3. Alessia
Ijust wanted one moment of peace before my training session. One.
I’ve been in meetings all morning trying to get myself established as the new authority in Celestia—day one paperwork, meet and greets, etcetera—and I’m downright exhausted. I haven’t eaten, rested, or taken a moment to breathe. I hoped a visit to the secret garden would help calm my mind and give me a second to relax.
Of course, just as I arrive, I turn around at the sound of someone walking in, and there’s Aurelio, giddy as a child on the morning of the Winter Solstice. His eyes are brighter than ever as he looks at the magical secret garden behind me.
Mysecret garden.
“Oh, hell no!” I groan.
Aurelio’s eyes fly wide when he sees me glaring at him. Then, his face goes three shades paler as I storm over to him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Get out!” I snap.
“I just wanted to find the secret garden! That’s all!” Aurelio explains, holding his hands up in innocence. “I wasn’t trying to find you!”
“I don’t care! Get out!”
Aurelio winces. I realize I’m standing way too close to him to be shouting this loud, so I take a step back and turn away instead, balling my hands into fists at my sides.
“This is my quiet place. Go find somewhere else to be alone,” I grumble.
I take maybe three steps before Aurelio’s voice halts me in my tracks for the second time in twenty-four hours.
“You like to be alone, too, then.”
My whole body tenses up. “So what if I do?”
“Oh, that’s not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong. That’s just one thing we have in common, that’s all.”
When I calm myself enough to turn and look at him, his hopeful expression doesn’t piss me off this time; in fact, it almost stirs up a little guilt in my gut. Those beautiful brown eyes shine so brightly when he looks at me, and to see myself reflected in them…I can’t help but be intrigued. Most people look at me with fear or weariness in their eyes.
Aurelio looks at me like a schoolboy asking me to be his friend on the first day of class. He doesn’t see me as a queen. He sees me as any other woman he’s met, and I don’t know whether or not to be mad. He’s my husband, and he shouldn’t put me on the same level as other women anymore, even if we don’t have feelings for each other.
It’s new. It’s a bit confusing, and a little different, but I like it. I like it a lot more than the way everyone else treats me, anyway.
“Come with me,” I say.
Aurelio gasps. “Really? I get to stay?”
“I’d rather show you around than leave you here to wreck the place,” I mumble, ignoring his over dramatic eye roll that follows.
I walk up the mildly sloped path and into the central plaza of the garden. Since this place was meant to be kept an ancient secret, the garden is a small outcrop on the northern side of the palace’s mountain, easily hidden from view by prying eyes. A dome of spellglass covers the entire area, allowing in light but protecting it from inclement weather.
A designated palace servant comes in to tend the garden with water and earth magic, and that servant passes down the role to the next generation every thirty years or so. The only reason I found this closely guarded secret is because the current garden servant, who happens to be Gemma’s daughter, took a liking to me, and pointed me in the direction of the book that leads to this place.
“I’m guessing you found this place because of that book?” I sigh.
Aurelio’s smile broadens. “I certainly did. It looked quite worn, even for an older book. I assume you’ve read it many times?”
“Why do you care?” I grumble.
“I would like to get to know you, Alessia. We’re married, after all.”
He has a point, but I still don’t care. I married him to fulfill a duty, and he’s supposed to serve a specific purpose. Now, instead of staying out of my way, he’s stepping on my toes, annoying me, and embarrassing me. I wish I could fire him already, but that’s not how marriage works. He’s not my employee, as much as I wish it were the truth.
“We have plenty of time to do that later. I’m busy for the next decade or so. Anyway,” I continue, stopping at the edge of the plaza, “this is the central plaza of the gardens. You’ll find herbs to your left, ancient plants to your right, and magical or blessed plants directly in front of you.”
I study Aurelio carefully as he takes in his surroundings. His eyes sparkle with that same child-like wonder as he stares at the lush, raised beds of herbs swishing in a magical wind; the towering trees shaking their bows overhead; and the myriad of exotic-looking trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs, and grasses before us. A shiny golden dust flickers through the air here, so when the sun shines, it envelops this place in a beautiful golden haze.
Unfortunately, that means Aurelio himself is also glowing, which makes him far too attractive for his own good. I struggle to tear my gaze away from the beautiful sight of his skin glowing copper-gold, his eyes turning a stunning hazel. With only an open button-up covering his upper body, I can see every one of his abs, every curve of his arms, and the definition in his chest. He appears as one of our gods come to Earth.
Stop staring, stop staring, stop staring—!
To my surprise, instead of running off to inspect the plants like I thought he would, Aurelio plops down on the worn cobblestone pathway, stretches out his arms, then lays down with a sigh, closing his eyes against the bright sunlight. My train of thought comes to a screeching halt as he speaks again.
“Now, this is what I imagined royalty feels like,” he says quietly.
I stare at him in confusion. “What are you doing?”
“My favorite thing to do: absolutely nothing.”
“Doesn’t that hurt your back?”
“Come down here and find out for yourself.”
I frown, contemplating his teasing tone, but disregard it as his playful attitude. I lay back on the cobblestone and find it does, in fact, hurt a little. But it’s not as sharp a pain as I thought it would be. With the stones worn down, much of the soil has compacted between them, so it’s just soft enough to lie on, and sturdy enough to be therapeutic on my back. I feel some of the tension in my muscles from this morning let go as I exhale. With the warm sunlight on my skin, the hum of nearby honey bees at work, and the scent of fresh-grown herbs on the breeze, I feel like I could take a long nap right here on the ground and wake up just as refreshed as I would sleeping in my bed.
“This is…actually kind of nice,” I admit.
“See? You wouldn’t have taken my word for it.”
“Maybe I would have. You don’t know that,” I scoff.
Aurelio shrugs. “Experiencing it for yourself is much better, though, isn’t it?”
I want to fight him on anything he says, but I concede the point. Letting out a disappointed exhale, I sit up, poking Aurelio with my shoe.
“Get up. I’m not letting you lie around all day. We’ve got things to do and people to meet.”
Aurelio groans. “Why? I’m having a rough first day.”
“You are most certainly not having a rough first day. You’ve done nothing productive since you woke up. You should be accompanying me everywhere as the future king of Celestia.”
“Who said I had to be productive?” Aurelio points out.
“I do. And as queen of Celestia, you have to follow my orders.”
Aurelio sits up, deadpanning at me. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. And even if you don’t accompany me to meetings as much as you should, I need you to design a public opinion campaign meant to win over the trust of the citizens. Just because we’re succeeding my father’s generation doesn’t mean we automatically gain all the trust they earned. We have our own work to do.”
Aurelio folds his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to.”
“You’re going to.”
“You can’t make me.”
My skin prickling with irritation, I grab Aurelio’s wrist, and yank him to his feet before dragging him out of the garden.
“I absolutely can,” I say pointedly.
Aurelio struggles to get away, but can’t break my grip. I hear him chuckle quietly to himself.
“Wow. What they say about imperial humans is true, then.”
I stop dead in my tracks. “What was that?”
“Oh, it’s just that you’re exactly as strong as they say you are. I didn’t expect it, that’s all.”
“What, are you saying you expected me to be weak just because I’m a woman?”
“No, not at all.” Aurelio beams innocently. “I just thought I’d be stronger than you are regardless.”
Alright, now my blood’s boiling.
Gripping Aurelio a little harder than is necessary, I pull him closer so that he looks me directly in the eyes. He freezes up when our faces are only inches apart, his lips parting in shock.
“Listen here, Prince Aurelio,” I growl. “You’re married into the royal family now. You don’t get a vacation just because you’re royalty. There are people to serve, children to feed, and military defenses to be tested. I don’t know why you think you can just sit around and do nothing all day, but it’s total bullcrap, and it won’t fly with me. You’re going to use all the talents you have to make the people happy. Got it?”
Aurelio’s eyes dart to my lips, then back up to my eyes. I hate the way the simple gesture makes my heart thump uncomfortably in my chest.
“Damn, and here I thought I’d scored the position of a lifetime,” he laments. “So long, days of restful peace and quiet.”
Disgust curdles in my gut. “Did you seriously try to use this as an opportunity to slack off the rest of your life?”
Aurelio laughs, his eyes flickering to my lips again. “Not exactly, but with your attitude, that was the best I was going to get, wasn’t it?”
What is he trying to pull?
His eyes remain on my lips, and it sends my heart into pandemonium. Did he seriously hope for love? He had to have known what he was getting into if he’s an aristocrat! He probably planned to fool me into thinking he was useless just so he could take a backseat as the prince, as most second-rate aristocratic pieces of garbage do.
But if that’s his plan…why is he looking at me like that?
I lock my gaze on his. The tension between us is palpable. The pressure in my chest is unbearable, like an invisible hand is trying to pull me into Aurelio. The depths of those brown eyes hold a thousand thoughts and a thousand more feelings, none of which I can pinpoint before it disappears, replaced by another whim. The only steady sparkle in that gaze is a pure love for life and all that may happen in it. The spontaneity of his thoughts and feelings is written all over his face.
So, the way he’s looking at me? It’s probably a passing whim.
My lip curls in disgust. And to think, he almost got my hopes up.
I release my hold on him, shoving him away as hard as I can. My breath coming in slight pants, I turn away before he can see my face, which has to be pink by now.
“My attitude is fine. I have the ambition I was raised to have with an iron will to match it. A queen’s duty is to her people, even if her people regard her as cruel for conducting her duties accordingly. Farmers must work so we can eat; merchants must sell inventory so we can clothe ourselves and heal our wounds; adventurers must work so merchants can survive; aristocrats and royals must work to protect their people and preserve the economic system.”
I shoot a glare at Aurelio. “Don’t you dare think for one second you may abandon your duties. Being next in line for the throne is a great honor. Act like it.”
As if he’s trying to get himself slapped, Aurelio rolls his eyes at me, laughs, and approaches me once more—going as far as to put his hand on my shoulder.
“Alessia, I didn’t want to be royalty. I just wanted to be me. You determined this role for me. If you want me to play a part, then conduct the show, director.”
The way he looks at me is charming and more powerful than a love potion. My whole body quivers from the faint touch of his hand on my shoulder. My heart beats wildly in my chest, and my eyes automatically dart to his lips, arched so perfectly in a devilish smile. It draws me in closer. There are only a few inches between us; I could wipe that smile off his face if I simply leaned forward and closed the distance…
But in the end, my better judgment has me tossing away his hand. I know he’s trying to manipulate me. Guys like him are a dime a dozen; I’m standing my ground, no matter how much he tempts me.
“You don’t want to play the part? Fine. I’ll make a deal with you,” I offer. “If you can beat me in the training session, you can do whatever you want. If I beat you, you do whatever I say, forever.”
Aurelio lets out a laugh, extending a hand to me. “Deal. I’ll see you this afternoon, three o’clock sharp, then.”
I shake his hand, hating the way it feels like sparks dance between our fingers. I need to get this man under control, and fast, or I might lose myself in this constant struggle for power, neglecting my duties as queen in the process.
I’m going to win this. I have to. For my kingdom…and for my sanity.