Page 10 of A Fate In Moonstone

A gust of wind from the open window brushed against the skin of my thighs and chest. Yeah, the neckline was low, and the slit at my right thigh was hip bone high. I wasn’t always a fan of that, but this was normal in our world.

The ultimate point of tonight was to meet the man I’d marry, giving him a little tease of what’s to come.

“Oh yeah, you are so getting laid tonight. Hell, I might even do you,” she exclaimed with her hands on her hips. A job well done. “Come chat with me while I get dressed then we’ll walk down together, sound good?” She stretched out her hand toward me. I glanced at her waiting fingers and then the window. “You’ve got this, Sapphira. I just have this feeling that it’s gonna be a night that changes everything. You’ll see.”

I grabbed her hand and nodded. I hope she was right.

Chapter Five

“You look beautiful.” My mother greeted me in the throne room while Father talked with silver armored guards at the door.

She looked stunning herself. Rich brown eyes brightened over my outfit. Her long brown hair was pulled back at the sides into two braids, giving the six diamond spikes on top of her head room to shine.

I breathed in the scent of apples at the same moment she hugged me. My heart was in the embrace, but my stomach had eyes for the two Fae walking by carrying steaming piles of fried apple pastries on blue plates to the ballroom.

It’d been hours since I ate anything. Hopefully my future husband liked a woman who could eat a lot, because if he didn’t, then that special trip to the Hallowstags may come sooner than later.

“Prince Torin and his guards arrived an hour ago. We will enter first, settle our people, then introduce him. He’s been informed of your powers, as have you about his. If there is any trouble, find a guard,” she whispered against my ear before pulling back to face the king.

I wasn’t expecting trouble, but that doesn’t mean it won’t come. Two royal heirs in the same room? Maybe I should expect something bad to happen.

Father clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “There’s my little gem. Are the ladies ready?”

“Yes,” Mother answered for both and placed her hand on his arm. Guards opened the double doors, and the melodic sounds of my future surrounded us.

Nyx held out a hand for me and leaned in. “What was the prince’s power, so I know what to watch out for?”

I swore I told her, but perhaps in all the commotion I forgot. “Truth. He can feel if you’re lying and his core is turquoise.”

“Good thing I tell it like it is.” She laughed just as we walked into the ballroom.

Glowing orbs floated high in the air, flowers swayed above us, and the musicians had the guests dancing with big smiles.

“Princess Sapphira and handmaiden to her highness, Princess Nyx.” We were announced and I waved as we walked toward the wooden thrones an Oak Fae created earlier.

My father greeted everyone. I smiled accordingly, then saw a dark-haired man with three scars toward the back of the crowd.

I blinked, and he was gone.

Unless Rune’s family business was royal business, he wouldn’t be let into the palace. Most of these Fae were rich and noble. The common Fae, a term I wanted to rid of as soon as I became queen, weren’t invited.

My father raised his hands and the crowd parted. “Thank you for joining us on this special day. Let us not wait any longer as we welcome Prince Torin Wolfstrom from Regno De Lupi.”

Silver armored soldiers appeared first, looking much like Crysia’s own if it wasn’t for the ornated details chiseled into the edges of their chest plates. Regno De Lupi liked their luxury from what I remember reading.

Prince Torin walked through the door with a bright white smile on his face. The lack of pointed canines and elongated ears surprised me. I wasn’t told he was a demi-Fae. Likely got his human side from the mother’s line.

He greeted the people as he walked past them. His deep blue eyes were soft, kind even. Shimmers of honey-colored strands stood out in his medium wavy hair as he passed under the skylight in the middle of the ballroom.

My father greeted him, and the prince’s gaze darted to me before his head dropped and he bowed to the king with a triumphant smirk on his face.

“Prince Torin, we are happy to have you in Crysia,” Father said. “We hope that you find our kingdom as welcoming and beautiful as your own.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. Your kingdom and your daughters are beautiful.”

A mixture of laughs and gasps filled the room.

“How kind, young prince,” my mother commented, but I knew even without looking that she wanted to roll her eyes. What a little charmer Prince Torin was.