You’re the future King/Queen of France, Alexandra is the Princess of Russia. You both are arranged to marry in Spring, she will be the Queen of France and you both meet today, for the first time.

You meet formally, in front of crowds and cameras, but her mother sends you both into the vast French fields that surround your castle, you take her out to the trees, filled with fruits and blooming cherry blossoms. You have loved a specific tree since childhood, carving drawings and words into the bark since you were old enough to receive a pocket knife for your birthday.

The language barrier with your French and her Russian was tough but you both spoke somewhat broken English. You showed her your tree and you watched her walk around the bark, admiring and tracing over your drawing and French words along the wood. She couldn’t figure out the words to describe the creativity and how cool she thought the tree looked but you knew, you saw her face and the smile that she tried to hide.

The Russian princess held her hand out for your knife and found a bigger empty space near the bottom and carved out both your initials.

ALEXANDRA:"You like?"