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I nodded my head, the idea of crashing my own wedding reception sounding irrational and yet incredibly entertaining.
Sitting myself down on the bathroom stool, I caught my breath for a minute. It was the most I had moved in days, running from the royal suite to here, and my body was making me pay for it. My legs ached, and I was still getting violent tremors every so often that made me stop in my tracks.
But for someone who had been being poisoned by their husband for the last week or so, I did not think I was doing too badly.
I watched in the mirror as the woman with black hair melted away, and I sat in her place. The gaunt cheeks and purple eye bags stayed where they were, and I jolted in shock at the fact that they came from me, and not part of the glamour.
Gracie appeared behind me, her eyes wide as she took me in, and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a tight hug and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. She did not say anything as she set about working on my face, covering me in creams and powders to try and disguise the fact I had ever been poorly.
Maeteo and Tarian arrived not long after. Maeteo carrying a large garment bag with my dress in it, and Tarian carrying what I had been wanting to see for weeks now. My daggers were wrapped delicately in a velvet shawl, the colour of which matched the colour of my dress for this evening. I grinned at him as he brought them to the bathroom for me to inspect, their beautiful, shining hilts just the same as the last time I had seen them.
“Rosa is going to sew one into the skirt of your dress just now, the other will fit in your garter belt.” Tarian explained as Rosa pushed through the main door to my chambers, a look of fear on her face as she let it swing shut. She shook her head at Maeteo, a silent way of letting him know she had not been seen and came to collect a dagger from the shawl Tarian was still holding. I reached out to her, wrapping my hand around her wrist and squeezing it in thanks.
As soon as Gracie had finished fixing my face, she moved onto my hair. I did not think she would have been able to fetch my royal crown without being spotted, but as she pulled it out from under my bathroom counter, I felt myself well with pride. The golden crown matched Cyrus’s almost perfectly, except where he had blood red rubies, I had bright green emeralds. The twists and black onyx were the same, but with the addition of golden vines climbing them, a detail I had added as a quite nod to my home.
Gracie worked her magic, her fingers working quickly despite the fact my hair had not been brushed in days, and soon I was staring at almost the same woman from my wedding. My skin pale and flawless, and my hair intricately wrapped around my crown and flowing down my back. I grinned at myself in the mirror, seeing myself for the Queen that I was.
Rosa called on me from the bedroom, and I hurried to stand from the stool, stopping for a second when vertigo hit me hard and Gracie had to hold my arm to stop myswaying. I knew this was risky, I was not fully recovered, but I would rather jump into the coldest of oceans and meet my maker there than miss my wedding reception due to a failed assassination attempt.
My dress was waiting for me in the bedroom, looking exactly as it did on the morning of the wedding. The long sleeves still had the burns from the rope tying, and my matching scars tingled as I looked at them. The adrenaline of the situation had begun to settle into my stomach, and I could feel the magic in my veins starting to pulse. After a week of having it diluted, trying to snuff it out completely, it brought along with it a sense of euphoria.
Rosa grinned at me as I walked into the room, her arms outstretched and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I hugged her back as tightly as I could, the muscles in my arms still weakened, and grinned at her.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Your Majesty.” She nodded, her smile completely sincere. I liked Rosa more than most people I had met here.
“Thank you, Rosa, me too.” I sighed, squeezing her hands, and stepping away so she could take my dress from the bed, and I could slip out of the robe I had stolen from the royal suite to run down here in.
Rosa and I worked together, pushing, and squeezing and pulling me into the dress until it was tight around my waist again. The dress had become slightly too large, due to how unwell I had been, but Rosa managed to pin it inplace so no one would notice at all.
Stepping out of the bedroom, I was greeted by Gracie in her bridesmaid dress, her hair pinned and curled and her skin flawless. She grinned at me, twirling in a circle before dropping into a deep curtsy. Tarian and Maeteo were in their formal wear also, standing by the entrance door to my chambers, swords sheathed at their sides. I eyed them, and Tarian smirked, as though he knew I was questioning where they got them.
“For someone who prides himself on his army, you would think your husband would have better security of his armoury.”
Laughing loudly, I shook my head at the pair of them. Gracie linked her arm through mine, pulling me close into her side and grinning at me as we made to leave the room.
Ready to say one final goodbye to my darling husband.
43
Cyrus
I stood on the balcony overlooking the ballroom.
The room was packed full of people. Everyone that had been at our wedding and then even more, taking up every inch of space around the sides of the room as several couples danced in the middle of the floor.
Golden chandeliers sparkled, throwing twinkling light around the room, and bouncing off the magic dust in the air, put there by magic casters I had hired to give the whole event some more shock value. From here I could not see them, but I knew that through the open patio doors, there were several guests standing under the large canopies, watching as merpeople threw themselves out of the water of our lake in a spectacular display. They had been a nightmare to get a hold of, having to be broughtover on special ships from Water that allowed them to swim freely into the ocean whenever they wished so their tails would not dry up.
They were here, though, and that was all that mattered to me.
Music floated through the air, loud enough to make the hairs on my arms stand on end, and I closed my eyes, soaking in the ambience of the room before I went down and began mingling with my guests.
It was, truly, the perfect evening.
Made even more so by the fact Kira was too unwell to attend. I could see Saffron from here, she was laughing at whatever one of the other witches she had invited had been saying, the two of them drinking goblets full of red wine and slinking around the edges of the ballroom, whispering, and pointing.
I could see Eoghan and Saoirse, in talks with a nobleman who’s name I had no recollection of. I wondered if he was one of the ones that came from the other Kingdoms and made a mental note to try and introduce myself. It was important to me to know everyone who came and went from my home.
As I turned to leave, Nezettia appeared at the top of the staircase. Her hair was brushed over one shoulder, and her red dress clung to her curves. She clutched a glass of red wine in one hand, and her other slid along the balcony railing as she came closer.
