The Mirrored Princess

Prologue

As tradition would dictate, the king, the high priestess, and the kingdom’s two best herbalists—one for the mother and one for the babe-—were all present as the Fae queen labored to bring the heir apparent into the Fae world of Castara.

After an especially brutal birth, the new prince entered the world just as the full moon crested the night sky, marking the imminent change of reign upon the prince reaching his majority.

Exhausted from the pain, the queen collapsed and tuned out all the noise other than the wails of her new son.

Her murmured words, stifled by the chaos of the room, went unheard as a tear slid down her cheek.

The priestess and the herbalist for the new babe moved to the side of the room to begin the birthing rituals.

The king, pulled between his queen and his newly birthed son, ultimately went to her side upon noticing her distress.

“He looks healthy,” he whispered into her ear while he stroked her hair, his attention remaining on his son who was being fussed over.

“It isn’t done,” she said as she turned her face away, hiding the tears that streaked down her face.

The king’s eyebrows furrowed as he shifted his focus to her and then to the other herbalist, who had gone unnaturally still next to them, color draining from her face.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, coming to his full Fae height. The tips of his ears quivered.

“I-I don’t…” The herbalist’s wide eyes shot to the other herbalist, who left the babe and hurried over to them. The second herbalist began applying pressure to the queen’s abdomen, her features becoming increasingly more alarmed.

The king questioned the two in front of him. “Has the princess been born? Should we get the herbalists from the other room?”

“It isn’t done,” the queen repeated quietly to no one in particular, shaking her head, eyes squeezed tight.

Everyone froze for one more breath before she cried out in agony, sending the room into greater pandemonium. The high priestess, who swaddled the new prince in her arms, watched as everyone else tried to fix whatever was ailing the queen.

Through her suffering, the queen’s broken words rip through the confusion. “There will be another!”

Shock washed over everyone’s faces, but there was no time to dissect her words since a second babe was in fact coming.

A quarter past the rise of the moon, a second son was born into the Vaylor family. The first known set of Fae twins.