Tessa
ONE MONTH LATER
Maidservant found me standing by the window, gazing at the distant, mist-enshrouded mountains. Those jagged peaks belonged to the land of darkness and shadow, the place where the sun never hit. Monsters were out there. So was the cannibalistic Mist King. But I’d still rather be out there than in here.
“The queen has sent over your gown for the ceremony.” Maidservant held out the gauzy orange fabric. “You have an hour to prepare.”
I turned and gave the brunette girl a wan smile. She flinched. Only slightly. She clearly tried to hide her reaction from me, but I spotted it regardless. She worried I would be the end of her, too.
Every human in the castle had given me a wide berth since the Eversun Ball, scared to get too close.
I did not blame them.
The past month had passed in a meaningless blur of grief so heavy it hurt to even open my eyes. Ball after ball. Endless days and nights of silence. Dreamless sleep from poisoned food, which meant I could not reach out to the captain. I no longer even had Morgan. After what she’d done, I could barely stand her presence, and she’d refused to speak to me about that night. She’d taken to standing outside the bedroom door when guarding me, an arrangement I was more than happy to accept.
The less I had to look at her face, the better.
“Thank you. I’ll be ready.” I reached for the gown, but Maidservant shook her head.
“I should really be the one to prepare you, miss. You are the king’s betrothed, and this is your wedding day. It is expected that I do this for you.”
Of course. And if it was expected, we better damn well do it. Or else.
“I see.”
And so Maidservant ran my bath, brushed and bound my golden hair in an elaborate bun, dressed me, and powdered my cheeks with rosy herbs. I stared at myself in the mirror, at my haunted, hollow eyes. Today, I would become King Oberon’s wife. I would be forever bound to him, for as long as I drew breath.
A fae marriage was unlike a mortal one. There was power behind it. Magic. Things I didn’t fully understand. All I knew was that it would make me his forever, even after I went to join the Tower of Crones.
The king who had ordered my sister’s death.
Pain tore through me. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“Miss, are you all right?” Maidservant asked.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I said, shakily pressing down the front of my dress. “Just a little nervous.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
I wanted to say more, to thank her for everything she’d done for me this past month. The days I’d struggled to get out of bed, she had pulled me from my stupor and washed the tears from my cheeks. But I knew she did not want to be thanked. She did not want me to feel anything toward her at all.
Because it could get her killed.
“I’m ready to go now, Maidservant. Tell Morgan.”
With a nod, she opened the door into the hall. A moment later, Morgan stepped inside, bedecked in her steel armor, her gaze sweeping across me. I waited, silent while she inspected me.
“Beautiful, Tessa.”
I did not speak.
“You’re still angry with me.”
I flicked my gaze toward her, narrowed my eyes, and then went back to silently staring at the wall.
“That’s fine,” she said tensely. “Let’s go.”
The wedding took place in the castle courtyard. The servants had been busy filling it with flowers in all shades of gold, orange, and red. A raised wooden platform squatted in the center of the gathering crowd where vines crept along an arched frame. I stood in the back behind a fluttering banner that hid me from view. The scent of fire filled the air, and the crowd buzzed with the promise of revelry and cheer.