Evermore: The Rylakian Heir

by Caroline Metzlaff

  Reaching down she lifted the name card up off the setting, it was, in fact, highly unusual for a young lady of the Aristocracy to be seated with commoners.

  “I believe you are right, Mercury wasn’t it?” Her voice, like silver bells to his ears, her scent like the most exotic perfume, her smile like a thousand candles. Her eyes met his, and this time her heart skipped a beat.

  Mercury looked good in his smart tux, his hair brushed silkily back from his strong, handsome face. Cindy had made sure of it, bless her little heart, she handpicked his outfit, right down to his socks. She even brushed his usually unruly hair, threatening it in to place. She had a lot riding on this as well, if Red complained about the placement...Cindy would be called to carpet. And that would be anything but fun. But, like a true friend, she took the chance and sat the beautiful red head, the object of the young werewolf’s most obsessive desire, beside him anyway.

  “I must have made a good impression for you to have remembered my name.” He replied flashing her his famous ‘devil may care’ grin, as he pulled her chair out for her.

  She sat down and busied herself with adjusting her gown around her knees, before looking back up at Mercury’s gorgeous eyes.

  She looked away. He leaned in.

  “You have very beautiful hair, I’m sure you already know this, but I felt the need to tell you anyway.” He whispered in her ear.

  She sucked her breath in carefully. He was so very close.

  “You are a very good dancer, I’m sure you already knew that as well, but I too, felt the need to tell you anyway.” She returned with the ghost of a teasing smile, before lifting her water glass to her lips.

  “Well then, I promise to leave a dance open for you this evening, although I can’t promise more than one, I am in high demand you know.”

  “I’m sure.” She agreed, biting her lip at the thought.

  He flashed his eyebrows at her; she shivered just a little as she realised that this boy might be just a little dangerous...but she decided right then and there, that maybe she might like danger.

  ~~*~~

  Gliding across the dance floor with Leo, Snow was distinctly aware of several pairs of eyes mercilessly trained on her. Leo was an exceptionally graceful dancer, and she had endured years of lessons herself, so she knew it wasn’t because they appeared clumsy. She wore a soft yellow and violet satin gown that Cindy had created, reminiscent of the yellow gown Mercury had destroyed, and her hair was artfully styled in big soft waves by Rapunzel, who had acquired some serious talent in the last few weeks, so she knew it wasn’t that she looked funny. And Leo, well Leo was magnificent in his Royal Dress Uniform. Leo would be magnificent in torn denim jeans and a work shirt. Snow thought perhaps she might like to see him like that though, just to make sure of course, comparisons and all.

  A few especially catty remarks had reached her ears that evening, she hoped they hadn’t reached Leo’s as well, but if he was aware of the speculations, he certainly hadn’t said anything to her. Apparently much of the Aristocracy in Turin was confused, and more than a little displeased, that their own Crown Prince was devoting so much attention to an ‘orphaned’ foster child. It’s not that any of the held any ill-will towards Snow personally, in fact most people found her rather pleasant, it was just that they simply couldn’t understand what she had, that their own high-born daughters didn’t. What could possibly have enticed the famously handsome Prince Leonardo Charming into accompanying an orphaned teen to a celebrated wedding. They scrutinised the tall, dark haired teen closely.

  Annette and Juliette Del Grotta were also scrutinising Snow rather closely, but they did hold ill-will personally towards her for sweeping by with their own darling prince. They stood in the corner watching as Snow and Leo came gliding by, glowering as Snow tilted her head to laugh softly at something the prince had whispered in her ear; both hating her and wishing they were her all at the same time.

  The Del Grotta twins were by no means the only people in the room wishing they were Snow that evening. In her sunbeam and lavender gown, especially designed by Cindy, her thick, satiny dark waves falling half way down her back and her perfect skin, dark eyes and rosy lips, she looked every inch the princess they didn’t know her to be. At least a dozen eligible young ladies from the Aristocracy began to look on in jealousy as Leo expertly twirled her in his arms before bringing her back close to him. They all hated her at that moment.

  Surprisingly, Red Adair, the most eligible of them all was not among them.

  She was off in the corner, dancing slowly with Mercury.

  ~~*~~

  Now werewolves don’t have any obvious differences from humans, at first glance you would assume that Mercury was human, a very handsome human albeit, but no one could gaze upon Manuel’s perfection without immediately identifying him as a vampire. When Manuel led the radiant Rapunzel out onto the dance floor, more than one jaw hit the ground, and very few of them were in envy. The good people of Turin were used to the occasional vampire entertainer setting up for an evening here and there, but none of them had ever, would ever interact with a vampire socially. It was utterly unheard of...and more than a little unsettling.

  Madame Morgada, a card carrying and proud member of the Aristocracy, was enraged by Manuel’s attendance, and after careful scrutiny, she correctly identified Mercury as a werewolf, further adding to her indignant rage. She grabbed Cindy’s arm roughly as she walked by. Adding insult to injury, not only were these creatures attending her dream wedding, they were dancing with human girls...shameful.

  “Cinderella Vanholston.” She fairly snarled. “How could you do this to your father? How dare you embarrass your father and I like this!”

  Cindy looked around at the magnificent wedding she had planned, from the perfect bridesmaids dresses to the sumptuous dinner and chocolate sculptures. Not a thing was out of place. Warily she looked back at the Madame, convinced that bride had lost her mind.

  “Excuse me Madame, but I don’t know what you are talking about.” Cindy replied as evenly as she could. “Your guests will be speaking of your wedding for years.” Cindy had long believed that it is always best to tread carefully with the insane.

  “Yes, they will, and there is not a single thing I can do about it now is there. Don’t look so innocent, think carefully little girl. The guest list Cinderella. The guest list.” She growled.

  “I invited everyone you said, and Prince Leonardo is here as promised Madame. Look, even the paparazzi deemed the event worthy.”

  “Yes. And believe me we will talk about that later. What I am referring to is the vampire and the werewolf at my reception. This is unacceptable. How. Could. You.”

  Cindy stared up at The Madame, completely bewildered, convinced she had heard wrong.

  “I realise that you have never given a thought about your father’s reputation, and he has let you run wild for most of your life, and obviously you assume such behaviour will continue.” She spat. “But I can assure you, that all of that is about to change little girl. I will not allow you to destroy what is left of his reputation, and any future opportunities that may come along for my Annette and Juliette. You’ve invited a dog and a bloodsucker to my wedding; you are going to pay for this embarrassment. I hope you have enough sense in that silly little head of yours to be ashamed of your behaviour, and reconsider your future choices.”

  “I’m not ashamed by my friends; why on earth would I be?” Cindy stated with dignity, anger burning in her heart at the slurs aimed at her friends. She took a deep breath, narrowed her jade eyes, and turning towards the Madame, she opened her mouth to give her new stepmother a blasting she would never forget.

  Prince Leonardo chose that exact moment to swoop in, tapping the enraged Madame lightly on the shoulder. Spinning around quickly she was shocked and surprised to finds herself face to face with the Crown Prince himself; the one man she had sworn to marry one of her twins to. Quickly recovering she pasted a sweet smile on her face.

&
nbsp; “Prince Leonardo!” She twittered. “I am so honoured to have you at my wedding.” She curtsied carefully in her lovely Cinderella V designer wedding dress. Cindy’s dress made the Madame look quite beautiful, and people had been commenting on what a beautiful couple the “Vanholstons” were all day long; the Madame had reveled in the attention.

  “Madame Vanholston.” He bowed slightly, making her almost giddy. “I wanted to extend my deepest gratitude to you for inviting us to your special occasion. My friends and I have been having a marvelous time.” He stopped and posed with both Cindy and the Madame for a picture, his famous smile making the women near him melt.

  “Of course your Highness, you are all most welcome here. A friend of our dear Crown Prince would always be welcome in my presence. How delightful that you could attend. Which of your friends were you referring to?” She asked brightly as she scanned the crowd for another suitable suitor to introduce her twins to.

  Leo winked quickly at Cindy, who bit her lip and grimaced in fear, and casually pointed to Mercury and Manuel, each dancing elegantly on the dance floor. The colour fled from the Madame’s face as he indicated the dreadful creatures.

  “Mercury, who I believe is dancing with Lady Red Adair and Manuel with Miss Rapunzel. We have fought side by side recently, very brave, very loyal friends. Very hard to come by, I have found. I have been honoured to fight side by side with these brave men recently, and delighted to have found two valued friends.” He replied. He posed once more with The Madame Morgada. “Now that one should appear in the magazine next week, if I recognise that particular photographer.” He laughed; the Madame was thrilled by the prospect, but dumbstruck and slightly horrified by the prince’s outright admission of friendship towards the creatures at her wedding. That went strictly against the rules of the Aristocracy. Never, had a member of the Aristocracy, especially a Royal, ever admitted friendship with a creature. She was at a loss for words.

  “May I have the honour of dancing with the bride?” Leo asked gallantly. The Madame almost swooned at the idea, all thoughts of creatures instantly disappearing, and gracefully allowed herself to be led on to the dance floor by the most eligible prince in all the known realms.

  Snow snuck up beside her shell shocked friend.

  “He saw the look on the old witch’s face; thought he might be able to spare you some grief.”

  “Apparently it worked...for now. She’ll get me later.” Cindy sighed. “She hates creatures.”

  “It’s hard to think of them that way isn’t it?” Snow commented as they watched the prince dip the giggling bride to the immense enjoyment of the onlookers.

  “Usually I don’t. Until Manuel threatens to eat me that is.” Both girls laughed. Manuel was constantly threatening to devour someone, but as of yet they had never actually witnessed him eat anything out of the ordinary. Mercury never made mention of anything, but the beast flashed behind his eyes every once in a while reminding them that although he was one of their very best friends...he wasn’t ‘tame’.

  “What will the press say when they hear about his new friends’, I wonder.” Mused Snow.

  “I don’t think he cares. He has them in the palm of his hand anyway, he’s the perfect person to make points.”

  Snow nodded, as she mulled that over in her head.

  “You think I could get Manuel to eat her?” Cindy indicated her giggling stepmother. “If I asked nicely?”

  Snow snorted before leaving the deflated Cindy, to speak with Rapunzel. Manuel stood off to the side, regarding the tight faced Cindy closely for a moment.

  Silently he came to stand next to her.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” She said without looking up.

  “I see. That is unusual for you. Why are you wearing such an overly dramatic, long face if you don’t want to talk about it? Typically that has been my signal that you are about to natter endlessly to me about some unimportant teenage drama that I care nothing about.”

  “See the troll twins over there?” She pointed at Annette and Juliette who were still clutching glasses of champagne and watching Snow stride across the floor with thinly disguised jealousy and disgust. “That’s my family now.” She moaned in apparent embarrassment, covering her eyes with her dainty hands.

  Even dressed in Cindy’s painstakingly beautiful gowns, the dour looks on their faces spoiled any chance that had at real beauty that night.

  Manuel tried to suppress a laugh. “Imagine how much better you shall look in comparison, for family photos.”

  She turned to him suddenly. “Snowy said the exact same thing to me a few months ago!”

  “Very intelligent for a human, I have always said.” He asserted with a quick nod.

  “No you haven’t.” Cindy shook her head.

  “You’re right I haven’t.” He agreed, a smile spreading across his face as Rapunzel approached them with her first glass of champagne, her face flushed and delighted. He reached out his hand and pulled her closer.

  “And you never told me if you would show up in photographs or not.” She pointed out.

  “Your life is moving in directions they can’t even imagine. Give them these last few moments, it is all they have, and you can afford to.”

  She looked up quizzically at him but he was already whispering something sweet in to Rapunzel’s ear.

  For some insane reason she felt better. And he never did answer her question.

  ~~*~~

  Mercury could have danced all night with Red, and apparently she had no strong objection, but unfortunately the evening was beginning to wind down. They hadn’t spoken much, but it seemed they didn’t need to. He wouldn’t have known what to say anyway, their lives were vastly different. Hers, the structured life of a well cultivated young lady of the Aristocracy, his the wild and tumultuous life of the young werewolf running with the moon in the dead of night. But on this particular night, at this particular event...none of that mattered, and Red Adair danced with the handsome Mercury all evening.

  The bride and groom took their last waltz, and a carriage was awaiting them outside to whisk them away to some undisclosed destination. Mercury knew, with a sinking feeling on his heart, that the enchanted evening was truly over.

  Now that he had spent so much time with her, been so close to her, inhaled her delicious scent for so long...he was addicted, which can be slightly dangerous when dealing with a werewolf. He had to have more; he would have more, there was no turning back now.

  Red, for her part, was incredibly excited by this boy who was so unlike any other boy she had ever met. Certainly worlds apart from the nice young men her parents introduced her to. Nice young men with ties to the Aristocracy, nice bland young men with ties to her father. Mercury was none of those things. Red didn’t know much about the tall, handsome young man, but that much was abundantly apparent. For Red, a girl who had been groomed since birth by her well meaning parents to conform absolutely to the tight constraints placed upon those of the Aristocracy...Mercury represented freedom. A dangerous and intoxicating mix; she knew she was flirting with disaster by even speaking with him, yet she couldn’t stop herself.

  “Meet me tomorrow night.” He whispered in her ear suddenly, closing his eyes as her scent rushed through his veins.

  “My parents would never approve.” She whispered back breathlessly. And in fact Lord Adair was watching Mercury very, very closely; the only reason that he hadn’t snatched his daughter away, and forced her to dance with other, well chosen young men of the Aristocracy, was Mercury’s apparent connection to Crown Prince Leonardo. Lord Adair believed Mercury to be human...so far, as did Red for that matter, the evening would have gone very differently had they known otherwise. Lord Adair was a highly placed, and well respected member of the Aristocracy, one could only guess at his reaction if he had know his only beloved daughter was dancing with a dreaded creature. Red knew in the back of her mind that she should walk away, walk away now and not look back; but she couldn’t seem to make h
er feet move.

  “That wasn’t a question.” Mercury reminded. “Meet me tomorrow night.” He repeated. It wasn’t a question that time either.

  She shivered slightly, pushing all thoughts of her position out of her mind. “Where?”

  ~~*~~

  Leo walked Snow back slowly to her cottage, the early summer breeze felt like a kiss on her bare skin, and the stars shone like diamonds on black velvet. It was perhaps a fifteen minute walk, and for some odd reason, Leo had dismissed his carriage and decided to walk the distance alone with Snow. So there they were, walking down the lane to Uncle Doc’s cottage companionably, in silence.

  It was funny how comfortable she was in Leo’s company, so comfortable that to walk in total silence didn’t seem odd or awkward, as it might have with someone else. Not comfortable enough though, to mention any of the speculations she had heard concerning the two of them that evening.

  “I think Cindy wanted to kiss you when you interrupted the stepmother’s tongue lashing.” Snow idly commented.

  Leo laughed.

  “I’m being serious, the Madame believes whole heartedly in the segregation between species. She argued and joined in the petition to revoke the movement to allow creature trades in town. It actually sickened her to see ‘creatures’ dancing with humans.” She said with a shake of her head. “Sentiments like that weren’t so obvious in Rylak. I mean no one actually said things like that.”

  “Maybe you didn’t hear it because the ‘creatures’ aren’t allowed anywhere near the palace grounds in Rylak. You could hear about the issues, but never see them first hand that way.” The prince leaned against the gate surrounding the cottage.

  “You never realise how ugly it is until you see it up close.” He continued, shaking his head.

  “Maybe. I only learned about ‘creatures’ from Gregor, our huntsman.” Snow admitted, her throat choking up as she said his name. Quickly she banished the memories, pulling scabs off of wounds, never did anything to help with the healing. And Snow had always thought of bad memories as wounds.