1 | Big day

"Cassandra, focus," her mother whispered in her ears, she bit her lips as her mother tightened the corset. She flinched slightly and couldn't figure out if her inability to breathe was because of the corset.

Young and happily married, one might say. But sadly, that wasn't the truth. The king had proclaimed his throne to his second son and wanted him to get married immediately as his power was slowly fading away after being cursed by a witch.

His first son had been banished for not having any powers, which were marked when they fall in love. The first son had fallen in love, but he never had a mark matching his soulmate.

Cassandra has seemed to be the perfect match for his son Kaydn, the daughter of the western kingdom. Her thoughts have never seemed so disoriented and chaotic, but she still looked just fine before everyone until her mother whispered.

The coronation had ended a while ago, the feast following it. But the royal gathering has not been over yet, and they were all waiting for Kaydn to arrive. Nobody bothered to sit, while her legs were killing her. She was the youngest queen of her era, and her parents were so proud.

"You must be so lucky to get married to the prince," A maid whispered as she giggled and whispered amongst others. She forcefully smiled. Getting married was the last thing she wanted, and she never wanted to be 49 years old and married. Her mom had married while she was 80.

They all looked young, and the timeline was much longer than in earlier eras as mutations controlled human genetics. Well, one would say that nature was the only responsible factor, history would tell otherwise.

Kayde strode down the hall majestically, his cape almost flying. He had everyone's attention as he glanced at them one by one, his eyes finally on his new wife. He had seemed so happy at the wedding, and he even offered her water while they were on the display. The public seemed to love it, and they admired them.

"Would you mind waiting for me in the royal bedroom, Queen Cassandra?," Kayde asked.

"Of course not, your Majesty," she had been practising for years on how to present herself to the king. His mother walked toward Cassandra and directed her outside. She was so furious, he had made her stand just to send her away. But again, this was how everything worked. Kings were deemed above all the humans, and there were only 8 kings in this world.

She had changed into a velvet-coloured gown, the corset hugging her in all the wrong places, in her vocabulary at least. Her mother-in-law barely spoke to her during the momentary interaction.

"Make yourself comfortable," She smiled as she handed the royal ring and curiously glanced at her fingers. Her mark was still covered, and not opened yet. In fact, it was understandable. It was supposed to develop at birth, and mature when she fell in love. She wondered if Cassandra covered it because she was not in love with her son and her mark had not yet appeared. She shrugged off the thoughts and announced her leave.

But there have been ways in which a young witch could find whether people were markless, and they were bound to be banished.

She fiddled with the ring as she looked outside the window, her golden locks falling on her face. Her curly hair had been ironed straight for her wedding, which she hated so much. She loved her hair and the way it bounced. But it was prohibited by her parents, so she could only enjoy it after her shower and the maids smoked it straight with herbs after that.

She had read so many books of the past, those that survived during one major apocalypse which wiped out the entire human race. Only riches survived since they were transported in the space shuttle. It all happened almost millions of years ago, and the apocalypse affected every human born on this planet.

She had read about empowering women, and how they could raise their voices against powerful men. She often found it fascinating and wondered what it would be like to live in an era where women were treated equally in terms of power and authority. Her elder brother had always been a shadow on her, and they treated him with such respect that she could never expect. Yes, it was because he will be crowned as king one day.

She looked outside the window as she saw the cars and carts leave the palace one by one. Her heart anxiously rhythmed since she knew that her husband would be here soon. She stood up as she heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," She slowly muttered as he opened the door. He wanted to grab the least attention from her as he had no interest in extending his conversation.

"I hope you're comfortable," He said, mildly convinced.

"Yes I am, thank you," She answered as she glanced at him. His black eyes seemed to be piercing into her as if he was watching her every move. She shyly smiled, as if she had wanted him to know that she was fine.

They awkwardly glanced at each other and she stared far away, into her memories. He walked towards the chair beside the balcony and placed himself comfortably.

He took his phone outside and seemed to be lost in it. She was someone who preferred history books over anything, it almost seemed so accurate to her that she never had the same perspective as anybody. Everyone had forgotten what the world had been like, they had been divided into continents, states and countries and some were ruled by rulers who were chosen by the people.

Though this type of system existed long ago, it wasn't followed by the majority.

She let out a deep sigh, wishing for an alternate world.