use Nenah in order to invade Fortna. The king agreed that Set had more than enough power to claim the country for them — certainly much more than the other princes.
Taking Fortna had been the wish of Galatadan royalty since their great-grandfather's generation. The king of Galatada wanted this to happen under that reign, and called the current king of Fortna a fool.
Then came a new decree, scrapping the current line of succession. Whoever conquered Fortna would be the next king of Galatada.
Bedau was ecstatic. Yor was determined to win. Tote believed that whoever claimed Princess Alicia would become the next king of Galatada.
Back in Fortna, however, all the castle's subjects were watching as Azure Seth Fortna was crowned the new king.
The palace of Galatada is separated into five wings. Centered around the king's red wing are the princes' wings, each in its own color. The walls and floors feature the color of their wing.
Nenah and Set were of course placed in the white wing.
When Nenah heard that she would be in a separate bedchamber from Set, she loudly questioned why. So he explained that it was the king's orders. It hadn't been decreed officially yet, but the current line of succession was being scrapped, and whichever of the four princes acquired the princess of Fortna would become the next king.
It was news Nenah wasn't ready for. Wandering the wing, she was angry that they had made the decision to separate her and Set's beds without asking her first. She also wondered why Set acted as though it wasn't his business. Did he not care about inheriting the throne? She thought it was amazing, though, since whoever Nenah chose would become king.
It was not something she felt great about.