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“Well, dragon shifter magicisdependent on gender…” She studies me, her expression giving none of her feelings away. “I thought fae’s eyes changed colors depending on their emotions.”
I raise an eyebrow. “They do.”
“Yours have stayed purple, I think. Maybe slightly blue.” She looks carefully at my eyes, like she’s trying to force them to change. “Aren’t you nervous?”
I shake my head back and forth. “Why would I be nervous?”
“I was nervous when I got married and I was marrying my soulmate.” She lets out a long breath. “I wanted to meet you because my brother is being forced to marry you. But if I were you, I wouldn’t get too attached.”
Wouldn’t get too attached?
To my husband?
Before I can ask her any questions, there is a knock onthe door. My almost sister-in-law stomps over to the door and throws it open. Her body immediately relaxes when she sees who is on the other side, which puts me on edge.
The woman who walks in looks very similar to Natalia, only instead of dark hair, she has sandy blonde hair—similar in color to a certain prince. She’s also older, which makes me wonder if she’s Prince Stellan’s mother. It’s hard to tell with supernaturals because we age well.
When the woman sees me looking at her, she smiles warmly. “Hello, Wisteria. I am Dove, Stellan’s mother.”
A dragon shifter named Dove? I don’t comment on the irony.
I curtsy. “It’s lovely to meet you, Queen Basilicus.”
“It’s just Dove,” she insists. “We’re about to be family, after all.”
Natalia snorts, like she’s not convinced I’ll be family. Or maybe she doesn’twantto consider me as family.
It seems as if the dragons want out of this alliance as much as the fae do. In fact, I might be the only person who doesn’t dread this marriage. But it makes me wonder… does Prince Stellan dread this? Does he hate it as much as Poppy did? Does it matter? Because our fates were sealed ten generations ago—long before we were born. The only thing I can hope for is that we don’t have a completely miserable marriage.
Stellan
As I straighten my tie, my mind is on purple eyes. Purple eyes that belong to the faewoman that I’m about to marry. And for some reason, I don’t feel the familiar dread in my stomach at the thought.
My whole life, I’ve known that it’s my duty to marry a fae. It’s for the strength of my people. It’s not somethingI’ve looked forward to, but I accepted my circumstance a long time ago, even if the idea of this marriage turns my stomach.
I’ve also known that I’ll meet my soulmate—a soulmate that I can’t be with. I will have to reject her. My fate is to be in a marriage without love. But Wisteria… she’s beautiful, and so different than what I expected. I try to imagine her older sister—she was pretty enough, I guess, but I was never truly attracted to her. She never made my heart race.
Instead of feeling sick at the day I’ve dreaded my whole life, I find myself excited. Because somehow being married to Wisteria doesn’t seem all that bad.
Wisteria doesn’t look anything like her older sister. I try to remember what the older fae looks like, from the few times I met her. But I know for a fact she didn’t have purple eyes. I would never forget eyes like Wisteria’s. Her hair was blonde too, but it was a different shade. Wisteria’s hair is so blonde it’s almost white and it hangs down past her waist.
I swallow hard as I try to remind myself of my soulmate. I don’t know her yet, but someday I will meet her. It feels an awful lot like betrayal to think about Wisteria like this. Then again, what could betray her more than the fact that I’m going to have to reject her? Wisteria is my future.
Yet, the thought of hurting Wisteria sends a sharp pain stabbing through my chest. No matter what happens, both my soulmate and wife will be hurt. And I’ll be in the middle, loving a woman I can’t be with, and married to a fae that I won’t love. After all, I know it’s impossible to love a woman who isn’t my soulmate. My own father has told me that many times.
I rub my hands over my face, wishing the day were over. Part of me wants to run out of here and disappear, but I know better than that. If I ran—if I abdicated thethrone—the burden of this marriage would fall on my younger brother. And I wouldneverdo that to him.
This is for the good of my people, yes. But this is also for my family. This magical contract was signed many generations ago and my family has spent the last twenty three years trying to find a way out of it. If there were a way to be free, they would’ve found it by now.
A knock on my door disturbs my thoughts and I turn in time to see my older sister poke her head in.
“Can I come in?” Natalia asks.
“Yeah.” I let out a long breath, dreading seeing my older sister.
It’s not that I don’t love Natalia—I do. She’s just overbearing. She has been since she met her soulmate four years ago. Since the moment she met him, she’s started giving me these pitying looks like she feels sorry for me. Today, I would rather avoid those looks.
“I went to see your bride,” she says, as she steps inside. She closes the door behind her. “She’s beautiful.”
