Disclaimer: I am not creative enough to think up these characters so I borrowed them.

*Note* This may seem a little AU at first. Cut me some slack. I'm a beginner.

Medieval Times - Part I

            She ran.

            Her footfalls fell silently except for the occasional crunch of leaves. Tears streamed down her face, causing her to run blindly through the courtyard. "This can't be happening," she thought. "This is not how things were supposed to be! How could it turn to this?" The tears soon turned to sobs and she wearily sunk to the ground, her lungs unable to keep up any longer.  She pulled her knees tightly to her chest, trying to quiet the noise her crying was making. She didn't notice as two arms enveloped her.

            "Chere, I'm sorry."

            "They're gone, Remy. Gone. Kurt, Katherine, Logan, Ororo. My only family! And now I'm on the run." She buried her face in his chest as he tried to soothe her.

            "I'll protect you, Rogue, I swear it."

            "How? I'm a sorceress; you're a prince. You have your duties; I'm a wanted woman! There is a bounty already on my head no doubt. What can we do?"

            He tilted her head up so that his piercing red and black eyes could look into her deep green ones. "I love you. I don't care what they think or the fact that they are trying to drive you out of our kingdom. My father has known you and cared for you from the day your parents died. He understands our love, I'm sure of it. Why else would he go through all the trouble? We will be together and you will be safe. Duke Xavier wants power and the only way he can get it is through me and that's never going to happen."

            Duke Xavier had once been a loyal and faithful subject of King Jean-Luc Lebeau. Or so everyone thought. Remy quickly discovered that the man wanted nothing more than his father's kingdom. Since Remy was five years old, Xavier had been trying to betroth his daughter, Jean, to him but his father repeatedly told him that Remy was already spoken for. No one knew who the bride to be was going to be, to ensure her safety and Remy's. King Lebeau was very powerful and had many enemies. He was loved by his people and detested by those he had dethroned. He controlled the most powerful army in the world and they had pledged their lives to the kingdom. All the power than Jean-Luc possessed mesmerized Xavier and he wanted a big part of it.

            In the summer of Remy's thirteenth year of age he was sent to the one of the friendly kingdoms neighboring his own while his father took his yearly tour of the kingdom. There he was to learn the ways of the warrior and hone his skills as a fighter every year until his eighteenth birthday. Upon his arrival at Master Logan's, he was surprised and delighted to see that he was not he only one there. Another boy, Kurt, also thirteen years of age, was there along with his eleven-year-old sister, Rogue. Logan and Ororo's daughter, Katherine, was also going to be learning along side Rogue. Logan preferred to teach two boys at a time so that they would be able to spar together. Logan's wife, Ororo, was to help Rogue and Katherine learn the way of the magic arts. Despite having to fight each other on a daily basis, Kurt and Remy became fast friends, which was a good thing since they were rooming together, and Rogue was quickly worming her way into Remy's heart. He realized early on that Amanda only had eyes for Kurt and the two were betrothed anyway. He also learned that, in addition to his fighting skills, Kurt was well on his way to becoming an accomplished mage. He had begun his three-year training program with Ororo at the age of ten, and then continued his training with his father, the Great Mage Eric Lehnsherr. Rogue had started her lessons last year. Eric had wanted Kurt to watch over his sister while away from home so that was why he was training with Logan. Remy enjoyed the time he spent with Rogue, which was often since Kurt spent much of his own free time with Katherine, and soon found himself regretting that he was already spoken for.  The end of summer had come much to fast for them all, and Remy soon found himself taking the unwanted journey home. When he arrived, he silently sent out prayers of thanks that his father would not return for another week. He needed time to get over not seeing Rogue everyday. However, by the time the king returned, Remy was still not over her and became quite nervous when his father quickly summoned him to his study so that he could hear all about his training. Remy recounted his adventures, carefully leaving out all mentions of Rogue, as he did not want his father to become suspicious of his feelings. Needless to say, Remy was quite surprised when his father brought her name into the conversation.

            "I understand that Lady Ororo was training another young girl by the name of Rogue, am I correct?"

            Remy unsuccessfully tried to hide his shock, to the amusement of his father. "Yes, she was."

            "Tell me, Remy, in complete honesty, what did you think of her?"

            Remy knew that he had never, ever been able to blatantly lie to his father so he had no choice but the truth. "She was very," he looked down at his hands, "beautiful." He looked up at his father slowly and was heartened to see the encouraging smile on his face. "She has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen! They remind me of the green jewels in your crown. Some people might think that her hair is quite odd since it is a deep brown with white forelocks but I think it makes her unique. We talked for hours after our training was finished and she didn't think my eyes were scary! She made me feel special for having them instead. Her brother, Kurt, and I are good friends now and he didn't mind all the time I spent with her. But," he looked down again, "I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was already spoken for." Remy heard his father sigh and quickly shut his eyes. 'I'm in trouble now,' he thought.

            "Remy, look at me." Remy raised his head and opened his eyes. "I didn't know how you felt about being arranged into marriage but with all of the wars at the time of your birth, I could not afford to trust many people in the future. So, when your mother found out she was with child, that is when I started traveling the kingdom, searching out the great seer, Destiny. You see, Destiny is my twin sister that no one knows of. Her ability to see the future makes her a target to all those who would want to try and take our kingdom. When she told me of her visions we traveled to land of Lehnsherr to see the Great Mage." Jean-Luc saw the realization dawn on his son's face. "Yes, I went to see Kurt and Rogue's father. He was a great friend of your grandfather's and served as the chief advisor no one knew about before your grandfather was killed. Destiny foresaw him and his wife having a daughter. I knew that he was someone I could trust so I asked for his consent." Jean-Luc looked at his son who was sitting on the edge of his seat. He took a deep breath, more for effect rather than necessity. "He said-"