Chapter Twenty-Three

Serafina

His bubbling anger and frustration sat like an active volcano in the back of my mind. I had seen his murderous stare as the fairies approached us and the intent to truly kill if the opportunity had risen. Just last week Zander had warned me there was conflict between the two nations, but seeing it in person was daunting.

Even as I soaked in the lilac infused water, relaxing was the furthest thing from my mind as I felt him skulking about.

Once I emerged from the steam-filled washroom the whirlwinds of Leena and Adwin, the seamstress, pushed me in every direction from the vanity to the round platform Adwin had carried in. She hemmed and stitched wherever the dress needed it, with me blindfolded of course.

Stepping out of the gown one last time before the final reveal, I went back to my vanity for Leena to finish my hair. I studied her in the mirror as she brushed and pinned, to then start over again when my hair didn’t fall the way she had envisioned. Eventually she settled on loose curls for my hair and replaced the lotus pin with a smaller silver one that held three jeweled stars with the middle being slightly larger than the other two.

She was so focused and hardly ever looked up at me that it felt as though we had made it back to our usual dynamic. But then I saw it. A deep sadness that she was doing her best to hide. It hurt me as well.

“Will you come with me?”

It hadn’t occurred to me until now that what she was most upset about was my leaving her behind. The brush paused midway down my back as she returned my gaze through the looking glass in surprise.

“Is that what you want, Serafina?”

My lips turned upwards as she visibly fought back a hopeful light in her face. I turned to face her directly.

“I’ll need someone to hold me back when a Demarian soldier makes a sexist remark about my sword skills.”

“Or someone to assist in their burial.” She returned with humor and then bent down to grip me tightly in her arms.

“Of course I’ll go with you. I’ll go with you to the ends of the world if you ask.”

For the final time, I stood on the circular platform blindfolded.

“Alright, moment of truth. Three, two, one!” Adwin counted down and then removed the cloth from my eyes.

Before me stood my mirror from the washroom and in it was a woman I hardly recognized. The bodice of the full ball gown had translucent black lace short sleeves that hung off my shoulders and was shimmering until my waistline. Specks of silver glimmered in the rays of the sun from the window. The silhouette was covered in a delicate tulle that began as a solid silver at the hemline and then slowly broke apart into specks of imitating balls of light and stars rising up towards my waist. So simple and yet it gave wondrous illusions of the night sky.

Adwin then handed me a pair of long black satin gloves and a black mask that had silver gems that mimicked the skirt of the dress.

“You’re a true artist, Adwin!” I said breathlessly, smiling widely at the reflection that continued to stare back at me.

All of the guests had already been herded into the ballroom and seated by the time I met up with the rest of the party in the Entrance Hall. Both the Gavriil and Drakonis families were going to enter together as a united front, which made me wonder who that was supposed to send a message to. Then I thought of Oberron and was reminded of him still promoting his sons despite my already being engaged to Elek.

“I’ll have to keep you close tonight.” Elek smiled as he approached me at the bottom of the stairs.

He did appear dashing in his four-piece outfit with a long midnight blue coat that depicted fireballs shooting upwards from the hem. A silk vest rested over a dark button-down shirt and a dark mask donned his upper face with what seemed like burning embers rising up from the bottom to match his coat.

I linked my arm with his and let him escort me to the closed ballroom doors.

“You clean up nicely yourself.” I smiled back.

We lined up in pairs, with my father and stepmother taking the lead and Elek and I in the back. Hums from music ceased behind the doors as they both opened, revealing hundreds of people halting in their mingling to look directly at us. The master of ceremonies faced the crowd and began reciting each of our titles as we walked in and up to our table.

Many guests lowered themselves at our passing. My father and Regina gave polite nods of acknowledgment in return as Marek and Dea seemed to beam with triumph as they waved to the others.

Elek pulled my chair out for me and I stood in between it and the table as I waited for my father to claim his seat first. A trickle of anger peered out from the depths of my mind. I turned to see Elek’s eyes fixed to one location. His jaw set tightly, but no other part gave him away.

Tracing his gaze I saw the royal fairies peering back at us, a knowing smirk resting on Oberron’s lips. His face turned towards his youngest son slightly as he murmured to him. The son then broke out into an ominous grin as well. It made my skin crawl.

“Thank you all for joining us on this most wondrous occasion. We hope that you will enjoy yourselves this evening with delicious food, an abundance of wine, and dancing the night away.” My father announced with welcoming arms raised wide, as if embracing the entire crowd.

After a few moments of picking at their plates, Zander stood and extended a hand towards his intended. Celina was the personification of the sun. Layers of golds and silvers shimmered throughout her ball gown as her light hair lay soft down her back. Part of me felt some envy towards her natural beauty.

“Will you honor me with a dance?” Zander asked, his eyes soft.

Celina’s smile shone as brightly as her glittering gold mask as she accepted his hand.

They finished the first melody to then go onto another, and then another. All the while, Elek was sitting beside me too preoccupied in his surveillance of Oberron to ask me to dance. That was alright. I’m a horrible dancer anyway.

A large hand came through my peripheral from behind me. Looking up I saw Anton, dressed with phases of an eclipse on his long jacket.

“Mind if we dance? You seem a bit bored up here.” He grinned down at me.

I didn’t give it a second thought. Anton was someone I could trust, despite the recent tension. Him extending an olive branch was the best possible outcome.

“I overreacted.” Anton said, as he pulled my frame towards his.

My mask hid my raised eyebrow.

“You think?” I responded, allowing him to take the lead.

His eyes bore into my own, lips lowering towards my cheek.

“I’m truly sorry, Sera. I never meant to treat you that way.”

A lingering kiss on my cheek followed by a tightened grip on my waist. From the back of my mind I could feel the curious gaze of my husband, but I didn’t acknowledge him. This moment was between Anton and me.

“It’s not as though we have never fought before.” I began with a smile, pulling back slightly.

“Remember that time you went up behind me with scissors and cut my hair?”

“In my defense, I thought if you looked different then Zander and I could sneak you out of the castle.” He laughed back.

“It took forever for it to grow back, and I thought I was going to kill you.”

We continued on into another dance, laughing at our past selves, and laughing more as I stepped on his toes more than once. Dancing has never been my forte. By the time another melody began, a ginger tap came to my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see Elek coming to steal me back. Instead, before me was the broadly built fae, Kellen.

“May I have this next one, Princess Serafina?” He said through a shy smile as he bowed and extended a hand towards me.

First I glanced over towards the long table to see Elek’s frame stiffen as he stared at us, then I turned to Anton.

“I did promise him one earlier. Perhaps we can dance again later.” I offered, as my hand slid into Kellen’s.

Anton gave a shallow bow and small smile before nodding and stepping away. Elek’s aura was practically screaming at me to pull away from the fairy, but I continued to ignore him. I wanted to see for myself why the fairies were seen as beings to fear.

We moved slowly, Kellen leading and dodging my clumsy feet with grace.

“I should apologize,” I began as my foot slid once more on the floor and nearly tripped over his own.

“I wish I could say that I’m only dancing this way because I’m nervous, but that would be a lie. I just really suck at it.”

His eyes were soft and gentle. In them I could see warmth and light as he turned up his lips.

“And here I thought you were trying to be rid of me by having me think you were horrible on purpose.”

He didn’t grip me in the same way Anton had. There was a formality understood between us, as he kept a small gap open between our chests and his hand above my waist. I wondered if he had a gentle nature by habit or was just painfully aware of scrutinous eyes peering at us from various corners of the room.

“How were your travels to Regnum? Silvania is quite a distance.” I said with small talk being all I could come up with.

Kellen appeared thoughtful for a moment before answering.

“Traveling by sea is the most effective route for our people. We like to avoid lingering in the territories of other nations so we make use of the international waters for a majority of our traveling.”

Well, that answered that, I thought as I wracked my brain for any other topic to bring up.

“Is it true?” His lowered tone pulled me away from my thoughts.

I peered up at him, our eyes transfixed on one another.

“Is what true?”

“That you killed one of Regina’s guards?” He asked so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

“Oh,” I blinked in surprise at the question.

“Yeah, I guess I did a little while back.”

“That’s impressive. Have you ever had formal military training?”

My thoughts drifted towards distant memories of Leena once busting my hand open with a blunt sword because my grip was wrong. Fighting back a shudder, I shrugged my shoulders instead.

“Not really. But I’ve learned from some very capable people.” I answered, smiling at him.

Kellen seemed intrigued by my unfortunate accomplishment, even though it didn’t seem an appropriate topic with a royal stranger. But then his eyes glimmered towards the tight bracelet on my wrist. His grip on my fingers tightened.

“Is it also true that you belong to him? The Dragon Prince?” His tone dropped further.

I wanted to pull my arm away, even take a step back, but he held my gaze and I found myself unable to move. Was I being hypnotized?

His head dropped closer towards mine, his lips drifting towards the shell of my ear. Feathered breathing floated down my neck as he started to whisper.

“He’s a tyrant. No better than his father. Neither one will stop their assaults on my land until they have the fairies and elves licking their boots. It pains me to know that they manipulated a young person such as you into joining them. You are an innocent and young woman in a dangerous game. But if you decide to, I can free you from your chain.”

Then he pulled back and peered into my eyes again, genuine pity pouring from his own. The grip on my hand tightened further as the other above my waist inched me closer. Still, I could not pull away. This was a dangerous game. A dangerous game for him.

What started as irritated rumblings turned into raging flames that were traveling up the base of my skull. Then a hand snaked around my middle and tugged me sharply backwards. A gasp escaped my lips, as the trance broke and I whirled to see Elek. His arm tightened around my middle, with Kellen’s hand still resting above my waist. Elek’s other hand reached up and tightened around my wrist, as he started to pull that away from Kellen as well.

“You’ve held onto my fiance long enough, Kel. Why don’t you go and find yourself a new partner to spellbind?” His voice was pleasant, as if he were truly speaking to a friend, but I could feel his anger. Even as he bore into the other male, his eyes held nothing but pure fury.

Kellen took a step back and bowed before me, reaching for my free hand to kiss.

“I hope we can have another chat soon, Princess.”

Before he turned to leave Elek was already spinning me towards him, continuing to grip my wrist and tightening his grip around my waist. Then he began leading me along with the melody.

“You could have just asked me for a dance,” he said, the fury in his eyes seeming to melt away as his shoulders slackened.

“You seemed preoccupied. Also, I didn’t want you to discover that your new bride has two left feet.” I countered.

“Too late now. We already have forever together, what’s a few crushed toes going to hurt?”

I think I liked his sarcasm, but not as much as I liked his true smiles. My heart felt light as his dazzling smile poured down on me.

How many dances had I participated in? Was this the tenth song? Or maybe the twelfth?

If I had begun to falter, Elek hadn’t given any indication that he noticed. Rather, he was looking at me as if I were the most interesting being in the room. He hadn’t even asked me what Kellen had said. I assumed that he would ask me later, when sensitive ears were at a reasonable distance away on the other side of the castle.

“I should have kept you closer tonight. I think too many got the impression that you were still available.” He said with charm dripping from his words.

“None would have caught my attention regardless.” I said back, the room seeming to warm up.

He paused in our steps as his expression straightened.

“Are you alright? Your cheeks are very pink.”

“I think I’ve danced more tonight than I ever have in my life,” I giggled, pushing through a wave of lightheartedness.

Then he frowned.

“You should have said something. Let’s go get a drink.”

Before I could agree, I was already being pulled towards the drink station where wine poured freely but I settled for some cool water instead.

“You can tell me when you’re at your limit.” Elek said, downing a glass of wine.

“I didn’t think that I was until that last dance,” I grimaced, noticing the forming of blisters on the backs of my heels as they rubbed against my shoes.

A finger hooked under my chin and caused me to take him in. He gave a small smile.

“Then I guess I’ll have to be your voice of reason from time to time.” He said and then lowered his mouth towards mine.

The scent of warmed cedar blended in with the fermented grape wine on his breath as he hovered above me, waiting. Instead of verbal permission, I lifted my marked hand to rest on his neck and gently ushered him lower until his lips were lightly pressed against my own. Unlike everything about his appearance screaming that he had the potential to be a tyrant, like Kellen had said, his lips were soft and the pressure against mine was gentle. I didn’t even care that we were in a room with hundreds of people.

As he pulled away I could see the surprise in his eyes, feel his surprise in the back of my mind. I smiled up at him.

“We didn’t have a ‘you may kiss the bride,’ moment.” I said, bringing my hand back to my side.

“How barbaric of me.” He responded with a grin.

From my peripheral, I watched as my father stood from his seat and turned to look at him.

“We hope you have all enjoyed yourselves this evening and hope you will join us in the upcoming union of our two families. My queen and I will be retiring, but please enjoy the festivities to your heart’s content.” My father said loudly before offering a hand to Regina and exiting the room.

Elek turned to me.

“Let’s head up too, before you pass out on me again. Three times would be too much.” He laughed as he escorted me out as well. Although I couldn’t shake the feeling of hazel eyes watching me leave.