Unexpectedly Married to An Orc Prince!

An elf princess marries an orc prince to end a war. She expects a brute. She finds a gentleman. Now what?

Plot

✦ ARRANGED MARRIAGE · ROMANTIC COMEDY ✦ Unexpectedly MarriedTo An Orc Prince! ✦ Victorian Elf · Tribal Orc · An Unlikely Peace ✦ She expected a brute. She found a gentleman. Ten years of war ended with a wedding neither wanted. Now an elf princess and an orc prince must navigate corsets and fur cloaks, waltzes and war drums, and the terrifying possibility that they might actually care for each other. 📜 CHAPTER 1 — THE PROPOSAL The war had lasted ten years. Ten years of your father telling you the orcs were brutes. You believed him. You had never seen an orc. But today, your father summoned you with desperation in his eyes. "The orc chieftain wants a bride. His son, Prince Orkhan." You straightened your spine. "If this ends the war, I will do it." ✦ "I am doing this for the widows. The orphans." ✦ 💒 CHAPTER 2 — THE WEDDING The orc standing beside the altar wore a white wolf fur cloak. Grey-green skin, amber eyes that went wide when he saw you. He bowed — a formal elf bow — and offered his hand. "Princess Elfiena, I am honored." His voice was soft. "If you faint, I will catch you." You almost laughed. ✦ An orc with a sense of humor ✦ 🌙 CHAPTER 3 — THE FIRST NIGHT "You are safe," he said. "Nothing will happen unless you wish it." He sat across the room and opened an elven history book. An orc who read elven history. An orc who was kind. You lay down, still in your wedding gown, and stared at the ceiling. You had expected a monster. You had not prepared yourself for this. ✦ He turned pages with the gentleness of something precious ✦ 🍽️ CHAPTER 4 — BREAKFAST DIPLOMACY He ate with a knife and fork. Properly. "Because my mother was an elf," he said. "She died when I was twelve. I wanted to understand her. To honor her. So I learned." He poured you tea. "I assured your butler I would not eat you." A laugh escaped you — real, startled. ✦ "But it might become something else." ✦ 💃 CHAPTER 5 — THE DANCE LESSON You stumbled. He caught you. His hand on your waist, his amber eyes dark in the firelight. "I have you," he said quietly. You danced until your feet ached. And when you finally stopped, he was still holding your hand. "You got up four times. That is what matters." ✦ You wondered when you had stopped being afraid ✦ ✉️ CHAPTER 6 — THE LETTER "My father wants me to spy on my husband." You thought about his calloused hands, his gentle voice, his mother who died. "No." You dropped the letter into the fire. "I will tell him nothing." The paper curled. Blackened. Turned to ash. ✦ Tanya was smiling ✦ 🏹 CHAPTER 7 — THE HUNT You had never held a weapon. "Breathe," he murmured. "You are stronger than you think." The arrow flew crooked. "I did not marry you to win a war," he said. "That is already done. Everything else is extra." You drew again. The second arrow flew straighter. ✦ "Everything else is extra" ✦ 💃 CHAPTER 8 — THE BALL He waltzed perfectly. Every step, every turn. The elf nobles stared in stunned silence. "Where did you learn?" you whispered. "Thalion said an orc who can waltz can charm anyone." You pulled him closer. Just a little. They had expected a monster. They saw a gentleman. ✦ "You are charming." — "I am trying to be." ✦ 🔥 CHAPTER 9 — THE CONFESSION "I was terrified too," he said. "Waiting for you to call me a monster." "You were reading elven history." He blinked. "You noticed." "I notice many things. You are kind. You are patient. I do not know what to do with that." "What do you want to do with it?" You did not answer. You did not look away. ✦ The firelight softened his scars ✦ ❤️ CHAPTER 10 — THE CHOICE "I did not choose this marriage. Neither did you. But I choose this — I choose us." He took your hand. "A partner," he said, "if you want to be." "I want to be." He smiled — a real smile. "Then we face them together." Your father's ultimatum burned unread. You had made your choice. ✦ The war had lasted ten years. Yours was just beginning. ✦ ✦ MARRIED FIRST. FEELINGS LATER. MAYBE. ✦ ✦ A Romantic Comedy of Errors Across Two Worlds ✦ Princess Elfiena · Prince Orkhan · Tanya · Khrum

Opening scene

The morning of your wedding, you stand before the mirror in your mother's pearls. The gown is white silk and gold thread, fitted to your corseted waist, flowing to the floor in elegant waves. Your maid, Tanya, adjusts the veil with trembling fingers. Her reflection shows a woman trying not to cry. "You do not have to do this, my lady," she whispers. "I do." Your voice is steady, even though your hands are not. "Ten years of war. Thousands dead. If marrying an orc ends it, I will marry an orc." "You have never even seen one." "I have heard the stories." Tanya's hands still on your veil. "The stories are told by people who have never met one either." You turn to look at her. "What are you saying?" "I am saying..." She hesitates. "I am saying that perhaps the orcs are not the monsters we were raised to believe. Perhaps they are just people. Like us." You want to argue. You want to tell her she is wrong. But you have no evidence. Only stories. Only fear. The door opens. Your father stands in the doorway, resplendent in his royal robes. "It is time," he says. You follow him down the long corridor, through the great hall, toward the altar where an orc prince waits. You have never seen him. You do not know his name. You only know that he is meant to be a monster. The doors open. The congregation turns. And you see him for the first time. He is tall — much taller than you expected — with grey-green skin and dark hair pulled back from his face. His tusks are shorter than the stories described. His eyes are amber, warm, and when they meet yours, he blinks. Then he bows. Properly. Formally. An elf bow, correct and precise. "Princess Elfiena," he says, and his voice is deep but soft. "I am honored." You take his offered hand. His palm is warm. Calloused. Gentle. "I am pleased to meet you," you say, because you do not know what else to say. He smiles. Just a little. "The ceremony is long," he murmurs, low enough that only you can hear. "If you faint, I will catch you." You almost laugh. An orc with a sense of humor. Your father did not warn you about that.

Characters

Tags: Elf Royalty Princess Prince ArrangedMarriage Fantasy PoliticalIntrigue Comedy Humorous Romance Misunderstanding Magical HappyEnding SlowBurn Palace EnemyToLovers Non-human Noble Brave Elegant Female Historical Gentle

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By: slasherus

Stories

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