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“The problem is,” King Alvar, of the Warrior Court, begins, “nobody is good enough. Our Imperial Highness is so far above anybody we could suggest.”
Therein lies the problem—not that I actuallyamaboveanybody, but they all think it. No matter who I marry, they will always revere me to a ridiculous level. I’ll never be equal with my spouse.
Another hour of the meeting goes by and it’s all the same thing.
Nobody is good enough, at least not in their eyes. If I weren’t required by ancient fae law to produce offspring to continue the royal line of succession, I’m sure they’d want me to remain single forever.
I’m not sure what’s worse—spending the rest of my life alone or being with somebody who thinks of me as a deity who is too far above them to ever truly love me.
Later, as I head back to my living quarters, I try hard not to pounder on the meeting. The lack of decision isn’t at all a surprise. In fact, I think I’d be more surprised if they ever do make up their minds. Their decision just makes me feel… alone. Nobody can understand, not even my family. Though, how could they when I’m the supposed ‘hope’ of the fae.
As I quicken my pace, I nearly run into my older sister, who is coming out of her own room.
Great. I pause, knowing it would be rude to just ignore her, but I’m not sure I can take her if she’s in a foul mood like she usually is.
“Wisteria, sorry!” Poppy apologizes, but her voice sounds oddly… cheerful.
How strange.
She turns around to face me and I have to physically stop my jaw from dropping open when I see that her eyes are the brightest blue I’ve ever seen on her. Fae’s eyes change color depending on our mood. Though her eyes are naturally blue, they’re usually gray—for sadness, orange—for anxiousness, or red—for anger. But the shadeof bright blue they are right now is happiness. A kind of happiness I didn’t know Poppy was capable of feeling.
My older sister seems to think her entire life is unfair and horrible. From the way she acts, you’d think she was the only one who doesn’t have options. Sure, her fate was decided ten generations ago, but that doesn’t mean I have any more of a choice than she does.
“Are you all right?” Even I can hear the skepticism in my voice.
She nods, tucking a piece of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. “Yes. I’m just… heading out.”
“Heading out?” I have a horrible pit in my stomach at her proclamation. My sister doesn’t go out—she has no reason to. She doesn’t get along with any of the female fae nobles that are her age and she obviously isn’t allowed to go out with males. It would be pointless for her to be romantically involved with somebody, considering she’s betrothed.
“I’ve got three weeks of freedom left. I want to enjoy it before I’m locked away forever.” Her voice sounds icy and her eye color changes from blue to red. I want to warn her not to be so open with her emotions—even if the dragon prince, her betrothed, doesn’t know how to read her eyes, it wouldn’t be hard for him to figure out. He’s going to realize that his wife hates him, and that wouldn’t do any of us good. As much as I hate to admit it, we need this alliance with the dragons, even if they only want royal fae blood mixed with the royal dragon blood because of power.
I cock an eyebrow at her. “The dragons live on a tropical island in a castle. You’ll have the Atlantic Ocean as your backyard. I’d hardly call that a prison.”
“Then you marry the dragon prince.” She crosses her arms over her chest, giving me a look with her cold eyes.
“I would gladly trade you positions. You go listen to the fae monarchs argue over who you should marry and see how you feel.” I don’t bother hiding my scoff from Poppy. “Queen Carina offered up Florian as a potential candidate. I would gladly let you marry him.”
She wrinkles her nose as her eyes fade from red to, strangely, green. Is shejealous? “Florian isn’t your type. He’d be a horrible marriage candidate for you, but at least he is easy on the eyes. He’s much better than the dragon prince.”
I would argue that the dragon prince would be better than most fae, but I keep the thought to myself. Sure, the dragons are powerful and a little intimidating, but they seem nice. I’ve met King Basilicus plenty of times and he’s always been kind to me. Though I’ve never officially met Prince Stellan, I’ve seen him from a distance. He’s rather good looking. Poppy could do a lot worse. And no matter what she thinks, Florian is worse.
My stomach turns sour as I realize I could probably get stuck with worse than Florian. Sure, he would be arrogant and likely an unfaithful husband, but I don’t see him pushing for political gain. He hardly even bothers to cling to his title as crown prince, he’d rather see his younger brother be king.
If only Poppy realized just how much I longed to switch places with her. If only I had been born first. Even though Poppy is only ten months older than me, it’s an accident of birth that has given her freedom—the same freedom she calls a prison. Doesn’t she realize that getting away from the fae court is a gift?
Poppy stands up straighter, jutting out her chest. “I won’t be at dinner tonight. If Father asks, please tell him I decided to eat dinner in my room.”
I nod as she turns and walks off without a backwardglance.
Poppy has been eating in her room a lot lately. Father says it’s because she’s giving one last show of defiance before she leaves for her new life with the dragons. Now, I wonder if she’s been eating in her room at all. Just what is my sneaky older sister doing?
Still, I can’t bring myself to care enough to follow her. Poppy has always been dramatic and overemotional. She has three weeks left before her wedding and she’s allowed to spend it however she wants.
A couple of hours later, I find myself sitting at the large dining room table with my younger brother, Cypress. The two of us wait for the rest of our family.
Cypress is seven years younger than I am—he’ll turn fifteen a few days after I turn twenty two. Though he’s young, I am close to him. Much closer than I have ever been to Poppy.
“I heard the council is considering Florian for your marriage alliance,” Cypress says, carefully keeping his face straight. “Is it too early to congratulate you?”
