Cursed by the Phantom Prince (Once Upon A Curse)

Chapter 23

23

RHAN

A tournament?

To celebrate our engagement followed by a hasty ceremony that would have me married within a matter of weeks.

“What’s the rush?” I asked my mother as she paced excitedly in front of the small dais that I was currently standing on. A seamstress with a mouthful of pins circled me, pinning the white fabric around my body. “It doesn’t have to be immediately.”

“Nonsense! My daughter will have the best of everything.”

“But Mother…” I cut myself off since I didn’t think I’d be able to keep the whine from my voice.

It had been a month since Toren and I had announced our engagement, which was pretty easy since a representative from each court was already in attendance. What started off as an act of war turned into a momentous occasion that would go down in history.

That was all well and good, but it seemed everyone was pushing for a short engagement period. Fae were a long lived species so they literally had nothing but time, so everything seemed to have a long waiting period. Except for my marriage. Rea suspected that the unexpected kissing spectacle pointed to Toren and I being way more intimate. I assured my mother that we hadn’t engaged in such activities, she’d waved off my words like she was choosing not to believe them.

Had the idea of physical intimacy with Toren crossed my mind? Yes. More times than I cared to admit. As soon as I closed my eyes at night there he was, dressed in black with his dark eyes raking over my body that was only covered with a thin sleep shift. I’d wake up sweaty, flustered, and embarrassed. I hadn’t told anyone about the dreams, not even Lady, who probably already knew.

“I know this is moving rather quickly,” my mother said, turning to me with understanding clear in her eyes. “We haven’t had a royal wedding in a very long time. Not to mention that the Court of Dawn and the Moon Court Prince will be united in marriage which has never happened.

Everyone wants to be a part of it.”

“That’s what the tournament is for?”

“Yes, it’s a chance for all Fae to join together under a banner of peace.”

“Is that why it’ll be held on Tostach Island?”

Bexlita was an island in the middle of the Passage of Tears that split the courts. The Court of Dawn and the Sun Court shared a continent, while the Court of Stars and the Moon Court shared another. The Sun Court and the Moon Court shared roughly the same geographical land but both had parts that were nearly unlivable.

Almost half of the Moon Court was made up of the Blacklands, an expanse of land to the south that was uninhabitable. The ground was scorched black by some long ago event while the trees had been petrified. It was a land of dead black things that would never recover.

The Sun Court had a desert that was a wasteland but thanks to some incredible thinkers the court had found ways to overcome the intimidation of the wasteland. Fae had settled into villages and with ingenuity had managed to use the wind and the unbearable temperatures to generate energy that powered large constructs that brought water up from the underground rivers that riddled the expanse.

As far as I knew nothing of the sort had been started in the Moon Court. The desert was scorching in temperature while the complete opposite was true for the Blacklands. It was cold and desolate with no obtainable resources to support a village.

“The island is the only neutral ground where all courts agree to peace while there.”

“I’m sure the enchantments also help with that,” I giggled, remembering the story of the errant magic that intercepted and changed any magic thrown around for malicious intent. It’s like the island got tired of the fighting and decided to have some fun while keeping the peace.

“Yes, but remember that enchantments have loopholes,” she reminded me, though I could see laughter in her eyes.

“Done, my lady, you may step down,” the seamstress said abruptly.

“Oh, of course,” I replied smoothly, stepping down and striding to the mirror that was propped in the corner of the room.

The white fabric was draped over my body, accentuating every one of my curves. I’d been concerned about this but Rea had assured me that it was normal to display your assets on your wedding day. It was a source of pride for the bride and groom and envy for everyone else.

Thinking about the pride that Toren would or wouldn’t be feeling on that day shouldn’t have opened a pit in my stomach, but it did. I couldn’t believe that in two weeks I would be wed to the Moon Court Prince who had been my guard in disguise. I missed the simplicity of those days when he was just a guard. Being the prince of a rival court wasn’t who I had had in mind when I thought of marriage and my future. Now there was a threat against the realm and unrest in his court that needed to be resolved.

Save the court, save the realm.

That was still the only plan we had and I had to keep reminding myself of it. After Toren and I fixed the unbalance of power happening in his home court then we could turn our attention toward the bigger problem.

The rot was spreading quickly with a dozen infected reported this week alone. All of the infected were in the Sun Court so Fiskh, my cousin, was handling things while all eyes were on Toren and me and our upcoming nuptials.

‘Smoke and mirrors,’ Lady chimed in and I couldn’t agree more.

Was the thought of my wedding as a distraction for every Fae in the realm what I had always envisioned? Absolutely not. Did it stop the masses from devolving into a full on realm wide riot? Yes.

I guess the idea of my wedding happening so quickly wasn’t so terrible after all.

The white material I was draped in had an iridescent quality to it. It shimmered every time I moved and looked incredible next to my light olive colored skin. Looking at myself in the dress I would be married in made me think of my mother and I wished she was alive to see this.

“You look stunning, my girl,” the queen said quietly.

Her light green eyes met mine and I could see her pride shining from her eyes. I smiled, feeling a warm feeling spread through my chest. She might not be my birth mother, but she loved me like she had birthed me herself.

“Thank you,” I replied, unexpected tears filling my eyes at her words. The Fae rarely displayed emotion but I was fortunate that the queen didn’t follow the typical Fae stereotype.

“Toren is a lucky prince,” a voice said from the doorway. Turning, I was surprised to see Larek leaning against the frame, his milky blind eyes looking in my general direction.

“I’ve been saying that from the beginning,” my mother laughed then excused herself when a servant requested a word on flower arrangements.

“So much activity,” Larek said, tilting his head like he was listening to all the bustle in the whole castle.

“Yes, well only a couple more weeks until the ceremony.”

“How are you holding up?”

It was a loaded question. Larek and I had spent a lot of time together over the past few weeks. A few days after our engagement, Toren had left accompanied by his father, my uncle, and the queen's consort to tour the Court of Dawn. While he was away I’d been embroiled in wedding preparations that ate up the hours of the day.

In the evenings, before I made preparations for sleep, I’d sit down with Larek in my sitting room and chat for up to an hour. During this time we got to know each other better and I was able to get a feel for the state of the Moon Court. It appeared that the state of the court was much worse than Toren had previously admitted to.

King Helio and his cohorts had control over the ports and they were highly selective on the distribution of goods shipped in from other parts of the realm. Toren’s side was combatting this siege by using the Court of Stars ports to receive supplies the whole court needed, like fresh food, wool, and tinder. The goods were then sent over land and then distributed by Toren’s people to needy citizens. When the Court of Stars proclaimed neutrality, the shipment of goods from their ports over land had stopped.

The people of the Moon Court had a small stockpile that would last them a few more weeks. After that they’d start to starve. Hungry people did irrational things. The orphanage had hit some hard times and I remembered being so hungry I was willing to do anything.

Hearing that the people only had a few weeks of supplies at best, I’d sent Rea to scope the court and come up with a plan to get much needed supplies to the people. It was a stealth mission. I couldn’t jeopardize the little bit of peace the court was experiencing now that the king and prince were both absent.

“I’m doing alright,” I assured him, even though I wasn’t and I was confident that he knew that.

Everything had happened so quickly I hadn’t had time to come to grips with it yet. My spare time was nonexistent; the only time I had to decompress was my nightly talks with Larek.

“Take a deep breath,” he said, walking closer carefully. “You just need to concentrate on enduring countless more fittings.”

“Ha, ha,” I laughed sarcastically, turning my attention back to the newly formed dress on my body.

It was customary for the bride to wear a white gown each day for a week leading up to her wedding day. I thought this dress was number twelve but I’d lost count several dresses back.

The queen didn’t know what the weather would be like so she’d commissioned dresses ranging from skimpy to combat intense heat and two made entirely of fur just in case the world froze overnight.

It was definitely overkill but I guess it was better to be over prepared than under prepared.

“So what brings you here?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in question even though I knew he couldn’t see it.

“I wanted to inform you that Toren has returned.”

Great. Just great.