Twenty Seven
A tear splattered on the page, smudging the ink.
“No, no, no,” I muttered, lifting my gaze from the diary. “I can’t be crying!”
Reaching into the vanity drawer, I retrieved a handkerchief and dabbed the corners of my eyes.
Two weeks had passed since that fateful day in the throne room in Aubrielle when everything had changed.
I was about to return to that place. The place where I had slain the Fae king and changed the course of history.
The prophecy had turned out to be true, only not in the way everyone had expected.
The world as we knew it had ceased to exist, but I had ushered in a new world—a better world—where Emeraldia and Aubrielle would coexist in peace and balance.
Closing the diary with a heavy sigh, I turned away from the mirror and looked around my room.
I felt like a different person from the one who had left for Zalie over two months ago, but had I truly changed?
I had been as heartbroken then as I was now.
In a way, Adrian’s betrayal had cut deeper than Gideon’s because he knew about my past trauma.
He knew, yet he had chosen to hide who he was from me anyway.
Maybe if he had told me the truth, we could have found a way forward together.
Now, we would never know if everything could have unfolded differently.
Even though dwelling on what could have been was pointless, I hadn’t been able to stop myself from constantly replaying the past two months in my head.
Could I have known somehow that Adrian was hiding things from me if I had paid closer attention?
Was that why a shadow had crept across his face when I had told him that I would always want him?
Because he had known that I would change my mind once the truth came out?
Had I changed my mind? I hadn’t seen him in two weeks, but my heart still longed for him; my body still longed to be near him.
“Because I’m foolish.” I shook my head in disappointment.
Before I could spiral deeper into my self-chastising thoughts, a knock drew my attention to the door. My mother walked in a moment later, resplendent in an emerald-green gown and her bejeweled crown.
“It’s almost time,” she said as she closed the door behind her. When she turned around, I noticed that she was holding a small black box. “You look stunning.” Her eyes misted over as she took me in.
I suddenly felt like a little girl in her presence. I don’t want to do this, and I don’t want to leave. I wanted to tell her. I kept my mouth shut, but even though I didn’t utter the words, she must have read them on my face.
“Oh, Sunshine,” she crooned, coming closer. “There is no need for that look. I know this is not what you wanted, but it’s not truly an arranged marriage. You and Adrian know each other.”
“Do we, though?” I challenged, rising to my feet from the cushioned stool before the vanity.
My mother didn’t reply. Instead, she set down the box she’d been holding and clasped my shoulders to gently turn me around to face the mirror.
“Look at you,” she said softly. “You have found a way to mend our broken magic.”
“If only I could find a way to mend my broken heart,” I said grimly, staring at my reflection.
My ivory gown was a masterpiece, hand-sewn by the best seamstresses, who had worked tirelessly on it in the past two weeks.
The strapless corset hugged my waist and flowed into an elegant skirt with an endless train.
Gossamer lace sleeves were attached to the bodice.
They started below my shoulders and ran all the way down to my wrists.
A sparkling lace overlay covered the entire dress, displaying the most exquisite design.
Subtle shimmering vines were stitched into the fabric, using silver and gold threads.
They symbolized the union of two kingdoms—silver for Aubrielle and gold for Emeraldia.
“Oh, this is lovely,” my mother said, gingerly running her fingertips over the delicate blue flowers woven into my hair. Thea had pulled the top half of my locks up, braiding it into a loose crown on the back of my head. The bottom half was curled and left cascading down around my bare shoulders.
“Thea thought it would be a nice touch since silver and blue are the colors of Aubrielle.”
“I agree, and you should also have something for Emeraldia.” She reached for the box on the vanity.
When she opened it, my gaze landed on a dazzling necklace with a pear-shaped emerald in the middle.
It came with matching earrings, and while I put those on, my mother clasped the necklace behind my neck. “There. Now you look like a queen.”
“I may look like a queen, but I don’t feel like one,” I confessed.
“One day, you will, and until that day, you pretend.”
“Pretend?” I turned around to face her.
“Yes, my dear. I will not be there to guide you, but I can give you my advice. Every day when you rise, look in the mirror and tell your reflection, ‘I am the queen’. Don your best gown before you leave your room. Stand tall, head held high. Do that every day until you believe it.”
“What if the day when I believe it never comes?”
“It will,” she assured me. “Now let’s get you married.”
“To the one who lied to me.”
“His feelings for you were not a lie. You will find your way back to each other.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“I do.”
A knock on the door interrupted our conversation.
“Emelin, are you ready?” Thea asked when she walked in.
She was going to glimmer me to Castle Argent for the wedding.
Lady May would glimmer my parents, and Mirielle, who was also a Fae, would take my brother.
All of Emeraldia had been invited to the ceremony and the coronation, but only a few had decided to attend.
Most didn’t feel it would be safe to travel to Tardor, the capital of Aubrielle, for the occasion.
They were still wary about the Fae, as the old beliefs cultivated over one hundred years were not so easily erased.
My father had revealed the truth about the wards and the weakening magic to everyone two weeks ago after he and I had returned from Tardor.
While most had been shocked to learn about the barrier, they hadn’t been surprised to learn about the waning magic as they had suspected that something was wrong.
My father hoped that after I became queen, Emeraldians and Fae could start rebuilding the relationship that had been severed a century ago.
Both nations held their breath waiting for the wedding—for the proof that the newfound peace would last and become the new way of life moving forward.
“Emelin?” Thea asked again, pulling me from my thoughts. “Ready?” I wasn’t, but I nodded anyway. “Adrian has your chambers prepared at the castle, and I’ve filled them with everything that I thought you might want or need, but is there anything you would like to bring with you?”
I quickly looked around my room again. My old life was over. I was leaving my family and everything that I knew behind, moving to a different kingdom, inhabited by cold creatures I barely understood. There was no reason to hold on to the scraps of the old me; they wouldn’t help me in the new life.
“There is only one thing,” I said as I picked up my diary from the vanity.
Thea nodded and walked out. My mother and I followed her into the hallway, where my father, Sebastian, Lady May, and Mirielle were waiting.
“Em, you look beautiful.” Sebastian smiled at me with brotherly admiration.
“You truly do. You make the loveliest bride,” Miri added demurely next to him.
The girl had looked miserable the first time I had seen her after everything had transpired.
She had apologized profusely, telling me that she felt terrible for having to hide the truth.
I had told her I had forgiven her, though I wasn’t sure that was entirely true.
Sebastian had forgiven her for lying to him, and that was all that mattered.
Though Mirielle and Lady May had moved to Castle Argent a week ago, the girl and my brother had resolved to keep seeing each other.
I was envious of their relationship and wished that I could find forgiveness in my heart for Adrian as easily as my brother had found for Miri.
“Thank you,” I told them both.
My father didn’t compliment me. He didn’t say anything at all as he stood dressed in his finest attire, with the hefty, emerald and diamond encrusted crown on top of his head.
“What do you have there?” Lady May nodded at the journal in my hand.
“My diary. Thea, will you please hold on to it for me while I…walk down the aisle?”
“I have a better idea. I’ll drop it off in your room before the ceremony,” Thea replied as I handed her the journal.
“Speaking of the ceremony, it’s about to begin. We have to go,” the Sorceress said as she reached for my parents.
Miri grabbed my brother’s hand at the same time Thea reached for me.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
When I reopened them a few seconds later, I was no longer in the hallway at Claireborne Palace.
I stood a few feet away from the entrance to the throne room at Castle Argent.
The tall, heavy doors were open wide, letting bright light and the hum of a large crowd spill into the hall.
“How are you? Are you dizzy?” Thea asked, still clasping my forearms. After I had assured her that I was steady on my feet, she let go of me.
“I’ll drop the journal off in your chambers and then glimmer to my seat inside the throne room.
I’ll see you there. Oh, one more thing.” She waved her hands toward the train of my dress, and the bunched-up skirt elongated, stretching over the stone floor.
“Now the train will stay perfect for your walk down the aisle. We’ll remove it after the ceremony, so you don’t have to worry about it during the celebration. ”
“Remove it?” My brow furrowed.
“Yes, with magic. We use our powers for far more than tending to plants. You’ll see.” She smiled at me before she disappeared.