I snorted a laugh as my tears dripped onto her shoulder, dampening the robe.
"I kissed an asshole."
"Ew." she crinkled her nose up, pulling away from me. "I hope you are not speaking literally because you know I'm not into that shit, right?"
I cracked up again, and the tears that had felt so real turned to tears of laughter.
"I was talking about a guy. The guy is an asshole."
"Ooh. " she sat forward, her hands clasped together, excitement about the change in topic coloring her features. "Which one? The fae? I know you're not talking about Milo. That guy is about as far from asshole as you can get."
I'd forgotten she'd seen me with Caspian once. The first time I'd used my magic, I'd been out with him, and the dragons had flown down out of the sky to bow down to me.
"That's the one," I said, nodding. "He kissed me today, and I feel like shit because of it. I'm not sure Milo will forgive me."
She weighed my words. "He's super hot, but if you say he's an asshole, then he's an asshole. Let's break this down, shall we? You say that he kissed you. Did you initiate it?"
I shook my head. "No. I didn't even want him to kiss me. I was a little tipsy."
"Well, there you have it," she said, clapping her hands together a little too excitedly. "You didn't want him to kiss you, and you were too drunk to fend him off."
She made it sound so cut and dried as though I wasn't somehow to blame for the mess I'd found myself in.
"Hmmm," I sighed. I wanted to believe her, but the fact remained I'd enjoyed it. Despite me hating Caspian, despite me wanting to shove a sword through his gut every time I spoke to him, I'd enjoyed kissing him.
"Urgh!" I said, throwing away the mental image. Every time I closed my eyes, there he was. "Let's not talk about him. There's something else I'd like to talk to you about. Actually, I'd like a favor from you. "
"Ooooh," she said, sitting up. "What is it? You want me to distract Milo while you secretly run to Caspian's room? I'll do it. Milo is cute, too." She threw me a wink.
"Keep your hands off Milo," I grumbled. "And no, that's definitely not it. I want to..."
Nyre jumped up off the bed as someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
I'd not bolted the door. Whoever it was could walk in at any moment if they wanted. I waved my hand at Nyre to motion to her to hide. Dahlia wasn't known for waiting for an answer, and Caspian had been in my room uninvited a little too often to trust him to wait outside until I opened the door.
"It's me"
So it was Caspian. Beside me, Nyre jumped up and down in a little dance and clapped her hands together. I threw her a warning and pointed to the bathroom. She smirked as she left the room. I waited until she'd closed the bathroom door before opening the bedroom door to Caspian.
"What is it?" I asked, opening the door a crack.
"Can I come in?" He turned to look at the brute my father had hired to stand at the end of the corridor. Jack and Milo were obviously not working today.
"Nope."
"We can do this out in the corridor if you prefer. I'm sure your father would love to hear our conversation about the kiss."
"Come in," I hissed, pulling him in and shutting the door behind him.
"There was no kiss," I said, not bothering to hide my irritation. "I want to forget it ever happened."
He moved close to me, his eyes boring into mine. "Oh, but it did happen. It happened, and you enjoyed it." The way he looked at me stirred something within me, and his magical energy radiated from him. An image blazed in my mind of his lips against mine as we illicitly hid behind my father's throne. The tingling from his energy centered on my lips causing me to bite down.
"I did not," I said, taking a step back. Of course, he followed.
His breath warmed my neck as he spoke. "You asked me once if I could read minds, and I told you I couldn't. That was true, but I can read bodies. I felt you pushing into me as we kissed. I sensed your heart beating faster, your blood pumping for me."
"You're wrong," I said, gulping as his energy increased.
He inched closer, his face almost touching mine. He inhaled slowly, making my entire body tingle as his breath tickled my neck below my ear.
"You're heart is beating faster now. I know when a woman is turned on. Do you think I've not done this before? Do you think your body isn't giving me clues? Your body temperature is rising, your heart pounding, your breathing is deeper. You can tell me you don't want me with your mouth, but your body tells me otherwise."
"My body is going to give you a swift kick between your legs if you continue," I growled, but by gods, he was right. My own body was betraying me, and I couldn't back up any farther. My calves were already touching the bed. Any farther backward, and I'd be flat on my back, a position I'd been in one too many times as far as Caspian was concerned and one I had a feeling he'd be happy for me to be in again.
"Whatever you say, princess, but in another week when I win that competition of yours, you'll be mine to kiss whenever I want...whenever you want."
He kissed my neck, sending my body into rhapsodies, before turning on his heel and stalking out, shutting the door behind him. It took a few seconds before I could get my body to move to bolt the door.
"Swit swoo," Nyre came out of the bathroom, a huge grin on her face. "Are you sure you don't want me to be a diversion for Milo while you and Caspian get it on?"
I threw a pillow at her as I tried to bring my breathing down to normal levels.
"I can't stand the guy," I said to her. "So he makes me hot, but he'd cut my throat in a heartbeat if there was something in it for him. Milo isn't like that. Milo would go to the ends of the earth for me."
"But Caspian makes you hot..."
Damn the dragon and her logic!
20th January
Today was the day I was going to leave for Urbis. I'd wanted to do it yesterday, but Nyre had flown off before I'd even gotten a chance to speak to her about it. My plan was to go down to breakfast as normal and make sure everyone saw me. And that included Milo. I wanted to tell him where I was going, but I knew he'd want to come along. He would insist on it, and Nyre was too small to fly the two of us for long distances. If she was bigger and we could travel on her back, then maybe, but as it was, I was probably pushing it, asking her to take just me. I'd leave him a note and tell him how sorry I was. He'd understand...hopefully. With any luck, I'd find a way to stop my mother's curse, and best case scenario, my parents would be so overjoyed, they'd forget this whole wedding thing. They were only insisting on it because of some weird omen of dark times. I'd had enough people telling me that there had been some huge magical shift for me to believe it had happened, and I couldn't deny all the horrible stuff that had been going on in the past few weeks. But my mother's curse was part of that. If I could cure her, then maybe I could cure all of it. And I had a feeling that if I could find my birth mother and uncover the circumstances of my birth, then everything would unravel, and we could get back to how things used to be. I could date Milo and take my time getting to know him rather than being rushed into marriage. We could travel together and see the kingdoms rather than live with the threat of being torn apart, which is what was happening here. My only option was to go, and this was the day I was going to do it.
Milo wasn't stationed outside my room when I left, which was probably for the best. If I saw him, I'd probably break down and cry right in front of him, and he'd know something was going on. I didn't want to say goodbye to him. It felt too final. With luck, I could do what I set out to do within a couple of weeks tops. There would be no need for goodbyes, I'd be back before he knew it. I'd already written the letter telling him where I was going and who with. There would be no need to tell him why. He already knew why.
My father was at breakfast, which was unusual. In fact, the table was filled with people. All three of my brothers were there, as were Caspian and Charlotte. It seemed they were all waiting for me. For a second
, I wondered if this was an intervention, but as I sat in my chair, they all began to tuck into their food.
I watched Caspian eating. Why did he have to be so damned gorgeous? Just being near him made my heart flutter, my fists clench, and my stomach turn. The thought of the kiss we shared yesterday flittered through my mind. It had been so good, phenomenal, in fact! He'd taken me to new heights and dropped me to new lows. How was it possible that one person could elicit so many reactions? He was fraying my nerves. He caught me looking and threw a wink my way, sending my stomach into another loop-the-loop. Color crept into my cheeks, so I turned to my father instead. I really did not need to be thinking of kissing Caspian.
"Why are you eating with us, Father?" I asked, more to steer my mind away from Caspian than anything else.
"Can't a father eat with his family?" he said, piling his plate with food. It was the first thing I'd seen him eat in weeks.
"Of course," I said, spooning some porridge into my own bowl. "It's just unusual, that's all."
"I know I've been absent of late," he said, adding some raspberries to his plate. "That's why I wanted to come to breakfast with you all. I've been so preoccupied that I've been putting my family last when I should have been putting you first. Isn't that right, Remy?"
He shuffled Remy's hair, who gave him a thumbs up while dripping his own porridge onto the table.
"Plus," he added, "if I hadn't come to breakfast, I wouldn't have met the lovely Charlotte here."
I refrained from reminding him that he'd already met Charlotte. He'd been too busy balling me out to notice. I wondered if anyone had told him why she was here. I didn't want him to know. The thought that my mother was somehow lost in some weird dream world was horrific, and he was dealing with enough. Hopefully he thought she was just visiting.
"You seem happy today," I mentioned hesitantly.
"I've got the best doctors in the kingdom arriving today, plus one from The Vale, one from Aboria, and I've even managed to snag a mage from Enchantia who is renowned for his work on curses. I'm positive your mother will be up and with us by dinnertime tonight."
I glanced across at Charlotte, who shook her head almost imperceptively. She didn't believe a mage or any amount of doctors could cure my mother. She didn't say anything, though, she just continued to eat.
"It wouldn't do to get your hopes up this early, Alec," Caspian said.
My father glared at him, and he recoiled. "I mean, I'm sure you're right, and these physicians will be able to help, but if they can't, it doesn't mean there isn't another way to save her."
He looked at me as he spoke.
"Exactly," I agreed.
"Nonsense," my father argued."Why would we need another way when I have the best? The best of the best."
So Charlotte and Caspian hadn't told my father her theory, which was just as well. It only strengthened my resolve to get to Urbis as soon as possible. If he was right, I wouldn't need to go, but I knew in my heart he wasn't. In a few hours, he would be heartbroken all over again. I couldn't bear it.
"We'll get her back Father," I said. "No matter what happens, we'll get her back."
After breakfast, I ran upstairs to pack. The sooner I left, the better. Once I was packed, I'd call Nyre down from the mountain and ask her to come. I pulled open drawers and took out clothes for the journey. It was cold here, so I needed lots of layers. I'd pulled out and refolded half my suitable clothes when there was a knock on the door.
"Hi, it's me, Charlotte."
After throwing all my nicely folded clothes in a heap at the bottom of my wardrobe, I opened the door.
"Hi, Charlotte. What can I do for you?"
She shuffled her feet nervously. "You told me the other day I needed the Dahlia treatment. I was wondering if you'd mind if she helped me today?"
I thought of all my clothes I'd have to refold and of all the doctors coming to see my father later. "I'm sorry, I don't have time right now. Maybe later?"
I felt bad, knowing there would be no later. She would find out I had left, and then she'd go home to Urbis... Urbis! She lived in Urbis. If anyone could help me there, it was her. I knew no one else there. If anyone would be able to help me in the weird walled city, it was her.
"Ok," I said, changing my mind. "Come with me. We need to find Dahlia."
A couple of hours playing dress up with Charlotte would give me the perfect excuse to learn about Urbis from her. I'd been to the city a few times, but always as a royal visitor. I needed to know the real city if I had any hope of finding my birth mother...or of finding Morpheus.
Dahlia had stationed herself in one of the castle admin offices. Well, it used to be an admin office. She'd had the desks and filing cabinets taken out and surrounded herself in wedding stuff. A small table overflowed with bridal magazines, and fabric samples covered the floor along with reams of ribbons, flowers, and goodness only knew what else.
"It looks like a wedding shop exploded in here," I commented, stepping over a pile of wedding favors.
"Half the kingdom is invited to the wedding," Dahlia said, pulling some magazines away from me as I stepped over to her. "Not to mention the royals from other kingdoms. It needs to be perfect. Draconis hasn't had a royal wedding for over eighteen years."
I rolled my eyes. "Why are so many people invited?"
She stared at me as though I'd just offered to cut her dog into pieces and serve it up instead of wedding cake.
"This is so pretty," Charlotte said, picking up one of the bridal magazines and holding up a picture of some model in a white dress.
"That was in my top ten, too," Dahlia beamed. "The seamstress has already started on the dress, but I guess we could ask her to change it a little. I like the long train. What do you think, Azia?"
I shrugged my shoulders. Who cared?
"Actually, I was wondering if you'd have time to help Charlotte here. She'd like a new outfit and her makeup redone.."
"I'm sorry," replied Dahlia, extending her arms out, indicating the mess around her. "I'm up to my eyeballs in wedding planning, and seeing as the bride refuses to help, I'm doing most of it myself."
She looked at me pointedly as I gave her my best ha-ha face.
"Charlotte is going to be my bridesmaid," I lied. "I'd like to do a trial run with her makeup."
"Oooh," Dahlia stood up quickly, sending a stack of invites toppling over. "In that case, come with me." She took Charlotte's hand and pulled her out of the room. I followed, expecting to end up in my room, but instead, she took her to my mother's dressing room.
The huge room was where my mother often got ready for parties and events. She wore no make-up most of the time owing to her natural beauty, but she enjoyed going all out when she got the chance.
Dahlia pulled out a chair in front of a mirror for Charlotte to sit in and pulled out her extensive makeup palette.
"It will make a refreshing change doing makeup on someone who actually wants it," she said, casting a meaningful glance my way. I rolled my eyes again.
"Can you get her a dress out?" Dahlia said, ignoring my eye-rolling. "Not one of yours. You have nothing bridesmaidy. Your mother has a collection of dresses she's never worn in that closet there." She was right. My mother was constantly being given expensive clothing as gifts, most of which she never wore. The things she liked, she kept in a closet in her room. Everything else went in here. She made it very clear to the castle staff that they could borrow any of the dresses they liked.
Pulling open the closet, I rifled through the dresses. They were all made with my mother in mind, but Charlotte was tall enough and slim enough to pull them off.
"What color?" I asked, figuring I'd try and get it right the first time rather than waste my day rifling through dresses.
"Red," both Dahlia and Charlotte said at the same time, then dissolved into giggles.
Charlotte was better at princessing than I was. I pulled a red dress from the closet and wondered what my mother would make of all this. She would lov
e a daughter whom she could sit with and brush her hair whilst discussing new fashion trends.
"This one ok?" I asked, holding it up to the mirror.
"Beautiful," Charlotte said breathily.
I sat on a chair and waited as Charlotte was transformed from the mousy thing she was into a goddess. Dahlia really did know what she was doing. Charlotte sat patiently as Dahlia worked on her, but the excitement in her eyes as she was replaced by a woman of stunning beauty was clear to see.
I'd never had warm fuzzies from having my makeup done, but then again, to me, it was an obligation, a ritual I had to go through as the royal princess. To Charlotte who had nothing, this would be a treat. I almost envied her, her excitement in something I found dreary.
Once the makeup was done, Dalia began to work on Charlotte's hair. Pulling it from the ponytail it was in, Dahlia brushed it straight before beginning the process of braiding it into an elaborate up-do.
"How about leaving it down?" I asked, catching a glimpse at my watch. I'd wanted to set off for Urbis early, but the day was quickly getting away from me.
"You need something special for your wedding," Dahlia said, pulling some diamond hair clips from her pocket.
Right, Charlotte was my bridesmaid.
An hour later, and Charlotte was ready to put the dress on. With Dahlia's and my help, she shimmied into the dress.
"Woah," I mouthed as I took in the vision of beauty in front of me. How had Caspian not noticed her before?
"You just need shoes and jewelry," Dahlia said. "Let me see what I can find."
"I have a necklace," I said. "You get the shoes, and I'll be back in a minute."
I raced out of the room and through the castle. The necklace my mother had left with the dwarves was still hidden in its box under my bed. I'd not brought it out since bringing it home the previous week.
The necklace was mine, a bit of my own history, but it was near useless to me sitting under my bed, and no matter how pretty it was, I couldn't think of a single reason I'd need to wear it in the near future. Royal parties were a little thin on the ground these days, with my wedding being the only thing penciled in on the royal calendar. I could hardly wear a ruby-red necklace with a white dress. Not that I planned to be around long enough to attend my wedding anyway.
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