Chapter 4 Rose
ROSE
We were dismissed from the throne room so that the two kings could discuss the details of their alliance further.
As soon as the doors shut, Lily grabbed my arm and dragged me into a chamber off to the side, while our other sisters followed at our heels. “Rose, what have you done?” she asked.
“What I had to do.” I turned toward the rest of them. “We all know it had to be me.”
Jasmine took my hand in hers. “I’d be happy to take your place. You don’t need to do this.”
Her face was so kind, and it broke my heart knowing I wouldn’t see it every day anymore. I gave her hand a squeeze. “Yes, I do.”
“Maybe he’ll teach you magic,” Iris piped up.
I smiled at her youthful exuberance, which I was truly going to miss. “Perhaps he will.”
“He is rather handsome,” Violet said, though her tone was entirely practical. “You could certainly do worse, as political marriages go. Your children will be attractive, at least, and could possess strong fae magic.”
Children? I hadn’t considered them when I’d struck this bargain. Or that Raith and I would soon be consummating our marriage. The thought sent a rush of heat through me, not entirely unwanted.
“Not to mention, you’ll be queen of one of the Six Kingdoms,” Camellia said, and I noticed a sword hidden on her back under her dress. “You’ll have King Raith’s ear, and Ilidan’s entire army at your command.”
“Assuming my future husband listens to me at all,” I said. “He seems rather…unchangeable.”
“You’re the most stubborn girl I know,” Lily said, with a proud smile. “You’ll make sure to get your way.”
I laughed. “You may be right about that.”
“Besides, it’s a good sign he wants to end the war,” she continued, her smile dropping. “Our people can’t last much longer. Especially with the threat from Mesner rising.”
“Enough of that,” Dahlia said, as she stepped from the shadows.
“We have a wedding to plan in only a few hours and we’re all going to have to work together to make sure it’s a celebration to remember.
Jasmine, you’re on flowers and decorations.
Camellia, you’ll oversee the guards and security for the event.
Violet, research wedding traditions in Ilidan and help organize the ceremony.
Iris, you’re in charge of food for the wedding feast. And Lily and Rose, you’re with me.
” She glanced between the six of us and clapped her hands. “Let’s get to work.”
The others rushed off to attend to their tasks, which were each perfect for their personalities. When they were out of earshot, Dahlia turned to me with an enigmatic smile. “Now then. There’s something I need to give you. Lily should see it as well.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Follow me.”
She led us through the cold stone halls of the castle, deep into an underground passage that smelled of mold and flickered with fading torchlight.
I wasn’t sure where we were going until Dahlia stopped to touch a random spot on the wall, which opened a secret tunnel with a groan of stone and steel.
It seemed she knew of places in the castle that even the King didn’t.
“What is this room?” Lily asked, as we followed our aunt inside, ducking to avoid hitting our heads on the low entrance.
Dahlia took us through the cramped tunnel, then produced a key and unlocked an old wooden door at the end. “A place where I keep things I don’t want anyone else to find.”
The door creaked open and we stepped into a hidden room full of treasures.
Dusty chests, weathered books, and other assorted objects filled the small space and looked as though they hadn’t been disturbed in some time.
I spotted an old sword inlaid with a star ruby, a bow etched with silver runes, and a small cobweb-covered box that faintly glowed.
“This is where I kept your mother’s spell book all those years, so your father would never find it,” Dahlia said, as she moved toward a large bronze chest in the corner. “Fellina instructed me to give it to you when you turned fifteen. But that wasn’t all she left you.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, as I glanced around the strange room. “Why would she do that?”
Dahlia opened the chest with a loud creak. “Fellina was a powerful fae mage, as you know, but one thing that is rarely spoken of anymore is that she had an affinity for fortune runes.”
“Fortune runes,” Lily said, at my side. “As in, magic that predicts the future?”
“Indeed. Your mother saw her fate long before it came to pass, as well as both of yours.” Dahlia got a distant look in her eyes, but then shook it off. “She saw mine as well.”
“If that’s true, then she knew…” My voice trailed off as emotion filled my chest.
She rested a hand on my shoulder. “Yes. She knew she would die giving birth to you.”
“Why didn’t she do anything to stop it? Or prevent it?
” I’d lived my entire life with the guilt of killing my mother and the sadness over never knowing her, along with the hatred in my father’s eyes whenever he looked at me.
He blamed me for her death, and the absence of her presence had always weighed heavily on my shoulders.
If she’d known it would happen, wouldn’t she want to spare me from that, and from growing up without a mother?
“She didn’t want to risk altering your future,” Dahlia said.
“Believe me, I pleaded with her for months. Fellina was my best friend and I begged her to change her fate when she told me she was going to die in childbirth. But she refused, and in her last breath she was content. She considered it her greatest honor to give birth to two smart, capable daughters she’d seen would both become queens one day.
And she told me it was my duty to raise you and your sisters as best I could. ”
Lily wiped at her eyes. “Father never told us any of this.”
“No, of course not. After Fellina died, Balsam was bereft for months, and when he decided to marry again, he ordered everything of your mother’s destroyed. I managed to save a few things and stored them here where he would never find them.”
“It’s a wonder he didn’t have me killed as well,” I muttered.
Dahlia’s face softened. “He would never do that. Yes, you remind him of his loss, but you remind him of her love too. He does care for you, in his own way.”
I wasn’t sure of that, but perhaps by marrying King Raith and saving our kingdom from further bloodshed I would earn a tiny bit of his respect. That would have to be enough.
Dahlia reached into the chest and drew out a long, white gown of sparkling silk encrusted with diamonds. “One of the things I saved from his purge was your mother’s wedding gown. She told me to give it to you, Rose. For your wedding day.”
My throat tightened at the sight of the beautiful dress that had once been worn by our mother. “I can’t accept that. It should be Lily’s, not mine.”
Dahlia shook her head. “She has something for Lily’s wedding as well, when the time comes. Don’t worry about that.”
“It’s meant to be yours,” Lily said. “Besides, Father would never allow me to wear her dress.”
“But he’ll let me?” I asked.
“He won’t have a choice,” Dahlia said. “King Raith demanded the wedding be held tomorrow and we don’t have a lot of other options.
” She raised the gown up to my body, then had me hold it there while she searched for something in the room.
“You’re about the same size she was, so I know this will fit perfectly. ”
She drew a long sheet of fabric off a tall mirror, sending dust across the room and making us all cough. I caught sight of my reflection as I held the gown up to myself, and tears filled my eyes.
“It’s perfect,” Lily said, pressing a hand to her chest.
I nodded, unable to speak with all the emotions coursing through me.
I’d thought the spell book the only thing left of my mother’s, but now I would be wearing her gown at my own wedding.
Not only that, she’d purposefully left it for me, knowing we’d be in this situation.
As I held the gown to my chest, I felt closer to her than ever before, and more confident in my decision to marry Raith.
If Mother had wanted this future for me, it must not be too bad. What else had she seen?
“You look just like Fellina.” Dahlia gathered me in a hug, wrapping me in her warm arms. “You girls are the daughters that Garon and I could never have. I love you all like my own children, and I’m so proud of you. I know your mother would be too.”
My throat tightened as I clung to her. She was the closest thing we’d all had to a mother too. “Thank you. For everything.”
When she let me go, Lily immediately grabbed me in a tight hug of her own. “It should be me marrying that horrible man,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m supposed to be the one protecting you.”
“We both know it had to be me. You have to stay here and become queen, and the others have their own paths to follow. I’ve always known I’d be married off to suit Father’s needs, although I never expected it to be to King Raith, of all people.
” I pulled back just enough to give Lily a brave smile.
My older sister by only one year, but sometimes it felt like ten.
She’d always taken care of me, but now it was my turn.
“Besides, I’ve long dreamed of exploring new lands. Now I’ll get my chance.”
Lily’s eyes were wet with unshed tears. “I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t want you to leave.”
I didn’t want to leave either, despite my words.
Even if I’d always known this day would come, the thought of leaving behind my family and my home was hard to accept.
Especially since I’d be going to live in a kingdom that had long been our enemy, with a strange, brooding man as my husband.
But I would agree to it again, a hundred times over, if it meant protecting my kingdom and my family.
I took Lily’s hands and squeezed them. “Soon we’ll both be queens of one of the Six Kingdoms, and we’ll be able to bring lasting peace to our lands. Together we will change the entire world for the better. Just like our mother would have wanted.”
I turned back to the mirror and gazed at my reflection, noting the fear in my eyes despite my bold words.
There were so many unknowns—what marriage to Raith would be like, how I would fare in his kingdom, whether his people would even accept me—but I would face those challenges as they came.
I only prayed to the Sun and Moon I could live up to my mother’s dreams and be the queen she’d hoped I would become.