We had hardly been alone for a minute, however, when the door opened again. I turned around and froze, my mouth dropping open. Millie had stepped into the room, her face downcast, but she gave me a strange look when she saw my open astonishment.
“Celine!” I managed to squeak out my friend’s name.
Celine spun around and gasped. “Oh, my…” She came forward, her eyes locked on Millie’s gown. “What is that?”
“It’s beautiful,” whispered Sophie. She sounded, if not happy, at least distracted.
Millie looked at us all in confusion and then down at her dress. “My gown, you mean?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Celine, circling her. “The colors are incredible. And they change!”
I had never seen such stunning and dramatic material. It shifted under the light, changing from blue to green and almost to gold as she moved. It slid softly against her skin as she walked, making it look as if she was clothed in the ocean itself.
“How have we not seen this before?” Celine asked, still circling, her eyes wide.
Millie looked amused at our admiration. “This fabric is traditional dress here for Christenings, betrothals and weddings, but we rarely wear it otherwise. Apparently it used to be extremely popular, but it’s now considered rather…” She wrinkled her nose. “Old-fashioned.”
Celine shook her head. “You’re all of you mad.”
Millie laughed, apparently unoffended, and then glanced between us all in confusion. “You all look astonished. Don’t you have silkworms in the Four Kingdoms?”
“Silkworms?” Now it was Celine’s turn to laugh. “We have silkworms, but they don’t produce anything like that. Are you telling me the thread comes out of them already colored?”
“Of course it does! Doesn’t yours?”
I shook my head, too dazed to speak. A thought was forming in my mind, and it demanded my full attention.
“Oh!” Millie looked thoughtful. “Perhaps it’s because of their diet. They consume—”
“Celine.” I cut Millie off. “Just how much would one of your sisters pay for a dress like that?”
“Forget my sisters,” she said, a grin spreading across her face. “I’m not so sure I want to share.”
I turned to Millie. “Does the fabric come from Trione?”
She nodded, still looking utterly bemused at the stir over her dress. “The silkworm colonies live on our island. Some merchants tried transporting them to the other kingdoms, but they didn’t produce silk anywhere else and quickly died. It used to be a very profitable business for us, but those days are long past. Few people buy new gowns like this now. They just wear old ones when tradition demands.”
Her face turned thoughtful. “In fact, I seem to remember my grandfather gave the silk farms to Aunt Aurelia as a wedding present when she married Duke Philip. Because of her interest in fashion. My father said she brought half a library of books on the subject here with her, as well. Although I find that hard to believe since we seem to have enough of them left in our own library.” She shrugged. “I don’t think owning the farms has done her much good, though. I believe all the silk they have produced in the last few years has simply been transported here to Marin and stored somewhere in the palace. I sometimes hear Aunt talking about ideas for rekindling interest in the fabric, but it has yet to catch on. Perhaps her grandchildren will bring it back into fashion again.” She smiled at us.
And I smiled back at her. “Thank you, Millie. You may have just saved everything.”
“Everything?” She looked startled.
“Well, not everything,” I conceded. “Just Marin. But that’s enough for now.” I looked around the room. “I’m going to need all of your help.”
Chapter 34
Hours later, a trumpet processional sounded. I stood next to my sister outside the true throne room. I couldn’t help thinking of the many times we had rushed in and out of the mirror version of this room. And then farther back to the first time we had stood here in this hallway, facing these double doors, mere hours after our arrival.
So much had happened since then that the memory felt distant and foreign. I looked sideways at Sophie. She looked terrified and brave at the same time.
Ready? I asked.
Ready, she replied.
We didn’t wait for the herald to announce us but stepped forward together onto the long red carpet. A gasp and a hush raced through the crowded room. We stepped forward, eyes straight ahead, but I wished I could see us as they did. I think I would have fallen silent as well.
It should have only been Sophie proceeding down the carpet. I should have been waiting at the front with the other royals. But, instead, two identical princesses walked in perfect unison. Both dressed in magnificent gowns of betrothal white.
Apparently even here the betrothed herself wore white to the ceremony, rather than the changing fabric worn by all the guests. We had wrapped our waists in sashes of the Trionian material, however, the long ends draping down to the ground and fluttering as we walked. Sophie’s rippled like the colors of a sunset, while mine appeared like a constant stream of water rushing down the front of my gown.
My eyes, which had been fixed on the duke, shifted slightly to where his son stood at his side. Jon was staring at me, his eyes wide with shock and awe. He, at least, had no trouble telling us apart. For a moment my mind flitted back to the horror in his eyes the first time I had trod this carpet. I had thought that emotion strong, but the love I saw shining on his face now made it pale in comparison.
He had been nowhere to be found before the ceremony. I still wasn’t sure if he even knew what was going on.
The silence held as we reached the front of the room and knelt before Duke Philip. Sir Oswald, seated in one of the front rows, stood as we went down.
“What is this?” he called in a loud voice. “There was only one winner of the Princess Tourney. Which of them is Princess Sophia?”
I wanted to smile at the nerves in his voice, but I kept my face solemn. We had planned for utmost drama because there was still a chance this might not work. We needed to shock and awe the audience.
Duke Philip stared silently at the knight-merchant until he finally sank back into his seat. Only then did he speak. “I have joyous news for us all. We are here today to witness two betrothals, not one.”
He looked out over the crowd, his face bearing a broad smile. “Today I also have the joy of announcing the betrothal of my son, Prince Jonathan, to Princess Liliana of Arcadia.”
A choking sound beside the duke made my eyes fly to Jon. A small smile flashed across my face. So he hadn’t known then. His father must have decided to surprise him.
“This double Betrothal Ceremony will seal an alliance between Marin and the Kingdom of Arcadia in the Four Kingdoms.” He paused, and I could see his eyes picking out certain individuals in the crowd behind me. “As part of this alliance, Marin has agreed to give Arcadia exclusive trading rights amongst the Four Kingdoms to all silk produced by the silkworm colonies which are located in Trione but owned by the Marinese royal family. In exchange, Arcadia will provide livestock, grain and other necessities to Marin.”
A murmur rushed through the crowd, shock breaking through the formality of the moment. The Duchess of Sessily turned a forbidding look on Celine who maintained such a convincing expression of innocence that even I almost believed it. Celine’s role in our frantic negotiations had been to keep the head of her own delegation as far away from them as possible. The duchess wouldn’t be too pleased at Lanover’s exclusion from the trade deal.
Duke Philip allowed the sound to swell and then break, ebbing back into silence. Jon came forward to kneel at my side, and a proxy in the place of Prince Dominic knelt beside Sophie. And then the duke began the ancient and official words of a Betrothal Ceremony. We had been instructed in how it would proceed, and I could only assume I said the right things. It passed in a blur, however. I felt so many emotions, I could hardly absorb
any of them.
Despite every barrier that had stood in our way, I was binding myself to the man I loved. But my beloved twin stood beside me binding herself to a man she had never seen. A monster who presided over a cursed kingdom. And through it all, ran tension. Would Sir Oswald still attempt his coup? And, if he did, would he succeed? I had bound myself to that now as well.
The duke pronounced a final blessing over us and invited us all to stand and face the crowd. We did so in another moment of hushed silence. And then loud cheers rolled through the room, reverberating from the ceiling and filling the space. They went on and on, the release of tension palpable.
Into the chaos marched ten guards, their faces grim and their hands resting on their weapons. I knew the plan, but I still swallowed and surreptitiously reached out my hand for Jon’s. He clasped it strongly.
The guards’ boots trooped down the carpet that had so recently passed beneath Sophie’s and my slippers. The sole remaining pair of slippers that had been made for us by the palace shoemakers to last us through the Tourney.
The guards stopped in front of Sir Oswald. The cheering died instantly away.
“Sir Oswald,” said Duke Philip, his voice carrying easily through the silence. “You are hereby arrested for treason against the crown.”
“This is an outrage,” cried Sir Oswald as the guards dragged him to his feet. His eyes flew around the room, and I held my breath. But one by one the nobles and merchants presented him with stony faces. As we had hoped, the majority of them had no desire to follow Oswald now that the duke had found a way to save the city. And those who might have been loyal to him regardless, clearly saw the general mood and remained silent to protect themselves. The duke could deal with them later, as needed, now that the threat of rebellion had been broken.
Two guards also pulled Corinna and Cole up from their seats beside their father, and all three of them were escorted from the room. When the doors closed behind them, more cheering broke out. How many people had wondered in private about the cause of that fire? It was as if the whole room had been freed from a shroud of fear.
I looked up into Jon’s face and found he was already staring down into mine. The gold in his eyes seemed to glow as he devoured my face with his gaze. I smiled at him and it cracked his last restraint.
Scooping me into his arms, he carried me behind the throne and kicked open a door with his boot. I put my arms around his neck, a small thrill racing through me. He carried me as easily as if I weighed nothing, and I had no desire to be put back on my own feet.
Still, his behavior seemed outrageous, so I managed a small protest. “Jon! What are you doing? The Ceremony has only just finished. The whole court is still out there.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s exactly the problem.” He kicked the door closed behind us and gently put me down, cradling my face in his hands. “I thought they might be shocked if I did this, but I couldn’t wait a second longer.”
His lips came down over mine, and I met them eagerly, twining my arms around his neck again. He deepened the kiss, letting go of my face to snake his arms around me and pull me tight against him. I let go of the torrent of other emotions and allowed myself to feel only the joy. And I could feel it all the way down to my fingertips and toes.
When he broke the kiss, panting and resting his forehead against mine, I sighed. A small, happy sound of contentment.
He smiled. “Happy, my beautiful wife-to-be?”
“Blissfully.” I sighed again.
“Well you deserve it. You’ve somehow saved us all. At some point, very soon, you’re going to tell me exactly how you did it.” He pressed the lightest kiss against my mouth. “Always the hero, it seems.”
“Don’t forget you saved me first.”
He laughed. “I’m perfectly willing to spend the next, oh, sixty or seventy years arguing with you about who’s the more heroic. But I should warn you, I’m hard to convince.”
I shook my head. “Shocking, my prince, shocking.”
The warm light came back into his eyes, and he leaned down to put his lips against my ear. “That’s right. Yours and yours alone.”
He would have kissed me again except the door burst open, and we were forced to break apart to receive a stream of excited congratulations. My eyes fell on my sister, and all the less pleasant emotions from the ceremony came rushing back.
She was the true hero, her face alight with happiness and joy for me, as though her life hadn’t just been destroyed. Our gazes locked.
We will face this beast together, I projected to her across the chaos. We will find a way to free you, and then we will come back together. Because I’m not getting married without you by my side.
She smiled, and this time it reached all the way into her eyes.
Epilogue
I sat on a bench in the garden. I was supposed to be planning how Sophie and I would travel to Palinar, but the bright sun and beauty of the day made it hard to focus. I had been in almost constant meetings since the Betrothal Ceremony, and this had been my first opportunity to escape outside.
I hadn’t told anyone of my intention to accompany Sophie yet, which is why I wanted to come up with a convincing plan before I broke the news. It didn’t help that Prince Dominic had sent another missive. He had demanded that his betrothed, whoever she might be, join him at one of his castles in Palinar. And he had demanded that she come alone.
The baron had been horrified but, thankfully, no one had been willing to accede to that demand. “Neither the ancient laws nor tradition require such a thing,” the duke had said firmly. “We will not even consider it.”
But who exactly should go with her had become a matter of much debate. Guards would certainly be needed. But how many? And while they debated, it gave me time to come up with an excellent argument.
Except the golden rays falling around me kept luring my mind into a state of pleasant stupor.
“Have you heard about Celine?” Jon sat beside me.
I felt a twinge of curiosity. “No, what about her?”
“Emmeline and Giselle have invited her for a visit to Eldon, and she’s accepted.”
He had my full attention now. “That’s odd.”
He chuckled. “Of them or her?”
“Both.”
“Well, Celine thinks it’s odd, too. I think that’s why she accepted. She told me there’s something strange about them, and she’s going to get to the bottom of it.”
I considered his words. “Well, she always did like the idea of adventures. And if anyone can face that icy kingdom it’s Celine.”
Jon grinned. “She does seem fiery enough to melt them all.” He shook his head before pausing. “Oh, wait. I almost forgot. Where’s Sophie? My father wants to discuss arrangements with her.”
“She’s in the library. I tried to convince her to come out here with me, but she wanted some peace and quiet. She figured no one would be in there on a beautiful day like this.”
I smiled into his golden-brown eyes and trailed my fingers down his arm. I still couldn’t quite believe that he was mine. His muscles jumped under my light touch, and he put his arm around me, tucking me into his side. I felt small and delicate. Cherished.
It struck me as humorous that I had learned to stand apart from Sophie, only to choose to once again become half of a whole. Perhaps that had been the lesson, after all. Not that I could stand alone, but that I could be more than one person. Sophie’s twin. Jon’s fiancée. Myself.
“I just looked there and couldn’t find her. She must have gone somewhere else.”
I leaned back into him, feeling drowsy in the warm sun. Had the Tourney only finished three days ago? I relished this calm between storms. I wanted to soak up every peaceful minute before we had to face new dangers in Palinar. “I’ll ask her.”
Sophie? Where are you now?
In the library. I told you, remember?
“She says she’s there. You mustn’t have looked very well.” I chuckled. My
father had never been able to find anything either. It had always been a source of great amusement to my organized mother.
Jon’s arm around me tightened just the tiniest bit. “No.” I couldn’t quite read his tone. “I looked thoroughly. She wasn’t there.”
I sat up, ripping myself from his arms and meeting his eyes. But it wasn’t him I called to. Sophie! I poured all my panic into my projection. Sophie, where are you?
She replied with a sigh. I’m sorry, Lily, but I’m long gone.
What? No!
I wanted to say goodbye, but I knew you would never let me leave.
I leaped to my feet. Not alone!
You know what Prince Dominic’s message said. “I cannot stop you sending an escort, of course, but only my betrothed is guaranteed safe passage.” I couldn’t risk anyone else, least of all you. I’ll be safe. He has sworn it.
He’s a monster! A beast! You can’t trust him.
He is also my betrothed. I must trust him. Him and the magic of the Tourney. The duke said it will protect me until my marriage, remember. Not even the one who called the Tourney can disrupt the subsequent betrothal. We are all of us bound by it.
I collapsed back down into Jon’s arms, my legs giving way and tears pouring down my cheeks. He held me tight against his chest and stroked my hair while I pleaded with Sophie for an hour. But she would not turn back.
“I’m going after her,” I said at last, when I realized she could not be swayed.
Jon’s arms tightened. “You most certainly are not.”
“You can’t stop me!”
He buried his face in my hair. “Oh, Lily. You know you can’t go. You’d never make it, and then Sophie would be truly alone.”
I stilled in his arms. He knew me too well. He had used the one argument that could break through my panic.
“She asked you to trust her. To let her go. To allow her the chance to protect you for once. You have to let her. And you’re needed here, in Marin. The tide is turning for our land—you did that. But the darkness is still strong and deep. We need to stand against it here, so that Sophie can have some hope of standing against it there. But there is hope for her. Hope for Palinar. And if the day comes that she needs us—if she calls—we’ll be ready to go to her.”
Beyond the Four Kingdoms Box Set 1: Three Fairytale Retellings (Four Kingdoms and Beyond Box Sets Book 3) Page 30