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Stopping outside Kira’s door with her, I turned to smile down at her. She looked exhausted, like this was not the first time she had had trouble sleeping. I knew her chambers were enchanted to keep them cool, but she had never shown any signs of difficulty until now. I let go of her hand, reaching up to run my thumb along the dark bags under one of her eyes. She frowned, glancing up at me briefly and then pulling herself away.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” She smiled softly, crossing her arms over her chest with her books trapped tightly behind them, “Goodnight, Cyrus.”
I just nodded, watching her as she disappeared into her chambers. The door clicked as she slipped the lock into place, and I let out a breath, my aunt’s words floating through my mind.
“She will not go down without a fight.”
23
Kira
Gracie twirled where she stood on the pedestal.
It was the last time we would be trying on our dresses for the wedding, and anxiety sat uncomfortably heavy in my stomach as I watched my best friend admire herself in the mirrors surrounding her. The tri-folding mirrors had been wheeled into my chambers before I had even woken up properly this morning, and if it had not been for Gracie letting them in and getting set up, I would have completely missed it.
Exhaustion rested on top of me like a heavy duvet, and I could not shake it, no matter how much sleep I caught up with. Leo had mentioned before that the use of magic, especially while still learning, would have a more physically draining effect than it would when you were well practiced. That is how he managed so many spells in one go, how he could place enchantmentsand keep them in place for extended periods. That is how Cyrus could conjure fire in his palms without even thinking about it.
I tilted my head to the side as I watched Gracie. She was tugging at one of her sleeve straps, gesturing to the seamstress and showing her where she had dropped several stitches, making the fabric loose over Gracie’s shoulder. The seamstress’s face dropped, her complexion paling as she looked from Gracie to myself.
“I’m so sorry, Your Majesty, I will get it fixed.” She hurried over her words, scrambling to find sewing pins to pin Gracie’s strap into place where it needed to be tightened.
“It’s alright, don’t worry.” I reassured the woman, smiling at her from where I sat on the sofa, “It’s barely even noticeable, Gracie probably only spotted it because her mother is a seamstress, also.”
“It’s true,” Gracie grinned, “It’s annoying, actually, I can’t try on anything pretty without spotting something I would change.”
The seamstress, a woman called Rosa who looked to be in her mid-fifties, laughed lightly — her complexion returning to a slightly more normal colour as she stepped back to look at Gracie’s dress again.
The dress itself was beautiful. It was a light, almost white, shade of mint green. Golden beading flowed through the bodice onto the skirt, the seams sewn with a matching shade of gold thread. Cyrus had beeninfuriatingly insistent that gold worked its way into the whole wedding, and at first I did not understand why, but after seeing the golden shade that magic had turned my veins, I had grown to like it.
Gracie’s skirt floated down to her ankles, barely scuffing the floor when she moved, and rippled like blades of grass dancing on a summer breeze as she twirled. I grinned at her as she turned to face me.
“It’s perfect,” I nodded. Gracie was only one of my bridesmaids. Cyrus’s sisters were both going to be standing with me, following the tradition of Fire. It was bizarre to me that they would be with me and not their brother, but it was the way it was done. The wedding, no matter how small, was about me, whether I liked it or not.
Cyrus would be ascending to the throne the same day, but it would not be publicly celebrated until the day of our ball. There was a week between the two events, and I was grateful to have that time to get used to being someone’s wife, and the official Queen of two Kingdoms, before I was thrown into a ballroom full of Fire’s most important people.
I gnawed on a piece of loose skin by my nail as I watched Rosa pin a few more places on Gracie’s dress, muttering to herself as she did so. I could still feel the slight tingle of my magic under my skin, itching to release itself. It was almost as though now it had been used once, it wanted to be used again and again. If I thought about it too much, the pads of my fingertips started to glowslightly golden, the star on my palm brightening to a blinding white.
I tucked my hands under my armpits, partly to stop myself from chewing anymore on the already bleeding nail, and partly to hide the luminous glow from Rosa.
The door to my chambers opened, and I looked to see Calliope waltzing into the room, her robe still wrapped tightly around herself as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. Rosa smiled at her, an affectionate tut leaving the older woman’s lips as she took in the girl’s appearance. Calliope grinned at her, and flopped down onto the sofa next to me, letting her head lull against my shoulder.
“Why do we have to do this so early?” She asked, mid-yawn. I laughed, reaching up my, thankfully, non-glowing hand and patting her short hair.
“Sorry,” I grinned, “I’m not in charge of appointment times.”
“You’re the Queen,” Calliope rolled her eyes, “You’re in charge of everything.”
My laugh grew louder at her statement, enough so that Gracie and Rosa joined in alongside me.
Once Gracie had changed out of her dress and back into her day clothes, Calliope took her place on the pedestal. She was staring at herself in the mirror, in a slightly smaller version of Gracie’s dress, and frowning. I watched her as she twisted this way and that, her frowngetting more severe and the crease between her eyebrows deepening.
Rosa noticed her reaction at the same time as I did and sat back on her heels as she looked up at Calliope, her mouth full of sewing pins from where she had been pinning the hem of the dress.
“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” Rosa asked, and Calliope shrugged, pursing her mouth to the side, and looking at me through the mirror.
“It doesn’t feel right,” She sighed, letting her shoulders sag slightly, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”
I waved my hand at her, dismissing her apology and standing from where I was sat on the sofa. I crossed the space quickly, coming up beside Calliope and putting my hands on her shoulder, peering at her in the mirror. She looked so uncomfortable it made my heart ache in my chest.
