by White, Gwynn
“Don’t be so hasty,” he replied, his voice hard. “My conversation with Edward can wait until after the betrothal ceremony.” His expression softened. “You did a good job against Nemesis today. You really thought on your feet.”
My father was a formidable warrior, but he valued intelligence over brute force.
I gave him a coy smile. “Does that mean I don’t have to get married?”
“Don’t push your luck, kid.”
I sighed. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“Terra, you’ve spent a lot of time portal-hopping to other worlds, but I hope you haven’t forgotten who you are and where you come from.”
“No. I haven’t.” I folded my hands together.
“This is how things are done here. It’s how alliances are made.”
“I don’t want to marry a vampire. I don’t want to marry anyone.”
Maybe it was childish to say that, but it was how I felt. I hated not being in control of my life.
“Now, now,” Father said, his voice almost gentle. “Just give him a chance. Maybe you’ll even like him.”
“I think we both know my feelings—or lack thereof—aren’t really relevant here.”
“Terra, I know you believe I’m not thinking about you when I make these decisions, but let me assure you that I am thinking only of you—of your safety and happiness.”
I knew Father loved me, that he cared about me, that he wanted me to be safe and happy. We just sometimes had different ideas about what that meant.
I turned away from him, staring at the gown hanging in front of my closet. “Please go. I need to change.”
“You won’t try to flee out the window?”
I took a deep, calming breath, trying to center myself. “No.”
He nodded, then left, closing the door behind him. Alone at last, I paced in my room. I could hear the mage in the hallway, standing guard. There was another one down below on the lawn, right under my window. There was no way out, even if I’d tried to run. I pulled my curtains closed, then pivoted around to face my fate.
* * *
Half an hour later, freshly showered and primped, I stood in front of the mirror that covered one wall of my room. My gown was beautiful. A weave of white and silver threads, it had capped sleeves adorned with beaded strings that jingled as I turned in front of the mirror. The bodice, cut into a low v-neckline, fit my body perfectly, hugging my curves. The skirt flowed out in three layered tiers of fabric. The last of these tiers swished against the ground, kissing the wood panels as I walked.
It was a stunning gown. I couldn’t deny that. Father knew how much I loved pretty things, and he’d given me the perfect dress. I only wished I were wearing this dress to meet the man that I loved. My true love.
I laughed. It was such a silly, girlish notion. I didn’t even know anything about that kind of love.
I wore a single magic accessory tonight: a ring that muted my power of prophecy. Tonight was hard enough already. I wasn’t going to risk a barrage of uncontrolled foresights. Every magic gift came with a price, and this was mine. Prophets were the mages most susceptible to madness, to losing the ability to distinguish between reality and possible futures. To be honest, I wasn’t sure the gift was worth the price.
I brushed my hair in front of the mirror, just as my mother had done when I was young, back before she’d died. A tear slid down my cheek. I brushed it aside. I always got emotional around my birthday. Mother had died on this very day thirteen years ago.
Swallowing my tears, I set a platinum crown on my head and braided my hair around it. Golden highlighted with pink, it changed with my magic—like the ebb and flow of the tide. The pinker my hair, the stronger my magic. Right now, it was a pale golden color with only a few subtle pink strands.
I took a final look in the mirror, telling myself to be brave. We all had to play our part to ensure the stability and longevity of the mage kingdoms. Like Mother had. She’d always been strong. It was my turn.
I left my room, walking down the stairs. The late afternoon sun filtered through the everlasting pink blossoms of the cherry trees that encompassed the palace of Laelia, pouring soft warm light into the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the main corridor.
My brother Davin met me outside the audience chamber. He was dressed in a very elegant—and very sleek—black suit. It looked as immaculate as if he’d put it on only moments ago. Davin always looked like that, completely put-together. Only his cocoa-bronze hair was even marginally disheveled, and he did that on purpose. The tousled look was carefully architected chaos. Father hated it. He’d told Davin to tidy it up so many times, but Davin never did.
“You look very lovely tonight, Terra,” he said smoothly. “That dress is beautiful on you.”
I gave him a wary look. “What do you want?”
Davin was an Enchanter. He could convince pretty much anyone to do anything. Enchanters made hazardous conversation partners. Their compliments were always well-placed.
“Do I have to want something to pay my little sister a compliment?” he asked. “You’ve been hanging out with Jason too much. Becoming an enforcer has made him even more suspicious than he was before. Don’t let it rub off on you. You’re too young to be so cynical.”
“I’m sorry, Davin. It’s been a long day.”
“I heard about the attack on you.” He extended his arm to me. “Are you all right?”
I linked my arm in his. “Yes, but this isn’t the best ending to a tough day.”
He tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “You still look lovely. Your betrothed will be enchanted.”
I gave him a half-smile. It was the most I could muster right now. “Thank you.” I sighed. “But if the vampire bites me, my dress will get stained.”
Davin’s teal eyes twinkled. “If you see his fangs, kick him in the shins and make a run for it. I’ll distract him.”
“Very funny.”
“They aren’t all bad, you know,” he told me.
My father had included Davin in his negotiations with the Selpe Empire. And I’d started to get the feeling that my brother was a bit smitten with the vampires’ glamour and pizzazz. I wasn’t surprised. Glamour and pizzazz were two of Davin’s specialties.
We entered the audience chamber, the great hall where Father met with otherworldly visitors. Floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows covered every wall, altogether painting a map of the sixteen worlds of Elitia. The chamber felt so large, so overwhelming, right now. The huge wood table that sometimes seated the rulers of the sixteen mage kingdoms had been pushed to the side to make space.
Father waited for us at the far end of the room, poised upon his throne. The crown of the high king fit him like he’d been born to wear it. Born to rule.
As Davin and I ascended the stairs to join him, the footsteps of my dress shoes seemed to echo from every direction. Davin took his place at Father’s right side. The two of them looked like twins with their identical builds, strangely saturated teal-green eyes, and wild cocoa-bronze hair.
I went to stand at our father’s left side, just as I did whenever we received otherworldly guests.
I’d only just stepped into place when the chamber’s doors opened, setting my heart racing. I hadn’t seen many vampires before, only a few of their soldiers. In their full-body armor, they were pretty damn intimidating. I wondered what lay past those dark helmets, what the vampires really looked like. The tales said they were monsters. I guess I was about to find out.
My suitor entered the chamber—except it wasn’t my suitor. My heart settled down when I saw Jason. Relief rushed over me like a breath of cool air. The vampire wasn’t here yet.
Jason stepped up to the receiving platform, and though he bowed before my father, his eyes never left me. I could tell he wanted to speak to me. Something had happened. Something big.
I descended the stairs to the platform. “What happened?” I asked in a lowered voice. “Do you have a lead on Vib?”<
br />
“There’s been a development.”
“What kind of development?”
He said nothing. And it was then that I realized Jason was dressed up too—in a suit not unlike Davin’s.
I blinked. “Jason, what the hell is going on?”
But it was my father who spoke. “Terra, that is no way for a princess to speak, especially not to her betrothed.”
7
The Prince of Pegasus
Silence reigned in the room, so absolute that I could hear my own heart thumping inside my chest. My father had betrothed me to my best friend, not a vampire. My mind couldn’t even begin to process that.
I cleared my throat. “Did you know anything about this?” I asked Jason. My voice sounded so small.
“I did not. It is as much a shock to me as to you, Terra.”
As he spoke, the audience chamber’s doors opened once more, and Jason’s family strode in with regal grace. They were all dressed in their finest formal attire. Edward Chanz wore a dark blue suit accented with silver. His short, sandy hair contrasted nicely with the ensemble. His wife, Danielle Snow, was dazzling in her red evening gown. Her eyes were amber, her long hair as black as a starless night. Lana, Jason’s sister, wore a gown that was a perfect match to her mother’s. Her hair was nearly as black, but highlighted with bronze. She had her father’s emerald-green eyes.
Father rose from his throne and descended the stairs. He stopped behind me, setting one hand on my shoulder as he whispered, “You didn’t actually believe I was going to marry off my only daughter to one of those bloodsuckers, did you?”
“I overheard things,” I choked out. “Rumors in the palace.”
“You only heard what I meant you to hear,” he told me.
I blinked in surprise.
“I had to keep you off guard, Terra. You have an uncanny knack of getting yourself out of betrothals. With Jason’s help.” He set his other hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Congratulations, you two have outsmarted the high king of Elitia. This is your reward.”
I stared at Jason, completely dumbstruck. We’d gotten me out of other betrothals through threatening or blackmailing my unlucky suitors, but that wouldn’t work here. I wasn’t going to dig up dirt on my best friend. And my father knew it. He really was the most devious person I had ever known.
Jason appeared no less shocked by this unlikely turn of events. It was as though, for the first time, he didn’t know what to do. Our betrothal was an opponent he could not fight, a trap he could not escape.
“What about your treaty with the vampires?” I asked my father.
“It doesn’t require a marriage to seal the deal. And the vampires are highly protective of their borders and culture,” he said.
“Then what is this…” I waved my hand between Jason and myself. “…all about?”
“Edward and I discussed this possibility long ago, a way to bind our families together. But we decided it was a luxury we could not afford, that we needed alliances with other worlds more.” He expelled a resigned sigh. “But we’ve given up on that.”
“Actually, I gave up on finding Jason a strategic marriage ages ago,” Edward said. “He scares off all his perspective brides.”
I wasn’t surprised. Jason was really scary when he wanted to be. I’d seen the looks he’d given the rogues we hunted down, and I had no desire to be on the wrong end of that obsidian glare. I could picture ladies and princesses coming to Pegasus to be betrothed to Jason, then running off in terror when they met his granite stare. I would have laughed if I weren’t still numb from shock.
“No one can handle him. No one but you, Terra.” Edward looked at me fondly, like I was some kind of tiger tamer.
“And no one but Jason can handle Terra,” Father added.
Edward joined us on the receiving platform. “You two are perfect for each other.”
“You already spend almost all your time together,” added Father. “This would just formalize the relationship.”
I shot them my most cynical look. “I don’t buy it. You two are too conniving. You must have another reason.”
“That is no way to speak to your future father-in-law, Princess,” Edward scolded me. But his eyes were twinkling with amusement.
“You’ve watched me run naked across your lawn. I think we can dispense with the formalities,” I told him.
Granted I’d been six years old during that spectacular streak across the front lawn of the Chrysalis palace, but still.
“Fine, Terra. You’ve caught us.” Father lifted his hands in the air. “I need Edward’s support in the vampire alliance.”
Right, Father needed all sixteen mage kingdom to create an alliance with the vampires, and Edward had been resistant to the idea. This betrothal was my father’s way of tipping the scales. Pegasus was powerful. Once Edward declared his support of the alliance, most of the other kingdoms would follow suit without a second thought. My father got his alliance, and through my marriage to Jason, Pegasus grew even more powerful. Jason’s father was just as calculating as mine.
“Go with Jason,” Father told me. “Walk with him, show him the gardens.”
“He’s already seen the gardens.”
Father gave me a hard look. Right. Whether Jason had already seen the gardens wasn’t relevant. This was tradition. Jason was supposed to lead me to the gardens, then propose to me. And I was supposed to say yes. That was the script, and we had to go through these motions like good little puppets.
“Terra,” Jason said when I didn’t move.
I might have been frozen, still trying to process this, but he wasn’t. He offered me his arm, and like a good little princess, I took it and allowed him to lead me from the audience chamber. We walked out of the palace in silence. Jason brought me to the first red-gold bridge over the waterlily streams, then he stopped.
“What are you doing? Why are you going along with this?” I demanded. “You’re the one who told me to fight it.”
“Turn around, Terra.” His voice was hard, almost cold, spoken in a tone that left no room for discussion.
I’d already turned around before I realized what I’d done. Phantoms could get inside your head, make you do things. Had Jason done that to me?
“It’s easier if we don’t think about it,” he said behind me. “Easier for both of us.”
So that was what he was doing. He was trying to distance himself—and distance me—to make this whole thing easier for us.
His hands brushed across my shoulders, and he placed a pendant around my neck. He closed the clasp, his fingers kissing my skin, a rush of heat in the cooling night air. I looked down at the necklace. A single sapphire, surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds, hung from the platinum chain. The engagement pendant sparkled in the moonlight, like a star in the sky. It was beautiful—but that wasn’t the point.
Jason’s hands closed around my shoulders and he turned me around to face him. His face was carefully masked. Even his eyes didn’t speak to me.
“Jason?” I asked. “Tell me what’s going on. Why are you going through with this?”
“My father is a persuasive man.”
I wondered what Edward had done to persuade Jason. Jason didn’t move unless he wanted to. He was like a block of granite, unmoving, uncompromising.
“What happened to fighting it? To not marrying someone you didn’t want to marry?”
He met my gaze for a long time, the color in his eyes shifting, intensifying. But before I could try to read something in his eyes, he turned away.
“It is done,” he said to our families, who’d come outside.
I didn’t fail to notice that he hadn’t answered my question.
Our fathers, best friends, had their arms wrapped around each other. They looked almost giddy. Jason’s mother was smiling at Jason like she never thought she’d live to see her son marry. Lana and Davin were standing next to each other, engaged in proper, polite conversation. Davin and Jason shared a mutual dislike, but my br
other and Lana got along just fine.
The party lasted late into the night. The palace staff brought out tables and filled them with all of my and Jason’s favorite foods. The sight of all that food should have made my mouth water, but I just wasn’t feeling hungry. I didn’t eat a thing.
An ornate sofa had been brought out to the garden for the occasion. Jason and I spent the whole evening sitting on it as guests from both kingdoms came to congratulate us on our betrothal. We went through the motions, thanking our guests for coming and receiving their gifts.
Even between welcoming guests, I sat stiffly next to Jason, hardly speaking to him, not even looking at him. This was the first time in our lives that I’d felt awkward around him. We’d always talked about everything—literally everything—but not now. Something had changed between us. And I wasn’t sure things could ever go back to the way they’d been before.
Finally, after all the guests had come and gone, leaving their gifts behind, Jason stood. He extended his hand to me and said, “Let’s walk.”
I took his hand, and we strode off. We went deeper into the woods, away from the others. Jason stopped just past the pink-white cherry blossom canopy. We were now in the great open forest that surrounded the palace grounds. The moonlight streamed through the tall, ancient trees that towered over us.
“Terra, I have something for you.” He held out a present. It was flat and wide, shaped like a chocolate box. “Your birthday present.”
A smile broke my lips. “Chocolate?”
“Open it,” he said quietly.
I tore back the black wrapping paper to find a blue velvet jewelry box. I lifted the lid. Inside the box lay a metal headband made of woven, interweaving gold and platinum bands.
“It will strengthen your mind, your mental fortitude,” he said. “It will help you to control and focus your foresights.”
I brushed my fingers across the headband, and the metal hummed softly against my skin. I could feel the magic inside of it. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
Jason took off my crown and placed the headband over my forehead. My mind calmed immediately, the persistent hum inside my head going out. I could still feel the foresights bubbling beneath the surface, but they did not dominate my thoughts. I could control them, summoning that power whenever I wanted. I was in control, not my magic.